MILWAUKEE (CN) - A beloved Wisconsin diner chain was on the hook for more than 100,000 free burgers after the Milwaukee Brewers, for only the third time in history, clenched their 12th consecutive win.

George Webb, a 24/7 diner franchise exclusive to the southeastern part of the state, began serving free burgers on Wednesday to celebrate the Milwaukee Brewers' recent win streak. After clinching their 12th consecutive win last Wednesday, the team kept on winning, setting a franchise-record 14 consecutive victories after defeating the Cincinnati Reds Saturday.

George Webb opened his first restaurant in 1948 on the corner of Ogden and Van Buren. That location is now an AT&T store, but the restaurant has nevertheless grown into a franchise with 23 locations. In the early years of the business, Webb was locally famous for his wacky sales gimmicks, his sense of humor and his love of baseball.

Legend has it Webb predicted that the Brewers would win 12 consecutive games in the 1940s and hinted that his restaurant would give away free hamburgers if they did. Locals held onto that, but things didn't get serious until 1987 when the Brewers won 13 consecutive games.

Webb made good on his non-promise, and, 168,000 free hamburgers later, it's become a tradition. Luck struck again in 2018 with 12 consecutive hits and 90,000 free hamburgers.

Somehow, the restaurant chain did it again on Wednesday. The diner chain handed out 100,000 vouchers to lucky customers in stores and online, which can be used until Friday, and promised a free burger to anyone who showed up at one of its locations between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Wednesday.

As the free burgers began flying off the grills, every George Webb restaurant had a line out the door, with workers decked out in Brewers' gear.

Christian Yellich triggered the giveaway with a walk-off home run, securing a 12-5 win against the Pittsburgh Pirates, bringing joy to Wisconsin burger lovers.

Rik Akey left work early Wednesday to make sure he and his wife Cynthia got their freebie.

"It happens so rarely; I might be dead the next time this opportunity comes around," said.

Akey graduated high school the year of the inaugural burger giveaway and was living out of state the second time it came around. He said he was sad to miss those celebrations, but the third time is the charm. The pair waited in line outside the downtown Milwaukee location, where hundreds had already received their burgers and the line kept on growing.

Julie Hanisch, an English and drama teacher at Mukwonago High School, said that it isn't really about the burger for most people.

"It's more than a free hamburger, that's just the icing on the cake," Hanisch said. "It's standing in line with the other fans. It's a break from all the stresses. It's something lighthearted, and I am really grateful to George Webb for putting it together."

Hanisch was sitting in a park near the diner people-watching those still waiting in line - which had wrapped around the restaurant and down the block - at the Wauwatosa location while she enjoyed her free burger. She said she wanted to find a quiet spot to eat and soak up the final days before the school year starts back up.

Many on social media had gripes about vouchers running out, or the promotion ending too early in the day, but Hanisch says that she hopes people can just enjoy the day.

"My goodness, people! George Webb is doing something nice for the community, so if you can stop by that is great, but I hope people can just enjoy the season otherwise," she said.

Both Hanisch and Akey said they plan to return to their local George Webb locations to sit down and buy a meal to show their gratitude to the company, despite neither being regulars at the spot. Akey only goes for breakfast usually, but he said the burger was alright, too.

The promotion is so popular in town that Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley arrived at the Wauwatosa store to shake hands and hand out a few burgers himself. He started at the front of the line and shook every hand to the very end of the queue. It took 30 minutes to do so.

Before that, though, he went inside the restaurant to speak with George Webb owner Philip Anderson. He purchased the franchise in the early 2000s, but he told Courthouse News that he can remember when a George Webb burger cost three cents.

"Can you even believe that?" Anderson said. "We honor this tradition because we just have to, it's incredible. I start sweating around the 9th or 10th win, but I really do love it."

Back in the early days of Webb's first burger parlor, he excited fans with deals such as "Free Rabbit Lunch Tomorrow" or offers to pay $10 for 1,893 pennies. The trick he is perhaps best known for, though, is double clocks.

At one point in Milwaukee's history, local law prohibited businesses from being open 24 hours a day. Webb found a loophole, announcing his restaurants were open "23 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds, seven days a week and on Sundays."

Rather than close, each restaurant hung two clocks side-by-side set one minute apart so that the store was technically closed one minute per day on one clock, but open on the other, according to the company's website.

Anderson says there may be no way to know just how many burgers were given away on Wednesday but that the tradition will live on forever.

Source: Courthouse News Service