Easter Sunday

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is counting down the 50 greatest moments in Wisconsin sports history over the past 50 years.

One day ago, the Brewers’ extra-inning Easter Sunday victory over the Texas Rangers in 1987 was selected as No. 11. The criteria is that it has to be a positive, singular moment that you’re supposed to remember where you were when it happened.

I could honestly make a case for Easter Sunday as No. 1. Not saying it is but it is in the conversation.

So many happy memories come flooding back when I think of that game, that season, and what it meant.

Before Easter Sunday arrived, the Brewers had won 11 consecutive games to start the year. Eleven wins in a row anytime is memorable. At the start of the season, when every game is magnified? All the more special.

I was riding to Hebrew School with my mom on Opening Day and remember Bob Uecker calling Paul Molitor’s leadoff triple to open the game. Robin Yount followed with an RBI single and we were off to the races.

Remarkably, I didn’t see the ninth victory of the streak on TV, Juan Nieves’ no-hitter, which remains the only no-hitter in franchise history. We had a Passover Seder that night – I think with the Fabos family – and it wasn’t until later that we learned what happened. The final out of that no-hitter came on a diving catch by Robin Yount in center. There are people to this day who maintain that Yount didn’t need to dive for the ball, that he did so to build the drama. I’ve never understood that; showboating was the antithesis of Yount’s game.

Two victories following the no-hitter, and it’s Easter Sunday at County Stadium. Our family was in attendance and quite nervous when the Brewers trailed 4-1 in the bottom of the ninth. With two on and one out, Rob Deer hit a towering, three-run homer into the wind that landed in the deepest part of the stands in left.

Tie game. 

Not sure a stadium could get any louder.

Until, that is, with two outs, Dale Sveum drilled a two-run homer into the bullpen in right field for a 6-4 victory.

It was epic and it seemed like the cheers lasted for hours. It also meant that all of Milwaukee would eat free hamburgers as part of a George Webb promotion for winning 12 straight.

The next day, to their eternal credit, Mom and Dad pulled my brother and I out of school and we drove to Comiskey Park in Chicago to see if the Crew could win No. 13. Sure enough, the Brewers rallied in the seventh inning to take a 5-4 lead and that was the score when Dan Plesac recorded the final strikeout.

The rest of the season was packed with ups, downs and more electric moments. After winning 20 of their first 23, the Brewers lost 12 consecutive games. They were one game under .500 at the All-Star break, before going on a tear and finishing the season 91-71.

Molitor hit in 39 consecutive games, the seventh-longest streak in history. In fact, no one has recorded that many hits in a row since. Pitcher Teddy Higuera had a 32-inning scoreless streak as well.

And while Yount’s catch to preserve the no-hitter was certainly up there, the most magical moment was that 9^th inning against the Rangers, when Deer and Sveum provided a moment that is still electrifying to Brewers fans all these years later.

With that, the floor is cleared for Mr. Baseball to walk us off as only he can.