Gov. Tony Evers, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley rode through downtown Milwaukee on Friday in Brewers gear, waving from vehicles as tens of thousands of fans lined the parade route. Crowley, who is running for governor, was there as a man who "helped pass a bipartisan deal to keep the Brewers in Milwaukee through 2050." Above the crowd, an airplane banner reminded everyone of that fact. Mayor Cavalier Johnson showed up too. Nobody forgot to bring a camera.
The Brewers beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 4-1, on Wednesday night in St. Petersburg, Fla., to take the series four games to one and end a 57-year wait for a title. The parade followed on the morning of Friday, Oct. 30. Organizers had expected 400,000 people. Tens of thousands came, dressed in blue and gold.
Who Has the Power
Look at who's in the vehicles. The governor. The Assembly speaker. The county executive. A banner in the sky tying the party to a stadium-and-team arrangement that runs through 2050, 24 years from now. That's a long lease on a city's loyalty, brokered by officials who made a point of sharing a bipartisan deal while wearing the same jerseys as the people they'd just cut it for.
The base article doesn't say what the deal cost or who pays. It does say who owns the team. Owner Mark Attanasio's club earned about an extra $25 million in postseason revenue and is raking in record profits from merchandise sales. Season-ticket sales, 14,200 this year, are expected to rise, and for perhaps the first time since 2011 the Brewers could draw three million fans. Attanasio put it plainly: "Once you're a World Series champion, this is forever."
Who Gets Paid
The players' own numbers show where the money sits. Jackson Chourio is signed through 2033 on an eight-year, $82 million contract. Cooper Pratt signed an eight-year, $50.75 million deal in spring training. Luis Lara is in the first year of a seven-year, $31 million deal. Christian Yelich has $55.5 million left on his original nine-year, $215 million contract. Jake Bauers is the one key free agent, which means the front office now decides what a title is worth to him.
Matt Arnold, the president of baseball operations, wasn't sentimental about it. "The offseason starts. We can't get comfortable," he said. "And we plan to be back." Closer Trevor Megill echoed him: "We're not going anywhere. We'll be back. Really, we're just getting started."
What People Actually Did
The crowd did the work of making the day. Tens of thousands turned out on a Friday morning to stand along a downtown route and celebrate together. Foenem, creator of the viral song "Milwaukee Brewers," posted a video of himself riding atop a vehicle through the crowd. Ryan Braun ran around shaking fans' hands. Prince Fielder tended bar at Draft & Co. on Wisconsin Avenue shortly after the parade started. Veterans of the 1982 team (Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, Rollie Fingers and Ted Simmons) rode in a city that waited 44 years since that team lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games.
Yount said it took the sting off Game 7 in 1982. "It's been a long time coming," he said. "A long time of wondering if it would ever happen." Yelich, the first captain in Brewers history, described the final out like this: "When we got that last out, I blacked out... It felt like a movie honestly."
The fans filled the streets for free. The deal that keeps the team in town was cut by the people riding above them. The title is theirs for a weekend. The ledger belongs to Attanasio, and he's already counting.
- milwaukee brewers
- world series
- tampa bay rays
- championship parade
- christian yelich
- jacob misiorowski
- william contreras
- mark attanasio