Nearly 20,000 fans crowded into American Family Field on Thursday night to watch their beloved Brewers take on the Dodgers in a game played more than 2,000 miles away in Los Angeles with Milwaukee looking to return to the World Series for the first time since 1982.
The atmosphere inside the ballpark was electric from the start as fans watched Game 4 of the National League Championship Series on the massive centerfield video board. Loud and repeated chants of “let’s go Brewers!” echoed throughout the ballpark, which had its roof closed on the cool, rainy night.
Concession stands and team retail stores were open. Beer vendors made their way up and down the aisles doling out beverages to thirsty fans who were antsy to celebrate what they hoped would be the team’s first-ever National League title.
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Fans stood for the singing of the National Anthem. The Brewers Dance Crew performed on the roof of both dugouts. Mascots Bernie Brewer and Barrelman roamed throughout the ballpark, interacting with fans and posing for pictures. And the sausage race was held, as usual, with Chorizo legging out a come-from-behind victory as the crowd roared, foreshadowing what was to come.
This all provided fans with the usual game-day experience, as if the Brewers were on the field in front of them.
“It was a great idea to open the ballpark. It felt like we were part of the game,” said Whitefish Bay resident Eddy Sadowsky, 70, who attended the game with his wife, Carol Knabe, both long-time Brewers fans. “We kept waiting for the team to come out on the field. We thought they were here.”
Cudahy resident Joseph Bukowski, 33, agreed.
“It many ways it felt just like a home game. I just didn’t have to watch for foul balls,” he said.
Fans paid $15 for tickets, which included a $10 concessions credit, to attend the watch party, with net proceeds from the ticket sales benefitting the Brewers Community Foundation.
The crowd became a bit subdued when the Brewers fell behind 4-0 early in the game but came back to life as Milwaukee began to chip away at the lead when Jake Bauers connected for a ground-rule double to drive in two runs in the fourth.
The cheers and chants grew louder in the fifth when the Brewers scored twice to tie it and when Garrett Mitchell launched a home run in the sixth to give Milwaukee the lead, it was bedlam at the ballpark.
Fans rose to their feet in the top of the ninth inning when David Hamilton laced a home run to give the Brewers a 6-4 lead. They remained standing as stellar reliever Aaron Ashby took the mound to try to get the game’s final three outs, with cheers growing louder with each pitch.
And when a hard-charging Jackson Chourio chased down a liner off the bat of Kiké Hernández on the warning track to seal the Brewers’ incredible 6-4 come-from-behind victory and send the Brewers to the World Series, it became pure pandemonium.
Many fans cried tears of joy, others hugged family and friends and high-fived strangers. One fan dressed in a Brewers jersey dropped to one knee at his seat, overcome with emotion.
“I cried so hard, thinking of the loyalty this city has for this team, through the good, the bad and the ugly, and now we’re finally on top, sweeping the back-to-back champions and now a chance for the world title; it doesn’t get better than this,” said Bukowski, who attended the watch party with several members of his family. “Growing up watching games with my dad and all the heartbreak we’ve been through, it’s great to now be on top.”
Streamers fell from the upper reaches of the stadium as the celebration continued, and a message proclaiming the Brewers as National League champions appeared on the scoreboard as the deafening cheers continued.
The event brought into focus that during sports we cheer, we chant, we stand not for the players, to encourage them or improve their performance, but for us. The fans were incredible – it seemed like there were nearly as many of them here watching TV together as there were in LA watching a critical game for their team.
“As a lifelong Milwaukee baseball fan, it’s been extra meaningful,” Sadowsky said. “I didn’t think this was going to happen. It’s so meaningful and emotional and I was so happy to share it with everybody here.”
Bukowski took a moment to take it all in and reflect on his journey as a Brewers’ fan.
“This was incredible. So great for the city,” Bukowski said. “When I was growing up, we had a 100-loss season. I felt like the Brewers were a laughingstock.”
Now, a Brewers team that won a franchise-record 103 games during the regular season look to capture the first World Series crown in franchise history.
