Brandon Woodruff has pitched some of the most important games in Milwaukee Brewers history but even he felt added pressure as he took the mound Wednesday afternoon against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Not only would a victory Wednesday maintain his perfect record on the season and extend Milwaukee’s winning streak to 12 games, free hamburgers for the entire city of Milwaukee were on the line.
“I was nervous,” Woodruff said. “There was a little bit more at stake today. I wanted to win those burgers bad. Who doesn’t want a free burger?”
The Brewers promptly beat the Pirates 12-5.
Local restaurant chain George Webb has been promising free burgers if the Brewers won 17 consecutive games for decades, starting way back when Milwaukee was home to the minor-league Brewers of the old American Association. The promotion dropped to 13 games by the time the Braves made Milwaukee a big-league city in 1953 but that franchise couldn’t make it happen before departing for Atlanta in 1966. Webb changed the promotion to 12 games when the Brewers moved from Seattle in 1970. In 1987, the Brewers opened the season with 13 wins in a row. More than 170,000 burgers were given away to mark the occasion.
The Brewers accomplished the feat a second time in 2018. They closed the regular season with eight regular-season victories followed by four playoff wins. Milwaukee have come close on a few occasions since, including an 11-game winning streak earlier this season.
The Brewers and their fans can relax and look down on the rest of MLB while they chomp on their burgers. Their 76 wins this year are six more than the second-best team, the Toronto Blue Jays.
George Webb will announce the details of the giveaway on Thursday afternoon.