The Navy’s top official visited the National League Central Division’s top team Tuesday as Navy Secretary Ray Mabus threw out a ceremonial first pitch before a baseball game at Miller Park, part of a day-long celebration of Littoral Combat Ship 5 being given the name Milwaukee. The original announcement was made March 18.
The Navy didn’t supply a pic of Mabus rifling a fastball off the Miller Park mound. But it did snap the secretary chatting on the field with former not-so-great-but-he-admits-it baseball player Bob Uecker, the longtime and beloved Brewers radio broadcaster who graced the movie “Major League” with lines such as, “Heywood leads the league in most offensive categories, including nose hair. When this guy sneezes, he looks like a party favor. ”
Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus gives Bob Uecker a USS Milwaukee ballcap before throwing the ceremonial first pitch at the Sept. 13 Brewers-Rockies game at Miller Park in Milwaukee. // U.S. Navy photo by Chief Mass Communication Specialist Sam Shavers
We like baseball at The Scoop Deck, so here’s a priceless line from Uecker that a screenwriter didn’t write: “I led the league in `Go get ’em next time’.”
Back to the action: Mabus also met with Brewers players and, out on the field, introduced the crowd to a graphic of the future USS Milwaukee, displayed on the park’s Jumbotron screen. Earlier in the day, Mabus took part in other activities around the city, including the hosting of an event at Discovery World for Navy supporters, sailors and local officials.
No word on whether Mabus stuck around for the end of the game but if he did, he saw joy in Mudville: the Brewers beat the Rockies 2-1 on a walk-off home run by slugger Ryan Braun leading off the bottom of the 11th.
1 Comment
Show the Mayor with the Secretary! He was there with him during the opening pitch. His picture with the Mayor of the City about the ship named for the City would stand for more than a picture with this drunken crewman.