MILWAUKEE — When the confetti and streamers fell at American Family Field after the Milwaukee Brewers clinched the pennant, longtime beer vendor Ryan Strnad of Mukwonago knew the moment he and his coworkers had been waiting for was finally here.
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“The Brewers making the World Series, we were almost waiting for it,” Strnad said.
For Strnad and a group of vendors from Waukesha and Milwaukee counties, the World Series means more than watching their favorite team play on baseball's biggest stage: they will be working it.
Strnad has been a vendor for more than three decades. Fellow beer vendor Dave Koller, from Slinger, has been doing the job for about two decades, while bartender and volunteer Nicole Morris joined the crew more recently.
Their years working at the stadium may vary, but their connection to the Brewers does not.
“I am incredibly excited,” Koller said. “I have been a Brewers fan my whole life, back when my dad took me to County Stadium. Just a huge fan.”
That love of the Brewers is part of what brought the group to work at the stadium in the first place.
But working a Brewers game is much different from sitting in the stands and watching one.
Koller said he has tracked how far he walks during a game and averages about six miles. For vendors like Strnad, those miles can also include carrying dozens of pounds of beer up and down the stadium steps.
“My workout now consists of lugging that 45 pounds of beer up and down the lower seats of the stadium,” Strnad said.
The physical demands, combined with the number of people expected at the World Series, are enough to convince Morris to experience these games from home.
“I just love the people. I like being around the people, but this is too much,” Morris said. “I am going to support from home.”
Strnad and Koller, however, plan to be back on the job.
They admit they feel the physical toll of the work more than they once did, but they expect the aches and pains to fade into the background once the games begin.
Koller will have a particularly good view.
“My area is right by — behind the Brewers dugout, so I will be down there all game,” he said.
For Strnad, the possibility of witnessing a Brewers championship while working inside American Family Field makes the long days and heavy lifting worth it.
“We would be not in the seats; we would be behind the scenes, so to speak, when that happy moment happens, or when we hope that happy moment happens and all of Milwaukee is celebrating,” Strnad said.
Strnad and Koller plan to work the World Series games at American Family Field. They're also signed up to work the Brewers' watch parties at the stadium when the team is playing on the road.
After decades of serving fans from the aisles, they may finally get to watch Brewers history happen while they're on the clock.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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