Catching up with some former Brewers greats

This story was excerpted from Adam McCalvy's Brewers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Maybe it was bad timing to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the 1982 American League champion Brewers on Friday, and to add Prince Fielder to the team’s version of a Hall of Fame while also honoring Ryan Braun’s and Jonathan Lucroy’s accomplishments by adding them to the Wall of Honor on Saturday -- all amid a stretch in which the current Brewers are playing poorly and fans are upset about the Josh Hader trade.

Or maybe it was a good time to take a breath and remember some good old days.

The highest honor went to Fielder, who was inducted to the Walk of Fame and received a home plate-shaped granite slab on the plaza outside the ballpark. It should surprise no one that one of the most intense competitors in franchise history misses the rush of a sold-out ballpark.

“There's not much I can do to get that same feeling,” Fielder said in a one-on-one chat you’ll hear on this week’s episode of the Brewers Unfiltered podcast. “You can't really go and get pumped up playing golf or anything like that. So I just miss being able to give 100 percent on the field and do something and having it mean something, you know? Now when I play sports, it's just to have fun -- racquetball -- but being in it with that much competition and playing against the best was just a lot of fun, that's all.”

Besides Fielder playing racquetball, what is the trio up to these days?

Fielder: At-home dad
It was jarring for the reporters who remember being barraged by batted Wiffle Balls during postgame interviews with Fielder to see his sons, Jadyn and Haven, all grown up and just as tall or taller than their favorite former coach, Eddie Sedar.

“Jadyn had dreads but he took them out, so now he really looks like he did when we were here,” Fielder said. “He still has the same High School Musical haircut, you know what I mean? So now it's really, really making me feel old, because they look just like they did when I was here. It's always good, man, to see everything come full circle, and seeing the boys grow up. They're walking around here like, 'Man, we were just here.' It's like, 'Yeah, but that was a long time ago.’

“[Jadyn] is pretty good, man. He was going to go to Florida A&M, but he decommitted and now he's going to IMG [Academy] for fifth year [of high school]. He's only 17, so he figured, you know, [take] a little more time. And my youngest -- the ‘little’ guy -- he's in 11th grade and he's going to school in Orlando. It's pretty good seeing them grow up. They're both taller than me, so that's been answered for me. I'm happy and they're doing well.”

Braun: Investor and digital entrepreneur
“I'm not retired, I have two jobs,” Braun said while his three young children were playing nearby. “Parenting is the only thing I'm really doing full-time, which is the greatest joy of my life. But I took a good job with an asset management firm about a year ago. I love being around smart people doing interesting things.

"And then also, I'm part of a group that's launching a baseball instructional app called the Futures app. It's in beta testing right now. It's something we're incredibly excited about. A handful of high-profile Brewers and about 20 high-profile players across the sport are involved. The founders brought me in to kind of be the liaison between the baseball side and business side about 18 months ago, actually. So I'm super excited about the progress we've made there. And on the finance front, I've always loved math and numbers. I love being around smart people that are constantly teaching me the nuances of the space. So it's super fun.”

Lucroy: Recent retiree
Milwaukee holds an especially special place in Lucroy’s heart because he grew up here as a Major Leaguer, thrust into the big leagues after only 21 games of Triple-A ball. He married his wife, Sarah, here, and they became parents here. Coincidentally, their oldest, Ellia, turned 12 on Saturday as her dad officially signed the papers to retire as a Brewer.

"I made up my mind about a year ago that I was going to retire after I made 10 years of service,” Lucroy said. “I called [principal owner] Mark [Attanasio] and asked him if he would allow me to [retire as a Brewer], and he said yes, and I was thankful for that. It's a great privilege. I've been honored. I played a little bit over 10 years in the game, I got to experience a lot of things. I caught a no-hitter. I have a World Series ring from my very short time with Atlanta. I don't think I deserve that, but it's a good show-and-tell piece. I'll never wear it, but it's a cool thing to see and look at. I just look at it this way: The odds of playing 10 years in the league and to be associated with all these different things and experience what I have and play as long as I did, the odds are just so small and miniscule that you can't help but be humbled about it.

“[Retirement] is good. I'm still going, baby. I'm still running. I'm so rolling. It's awesome. I don't stop, I don't sit on the couch and eat chips or anything. I'm taking care of my kids and having fun with them and enjoying them. And I'm also doing some other things, some consulting work, some private equity stuff, some investing. I'm just trying to keep going, man. I don't like stopping and being mediocre. I don't want to do that. I'm not going to get fat. I want to keep going.”