Ryeshia Farmer said her Milwaukee Brewers fandom is rooted from childhood, when her dad took her to games at what was then Miller Park.
Some of that faded when she left the city to attend Carthage College, but when she moved back in 2017, it came right back.
“I got really into them the last time we were really close to a World Series run,” Farmer said.
In terms of why she loves the Brewers, it’s simple.
“I just love the city of Milwaukee,” said Farmer, who lives in the Woodlands neighborhood on the far Northwest Side. “I think we have a really humble team. I admire our humility and our skill.”
Farmer, who attends several Brewers games a year, sometimes on back-to-back days, said being on the world stage gives people a different view of Milwaukee, which doesn’t always carry the best reputation.
“People don’t know all that Milwaukee is capable of, how resilient we are as a people, how talented we are,” she said.
She thinks this year’s team reflects that as well.
“I think we got it this year. We’re going to do it,” Farmer said.
‘Memories I’ll never forget’
Arnold Peabody, who was raised on the South Side, was 6 years old the last time the Brewers made it to the World Series, but still remembers a pennant hanging on his wall.
He also remembers getting baseball cards from beat cops, hoping he’d get one of his favorite Brewers. Among his other early memories were watching his dad pull up a chair in the yard to listen to Bob Uecker call games on the radio.
“He would get a kick out of Bob and I would pull up a lawn chair and just sit there with him listening to the game,” said Peabody, who is Ojibwe. “I guess that was our form of bonding and it just grew from there.”
Boy, has it grown. Peabody and his friends have followed their favorite team across the country, watching games at Yankee Stadium and the Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, among other cities.
“I had the luxury of going to spring training and visiting enemy stadiums when the Brewers played there with friends and those are memories I’ll never forget,” Peabody said.
He’s been attending games in Milwaukee since the days his mom would get free tickets to County Stadium. This year he’s been to more than 30.
Though many years of being a Brewers fan have been special, he said this one is even more so.
“I just knew one day they would go to the World Series, and here we are,” he said.
He said he’ll be emotional if the team wins the championship, and can’t help but think about the people he wishes were still here to witness it.
“It just sucks that friends and family that were diehard fans like myself are no longer here to witness it in person, but I’m sure they’re watching from above with good ol’ Ueck.”
‘We’re going to win it in six’
South Sider Bayardo DeLeon has been a Brewers fan all his life, which hasn’t always been easy considering the many times their season didn’t end well. But, that struggle is part of what he likes so much about them.
“I like their history. They never won a World Series,” said DeLeon, an athlete who has won medals in several sports, including baseball.
He said the late Bob Uecker is a legend in his book.
As far as today’s Brewers.
“They’re nice people. There’s some Latino players I like,” DeLeon said.
He can’t help but be thrilled about finally being able to watch them play for a title.
“Awesome! I love it!,” he said. “But, it will be an emotional time.”
DeLeon attends several Brewers games each season, and sometimes makes TikToks while he’s at the stadium. Unfortunately, he probably won’t be there for the biggest games this year — the World Series.
“I wish I could, if the tickets were not expensive,” he said.
That won’t stop him from loving every minute of it.
“Go Brewers. We’re going to win it in six,” DeLeon said.
‘My fave is Miz’
Judy Styne, owner of Tomato Patch, a tavern on Teutonia and North 35th Street in the Old North Milwaukee neighborhood, has been known to go over the top when she cheers on her Brewers.
“I have pompoms and wigs and fist that I put my drink in. They are old, but I still use them,” she said.
Styne became a Brewer fan in the ’80s, and said she’s thrilled for the city. She looks forward to excitement and celebrations across town.
She said be cheering on the whole team, especially her favorite player Jacob Misiorowski.
“We have such a good team. Our pitchers are excellent. My fave is Miz,” Styne said.
The fact that the team won over 100 games this season and is going to the World Series for the first time in over 40 years has her extra pumped.
“I’m so excited and can’t wait,” Styne said.
They’ll have the game on at her bar and will also project it on a large screen on the side of the Quasimondo Physical Theatre, which is located next door.
Just don’t expect to hear music from the jukebox during the game. The game will be on the speakers, which doesn’t fly with all her customers.
“I had a few girls upset with that, but then they are not Brewer fans,” she said.
‘Pretty confident’
After beating the Dodgers, 16-year-old Tyler Basler said he’s feels good about the Brewers chances of winning it all this year.
“The Rays could be good. But, yeah I’m pretty confident,” he said.
Basler knows quite a bit about baseball, having played competitively since joining Little League as a kid. He currently plays baseball for Reagan High School and said there’s some chatter about the team there.
He lives about 10 minutes from American Family Field and goes to games often with his dad. He enjoys the excitement between innings and other vibes he catches at the park.
“Anytime I go to a game there’s always a lot of people and it’s really immersive,” he said.
His favorite players on the team are its pitchers, and is glad to see them, and the city, be on the world stage.
“It feels good. It shows that Milwaukee has some good baseball talent,” Basler said.
As for his mother, MPS teacher Jessie Wegner, she’s enjoying how the team has bonded the city.
“It connects us as a community, and is awesome that we’re all going to come together and win something big,” she said.
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