Trevor Richards used to drive by Miller Park after working at MillerCoors a year ago, but on Friday, he was front and center in the ballpark as the starting pitcher for the Miami Marlins.
Back in the fall of 2016, Richards was living with his girlfriend in Milwaukee, without a job and waiting for a baseball team to pick him up. Instead, it was the women at the MillerCoors gift shop who came calling. They needed a fill-in for a woman out on medical leave and Richards needed to work.
“He daily duties were folding t-shirts, restocking the store, assisting customers with finding their merchandise,” said Andrea Thorpe, a budget coordinator at Miller Coors.
The small crew was happy to see an athlete come to work during the busy holiday season.
“He could actually carry things and fit things and reach things cause he’s very tall,” said his supervisor Kristie Holden.
But his parents say Trevor loved working for MillerCoors, not just because of his coworker, but also because it gave him the perfect schedule to stay in shape for his baseball dreams.
“Miller has a gym inside there and he was working out there in the morning,” said his dad Terry Richards.
Then Richards would leave at night and practice throwing.
When his time ended at MillerCoors and he left for the minors in the spring, his Milwaukee crew didn’t forget about him.
“At our Friday staff meetings, we had a little fish on the farm update on Trevor happenings,” said Holden.
One guy was even in charge of his stats. The whole Milwaukee crew cheered when they found out he was going to the majors to play for the Miami Marlins.
“We were all like, he made it, he made it,’” said Holden.
And Friday night they get to watch him take on the Brewers.
“He’s gonna start,” said Holden.
“We’re big Brewers fans but we are going to be cheering for the Marlins tonight,” said Thorpe.
Richards supervisors say he is welcome to get his job back anything like in the offseason. But his family said for now he plans to stay a visitor and just come back for the tours.
