Brewers fan from Germany hopes to secure World Series tickets

Alright, welcome back to Fox 6 Now. Time now, it is 10:37. Happy Saturday, everybody. It is October 24th, also known as Super Saturday, as it is Game 2 of the World Series. The Brewers, they got that W last night, that nail-biter game. Myself, someone who may be a little sports challenged, even I, I had a few heart palpitations as I thought it was over, but then it wasn't, but then it was. The Brewers, so good. They won that thing twice, and we are hoping for that to happen once again tonight. I want to bring in somebody, our Ben Hanson, our Racine and Kenosha County reporter. Ben, you are talking with a fan who traveled all the way from Germany? Staying the night in front of Game 2 and some of the watch parties that they're having at American Family Field. and you know some people drive three hours from Central Wisconsin or they fly a three-hour flight from Florida or a five-hour flight from LA but I have someone like you were just saying that has come from a lot further here we go it's Malt right here this is my buddy he is a huge Brewers fan and he is from Germany, Malt, remind me where in Germany correct so first of all Ben, thanks for having me uh lovely uh that you were able to stop by so I'm from Cologne, Germany which is a you know smaller town right in the middle of the country yeah for to the west um it's like it's about an hour hour and a half away from Frankfurt which okay probably many people know yeah yes yes so yeah and so tell me I mean all the way in Germany how long of a flight did you have to take to get here well it's actually uh almost nine hours eight and a half so uh but but no problem honestly any anything we can do to win, I will do. If that's necessary, no problem. So a nine-hour flight away from Milwaukee to cheer on the Brewers. How did you become a Brewers fan? Well, actually, I have been a Brewers fan for over 20 years. We had the good fortune to be able to live in Racine for work reasons between 2006 and 2008, so 20 years ago. In Europe, baseball is actually not you know not really known um so i when i came to Racine i didn't know anything about baseball but uh friends and colleagues took me to baseball again game something clicked um so i got bitten by the bug have been a huge Brewers fan ever since uh followed all the major events right uh followed 2008 obviously 20 20 2011 2018 uh all of that so absolutely thrilled that we are where we are and uh you know just go go get three more yeah and so tell me about the excitement around all of it i know like you were saying that while you're in Germany you keep up with all the Brewers games like you're watching it at ridiculous times because of the time zone difference and tell me about your dedication to being a Brewers fan nine hour flight away sure um well i think there's uh indeed now being here for me is a huge advantage because i don't have to get up at two o'clock or three o'clock in the morning my time which which i which i which i did particularly in the last series against the Dodgers because I wanted to see it live. And there's something about the Brewers that fundamentally speaks to me because obviously being a small market team, but projecting the right work ethics, tackling the game as it should be tackled, not being fazed by opposition like the Dodgers, obviously six times our payroll or three times. So there's a lot that spoke to that. and it's like a little bit um once you pick a sports team you're kind of stuck with it you know you can i need to be careful what i say because you can make different choices with your partner in life but you cannot change your sports yeah so i i i i and i was not attempted to do so as i said before i'm super thrilled to be here yes very nice to be back in Racine and in the community um that's lovely too so yeah can't wait can't wait so tell me about the differences with european sports and baseball we were talking about earlier how with the fans in baseball or just the sport of baseball in general is so different from anything in germany yeah so so first of all obviously in uh baseball as such does exist in europe but they're the fan base it's just a lot less what i particularly like um about baseball is and there's a reason what i always say you know anybody can go to the games you you can be a Rays fan and sit next to Brewers fan it's absolutely no problem whatsoever yeah um there's a whole lot of positivity that's been projected by baseball i think it has a it's a very strong force in the community also to be an agent of integration uh and i think particularly in those times where maybe you know external events or even political events are a little bit divisive it's a good thing to remember that actually you know there's so much positivity displayed by that sport uh and you mentioned been the um the difference to european sports particularly to football slash soccer is that there's it's a lot more um violent right so there's a lot more risk the fans are always separated uh depending on the game you have police there in their hundreds the fans have to take certain ways others are blocked so none of that exists in baseball yeah um and that certainly is it's one of the elements it's so super enjoyable yeah and tell me just the feelings for you personally making this flight the brewers for the first time that since you've been a fan for the first time in 44 years they're making the World Series tell me about that oh i honestly it's it's mind-boggling yeah it's mind-boggling and i i mean obviously i haven't lived in the community for for 40 years i can only imagine what this means to people who actually saw the World Bangers in 82 right yeah um but but there's a reason why i'm here so when when when when we won game four i basically i basically said i i gotta go i i have to go there's no there's no choice that wrecked you know horrible things with my schedule both from a personal point of view and also from a work point of view uh and you can argue that you know there's a lot of money spent spent on this um on short notice yeah but there was so much i just saw so much excitement also because obviously i follow the