five twentythree oh-two

the first game i ever attended at miller park took place on may 22, 2002, 19 years ago tonight. it was a night game between the dodgers and brewers - turn back the clock night, actually - and a friend and i drove from the twin cities to take it in. i left my camera in our hotel room and just enjoyed the game.  the dodgers didn't wear throwbacks, but the brewers wore old milwaukee braves uniforms. it was a good ol' fashioned pitcher's duel between the dodgers' hideo nomo and the brewers' ben sheets, with the only run coming on a shawn green triple that followed adrian beltre reaching first on a wild pitch strike three.

green had hit two homers the night before in the first game of the series, but we weren't able to get off of work in time to catch that game. instead, we had decided to take off after a half day on wednesday and drive to milwaukee to catch the last two games of the three game series. the final game of the series was a getaway day, with the two teams playing a matinee game on thursday. that featured the aformentioned green hitting four home runs and setting a major league record with 19 total bases. i have a few cards in my "games i've attended" collection to remember the events by:

2002 fleer tradition update this day in history #u1tdh shawn green

2002 fleer tradition update this day in history memorabilia #shgr shawn green

2002 topps etopps event series extra #es2 shawn green

2003 fleer box score #44 shawn green

this card was the subject of a post in august of 2018 in which i mentioned that i did not have a "games i attended" mini-collection. times have changed. here's the back:

2003 fleer box score classic miniatures #13 shawn green

2003 topps #333 shawn green season highlights

2003 topps opening day #161 shawn green season highlights

2003 topps tribute contemporary edition memorable materials #mem-sg shawn green relic

2003 upper deck #261 shawn green season highlight checklist

2003 upper deck standing o starring role jersey #sr-sg shawn green

2012 panini cooperstown famous moments autograph #6 shawn green

2013 panini hometown heroes curtain calls #cc5 shawn green

2013 panini hometown heroes curtain calls gold #cc5 shawn green

2015 topps update rarities

it was such an awesome display to witness. i've shown my ticket stub before, but here's the program:

and my scorecard:

for some reason i colored in all of the runs and not just the home runs.  unlike the night before, i took my camera to this game. the roof was open, which was nice. here's a shot looking down the left field line with jackie robinson's retired number on display

we bought tickets for the terrace reserved section, which are the cheapest in the ballpark. however, by the time the 7th inning rolled around, we were down behind home plate as green was coming up again and we wanted to be as close to the action as we could. this next photo is from alex sanchez' at bat in the bottom of the 7th. that's richie sexson on third, and you can see the other retired numbers on display for hank aaron, rollie fingers, robin yount, and paul molitor.

even though the roof was open, the large glass wall beyond the outfield made it feel like a shopping mall. 

i took this picture in the top of the 8th inning as green came to bat for the fifth time

he singled in that at bat, and we figured that was his last shot at a fourth home run. however, in the top of the ninth, adrian beltre homered with two outs and green on deck to extend the inning. here's a shot of beltre going deep

that brought green to the plate for a sixth time

and he hit home run number four

as you can imagine, i was pretty excited when i got my photos developed (yes, i was still using a film camera). here's a shot of green returning to the dugout

you can see that the back of the topps card was correct in that green received a standing ovation from the fans in the stadium, although it wasn't just brewers fans.

here's a shot of the final on the scoreboard

the home run distance shown in is reference to alex ochoa's home run that came with two out in the bottom of the ninth - the program cover boy delivered!

one more photo of the game wrap up

the other thing i remember about this game was watching kevin brown throw a pre-game session with pitching coach jim colborn. brown was on the mend as i recall but he was throwing hard.  i haven't been back to milwaukee since, so i'll also show a card from my "stadiums i've seen a game in" mini-collection.  this one is from 2002 fleer

and while we are sticking with mini-collections, i will also show the cards that represent shawn green in my favorite non-dodger and favorite dodger through the years mini collections.

i adopted green as my favorite non-dodger after the 1994 players' strike. paul molitor (my previous favorite non-dodger) was still active and performing at a high level, but green was in his first season as an every day player, and i was living in his home town of tustin, so it was easier to follow him. without further ado, here are the cards:

1995 upper deck collector's choice special edition

1996 topps

1997 upper deck

1998 donruss collections preferred

1999 pacific revolution diamond legacy

my favorite dodger during that run from 1995 through 1999 was raul mondesi, who was traded to the blue jays for green prior to the 2000 season. making green my new favorite dodger was a no-brainer. here are the cards that represent him in that role:

2000 pacific crown royale feature attractions

2001 bowman's best

2002 fleer ultra

2003 topps season highlights

2004 fleer classic clippings

green was then dealt to the diamondbacks before the 2005 season, and i was left wondering who would take his place. i wound up settling on none other than milton bradley. here's the card that i have in my mini-collection to represent his tenure:

2005 fleer ultra

bradley had turned in a productive 2004 season while also exhibiting his temper. he had undergone counseling in the offseason, and i was really rooting for the name on the back of the jersey in addition to the name on the front. besides, the 2005 dodgers were a real rag-tag group of guys cobbled together in the image of manager jim tracy.

bradley got off to a great start to the 2005 season but was injured towards the end of may and missed almost two months. he played for another month before returning to the dl for the remainder of the season. that was about the time that word came out that there had been a couple of domestic violence reports against him and i knew i was looking for a new favorite player - enter nomar, who like green, had at one time been my favorite non-dodger. this post has taken on a life of its own, so i'll just end it by saying i will never forget my trip to milwaukee, and while i secretly hope for something spectacular to happen every time i go to the ballpark, i don't think i will ever see anything like that again.