This weekend is an emotional one for the Milwaukee Brewers and their fans. While hosting their former fan-favorite shortstop Willy Adames and the San Francisco Giants, this weekend had previously been set aside as the series in which they will publicly honor and memorialize their legendary radio broadcaster Bob Uecker, who passed away earlier this year.
The Brewers came out with the win in the first game of the series on Friday night when catcher William Contreras launched a walk-off solo home run in the bottom of the ninth to give Milwaukee the 5-4 victory.
It was not a stress-free win, though, as Adames and the Giants held the lead early and came back to tie the game in the top of the ninth inning, giving fans something to sweat about other than the mid-August heat.
When Adames strolled to the plate for his first at bat in American Family Field since signing with the Giants in free agency, the Brewers’ former shortstop received a standing ovation and loud cheers from fans, unlike any most former players get when they return to Milwaukee with new teams.
The ovation really showed just how much Adames meant to fans and the city during his tenure with the club.
But it did not take long for those cheers to turn into boos, as the Brewers single-season home run leader for home runs by a shortstop launched a solo home run to left field in the bottom of the first inning, giving San Francisco a 1-0 lead early.
Later in the game, with Milwaukee winning 4-2, Adames hit another solo home run to make it a one-run ball game. This blast, too, led to boo birds from fans.
As mentioned, this weekend is the series in which the Brewers organization will publicly memorialize Bob Uecker, whose absence is still felt by many.
After the game, Pat Murphy discussed the emotions surrounding the planned celebration, Adames’ return, and joked about how his former star shortstop got under his skin a little bit on Friday.
Per Adam McCalvy,“There was a special vibe in the air, for sure,” Murphy said. “We were talking today about how we lost a lot [in the] last year, nothing more than Bob Uecker and what he meant to our organization and our players. But we also lost some really good players, none bigger than Willy Adames. What he meant on the field, playing a critical position so well. Hitting the 30 homers like he does. But what he meant to our culture, and how he represented how we play the game and how we compete and how we treat others and how we mold the locker room no matter where you’re from, no matter if you’re old or young. Willy did all of that. He did a wonderful job.
“So it was special. But he started to tick me off a little bit with the second homer.”
With his two-homer performance on Friday night, Adames is hitting .224/.312/.410 with 22 home runs and 65 RBI this season for San Francisco.
Last year, his final season in Milwaukee, he hit .251/.331/.462 with 32 home runs, 112 RBI, and 21 stolen bases.
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