Eric Thames has fast become a Milwaukee legend. Already endowed with his own home run cheer song and collection of folk hero tall tales, obviously, the logical progression is for the bearded, brawny and beer-loving slugger to get his own T-shirt.
And the Brewers are now making that happen, announcing Thursday that a shirt will be swiftly made and given away to fans – courtesy of BP C’Mon Back Club – for the team’s home game against the Pittsburgh Pirates on June 19 at Miller Park.
"Eric has been one of the great stories in Major League Baseball this season, and fans have been purchasing his gear as fast as we can stock it," said Brewers Chief Operating Office Rick Schlesinger. "It’s rare that we’re able to add All Fan Giveaways after the season has started, especially with production timelines, but this is a unique situation. We know fans will enjoy the opportunity to own this uniquely designed item."
The Thames T-shirt is free and features Thames and his iconic beard, with the words "Revere the Beerd" inscribed within his facial hair. Clearly, the Brewers are recognizing that anything and everything Thames-related is gold. This promotion might even surpass the upcoming Robin Yount Motorcycle Bobblehead giveaway on May 28, though it still falls short of the presumably epic Bob Uecker Magic 8-Ball on Aug. 13.
Thames, who signed a three-year contract with the Brewers in the offseason after spending three seasons playing in Korea, is tied for second in the majors with 13 home runs. The 30-year-old has a .315/.435/.693 slash line.
Tickets for the Thames T-shirt game against Pittsburgh are available for as little as $6 in the Terrace Reserved section, thanks to Miller High Life Mondays.
Born in Milwaukee but a product of Shorewood High School (go ‘Hounds!) and Northwestern University (go ‘Cats!), Jimmy never knew the schoolboy bliss of cheering for a winning football, basketball or baseball team. So he ditched being a fan in order to cover sports professionally - occasionally objectively, always passionately. He's lived in Chicago, New York and Dallas, but now resides again in his beloved Brew City and is an ardent attacker of the notorious Milwaukee Inferiority Complex.
After interning at print publications like Birds and Blooms (official motto: "America's #1 backyard birding and gardening magazine!"), Sports Illustrated (unofficial motto: "Subscribe and save up to 90% off the cover price!") and The Dallas Morning News (a newspaper!), Jimmy worked for web outlets like CBSSports.com, where he was a Packers beat reporter, and FOX Sports Wisconsin, where he managed digital content. He's a proponent and frequent user of em dashes, parenthetical asides, descriptive appositives and, really, anything that makes his sentences longer and more needlessly complex.
Jimmy appreciates references to late '90s Brewers and Bucks players and is the curator of the unofficial John Jaha Hall of Fame. He also enjoys running, biking and soccer, but isn't too annoying about them. He writes about sports - both mainstream and unconventional - and non-sports, including history, music, food, art and even golf (just kidding!), and welcomes reader suggestions for off-the-beaten-path story ideas.
