Tuesday, June 23

CINCINNATI -- Before we get to the rules of what the Brewers have planned for next month for former players ranging from NL MVP Ryan Braun to utility man Jeff Bianchi, and all-time strikeout leader Yovani Gallardo to relief pitcher/slugger Brooks Kieschnick, let’s settle the terminology. 

Because that’s where Braun wants to start. 

“I like the phrases ‘legends’ and ‘alumni’ better than I like ‘old timers,’” Braun said. “It makes you feel a little bit better, you know?”

So, leave the Old Timers' Games to teams like the Yankees. The Brewers are calling their event an Alumni Legends Game, and it’s scheduled for July 24 following that day’s game against the Rockies at American Family Field. 

It’s a case of the Brewers unapologetically double-dipping into the nostalgia bin, having pulled off a thrilling Alumni Home Run Derby last year to celebrate 25 seasons at their domed home. Now they’re celebrating the 25th anniversary of American Family Field with a similar event, a three-inning game involving players who, all together, represent every season of Brewers baseball since the stadium opened. 

The result is a delightfully chaotic collection of stars, role players and everyone in between. Here’s the list of committed participants put forth by the club on Monday morning, with players who represented the Brewers at All-Star Games in bold: 

INF Jesús Aguilar

RHP Chase Anderson

OF Ryan Braun

INF Jeff Bianchi

RHP Brad Boxberger

LHP Doug Davis

RHP Tim Dillard

RHP Yovani Gallardo

INF Bill Hall

INF/OF Corey Hart

RHP Jeremy Jeffress

OF Geoff Jenkins

C Erik Kratz

RHP Corey Knebel

RHP Dan Kolb

C George Kottaras

RHP/slugger Brooks Kieschnick

RHP Brandon Kintzler

C Jonathan Lucroy

OF Nyjer Morgan

INF Mike Moustakas

LHP Chris Narveson

INF/OF Jace Peterson

C Manny Piña

1B Richie Sexson

INF Travis Shaw

RHP Ben Sheets

INF Eric Sogard

1B Eric Thames

RHP Carlos Villanueva

LHP Randy Wolf

Former Brewers coaches Ed Sedar and Garth Iorg will manage teams drafted by former GM Doug Melvin and assistant GM Gord Ash the day before.

For Melvin and Ash, seeing the participant roster brought back a flood of memories. For Ash, it was the players from the early 2000s like Sheets, Jenkins and Hall who helped lift the Brewers from perennial also-rans to contenders, beginning with the club’s return to the postseason in 2008. And for Melvin, it was the small details, like the players he acquired or dealt in trades -- sometimes both -- or the way the Brewers experimented with Kieschnick as a two-way player when Shohei Ohtani was still in grade school in Japan, or the methodical way that Davis moved through his Brewers starts. 

“I want to see Doug Davis with the pitch clock,” Melvin said.

The GMs are already doing their scouting. Ash said he ran into Kottaras, the former catcher, at the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame recently. And Melvin is planning lunch with Jenkins, who bought a place near Melvin’s vacation home in Park City, Utah. 

“Hey, no tampering,” Ash said. 

“Gord has been holding tryouts already,” said Melvin. 

They were joking. Or were they?

That’s one of the great unknowns with this event: How seriously will players take an exhibition game set for three innings or one hour, whichever comes first? (If they tie, the winner will be settled via home run derby, the Brewers say.)

“I expect it to be competitive,” Braun said. “It was very much that way last year. Any time you step back between the lines, guys get competitive. I know I’ve already got texts from some guys, especially hitters, saying, ‘Are the pitchers actually throwing offspeed pitches? Is this a real game?’

“To the best of my knowledge, yes. I expect it to be competitive. There will definitely be some banter and some fun trash talk.”

If last year’s event was an indication, it will be a hot ticket.

“The Home Run Derby was so much fun. It far exceeded all of our expectations,” Braun said. “The energy and the enthusiasm in the ballpark, it was electric, man. It was so much fun. All of us had an incredible experience with that, so we’re just looking forward to the opportunity to get back out there and reconnect with our fans and get to see former teammates, coaches, Doug and Gord, front-office personnel and the current team.

“We’re very much looking forward to it. I don’t know that any of us are prepared or in the best baseball shape, but we’ll definitely enjoy it.”

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If Brewers fans want to put a Milwaukee player in the starting lineup for next month’s All-Star Game in Philadelphia, there’s a lot of work to do. 

The four Brewers players in contention all held their ground in the latest ballot update released on Monday: Brice Turang third among second baseman and first baseman Jake Bauers, catcher William Contreras and designated hitter Christian Yelich all fourth at their respective positions. 

While you can see all of the leaderboards here, it’s Turang who has the best shot. Here are the current vote totals at second base:

1. Ozzie Albies, Braves: 972,537
2. Bryson Stott, Phillies: 801,006
3. Turang: 739,111
4. Hyeseong Kim, Dodgers: 659,500
5. Luis Arraez, Giants: 614,164

Here’s what my colleagues Shanthi Sepe-Chepuru and Brian Murphy wrote about the race:

Possibly the most competitive position overall, as a reminder, the top two players at every non-outfield position will move on to the second round of fan voting, but just over 358,000 votes separate first-place Albies and fifth-place Arraez, making this race most susceptible to a seismic shift. (Note: Kim, who remains fourth among second basemen, was optioned to Triple-A on May 29.)

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