MILWAUKEE — More than 30,000 title-starved Brewers fans turned out to watch a baseball game played 1,200 miles away, but they will have to wait at least one more day to see their dream fulfilled.
The visiting Milwaukee Brewers were on the brink of the first World Series title in franchise history when the Tampa Bay Rays rallied for two runs in the bottom of the 12th inning to avoid a sweep in Game 4 and stay alive with a 4-3 victory Tuesday night in St. Petersburg, Fla.
After winning the first two games at home, the Brewers hosted watch parties at American Family Field for Games 3 and 4, with ticket sales capped at 31,000 for each game. Proceeds from the $15 tickets benefited the Brewers Community Foundation, the team’s official charitable arm.
The Brewers have not yet announced an official watch party for Game 5 on Wednesday night, although one is expected.
Even with hordes of Brewers fans making the trip to Tropicana Field, each of the first two official watch parties in Milwaukee sold out within 20 minutes, according to MLB.com. Fans filled all three decks of the 41,900-seat stadium from foul pole to foul pole, with only the outfield sections unsold.
Dozens of bars, restaurants and gathering places throughout the Milwaukee metropolitan area and across Wisconsin also hosted watch parties.
The Brewers, whose only other World Series appearance was a seven-game loss to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1982, issued nearly 100 media credentials for the Tuesday watch party, said Megan Kendall of the Brewers’ media relations.
Tickets for the Game 4 watch party at the stadium were selling for $293 on the secondary market one hour before game time. Facebook Marketplace was filled with “ISO” (in search of) postings from fans still looking for last-minute tickets to watch the game on the 12,077-square-foot screen in center field.
But it wasn’t just the fans who were caught up in the postseason enthusiasm.
“I’m just so excited to be here,” said Debra Dinsmore, a member of Brewers’ guest relations who greets fans with a smile at almost every home game from her post at one of the escalators near the right field gate. “At the beginning, I wasn’t sure, but at this point I’m glad we’re here and we’re doing it tonight.”
Kay Kenealy of nearby Waukesha, Wis., had a 20-game ticket package during the regular season and attended the first two World Series games in Milwaukee.
“It just sounded like a crazy, fun thing to do. So I decided to do it,” said Kenealy, who said she has been a Brewers fan since the team moved to Milwaukee in 1970 as the relocated Seattle Pilots. “You get the stadium atmosphere without having to fly 1,200 miles to do it.”
“If not tonight, then tomorrow night,” Kenealy said. “I do not need them to come back to Milwaukee to win the World Series. I want them to get it done.”