The Brewers cult hero who sprinkled some of his magic on Chourio

SAN DIEGO — Here’s a friendly suggestion for the Brewers should they push ahead in the postseason.

More Tony Plush.

The Brewers have two walk-off wins in playoff games since Nyjer Morgan — a.k.a. Tony Plush, or Tony Clutch, or one of the other alter-egos he employed during his brief but memorable tenure in Milwaukee — delivered the first postseason walk-off in franchise history in Game 5 of the 2011 NLDS against the D-backs.

There was Mike Moustakas’ winning hit in Game 1 of the 2018 NLDS against the Rockies.

Then Jackson Chourio came through in Game 2 of the 2026 NLDS against the Padres to electrify American Family Field on Sunday.

Both Moustakas and Chourio came through with singles to center field, just like Morgan.

And in a wild coincidence, Morgan was in the house for both moments.

He threw one of the day’s ceremonial first pitches prior to each of those games, first with his son, Nico, in 2018, and then with both Nico and his little sister, Valentina, on Sunday.

“I’m magical, baby!” Morgan said.

Perhaps he does have the magic touch. Morgan shared a video of himself from before the game, hyping Brewers players as they took the field for pregame warmups on Sunday afternoon.

One of the players he fist-bumped?

Chourio, of course.

“My magic, it sprinkled off on him,” Morgan said. “People don’t know that I shook his hand right before he hit the field. That Plush energy was definitely popping last night. I appreciate everything.”

In the interest of full disclosure, the plan to employ Morgan as a full-time postseason ceremonial first pitcher may not be completely foolproof. He also was on the mound prior to Game 2 of the 2023 NL Wild Card Series against the D-backs, when the Brewers needed to win to extend their season. Down three runs in the bottom of the ninth, they did manage to bring the tying run to the plate. But William Contreras struck out.

It was a much happier scene for Contreras on Sunday, when he laid on the grass behind home plate and pounded the ground while Sal Frelick slid home with the winning run for the Brewers.

Up in a stadium suite, Morgan celebrated along with them.

“I didn’t realize this – it was so emotional,” he said. “Just being with the fans, listening to everybody, watching everybody. There was a guy and his girlfriend, just holding each other. I met [Garrett] Mitchell’s mom and his family. Being a part of that, being in the stands, seeing the Milwaukee faithful, bro, that gave me the willies. That’s an amazing feeling to be on the other side, but to still have so much love for my team.

“This is the right team.”

What makes him believe?

“Timely hitting,” Morgan said. “It’s not how we were [in 2011], with those big bangers. This is a true baseball team, where everybody is getting timely hits, moving runners over, taking extra bases. That’s the game. Bunting when you’re supposed to. Good pitching. It’s everybody falling in line, man.”

He hopes to be back again soon.

He believes he will be back again soon.

“I better be back,” Morgan said. “I know I’ll be on a float. That’s what I’m hoping to be back for.”