The following is not a Guide entry, because I am still sifting through my notes on how one should best fully experience Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. That said, Eric previously suggested that we could always use more content regarding my experiences on the road.

The fifth adventure of 2022, Part 2, the Bill Hurley Memorial Tour in Milwaukee

August 15, 2022: A celebration of life at a baseball game

Michael Elizondo / TrueBlueLA

I did not tell my mother that I would essentially be writing a second memorial to my late stepfather. Partially, because I knew she would start crying, and mostly because, I would start crying if I saw my mom crying. So I knew that I would need to have a stiff upper lip and try not to get overly emotional about the trip. It was hard. But in some respects, it was good to give American Family Field (AFF) a fair shake with no social distancing guidelines in place. I came here last year during the 5-15 stretch that coincided with the Original #SaveEli trip. Even though I was back under somber circumstances, I had a lot more fun this go-around.

As some of you may or may not know, originally I was not planning to come back to Milwaukee during this past year. I had proposed coming to Milwaukee for my mother’s birthday at the end of last season to my stepfather and mother as I came across a bunch of things while staying there that I thought they would both like. They agreed to plan for the trip. But my stepfather’s health soon failed him and he did not live long enough to see the coming spring. However, my mom still wanted to make the trip and I planned it out for us to go to two games in Milwaukee.

So I had to leave the finale of the Kansas City series a bit early to catch my flight to Chicago to meet up with my mother, Debbie. She talked everyone’s ear off before coming and I finally found her at the rental car terminal at O’Hare. After a 90-minute drive later, we settled into our accommodations at the Potawatomi Hotel & Casino in Milwaukee, which is basically right down the street from the ballpark.

Michael Elizondo / TrueBlueLA

My mother had not been to a Dodger game since 1988. So I figured that this experience would be an interesting one. And it generally was. For starters, my mom chatted up anyone who came near us, including ushers and 50/50 raffle folks. We sat up in Club Seating, which was oddly empty, considering how full the park was overall. It’s not as if we didn’t have a nice view of the game.

Before the start of the game, unbeknownst to Debbie, I posted the following on Twitter with the plan to share it with her when this article was published. I was deeply touched by everyone who reached out on Twitter. It was weird to have my phone keep going on without explaining to my mom what was going on.

Truth be told, I was half paying attention to the game anyway. Honestly, I was more absorbed in watching my mom enjoy the game. She lost her mind with delight throughout the game and especially when she saw the Sausage Race. She cheered and clapped during the game with abandon. I was glad to have the company while watching baseball and I was glad to see my mom smiling again.

Michael Elizondo / TrueBlueLA

I do recall one last bit from this game, tying back to the theme of family: Gavin Lux homering in front of his family, which had reserved a nearby Suite.

About halfway through the game, a pair of friends that I had previously met in Minneapolis, and ran into again in Kansas City, came to sit by us, and we took a photo after the game. I was hoping they would come to the next game, but I didn’t see them.

Michael Elizondo / TrueBlueLA

There was another nice moment from this game involving Mookie Betts that I did not see personally, which we will revisit in a moment.

August 16, 2022 - Going in Around in Circles in MKE

Michael Elizondo / TrueBlueLA

If it is not clear yet, one of the rules I set for myself when I travel to ballparks is that if I have the opportunity to take a tour of the stadium, I am obligated to do so. Unfortunately, the tour capacity for a tour at AFF was capped at 20 and there was no space for both my mom and me. So she volunteered to stay behind and have fun at the casino, while I had to get up early and race down the street to go on the tour.

And I will give Milwaukee credit; normally, on these tours, I’m surrounded by Dodger fans. But on this tour, I was the only Dodger fan as the rest were locals from the area taking the tour. It was an unusual but not unwelcome development. The other thing that I did not take into account about this tour was its length. Most ballpark tours range from an hour to 90 minutes. This tour lasted solidly above two hours with a fair bit more walking than I am used to on these things. It’s not a complaint, but rather an observation. I sat Adric in Bob Uecker’s chair in his booth. Sacrilege? Probably. Funny? You bet. The gallery of my tour is included below.

