Biggie and Buzz's Northeast Baseball Swing: This Is Good, This Is Real Good

The 757 to Milwaukee?

No that's not your plane, yours is this one rollin in...

Our first stop of Stadium Tour, Round 2 was a spur of the moment Sunday afternoon jaunt down 880 to see our beloved A's. Biggie and Virginia were there to give Thomas and me their blessings for the trip (V took convincing, but Uncle Biggie bribed her with a giant foam A's cowboy hat and a lollipop.) Turns out this was the perfect sendoff as the A's nipped the White Sox 2-0 on getaway day at the Coliseum to complete the sweep.

We then followed the boys in green and gold out to Milwaukee, Wisconsin for a Monday night game versus the hometown Brewers. But, not before donning cheese hats at the airport and later touring the Pabst Brewery. Apparently, the 1953 Red Sox once did the same tour 60 years ago, and they had the name book to prove it.

Inspired, we tailgated on Schlitz's and PBRs in the Miller parking lot (irony) and watched local fans play corn-hole (apparently not as dirty as it sounds). We were about to head in when a seagull (lake Michigan gull?) deposited a shit directly on my sternum, which happened to be covered by my Athletics hoodie. Fearing this to be an omen for the game, we cleaned and stowed the hoodie back in the rental car prior to entry.

Miller Park was beautiful and eerie with the massive clam shell roof closed. At about half capacity, the fans' echoes made it sound like a giant indoor water park.

Very quickly, Marco Estrada and the Brewers 'swam' into trouble when Coco Crisp deposited a pitch into the right field bleachers to lead off the game. Apparently, the sea gull crap was, in fact, a foreshadowing of the quality of the Brewers pitching and defense that night. By the 4th, this one was turning into a laugher, with the A's ahead by six and eventually winning by 8. Even the ebullient Bob Uecker sounded bored calling the play-by-play by the 7th, though we loved hearing his classic voice humming through the main concourse speakers.

We experienced most of the carnage as quietly and respectfully as we could from the right field 'party deck,' thanks to free seats, beer and brats from Rob, whose company helped build the stadium roof and deck. Turns out Rob is the father of one of Thomas's colleagues, so we were hooked up for this one. Thanks Kieran and Rob!