Brice Turang’s walk-off winner provided the perfect, serendipitous finish to the Milwaukee Brewers’ uplifting three-game sweep of the New York Yankees at American Family Field, sending the Mother’s Day crowd home happy with a 4-3 victory.
Turang was wearing No. 2, the same jersey number and the same pinstripes as Bill Hall, who homered in the 10th inning on May 14, 2006 for a memorable Mother’s Day walk-off winner. That marked the inaugural year of Major League Baseball using pink bats on the holiday, giving Hall an unusual weapon with which he won the game.
Hall was facing Chad Bradford of the New York Mets, wearing No. 53. On Sunday, another New York pitcher, the Yankees’ David Bednar, also was wearing No. 53 and pitching to No. 2. The winning blow came with two outs and nobody on.
The Brewers’ record of 37-22 (.627) all-time on Mother’s Day is the best record in the major leagues, and Milwaukee now has three walk-off winners on those days in the past 20 years, along with Martín Maldonado’s single in 2015. Still, Hall’s resonates in a way that few others have. He offered congratulations to Turang on his Instagram story, along with a few posts that fit the theme.
On the day of Hall’s blast, many players had used their pink bats for one or two at-bats before setting them aside for something more comfortable.
But not Hall. Despite three swinging strikeouts earlier in the game, Hall stayed with the uniquely colored lumber.
You remember what came next. But what did you forget about the game?
Yes, Bill Hall’s mother still has the pink bat
With his mother, Vergie, in the stands, Hall’s opposite-field blast gave the Brewers a 6-5 win. The bat itself was taken to be auctioned off for breast cancer research, but Vergie got to keep a replica.
“She has it mounted up with a big picture of me and her when Mr. Mark [Attanasio] presented us with the bat,” Hall said during a 2025 interview. “It’s amazing for her. Every Mother’s Day, she gets to kind of get famous again because it’s the first thing ESPN shows on Mother’s Day is that home run.”
The play almost never happened because of Hall’s great defense
Hall nearly made an acrobatic play at shortstop to end the game in the ninth, but Prince Fielder couldn’t corral a short-hop throw at first base, allowing the tying run to score with two outs on Xavier Nady’s infield single against Derrick Turnbow, marking Turnbow’s first blown save of the year.
Hall, who also played center field that season, then shifted to the outfield, where he caught a fly ball off the bat of José Reyes in the 10th.
Jorge de la Rosa struck out a Hall of Famer to preserve the tie
The Mets put two on with two outs in the top of the 10th against left-hander Jorge De La Rosa, but he struck out Carlos Beltrán to end the threat. Beltrán is part of the Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2026.
With the game still tied, Hall came to bat with two down and nobody on base, but he took a 2-0 pitch from Bradford out for the unforgettable highlight. Milwaukee moved to 19-19 on the year.
The walk-off magic was just getting started for the Brewers
It’s fitting that the 2026 Brewers carried a streak of two straight walk-off wins into the new week.
In 2006, Milwaukee also won its next two games in walk-off fashion, both against Philadelphia.
Hall, who doubled leading off the ninth, was racing to third with nobody out of a 2-2 game when Damian Miller bunted, and an errant throw by Phillies pitcher Ryan Franklin allowed Hall to score the winning run.
One night later, the Phillies scored three runs in the ninth against Turnbow and Brian Shouse to tie the game at 7-7, but Geoff Jenkins won the game with an RBI single with two down in the bottom half. Hall batted right before Jenkins … and was intentionally walked.
It was the year of Bill Hall, though the Phillies game came with a key injury
The Brewers finished the year 75-87, but it was definitely the year of Bill Hall, who hit 35 home runs to lead the team and drove in a squad-best 85 runs while posting an .899 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) and playing several positions on the diamond, though mostly at shortstop. J.J. Hardy suffered a season-ending ankle injury in the first win over the Phillies, opening up a consistent spot for Hall at short.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: What you forgot about Bill Hall’s famous home run on Mother’s Day
Reporting by JR Radcliffe, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
