A Bathroom Inspiration

This is how baseball ga-ga I am...I keep the Brewers media guide next to the toilet.
I figure down-time is a good opportunity to buff up my horsehide I-Q.

I'm on the "Retired Numbers" page, looking at the dates when Robin Yount and Paul Molitor had their ceremonies at County Stadium. I get to the Hank Aaron part, and it says only that the club retired his 44...with no mention of any "ceremonies".

I asked a ballclub official about that--a greybeard, like me--and he says he can't remember any such event for baseball's all-time home run leader, only that then-owner Bud Selig decreed that no one would ever wear that number again as a Brewer. A good call, indeed, but one that didn't get a ballpark bash as an exclamation point.

Just thinkin' out loud here...but now that we've determined via GPS coordinates where Aaron's 755th home run ball landed July 20th, 1976, and that said spot will forever be remembered with a plaque...be it resolved that THIS would be the perfect chance to kill two birds with one proverbial baseball: observe the unveiling of the marker with an "official" number retirement ceremony. And, as the Braves mark the 50th anniversary of Milwaukee's one and only World Series win, why not tie it all together with one, big, giant bash at Miller Park? I know the Brewers are in the midst of remembering the 1982 A-L pennant winners, but what the heck? A chance to give Hank his props, as well as his surviving teammates? Not to be crass, but it also has some healthy marketing opportunities, too. I'm always thinking about movin' the merch, you know.

Hank's already said he's busy when and if Barry Bonds hits number 756, and personally, I think it's a good call. As all of baseball looked the other way during the steroids era, Aaron is the one guy who can claim the high ground and steer clear of what promises to be one of the game's more muted celebrations.

What better way to remember Hank, the Braves, and all that's right with the game by unveiling the 755 marker, remembering the 44 that hangs in Miller Park, and embracing the '57 Braves one more time with a gathering Friday night, July 20th when...why, what a coincidence! The Brewers play Bonds and the Giants that night.

THAT would be TOO PERFECT.