The George Webb cooks can turn down the grills.
The Milwaukee Brewers could not win a 12th straight game and there will be no free burgers.
Managing just two hits, the Brew Crew lost to the Seattle Mariners 1-0 on July 22,, dropping their record to 60-41, which is still tied for the best record in Major League Baseball. But the team did not reach that ultra local milestone — when George Webb hands out free burgers to Wisconsinites.
George Webb, the founder of the American chain restaurant, started this promotion in the 1940s, after Webb opened the first “hamburger parlor” in Milwaukee in 1948. He predicted the then-minor-league Brewers would win 12 games in a row.
The promotion regained steam years after Bud Selig bought the Seattle Pilots in 1970 and moved major league baseball back to Milwaukee, renaming the team the Brewers.
When the team started the season 13-0 in 1987, George Webb delivered on a promise to give everyone free burgers. It would only happen again in 2018 during the playoffs.
The company said it was prepared to hand out 100,000 burgers. In 2018, George Webb made 90,000 burgers and handed out 100,000 vouchers.
Jack Albright contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin won’t get free George Webb burgers as the Milwaukee Brewers fall one win short of milestone
Reporting by Drake Bentley, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
