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Miller Park crowd reaches ’82 decibels on Saturday

BC-MW-Miller-Park-crowd-reaches-82-decibels-on-Saturday-1005 Oct. 5--First pitch, and the fans were on their feet.

First pitch, and Miller Park was transformed into a tunnel of wind and noise, fans waving white towels in defiance, the crowd belting out a primal roar that echoed off the roof that was shut against the October sky.

So this is what Brewers fans had been missing all these years.

For the first time since 1982, playoff baseball returned to Milwaukee Saturday night as the Brewers battled the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League Division Series.

It was a baseball spectacle, grit and beauty mixed together, as the Brewers won, 4-1, and clawed to a 2-to-1 deficit in the best-of-five series.

“You know what, it’s crazy, out of control,” said Pat McFadden, 33, an English teacher from Theresa. McFadden stood on a second-deck concourse near the right field foul pole. His 6-year-old son, Paddy, dressed in a replica Prince Fielder uniform -- a very, very small uniform -- sat on a bar stool.

The table was crowded with bottles of beer. All around the kid, Brewers fans were watching, roaring, taking in every pitch in a tense, taut game.

“It’s like popping a shaken can of beer and it sprays, that’s what it’s like in here,” McFadden said.

Nearby, Ed Stephens, 31, a warehouse worker from Madison, marveled at the sights and sounds of Miller Park, jammed with 43,992 fans.

“It’s definitely electric, without a doubt,” he said. “I’ve never seen these fans stand so much. People aren’t even smoking. The smoking section is desolate. Isn’t it great?”

It was a nerve-racking game, but fans could not, would not, look away. The Brewers had come home from Philadelphia and were down, but not quite out.

“Every strike, every out, every hit means that much more,” said Kelly Pretti, 34, of Waukesha.

Fans showed up at Miller Park and wanted desperately to believe that the Brewers could rebound. Most got to their seats and their standing places a half-hour before the first pitch. Others lined up patiently in a last-minute rush from the parking lot to the front gates.

“It’s not hard to win three games in a row,” said Michael Redlich, 34, of Pewaukee. “Teams do it all the time.”

But the must-win reality of the situation seemed to inspire the fans.

This was different, though: 26 years of expectations wrapped up in a game.

The crowd was rock-concert loud in the first inning, chanting “Let’s Go Brewers” as starting pitcher Dave Bush quickly retired the Phillies.

Derek Schreiber, 26, of Wauwatosa had a seat a few rows behind home plate. He rarely sat, though, standing, dancing and jumping through much of the game.

“I’m an ’82 baby,” he said. “I was at Game 5 of the 1982 American League playoffs. I was 4 months old. I was sleeping the whole time.”

But on Saturday, Schreiber didn’t sleep through the game. He roared through it all.