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100 Things Brewers Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die
From the classic history of the Milwaukee Brewers, such as the stats of a young Robin Yount and the team’s dramatic 2011 playoff run, to the lesser known trivia of the National League team, including which city the franchise relocated from after its founding year or the opposing player that attacked a fan dressed like an Italian sausage, this book for fans has it all. Collected into a fun-to-read one to 100 format, the book combines fan-favorite memories with challenging trivia and suggestions for the ultimate fan adventures—including the best places in Wisconsin to grab a drink or have a meal before a game.
- GenresSportsBaseballNonfiction
288 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2013
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27 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 23, 2013
[Full disclosure: I'm the Senior Manager of Advertising & Marketing for the Milwaukee Brewers and I read this book not only for fun, but also to review on the Brewers blog I co-author called John and Cait...Plus 9. You can read the full review here: http://brewers.mlblogs.com/2013/04/23....]
I recently finished reading the new book about the Milwaukee Brewers entitled, “100 Things Brewers Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die.” The book was written by Tom Haudricourt of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, with a foreword by Jim Gantner.
Haudricourt, who has covered the Milwaukee Brewers and baseball for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (and Milwaukee Sentinel) since 1985, has witnessed many of these items firsthand. This is his third book about the team (he is also the author of Brewers Essential and Where Have You Gone ’82 Brewers?) and “100 Things Brewers Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die” covers everything from Brewers Baseball arriving in Milwaukee (1970) through recent triumphs such as the 2011 NLCS appearance.
Mixed in among seminal and paramount moments in Brewers history are funny and bizarre items, along with things that true Brewers fans find essential to the game experience, like the Famous Racing Sausages, Bernie Brewer, tailgating and more.
With an average of 2.5 pages dedicated to each “thing,” the book is a quick and easy read. And, although I very much like Haudricourt’s style of sports reporting, this book is a welcome departure from that objective point of view. Instead, each item reads like its own little vignette, complete with quotes—either directly from the person or people mentioned within it, or from another source, such as a newspaper or interview at that time.
In his introduction, Haudricourt notes, “The Brewers…do not have 100 years, or even half that, of history,” which is true, with the Club in just its 44th season—but that does not mean it does not have 100 (or more) items that merited inclusion in this book. And, although I am in my eleventh season with the Club (wow, I’ve been here for one-quarter of its existence!) and I was born and raised in Milwaukee as a Brewers fan, there are still many of these key moments of Brewers history that occurred before I was born (i.e. the 1982 World Series) or when I was too young to remember (1987 Team Streak).
And then I think about all of the Brewers fans who are younger than me, or those who have moved to Milwaukee in the last few years and this is really a book that needed to be written.
Whether you’re a die-hard fan from the days of Harvey Kuenn and Paul Molitor or a new supporter of Ron Roenicke and Ryan Braun, this book contains everything Brewers fans should know, see and do in their lifetime.
In fact, I’d go so far as to say that if you want to call yourself a True Blue Brew Crew fan, you should have to read this book and be tested on the contents, the most important facts about the team, traditions and what being a Brewers fan is all about. Players should be provided with a copy when they sign their contracts. What’s that saying? In order to know where you’re going, you have to know where you’ve been? In only 44 seasons, we have a rich history and I’m confident that in the direction we’re headed, it’s only going to get richer.
I don’t want to give too much of the book away, but I can tell you that I crunched some numbers to get my personal “stats”:
•Of the 100 Things Brewers Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die, there are 14 “Things To Do” and I’ve done them all.
•Of the 100 Things Brewers Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die, there are 86 “Things to Know” and, of course, after reading the book, I now know them all, but: •Of the 86 “Things to Know,” I was alive for 71 of them.
•Of those 71, I remember being aware of 46 of them at the time (i.e. some happened when I was too young or wasn’t following as closely).
•Of those 46, 29 of them happened since I started working here (2003).
•From there, I tried to make a list of the ones for which I was actually physically present, but it got difficult to do, so I’ll just call out a few of the more specific things mentioned that I’m proud to say I witnessed in person:
•April 27, 2004: Chad Moeller’s Cycle
•April 28, 2004: Brewers huge comeback win against Cincinnati Reds
•May 16, 2004: Ben Sheets’ 18 strikeouts vs. Atlanta Braves
•September 28, 2008: Brewers Clinch the Wild Card
•September 23, 2011: Brewers Clinch NL Central Title
On the blog, I've included a photo gallery of some of the “Things” included in the book, but you’ll have to read it then come back to place which ones I’m referencing!
I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
The book is currently available for sale in the Brewers Team Store by Majestic. It retails for $25.
Once you’re done, I’d be curious to know what you think. Did Tom leave anything out? Let me know in the comments field below.
I recently finished reading the new book about the Milwaukee Brewers entitled, “100 Things Brewers Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die.” The book was written by Tom Haudricourt of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, with a foreword by Jim Gantner.
Haudricourt, who has covered the Milwaukee Brewers and baseball for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (and Milwaukee Sentinel) since 1985, has witnessed many of these items firsthand. This is his third book about the team (he is also the author of Brewers Essential and Where Have You Gone ’82 Brewers?) and “100 Things Brewers Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die” covers everything from Brewers Baseball arriving in Milwaukee (1970) through recent triumphs such as the 2011 NLCS appearance.