Brewers but also by instagram and other channels and just that outpouring of enthusiasm and energy and and again and this belief that you know this is our year yeah you know somebody pointed at this team and said this year is your year and so i i had to be part of that yeah and tell me a little bit about the more like just on the way you came over here like what about the brewers it makes you say okay you know what i'm gonna make this last minute decision let's just go yeah i think i think what became at least in this when i saw them win uh uh and and everybody you know if if you follow the news and if you also follow the the like the you know that the way they were reported uh about um is that nobody really believed that they would beat the Dodgers yeah yeah so so when that happened um i realized that because it is so difficult to get to the place they are because these are all super good teams right the Rays have a fantastic lineup i mean they have outstanding pitching i think all of these guys are very very dangerous uh then I realized that this is most probably will not happen every year right so when the when the chance is there when the opportunity is there and I just gotta go it's yeah so so I I did want to be part of that I'm very happy that that that that was possible to do uh both from a family point of view very understanding and also now from a from a work plan I could work that schedule yeah so there was really no alternative yeah and tell me about your plans here so you stayed in racine because this is where you lived from 2006 to 2008 correct but tell me about your plans you said you were going to the watch party uh for game three well if anybody if anybody uh has finds a way to to get us a ticket for game two for somebody who has traveled a very long way i really appreciate that ideally a ticket where i don't have you know to sell the house back in germany to to pay for that but i realized that's probably a little bit of an optimistic but who knows who knows we got some pretty cool viewers back at home right there but who knows what we can purchase for anyone that uh knows how to get them one or anyone that has any connection yes legally exactly i don't want to go to jail but uh we actually so so we're here today and then we're going up to milwaukee tomorrow um um see the city a little bit and then we're going to the uh watch party in american family field for game three yep so we got tickets for that uh though hopefully by then we're up two-zero and uh you know getting ready to bring this thing home yeah do you have any plans for game four so that would be uh wednesday yeah sorry uh tuesday tuesday yeah yeah i'm still so i fly i fly home on wednesday um uh so yes so there's still there's still there's still an opportunity to uh to watch out i was gonna say so you could even see the brewers winning well that would be i mean let's not think you know let's take it one step at a time tonight and then we take it from there but that indeed has crossed my mind yeah is there anything else that you're really hoping to do here i know you were talking about going to a watch party maybe for a game tonight downtown milwaukee or here in racine right is there anything else you're like oh i need to make sure i do this one oh i would just you know i'm just going to check on on familiar places yeah uh i'm here with a friend of mine so i'm going to show him a little bit around we're going to go to Kenosha later nice um ride the trolley just just you know baby baby uh no nothing nothing nothing nothing specific just you know soak it all in be part of the atmosphere yeah getting ready for tonight and what are you expecting the atmosphere the energy life uh to be like at American Family Field i think honestly if this if the tv is any representation of what what this place must feel like there's a reason why i said you know anybody could get me a ticket i did write to the Brewers oh they didn't write back i can understand they're a little bit busy right now uh no i think this place is going they're going to tear the roof off this place yeah and that is going to be uh amazing yeah just a pity yeah as you can see bria i i'd be uh it would be pretty difficult to find a fan that's more dedicated than malt right here staying in germany living in germany still watching all the brewers games keeping up with the brewers and finally making the world series he was like i have to come over here so i mean just amazing to sit down and talk with him about his experiences his hopes for being here in Milwaukee uh but i think this might be uh a record for traveling for seeing the Brewers yeah yeah yeah but we're just gonna keep hanging out here but yeah i'll throw it back to you Bria you know Ben i love what he He said, somebody pointed at this team and said, this is your year. And that really just gave me chills. And so thank you for sharing that with us. We're all rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers, no matter how far away you are. And so when we talk about the magic of Milwaukee and really just what this season means, you traveled here, and you're still in search of a ticket. But you wanted to be in Milwaukee while all of this was happening. And so thank you for joining us now on Fox 6 Now to share your story. And I can't even help, I'm also jealous of the mustache situation you guys got going on right now. I know, she's talking about the mustache situation that we got going on right now. We're rocking that. Maybe even like, yeah, a post-season type of thing. Keep the mustaches, good luck or something. Good luck thing. What do you think about that? I think that's probably good luck. We'll do anything. Yes. Anything. Anything. Exactly. Exactly. This is a dedicated fan right here, Bria. I mean, he flew nine hours. That is more than dedication. Thank you so much, Ben, for bringing us this story. And I know you're going to head out to AmFam, and so we're going to check back in with you in about whenever you get there. So we'll see you when you get there. Thank you so much again for flying in all the way from Germany and sharing your story with us. We're going to take a break, and then we'll be right back.