Hardcore Brewers fans traveled from across the state, tailgated before parking lots opened

While many Milwaukee Brewers fans like to go to as many games as possible there are some that take it to an extreme. 

That part of the home field advantage that the Brewers have enjoyed in this playoff run.

Brewers manager Pat Murphy said “environments matter” in the postseason. 

“This season, the fans have made a difference,” Murphy said during pre-game press conference Monday Oct. 13 before Game 1 of the National League Championship Series. “And that’s important.”  

Here's a look at several fans who take game day very seriously.

A pre-tailgate even before the lots open

More than five hours before the first pitch, Cheryl Markiewicz and her son Kevin were among the first people in line to get into the preferred parking lot.

They staged a pre-tailgate party with tortellini she cooked in a crock pot and pizza from Sam’s Club.  

“We just eat all of our food here and hang out until the gates open,” Kevin Markiewicz said adding for one game “we showed up before the sun got here.” 

Lynn Demerath puts it a different way –  “we’re crazy.”  

“We’re just very passionate about the Brewers." 

The Markiewicz’s, Demerath and their friend crew come from Sheboygan, Janesville, Fort Atkinson, and attending dozens of games this season.  

“It’s the socializing,” Demerath said. “It’s following the team that you love and then socializing with people you’ve become family to.” 

Patti Romens brought a “lucky apple pie” from Sam’s Club.  

“Every time we bring the apple pie in the playoffs, they’ve won,” Romens said adding her and her husband Ron will celebrate their 50^th wedding anniversary on Oct 18. “We’ve been coming to Brewers games since 1973 when we started dating. We brought our kids here.” 

Traveling from Eau Claire to gather with family

Robert Staves and his wife woke up at 10 a.m. in Eau Claire to pick up their kids and their friends to tailgate in front of American Family Field. 

It’s not lost on them what a big task it is to knock out the reigning World Series champion Dodgers with “the highest payroll ever.”  

“Why not knock out Goliath?” Staves said.  

Blue hair, big 'M' necklace and confidence 

Milwaukee resident Maggie Mesamoe is confident the Brewers will win the series. 

“I just believe it. I feel it in my soul,” Mesamoe said. “I’ve been here for most of the playoff games, so it feels good every single time when they win. When they lose, I feel it too. But they’re doing amazing and I believe in them.” 

She donned a “M” necklace for "Milwaukee" and “Maggie,” along with blue hair. 

“We gotta do the blue space buns for the Brewers, let’s go!” Mesamoe said.   

Skipping school at Purdue to watch a game with dad 

Bek Tiedge is a student at Purdue University but came back home to Milwaukee to go to game 1 with this dad Scott.  

“I couldn’t miss it,” Bek Tiedge said, adding the goal is a World Series appearance. “I think L.A. is going to be tough, but I think we’ll win the games at home. I think we’ll put it out right at the end.”  

Scott Tiedge said he was nervous during the division series against the Chicago Cubs.  

“That last game, my heart rate was going the entire time,” Scott Tiedge said. “It’ll be nice to see them continue. As long as they’ve gotten this far, I’m really happy right now.” 

Friend at TBS helped with tickets 

The Johnson family from Waukesha jumped at the chance to go to the game when a friend who works for Turner Broadcast System called with access tickets.   

“Our tickets were a last-minute purchase,” Dmico Johnson said. “It was a rush to get in as fast as we could.” 

Dmico and his wife Lindsay brought their three daughters to the game. 

“It’s been a long time coming, for sure,” Lindsay Johnson said of the Brewers in the NLCS. “The energy here in the playoffs is amazing once you’re in there. So we’re excited.” 

While the family is confident in the Brewers, they also understand why despite having the best record in the regular season, they’re still the underdogs.  

“You anticipate the Dodgers with all their stars to come in and dominate,” Dmico Johnson said. “They play for each other. They actually play as a team. We do have sine bug names but they’re not big like the Dodgers.” 

Dodgers fan delayed flight to come to game 

Robert Mendez works for a company that contracts with Sargento and took in a Green Bay Packers game on Oct. 12.  

As a regular season ticket holder for the Dodgers, when he heard his team was coming to him, he decided to delay his flight back to southern California to go to the game. 

“I figured it was fate,” Mendez said adding he rescheduled his flight and got a hotel near Mitchell International Airport. “These fans are great.” 

Mendez said this isn’t his first time at American Family Field and people have been pleasant to him despite his Dodger gear.  

Memory of Milwaukee without baseball 

Madison resident Carey Karabis and his wife Char made sure they could find a seat at Kelly’s Bleachers, the same bar they’ve been frequenting for dinner and a shuttle ride to the field since 2009.  

“If I die, I’m going to be buried out here at Kelly’s,” he joked. 

Well before game time, the bar was packed with people standing shoulder to shoulder.  

Karabis, 74, has been a Brewers fan for as long as the Brewers have been in Milwaukee, and a Milwaukee Braves fan before that.  

A self-styled “baseball historian,” he’s meticulously followed the sport since 1956. He saw Milwaukee Braves All-Star Eddie Mathews’ 301^st career home run in 1957. He’s planned vacations around the Brewers’ away game schedule. Char received a kiss from Brewers pitcher Lary Sorenson at an autograph signing in 1978.  

This year, Karabis and his wife attended every afternoon home game, 13 in total. Karabis said he hopes the Brewers can pull off a World Series win, but if not, just having a Milwaukee team to cheer on means so much to him. 

“In ’65, the Milwaukee Braves moved to Atlanta. For five years, we did not have a baseball team,” Karabis said.

“And when the Brewers came in 1970, we had our own team. That was just heaven.” 

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brewers NLCS appearance brings out hardcore fans, early tailgaters