{image1}The Yankees come to town next week to take on the Brewers at Miller Park. The Champ Cars come to the Milwaukee Mile this weekend.
Those are just two events that should create some buzz in June sports. The Yankees will be in town Monday through Wednesday. After a slow start, A-Rod, Derek Jeter and the other Bronx Bombers have been playing well in recent weeks.
Whether it's an inter-league series, or the World Series, as it was in 1957-58, the Yankees always create a buzz and are easy for Milwaukee fans to hate. That dates, in part, to the Yanks' reference to Milwaukee as "Bushville" during the '57 Series. (They were not referring to George W, who was a young boy then.)
Of course, the Braves made the New Yorkers eat their words by winning the Series that year. The rivalry continued after the Braves left town and Brewers arrived.
Before the Brewers switched to the National League, big series with the Yankees were a regular occurrence. The two teams played for the American League championship in the weird, split-season playoffs created by the 1981 work stoppage.
Billy Martin always created a stir when he managed the Yankees. Before it became politically incorrect, a Chinese Aviator night was held at County Stadium to goad Martin for a statement he made while in Milwaukee.
The current Yankees are managed by Joe Torre, who has strong ties to Milwaukee from his playing days with the Braves. So, the series should be fun.
Later in the month, the I-94 rivals, south and north, come to town when the Cubs play at Miller June 20-23 and the Twins June 24-26.
This Friday and Saturday, the Time Warner Cable Road Runner 225 will be held at the Milwaukee Mile. The top Champ Car drivers in the world will compete in the Saturday event. Leading up to that race itself are a variety of events, including a salute to the branches of the military.
Gen. Tommy Franks, the former commander of U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, will serve as Grand Marshall for that pre-race event. Lee Greenwood will sing at it. Check out the Hot Tix section of this column for more details.
The Name Game
Carlos Lee is the Brewers' Player of the Week and Sports Buzz Athlete of the Month. Lee set a team record for RBI in May. Other candidates for the Athlete of the Month honor included Lee's teammate Brady Clark and the Wave's Greg Howes and Todd Dusosky ... Andrew Bogut of Utah and Marvin Williams of North Carolina are being mentioned most often as the top pick in the NBA draft. The Bucks hold that pick ... Malik Communications has been hired by the Brewers to market baseball to African Americans. Mikel Holt, associate publisher of the Community Journal and a former member of the Miller Park district board is president of that firm ... State golfers Jerry Kelly, J.P. Hayes, Skip Kendall, Steve Stricker, Mario Tiziani and Mark Wilson have committed to play in the U.S. Bank Championship July 21-24 ... First baseman Blake Kangas, outfielders Mike Goetz and Joe Nowicki and DH Zak Rivera of UWM made the Horizon League all-tournament team. UWM finished second to UIC in the baseball tourney
Beyond Milwaukee Sports
UW-Whitewater won the NCAA Division III baseball championship by beating SUNY-Cortland, 11-4, Tuesday at Fox Cities Stadium in Grand Chute ... UW-La Crosse fell short of winning its fifth straight national track championship when it finished second to Lincoln (Mo.) in the NCAA meet last weekend ... The WIAA track meet will be held this weekend at La Crosse ... The Northwoods League opened action this week with a new team in Eau Claire. The college-player baseball league also has state teams in Wausau, La Crosse and Madison, with additional teams in Minnesota.
Hot Tix
The big salute to the military will take place at the Milwaukee Mile from 11 a.m. to noon Saturday. The Champ Car race, which will be televised nationally, will start at noon.
After the Champ Car event, the ARCA/RE/MAX Series 150 race will be held at 2:30 p.m. A variety of events leading up to the military salute and races will be held on Friday. You can get more details on those by going to milwaukeemile.com.
While dealing with auto racing, Car and Driver, the world's largest automotive enthusiast magazine, is sponsoring the Car and Driver Race Series -- powered by Precision Racing. No racing experience will be required and anyone can participate with their own car in a nationwide program, with no cops, no tickets and no clubs to join. The series will kick off a 20-city tour in Milwaukee on June 11-12 at Miller Park. The weekend event will be televised on Car and Driver TV on Spike TV.
The Car and Driver Race Series is designed to let you drive your car as fast as you can in a safe, professionally managed environment. The event will test your driver skill and car control in three unique driver's skill challenges. Winners of these competitions in Milwaukee will ultimately compete in a national two-day championship. Entry Fee is $99. Complete series information is available at caranddriverraceseries.com and precisionracing.org.
The Brewers' games with the Yankees next week all start at 7:05 p.m. All three games are designated as Marquee games, meaning some tickets cost more.
Before taking on the Yankees, the Brewers play at Philadelphia over the weekend. After the Yankees' series, the Crew is not home again until June 20 when the Cubs come to town.
Wave United starts its outdoor soccer season June 19 at the Minnesota Thunder. WU plays at Uihlein Field June 25 against Polonia Soccer Club as part of Polish Fest.
As mentioned in The Name Game, the Bucks will pick No. 1 when the NBA draft is held on June 28.
In addition to the WIAA track meet already mentioned, prep championships will be held in tennis, golf, girls' soccer and baseball in June. The tennis individual championships are this weekend at UW-Madison. The baseball tourney will be played June 14-16 at Fox Cities Stadium in Grand Chute.
