Major League Baseball posted its annual Mother’s Day promotion for season 16 on Sunday, when players wore pink accents on their uniforms and pink game gear.
It wasn’t Milwaukee’s best showing of the holiday, losing 9-2 to the Braves.
The Brewers’ 34-20 (.630) all-time record on Mother’s Day (entering into loss) was the best record in the majors, According to Brewers’ director of media relations, Mike Vasalu.
But I mention Mother’s Day and baseball, and one memory immediately springs to mind: Bill Hall in 2006. Even Andrew McCutcheon, who has been sidelined on the list of those infected with COVID-19, tweeted during the game a reference to Hall.
On May 14, 2006, Hall struck one of the most memorable characters in Brewers history, using a pink bat for the game-winning blast in the tenth inning against the New York Mets. This was the first year pink bats were promoted in Major League Baseball, and many players used their pink bats for one or two bats before setting them aside for something more comfortable.
But not Hole. Despite three swing strokes earlier in the match, Hall stayed with the uniquely colored wood.
With his mother, Vergie, in the stands, an explosion of the opposite field gave the Hall the Brewers a 6-5 victory. The same bat was taken up for auction for breast cancer research, but Vergie kept a replica.
Hall nearly staged an acrobatic to finish the match at nine, but Prince Fielder was unable to make a short jump throw at first base, allowing the tied run to score with two wins over Xavier Nady’s singles shield against Derrick Turnbow, marking Turnbow’s first blown save from the year.
The Mets put two goals into the 10th standings against Jorge de la Rosa, but the left hit out Carlos Beltran to end the threat.
Hall came to hit with two falls and no one on base was 10th, but he took a 2-0 away from Chad Bradford for an unforgettable highlight. Milwaukee moved to 19-19 in the year.
more:The Brewers outsmart the teams they have to beat but also come back to look the part of a World Championship contender
more:The Milwaukee Brewers rang the bell at the end of their bunker against the Reds. Here’s what it’s all about.
And what about this? Milwaukee also won it the next two Match deadlines too, both against Philadelphia.
Hall, who doubled from ninth, was racing to third without anyone knocking out the bout 2-2 when Damian Miller went down, and a foul by Velez bowler Ryan Franklin allowed Hall to score the win.
One night later, Phillies scored three runs in the ninth inning against Turnbow and Brian Shoes to tie the match 7-7, but Jeff Jenkins won the match with a one-on-one RBI with two behind in the bottom half. Hall hit right before Jenkins…and he was deliberately walking.
The Brewers finished the year 75-87, but it was definitely Bill Hall’s year, who scored 35 times that year to lead the team and drove in the team’s top 85 kick while posting the .899 OPS and playing several positions on the diamond, albeit mostly at shortstop. JJ Hardy sustained an ankle injury at the end of the season in his first win over the Phillies, opening a steady diamond spot for Hall.
JR Radcliffe can be reached at (262) 361-9141 or [email protected] Follow him on Twitter at Tweet embed