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The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series on Friday night, and in doing so helped the city of Milwaukee to free hamburgers.
Friday was the 12th straight win for the Brewers, fulfilling a prophecy made by the founder of George Webb Restaurants seven decades ago. From the Webb-site:
It started with George Webb himself in the 1940s with the Brewer teams of the American Association. George, ever the baseball fan and home team booster, predicted the team would win 12 straight games. If they managed the feat, George hinted the restaurants would give away free hamburgers. The prediction lived on when Milwaukee's home team became the Braves, and continued the tradition when the Brewers took up residence in town. And oh, how close the teams are several times. You could almost taste victory (and burgers). Finally, on April 19, 1987, the Brewers did it. Three days, and 168,194 hamburgers later, George Webb fulfilled the payoff, to thrilled customers and Brewers fans alike.
Milwaukee wins 13 straight to open the 1987 season, the major league record for best start to a season. But they have not reached the predicted dozen mark since.
The Brewers won their final tie for the National League Central, then beat the Chicago Cubs to win the division. A sweep of the Colorado Rockies in the NLDS for the streak at 11, one shy of history.
"Who knew we would be doing this?" Brewers manager Craig Counsell asked before Game 1. "I remember the concept of free hamburgers going back so long, it's hard to believe that it's never happened since then. I guess it's a pretty good streak. But it's something for everybody for sure, and I mean, free hamburgers is free hamburgers. "
To prepare for the potential freebies, George Webb vice president Ryan Stamm told the Washington Post the company would "order an extra 200,000 hamburger buns and between 30,000 and 40,000 pounds of beef."
The chain will give away the free burgers – one per person – from 2-6 p.m. CT on Thursday, Oct. 18.
"It's been a long time coming and we are thrilled that our famous predication is once again true," said Stamm in a statement after Friday's win. "It's been great to see us and we're going to be happy with this one."
That's a lot of burgers, but that's what happens when the Brewers' last loss was September 12. Now Milwaukee can celebrate the victory, and the gift. After all, free hamburgers is free hamburgers.
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