Grid View

• Adric the Adipose takes over Bob Uecker’s Chair. August 16, 2022. Michael Elizondo / TrueBlueLA
• “I actually enjoyed Mr. Belvedere, thank you very much.” Michael Elizondo / TrueBlueLA
• Michael Elizondo / TrueBlueLA
• Michael Elizondo / TrueBlueLA
• Michael Elizondo / TrueBlueLA
• Michael Elizondo / TrueBlueLA
• Michael Elizondo / TrueBlueLA
• Michael Elizondo / TrueBlueLA
• Michael Elizondo / TrueBlueLA
• Michael Elizondo / TrueBlueLA
• Michael Elizondo / TrueBlueLA
• Michael Elizondo / TrueBlueLA
• Michael Elizondo / TrueBlueLA
• Michael Elizondo / TrueBlueLA
• Michael Elizondo / TrueBlueLA
• Michael Elizondo / TrueBlueLA
• Michael Elizondo / TrueBlueLA

As for the game itself, Mom and I sat behind home plate, but not so close enough that there would be a repeat of the Anaheim experience. Two things of note of this game, which was quite entertaining, even though the Dodgers were walked off in Milwaukee in extra innings when I was around...again.

First off, the development of Ryan Pepiot. He’s not quite there yet, but there is a lot to like about this kid.

Michael Elizondo / TrueBlueLA

A proper analogy for where Pepiot is in development is Dustin May in 2020 or Tony Gonsolin in 2021 - flashes of great stuff, but he hasn’t quite figured it all out yet. But once he does though...oh baby.

The other thing of note apart from all the loud solo blasts from Joey Gallo, Chris Taylor, and Christina Yelich, was that catch by Chris Taylor in the bottom of the tenth. I think just about everyone at the ballpark thought that Andrew McCutchen had ended the game at that point. Fun fact, it was Andrew McCutchen who walked off the Dodgers in San Francisco during the 14-inning marathon game (home run off of Wilmer Font).

After JT put the Dodgers ahead in the top of the 11th, I had hoped Kimbrel could put the game to bed. He did, just not in the way that you would want.

Oh well, 3-2 is still a winning road trip and an overall record of 11-3 is still nothing to scoff at either. My mom had fun and she’s game to join me on the road again - most likely on her birthday.

Michael Elizondo / TrueBlueLA

Per the schedule for her birthday in 2023, the Dodgers will be in Los Angeles...playing Milwaukee. Are you freaking kidding me?!?... Baseball!

Michael Elizondo / TrueBlueLA

After I left - Really, Vassegh?!?

Normally, this moment would be the end of the Field Report. However, as my Mom and I were leaving Milwaukee, David Vassegh went down a slide that you normally have to pay $150 for the privilege of. It went well...until it didn’t.

You’re probably thinking - wait, this video is not the video that went viral, no one got injured here, why is this story such a big deal? In case you were living under a rock or mercifully had other things to do, you might be unaware that Dodgers’ reporter David Vassegh went down the Bernie slide at AFF and managed to break his wrist and crack six of his ribs. For whatever reason, Vassegh went down twice, and it’s the second run that every saw, winced, and/or laughed at.

I was moderately annoyed at this development, because it overshadowed a genuinely beautiful moment that occurred a couple of days prior: a child brought a sign that said “Wanna play catch, Mookie?” And Mookie being Mookie, the following happened:

How can you not be romantic about baseball? Anyway, this footage went viral for a hot second, well before the official team feed shared the story. The person who took this footage? His name is Nick and by sheer coincidence, he happened to be my tour guide at AFF. You can probably guess what is going to happen next.

Michael Elizondo / TrueBlueLA

It’s time for a conversation of the road. I will publish my interview with Nick in the coming weeks once we finally have a chance to chat in-depth. He’s a heck of a tour guide and he had an interesting story to share.

Next up, the final regular season trip of the year, unless Underdog or family drags me to Oracle Park, with a three-game series in San Diego on September 9-11. See you then!