In South Florida, where weather broadly defined as a cloudburst gave way Wednesday to playable conditions, there were around 11,000 fans in attendance at Dolphin Stadium. That was the crowd—if you we can term it that—in attendance to watch a scrappy, young Marlins team that had won five of its first seven.
On the same night at the Brewers' digs in Milwaukee, some 16,000 fans braved snowy conditions to watch baseball at Miller Park.
Considering the fact that one team has a fiscal philosophy that downright confuses fans and a stadium that woefully accommodates them (Marlins), and the other is building payroll and has a brand new ballpark (Brewers), this would not ordinarily come as too surprising.
Take into account, though, that the Brewers were nowhere to be found at Miller Park this week; instead they were the fish bait in Miami. Therein you have a thought-provoking story that has unfortunately been upstaged by a shock jock's ill-conceived, hurtful rant.
For three days, while the Brewers were on a timely road trip, Milwaukee revived the Major League scene, filmed two decades ago in a now defunct stadium but with the same spirit that baseball purists displayed in a transplanted three-game series this week between Cleveland and the Los Angeles Angels.
No one on this Indians team can throw a 102 mile-an-hour fastball like the ""Wild Thing"" Rick Vaughn of ""Major League."" And, to the best of my knowledge, not one is a former player in the California Penal League. Yet the reception they received in Milwaukee far and away exceeded expectations (apparently Indians players were taking bets on attendance, which ranged from 500 to 1,500).
On Bernie Brewer's chalet out in left field was Slider, the Indians mascot. Out in right field was the most seasoned of Jacobs Field regulars—bass drummer John Adams, a 33-year veteran of Indians games. Indians' officials even transferred scoreboard graphics and the team's theme song to Milwaukee.
And speaking of songs, Cleveland closer Joe Borowski left the bullpen for a save opportunity Tuesday night to the tune of The Troggs' ""Wild Thing."" All that was missing were the Rickie Vaughn glasses—a thought that brings to mind the biggest coincidence I've heard in a long time.
If torrential snow had not blanketed Cleveland over the past week, fans at Jacobs Field Tuesday would have been guest to Rick Vaughn Glasses Night. For the record, those promotions are scheduled before the season begins and the weather report is released.
More to the point, though, the series at Miller Park showed that Milwaukee is a viable baseball city and Wisconsin a viable baseball state. Yes, tickets were $10, but who would have expected that more than 19,000 would be on hand for the opener and 16,000 the following night? To hear the Indians' announcers tell it, they were beyond impressed with the fan turnout, which did its best to support the Indians in their home away from home.
Even UW put its stamp of approval on the game. The slow-motion wave that is normally reserved for football at Camp Randall was indeed part of this unusual, yet successful, operation for Major League Baseball and Wisconsin.
If you' think Jon's a ‘Wild Thing' and would like to watch ""Major League"" with him, e-mail him at bortin@wisc.edu.
