MILWAUKEE — Marti Wronski has spent 24 years helping lead the Milwaukee Brewers behind the scenes. Now, as the organization makes history on the field, the Brewers’ chief operating officer is reflecting on a journey that has intertwined her career, family and love of baseball.
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When Wronski was promoted to chief operating officer in 2022, she was the only woman in Major League Baseball holding that title.
“I've had other mentors in baseball, men and women alike, say to me, don't just brush those kinds of things off,” Wronski said. “It's a moment that matters to those who are going to come after you and those who've come before you.”
Asked what example she hopes to set for other women, Wronski offered a simple message.
“Why not you? Why not you at some point? You can do hard things,” she said. “The frequency with which I sort of tell myself, like, ‘All right, we can do this.’ Most importantly, no matter what it is you do, be a good person.”
Building the Brewers behind the scenes
Wronski began her journey with the Brewers more than two decades ago in the legal department before working her way up to chief operating officer. She helps lead areas of the organization ranging from marketing and social media to human resources, technology and legal operations.
Working in one of baseball’s smallest markets brings challenges, Wronski said, but the organization has never treated that as an excuse.
“At the end of the day, there's less eyeballs, right? We're a less populated area. We're not New York City or anywhere else. So your media dollars often, right, are impacted by that,” she said.
“But Mark and Rick have taught all of us, right, that is not an excuse. It's a fact. So what are you gonna do with that, right? How are we gonna make sure we succeed anyway?”
For Wronski, part of the answer is making the most of every fan’s experience.
“Making sure that every fan that comes into this ballpark has the best possible experience they could ever have, so they wanna come back,” she said.
‘It really is one giant family’
That sense of connection extends from the front office to the team on the field.
Wronski said Pat Murphy makes an effort to understand what is happening throughout the organization and is “incredibly gracious” toward the staff.
During an all-staff toast, Wronski said, Murphy came upstairs and joined the Brewers’ front office employees.
“He has such a way with words,” Wronski said. “It really is one giant family.”
For Wronski, the Brewers’ current moment also carries deep personal meaning.
“I've been doing this for 24 years. My oldest son is 24. And I have four sons. My husband was born and raised a Brewers fan. He was at the '82 World Series,” she said.
“Growing as a family, having this always be a piece of who we were and what we were doing in the most positive way possible, that becomes really an important moment for me.”
Now, she said, they have “all together found our moment.”
She feels the same way about her work family.
“Fundamentally, we exist to bring people joy in a public-facing way,” Wronski said. “And I think the new level of that that we are seeing, it does feel like we are headed toward sort of like the ultimate success moment.”
“We're all feeling it, I think. Now we have to execute on it, and we're ready to do that in the front office, and they're definitely ready to do it out there.”
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