Dave Bush didn't exactly set the world on fire at the start of the 2009 season. In his first three appearances (two starts), Bush had posted a 5.40 ERA and pitched in three Brewer losses, allowing 16 hits and five walks in his first 13.1 innings. Two years ago on this day he was due to start again for the Brewers.
A little less than a year earlier I had been at Miller Park for a Dave Bush start under similar circumstances, sitting in the best seats I'd ever purchased at Miller Park. A few minutes before the first pitch, I got this text from my dad:
"You just paid $100 to watch Dave Bush."
That's really relevant to nothing, but it's the game I thought I was writing about when I started this post. I feel like it's a good addition to the story, so I'm leaving it in there.
At any rate, on this day Dave Bush flirted with history. For seven and one third innings he held the Phillies hitless, walking three but allowing nothing else. Finally, with one out in the eighth, Matt Stairs hit a solo home run to break up the party. Bush recorded one more out before being lifted from the game, which the Brewers eventually won 6-1.
Happy birthday today to 1953-64 Milwaukee Brave Warren Spahn, who would have turned 90.