Mixed in among seminal and paramount moments in Brewers history are funny and bizarre items, along with things that true Brewers fans find essential to the game experience, like the Famous Racing Sausages, Bernie Brewer, tailgating and more.
With an average of 2.5 pages dedicated to each “thing,” the book is a quick and easy read. And, although I very much like Haudricourt’s style of sports reporting, this book is a welcome departure from that objective point of view. Instead, each item reads like its own little vignette, complete with quotes—either directly from the person or people mentioned within it, or from another source, such as a newspaper or interview at that time.
In his introduction, Haudricourt notes, “The Brewers…do not have 100 years, or even half that, of history,” which is true, with the Club in just its 44th season—but that does not mean it does not have 100 (or more) items that merited inclusion in this book. And, although I am in my eleventh season with the Club (wow, I’ve been here for one-quarter of its existence!) and I was born and raised in Milwaukee as a Brewers fan, there are still many of these key moments of Brewers history that occurred before I was born (i.e. the 1982 World Series) or when I was too young to remember (1987 Team Streak).
And then I think about all of the Brewers fans who are younger than me, or those who have moved to Milwaukee in the last few years and this is really a book that needed to be written.
Whether you’re a die-hard fan from the days of Harvey Kuenn and Paul Molitor or a new supporter of Ron Roenicke and Ryan Braun, this book contains everything Brewers fans should know, see and do in their lifetime.
In fact, I’d go so far as to say that if you want to call yourself a True Blue Brew Crew fan, you should have to read this book and be tested on the contents, the most important facts about the team, traditions and what being a Brewers fan is all about. Players should be provided with a copy when they sign their contracts. What’s that saying? In order to know where you’re going, you have to know where you’ve been? In only 44 seasons, we have a rich history and I’m confident that in the direction we’re headed, it’s only going to get richer.
I don’t want to give too much of the book away, but I can tell you that I crunched some numbers to get my personal “stats”:
•Of the 100 Things Brewers Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die, there are 14 “Things To Do” and I’ve done them all.
•Of the 100 Things Brewers Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die, there are 86 “Things to Know” and, of course, after reading the book, I now know them all, but: •Of the 86 “Things to Know,” I was alive for 71 of them.
•Of those 71, I remember being aware of 46 of them at the time (i.e. some happened when I was too young or wasn’t following as closely).
•Of those 46, 29 of them happened since I started working here (2003).
•From there, I tried to make a list of the ones for which I was actually physically present, but it got difficult to do, so I’ll just call out a few of the more specific things mentioned that I’m proud to say I witnessed in person:
•April 27, 2004: Chad Moeller’s Cycle
•April 28, 2004: Brewers huge comeback win against Cincinnati Reds
•May 16, 2004: Ben Sheets’ 18 strikeouts vs. Atlanta Braves
•September 28, 2008: Brewers Clinch the Wild Card
•September 23, 2011: Brewers Clinch NL Central Title
On the blog, I've included a photo gallery of some of the “Things” included in the book, but you’ll have to read it then come back to place which ones I’m referencing!
I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
The book is currently available for sale in the Brewers Team Store by Majestic. It retails for $25.
Once you’re done, I’d be curious to know what you think. Did Tom leave anything out? Let me know in the comments field below.
May 3, 2013
This book contains 100 vignettes that either describe moments in Brewer history (both the momentous and the bizarre) or things that Brewer's fans should do to enhance their fan experience. Most of the 100 - actually, a somewhat disproportionate number of them - are the former.
It seems to me that few are better equipped to write about the Milwaukee Brewers than their long-standing beat writer, Tom Haudricourt. His writing is efficient, engaging, and at times it's also impressively funny. When it comes down it it, I really enjoyed reading this book.
The vignettes do not seem to be compiled into any particular order, which is actually fine if you a) are already a fan, and/or b) are only reading a few at a time. For the relatively uninitiated, however, it might be somewhat confusing to jump from the Brewer's losing years in the late '90s to the '82 season to 2008. The chapter titles are also very clever, but are not always clear enough to guide more casual fans toward the information they are interested in.
Still, this is a book that - if the title is any indication - was really written for fans. Since I do consider myself a bit of a diehard fan, the quibbles I've outlined weren't a huge deal for me.
It seems to me that few are better equipped to write about the Milwaukee Brewers than their long-standing beat writer, Tom Haudricourt. His writing is efficient, engaging, and at times it's also impressively funny. When it comes down it it, I really enjoyed reading this book.
The vignettes do not seem to be compiled into any particular order, which is actually fine if you a) are already a fan, and/or b) are only reading a few at a time. For the relatively uninitiated, however, it might be somewhat confusing to jump from the Brewer's losing years in the late '90s to the '82 season to 2008. The chapter titles are also very clever, but are not always clear enough to guide more casual fans toward the information they are interested in.
Still, this is a book that - if the title is any indication - was really written for fans. Since I do consider myself a bit of a diehard fan, the quibbles I've outlined weren't a huge deal for me.
August 29, 2013
Tom did a fantastic job with this book. As a lifelong Brewer fan, I not only relieved some amazing memories, but learned a lot about the team I love.
October 3, 2019
Surprised not to see this on everyone's lists here on Goodreads.
April 22, 2021
Great book of the history of the Brew Crew
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews