If the Milwaukee Brewers win against the L.A. Dodgers tomorrow night, Milwaukee residents will enjoy a freebie they haven’t experienced since 1987: free burgers from George Webb restaurants. The tradition began in the 1940s when Mr. Webb himself predicted Milwaukee’s team—then the Braves—would “win 12 in a row.” The city somehow took this as a guarantee that Webb’s restaurants would dispense free burgers should it come true; and according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Webb stoked their enthusiasm by printing the prophecy on napkins. When it finally happened in 1987, free burgers did in fact rain down upon Milwaukee—and one man still has his.
Rodney Waters has kept his burger, dubbed “Little Georgie,” frozen inside its wrapper and a Ziploc bag for 30 years. FOX 6 reports Waters had the burger notarized to verify its authenticity, and has zero plans to ever consume it. Instead, he’d rather auction it off for charity. (Any takers?) Yes, Waters says he’ll be in line for another free burger should the Brewers best the Dodgers this week.
Though the game’s result is quite out of their control, George Webb restaurants are making necessary preparations in anticipation of a Brewers victory. The company gave away 168,000 burgers—that’s 25,000 pounds of ground beef and 286 gallons of mustard—in 1987, and this year all 30 locations of the 24-hour restaurants have begun planning early.
“With the games spread throughout the playoffs, it gives us time to plan,” George Webb’s vice president Ryan Stamm told the Journal Sentinel. “We’re not actually resting, we’re working behind the scenes.”