Living in Ireland since 2007, Matt Steerman is making a pilgrimage home to see his beloved Milwaukee Brewers play in baseball’s World Series for the first time in 44 years, hoping to see the Brewers finally win it all for the very first time.

You can read the earlier entries in his World Series diary here.

WHILE I’M LUCKY to have stayed connected to many people I grew up with through social media and other mediums, there are four friends from high school that I’m still particularly close to.

I know these four guys since I moved to Wisconsin when I was 12. We’ve been to each others’ weddings, visited each other in college, became godparents to each others’ children, and make an effort every year or so to find an excuse to get together, believing in the mantra of experiences over possessions, knowing that time spent together is worth more than money.

In this case, Jason, Tommy and Zak can make the trip. Jack, the fifth member of our ageing, middle-aged excuse for a dad-bod boyband, is going to be with his family for the first few games. It goes to show how this moment is different for everyone, and the special nature of connecting with friends and family that you have these Brewer ties with. Thankfully, I’ll see Jack in a few days in my hometown, so I’ll get to have a few moments with the lifelong high school guys that mean the most.

With Tom and Jason coming in from Atlanta and Chattanooga respectively, I’ve taken the torch of being the logistics boss, so at around noon on Friday, I headed out to suss out locations for a Game 1 watch party. First stop, Third Ward; a beautiful area. At noon, it was already half-full – seven hours before first pitch, and the drinks were flowing. Time for a drink? No, sorry, I still have recon to do. Business before pleasure.

Next stop was the Deer District, an outdoor beer and big-screen area downtown connected to the home of Milwaukee Bucks, our hometown NBA team. Too early for fans to be there, but there was an early Bucks game on, so there were a few people milling about. I pop into a few pubs, and they’re filling up too, but spots are limited.

After a few door knocks with no luck, I find a table. We’re in! Now it’s time to get back and check in and have a few hours to kill before my friends land and the game starts.

When the time comes, I walk down to the bar from our rental house. It’s a beautiful day, and I wanted to take a stroll to enjoy the moment, revisiting some streets where the old haunts from our college days were buzzing. Zak joins me shortly after I arrive at the bar, and so does my sister, who diverted her original work trip home from New York to Phoenix so that she could come to Milwaukee for the weekend to have this shared experience with her own friends. Just before first pitch, the boys land. Hugs are handed out and beers are ordered, as fans still stream in by the dozen.

Here we go.

The old high-school gang reunited. Matt Steerman Matt Steerman

– First Pitch –

The biggest unknown is how the team will perform after having a week off. Because they won their series against the Dodgers early, the Brewers haven’t played since Thursday of last week, and the debate between the talking heads is all about ‘rest v rust’. Can the Brewers stay hot considering the downtime? With Tampa having less of a break, do they have momentum on their hand?

Well, the first inning showed us that the Brewers were ready, coming out hot to take an early 2-0 lead in the first.

The game settled into a bit of a back-and-forth chess match, with both teams forcing pitchers to be at their best, and the Rays cutting the deficit to 2-1, before the Brewers added another in the seventh to leave it 3-1 heading into the ninth and final inning.

As baseball has a way of doing, things would not go as planned. The Rays made it tough and got two runners on base, giving them a shot at tying the game, before the Brewers made a double play to close out the win. A release of energy from everyone in the bar and Deer District, beers in the air, fireworks going off inside the stadium, and Game 1 is ours. High-fives with strangers and hugs with friends never felt better.

Fans gather around the Deer District's big screen. Matt Steerman Matt Steerman

But then there was a review.

The officials ruled that Brewers shortstop Cooper Pratt had dragged his foot off the bag, causing the runner to be safe, giving the Rays one more batter and a chance to keep the game alive.

But Brewers closing pitcher Trevor Megill did what he does best, and sealed the win. Second time around, it was much more relief than joy, but no matter: Game 1 was ours. In World Series history, the team who wins Game 1 goes on to win the series nearly two-thirds of the time, so history is on our side now, but if baseball has taught us anything, it is that nothing is ever easy, and never goes to plan.

But at least we go to bed with the feeling of experiencing a first: a World Series win in the city that we call home.

– The Decision –

Saturday morning came earlier than we were hoping after not getting to bed until later than a handful of middle-aged men are used to, but that’s what you do when you only see each other every few years. Some celebratory trips to old haunts in Milwaukee to see if any of the pubs are different from when we were regulars 20 years ago confirm that not much has changed, except for our ability to rebound after a few barley pops.

But now, between making some breakfast and banter about the previous night, we had a decision to make: do we or don’t we pull the trigger on buying tickets?

We went into the week thinking that Game 2 would be cheaper than Game 1. Everyone would be keen to pay more to see the first game, so we’d sneak under the radar and save a few bob by waiting it out, yet still get the in-person experience we so crave.

But we underestimated one simple fact: a Game 1 win lifted excitement levels to new heights, and now everyone in the city seemed to be thinking like us, meaning ticket prices were going the wrong way, and got to a level that made us all a bit uncomfortable.

But it’s been 44 years since this happened. What if we wait like fans from the 80s and risk not even being alive next time? Will we regret it?

Should we just fly to Tampa for Game 3 or 4, where tickets are a fraction of the cost? We could pay for a flight and a ticket and still end up saving money.

Then Tommy mentioned a story about a friend of his from Boston who had tickets for the first World Series the Red Sox won back in 2004, and instead of going, sold them because of the money he could get for them. Twenty years later, he regrets it every day of his life.

With the help of a few confidence coolers (beer, on any other day), Jason took the plunge to buy the first ticket. If you’re jumping, jump in with both feet. Carpe Diem. Livin la vida loca. Whatever other analogy you want to use. Once Jason was locked in, it wasn’t long before I did the same, followed by Tom, and finally Zak. All four of us are in.

