Milwaukee fans are again thinking about free George Webb burgers. Can the Brewers pull it off this time?
For the third time this season, the Milwaukee Brewers are flirting with the hallowed promotion that offers free burgers to fans if the Brewers can win 12 consecutive games.
Milwaukee fell short on streaks of eight games and 11 games earlier this summer, but the team now has nine consecutive wins heading into a series with the Pittsburgh Pirates at American Family Field, beginning Monday, Aug. 11.
That means we'll know by Wednesday late afternoon, Aug. 13, if free burgers are in our future.
It's the first time the Brewers have had three winning streaks of eight games or more in the same season. In Major League Baseball, the Atlanta Braves last did the feat in 2023, winning eight games in April, another eight in June and a nine-game streak that began shortly after the second eight-game run ended. That was part of a 27-4 run for the Braves that ended after the first week in July.
The Braves also turned the feat of three eight-game winning streaks in 2022, and the Los Angeles Dodgers did so in 2021.
How many wins do the Brewers need to get fans free burgers?
The famous George Webb prediction offers free burgers to fans if Milwaukee wins 12 games in a row. Heading into the week of Aug. 11, they need three wins, so they need to sweep the Pittsburgh Pirates (51-68).
The Pirates seem like they're not very good, right?
Sure, they're in last place in the National League Central and own the fourth-worst record in MLB, but the Brewers will certainly be facing the best pitching Pittsburgh has to offer, including superstar Paul Skenes.
What are the pitching matchups for the Pirates series?
Obviously, the Brewers could lose any game, but the real test will be Tuesday when Cy Young favorite Skenes toes the rubber against Milwaukee.
Monday, Aug. 11 (6:40 p.m. CT): Andrew Heaney (5-9, 4.77 ERA) vs. Jose Quintana (9-4, 3.57). A pair of left-handers wage battle in the opener.
Tuesday, Aug. 12 (6:40 p.m. CT): Paul Skenes (7-8, 1.94 ERA) vs. Freddy Peralta (13-5, 3.03). The aces square off. Earlier this year, in one of the more memorable games in recent regular-season history, Skenes lost a tough battle with Brewers phenom Jacob Misiorowski before a packed house at American Family Field.
Wednesday, Aug. 13 (1:10 p.m. CT): Mitch Keller (5-10, 3.86 ERA) vs. Brandon Woodruff (4-0, 2.29). The Brewers have yet to lose any of Woodruff's six starts since his return from injury, but the Pirates have won Keller's last five starts and seven of eight.
What is George Webb's again?
George Webb's first burger-diner location was founded in 1948 at the corner of East Ogden Avenue and North Van Buren Street in Milwaukee. There are 20 locations in the metro Milwaukee area.
How many times have the Brewers won 12 straight games in franchise history?
Twice. The 1987 Brewers, better known as "Team Streak," won the first 13 games of the year after getting as close as 10 wins three times. That included an unforgettable Easter Sunday victory for No. 12.
The 2018 Brewers won 12 straight into the playoffs, with eight straight wins to close the regular season and four wins to open the postseason.
When did the George Webb free-burger promotion begin?
The famous George Webb prediction dates more than 80 years, unofficially beginning in the late 1940s and then formalized in 1965 when the restaurant owners painted the prediction on the diner walls and advertised in local papers. Webb, perhaps apocryphally, once declared that if his hometown team won 12 in a row, free burgers would be served.
Webb never stipulated precisely what would happen if the minor-league Brewers won X number of games (the actual value jumped around, but 12 was the canonical declaration). It was presumed by many that there'd be a giveaway when the local baseball team hit the threshold. Then, the Braves left town after the 1965 season, so that got put on hold at least a few more years.
Son Jim Webb, then an owner and operator of the restaurants, formalized the deal of free burgers for 12 wins when the Brewers came to town in 1970, 13 years after his father's death.
Three days after the Brewers won their 12th in 1987, the restaurants handed out almost 168,194 free hamburgers (some people still have theirs!). To meet the demand, then-owner David Stamm ordered more than 25,000 pounds of ground beef and went through 2,868 pounds of onions in addition to 367,180 slices of pickles.
Milwaukee won another 12 straight games in October 2018, sealing the promotional giveaway with a win in the first game of the National League Championship Series against the Dodgers. George Webb served up 90,000 burgers and handed out 100,000 free burger vouchers, then handed out the burgers after the playoffs.
The Brewers won 11 straight in 2021 but fell just short of yet another giveaway when Pittsburgh beat the Brewers on July 4, 2-0. This season in Seattle, the Brewers had an 11-game streak and Misiorowski on the hill, but the Brewers lost a heartbreaker, 1-0.
So, if the Brewers sweep the Pirates, the burgers will just be free on Wednesday and it'll be chaos?
Not exactly. See above. We assume it'll be a lot like 2018, with vouchers handed out for a later date.
Are George Webb burgers good?
Scrumptiousness is in the eye of the beholder. They're free — why are you complaining?
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brewers fans again eye free George Webb burgers with winning streak
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