Brewers fans are celebrating the team winning the first two games of the World Series against the Tampa Bay Rays.
During Game 2 Saturday night, fans reveled in World Series fever at Camp Bar in Shorewood. It was one of many watch parties across the Milwaukee area.
Suzanne Rabe was sharing the vibe. She’s loved baseball her entire life. She calls Brewers “classic baseball.”
"They’re just pinging it all together the right way and I think the fanbase is amazing and it shows you can play small-ball baseball with a lower salary cap, and you can still get through when you do things right," she says.
Rabe is convinced the Brewers will win the series. "One hundred percent! If they got by the Dodgers," she says.
Early in Game 2, the Brewers were down by four runs. But before you know it, they tied the game at 4-4 with a dramatic home run.
Kaila Kasten was drinking it all in. She just moved to Milwaukee from Wausau a couple of months ago.
"It’s been a while since the Brewers have had a moment like this. I feel special to be a part of something so big, and coming together with people at places like this, where everyone is watching and celebrating the same event," Kasten says.
Milwaukee historian John Gurda was at the bar to celebrate a friend’s birthday and take in the game.
He doesn't just remember the Brewers' whack at the World Series 44 years ago — he remembers the 1957 series.
"I was 10 years old in '57 and going to a Catholic school. The nuns actually cancelled classes and took us down to the lunchroom to watch the biggest TV they could find," Gurda says.
That was the Milwaukee Braves era — and they won the series.
Gurda sees this moment both as a lifelong fan and a historian.
"What I love about the team is there are no divas. It’s a very unpretentious team, as we are an unpretentious city," he says.
Gurda believes a Brewers win will not only be epic, it will come with a “therapeutic effect.”
"It’s not going to bring back manufacturing jobs or restore middle class erosion but it is a point of shared pride in a community that has enough differences," Gurda says.
At the top of the 9th, the Brewers led 5-4.
Brewers’ pitcher Aaron Ashby struck out the Rays’ final batter, bringing Milwaukee one win closer to the World Series prize.
