Q&A: Marissa Werner on the Brewers, the World Series and a Spotlight on Milwaukee

Marissa Werner is a Milwaukee native who was three years old the last time the Brewers were in the World Series. When the Fall Classic gets underway at American Family Field on Friday night between the Brewers and the Tampa Bay Rays, Werner will be there in person, cheering on the team she has watched since the days of Harvey’s Wallbangers, the nickname given to manager Harvey Kuenn‘s slugging bunch that reached the seventh game of the 1982 World Series only to fall to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Werner, now the Director of Sports Milwaukee, will be at the TEAMS Conference & Expo in Birmingham, Alabama, and while she is desperately hoping her favorite team wins its first championship, she wouldn’t mind seeing the Series go at least five games so she can be back in her hometown whenever it comes to an end and join in a celebration that has been 56 years in the making, ever since the Brewers brought Major League Baseball back to the city in 1970.

Werner spoke with SportsTravel Managing Editor Ted Keith about the Brewers and the impact the team’s run to the pennant has had on Milwaukee.

ST: What does the success of the Brewers mean to you as a fan?

Werner: It’s absolutely amazing. There’s a lot of people here that were too young to be able to experience it themselves [in 1982]. You get pictures of it back in the day when it was [future Hall of Famers] Paul Molitor, Robin Yount, Rollie Fingers and to now this is such a special year for all of us in the community. The most wins in team history [103], our first captain ever with Christian Yelich and four consecutive NL Central championships, it’s just amazing. There’s really never been a Brewers team like this and we all know it. To now make it to the world stage for such an event and especially for our city that people don’t always take notice of it’s really an amazing opportunity not only for our team but for our city.

ST: It didn’t become official until they finished a sweep of the Dodgers in the NLCS last week, but given the team’s position as the best team in baseball this year, how has the city been preparing for this moment?

Werner: You start planning as if they’re going to make it. It’s just like any MLB team that starts producing championship t-shirts before the win any a series. The city has obviously begun planning for the “What if?” moments, like if there’s a parade, our mayor [Cavalier Johnson] has been speaking with the mayors in Tampa and St. Petersburg and make this a fun experience for both of our commjnities. Signage, additional marketing materials, a bunch of social media posts around it. The city has a huge banner in front of City Hall, we have different entities throughout the community that are lighting up their buildings in blue and gold.

ST: This is being billed as a World Series between small-market teams, and in fact, Milwaukee is the smallest media market in the major leagues. Does the city embrace that narrative or try to counter it?

Werner: We own it. We know who we are. We are a smaller market and that’s what makes it so special. A team in a smaller market is able to perform at that level and we have the ability to support them in the way that they need speaks volumes about our capabilities as a city. We take every opportunity, whether that’s having Michelin-starred restaurants, or hosting the Republican National Convention. For a small market we’re sure doing a lot of the things that the big markets are.

ST: What kind of impact has the city felt so far from the Brewers’ postseason run?

Werner: The estimated economic impact for the games in the first round of the playoffs was $5.1 million per game. The World Series is a whole different animal, so we will do a post-series economic impact just as we did for the Bucks when they won the NBA championship in 2021, but based off other cities and their performance we’re estimating between $10-12 million per game. One of the biggest factors is people staying overnight, because this might be a once-in-a-lifetime chance for Brewers fans who don’t live right here.

ST: This is the Brewers’ first World Series in 44 years, but not the first time you’ve experienced a World Series locally, correct, because you were living in New York when the Yankees were World Series regulars.

Werner: I’m from Milwaukee and went to Fordham University in New York and played volleyball there — I’ve always had a love for theater, so that’s what took me out to New York. I spent 12 years away in New York and California and I’ve been home for almost 17 years.

I was so blessed because I went to a Yankees championship parade. I remember the Subway Series in 2000 against the Mets, and I was there during the main Derek Jeter days. The Yankees had what it takes to make a dynamic team. I get it that they have money, and I get it that they have players, but they each specialized in what they did. They were not superstars, they worked so well together. Money doesn’t always buy success, it it’s so much about camaraderie and leadership.

I remember going to Brewers games with my parents at County Stadium. It was a huge thing for our family where my mom would pull us out of school for the day, we’d grill and tailgate, and a lot of times we’d be freezing cold, so you’re in winter jackets and blankets. I had so many fun memories with my family. That’s the thing with the Brewers and any MLB team — with how many home games they have each season, and how many seats they have to fill there’s a lot of opportunity for our community to go and make memories.

ST: For people who will be experiencing Milwaukee for the first time, what are a few things that they should absolutely make time for, aside from being at the ballpark?

Werner: Check out the Harley Davidson Museum, get to our lake front because nobody has any idea how big Lake Michigan is and that we’re right on it. And experience our breweries. Pun intended.