It’s 10.30 in the morning. Tailgating opens at 3pm, and first pitch is at 7pm. Zak drove his minivan down, the official Midwest car of middle-aged men with kids, so we filled it up to the top with BBQ, beer, bags and everything else needed for match-day memories.

Time to get our plans together, because this is going to be epic.

Ready to set out for Game 2. Matt Steerman Matt Steerman

– Tailgating –

We left for the stadium at around 2.30pm, with an easy 20-minute drive to the ballpark. I nominated myself as designated driver for the day, a decision I made before I flew over: if we got to go to the game, I wanted to have the most clarity possible to soak up this once-in-a-lifetime experience, knowing that running on the energy of the day will carry me better than my usual matchday beverages.

Tailgating is uniquely Midwest, and more uniquely Wisconsin, and while we’re not the only fan base who does it, we invented it, and have made an art of the practice of coming together with strangers before a game and sharing food, drinks, games and stories before supporting our teams.

The ingredients are simple: your car, some food, some drinks, some games and an appetite for engaging with those fans parked around you in friendly banter about the game or anything happening in culture.

For our ingredients, my friend Zak and his minivan came packed full of burgers and brats, a Wisconsin staple, along with a mix of chips and pretzels, and of course, a few different beers. We set up shop like you would at a campsite, and then decided we’d walk the parking lot to go see a few old college friends who were doing the same.

Firing up the grill pre-game. Matt Steerman Matt Steerman

After nearly two hours taking in the colour and atmosphere and catching up with a few friends and family we haven’t seen in a decade, we got the meat on the portable grill. We realised we were short on water and soda, but in the spirit of the tailgate, asked our neighbours if we could have some, and they kindly donated some to us.

A family wearing “Tailgate Crashers” pins stopped by as they walked the parking lot chatting with different parties. They had recently been to Dublin and wanted to share how much they loved Ireland with me, before offering me shots of tequila. I politely declined, but we hugged, took a picture, and they moved on next door to the next tailgate party, doing the same thing, like a bunch of adult kids trick-or-treating before a baseball game – only instead of getting candy, they’re handing out shots.

Only in Wisconsin.

After we ate and made a quick stop at the merch shop, it was time to find a spot to watch the game. We got standing tickets, but did this on purpose; mainly it gave us the flexibility to go anywhere in the stadium to stop and watch the game, and the way the stadium is set up, there are tons of great perches you can post up at and watch from different angles, and connect with different fans.

We started on the first base side and took in the national anthem, which was unbelievable. I didn’t see one Tampa Bay fan, leaving the stadium full of loyal home fans waiting like us for this moment that’s been decades in the making.

Let’s get this going.

The walk into Miller Park for Game 2. Matt Steerman Matt Steerman

– Game time –

To say the start of the game didn’t go our way is an understatement. Tampa Bay batted first and took an early 4-0 lead. In baseball parlance, particularly in the playoffs where runs and games are tight and at a premium, this was bad.

But credit to the fans, everyone was staying in it, and when the Brewers got their chance, they put two runs on the board to keep the game close at 4-2 at the end of the first.

We ended up relocating to the outfield as we could get much better angles of the pitches. Out on the field, things settled down, but the Brewers kept putting pressure on the Rays. Hit by hit, walk by walk, pitch by pitch, we crawled back from 4-0 down to tie it up in the fifth inning, and come the seventh, the Brewers broke through and took the lead for the first time. The place was electric, louder than any stadium I’ve been in, and now we had only nine more outs to get to win and go 2-0 up in the series.

The view from the outfield. Matt Steerman Matt Steerman

The next hour or so was a rollercoaster, an anxiety-inducing chess match that normally baseball nerds love, but when it’s your team, it is elevated to uncomfortable levels. 

Cutting through it all were the Brewers relievers, Abner Uribe and Aaron Ashby, who came in to close out the game, striking out the last batter of the game to spark a release of nervous energy from 45,000-plus fans, jumping up and down and into each other like we were in a mosh pit of happiness. Beers were spilled but no one cared. High-fives went on forever. No exaggeration, leaving the stadium that night was one of the happiest sporting moments of my life.

– Special Times –

The only downside of tailgating is after the game, as those same 45,000 fans who drove to the stadium also have to drive home. Most decided to sit around and have another drink or two and reminisce about what just happened, leaving the early birds to shuffle out before making the trip back to towns across southeast Wisconsin.

We took that approach as well, taking stock of our day, the entirety of it, and debating if it was the most memorable and best experience that we’ve had at a sporting event. Not only did we agree that was the case, but after going back through 30+ years of friendship and all the things we’ve had together, we landed on the fact that this was in fact the best day we’ve had together ever. Full stop.

We listened to local sports radio with fans calling in sharing stories of happiness and excitement and the thought of this amazing thing that has never been done. Only two more games. One can dream.

Matt Steerman soaks it all in. Matt Steerman Matt Steerman

Sunday is an off day but Game 3 is on Monday night. I’m not sure where I’ll be but I’ll be watching.

In trying to capture how special and amazing that day was, a Vince Lombardi quote came to mind. “We are going to relentlessly chase perfection, knowing full well we will not catch it, because nothing is perfect. But we are going to relentlessly chase it, because in the process we will catch excellence.”

I have to say I disagree with old Vince on this one, at least this time. Everything over the last 48 hours, from connecting with lifelong friends, experiencing the pinnacle of autumn weather, to the matchday experience, ticking a bucket list box of attending a World Series game, and getting two wins from two in a best-of-seven series? This, I can safely say, has been perfect.

I’m not sure that it can continue, like Vince says, but I’m going to keep chasing it.