Free burgers are back in Milwaukee.
The Brewers won their 12th straight game on Wednesday afternoon when they beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 12-5 at American Family Field. That automatically triggered a gimmick that has been around in Milwaukee since the 1940s and earned local residents a free burger from George Webb.
“I was nervous,” pitcher Brandon Woodruff said, via The Associated Press. “There was a little more at stake today. I wanted those burgers bad. Who doesn’t want a free burger?”
The George Webb promotion started back decades ago, first with a 17-game win streak offer. But when the Braves joined the major leagues in 1953, the promotion dropped to 13. The Brewers, after moving in from Seattle, then opened the 1987 season with 13 straight wins. That led to more than 170,000 burgers being handed out.
Though the promotion dates back decades, this is the first time that the Brewers have won 12 games in a row since 2018 and just the third time in history. They came close a couple of times earlier this season with an eight-game run early on and then an 11-game tear that went through the All-Star break. The Brewers ended up losing to the Seattle Mariners to snap that streak, however, and had to start again.
This current win streak dates back to Aug. 1, when they beat the Washington Nationals 16-9. That led to sweeps of the Nationals, Atlanta Braves, New York Mets and most recently the Pirates. The Brewers now sit at 76-44 and hold a 7.5-game lead in the NL Central race.
While the Brewers certainly have bigger aspirations, including making it out of the opening round of the playoffs after failing to do so the past two years, free burgers for the city is an incredible start to this last stretch of the season.
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