Brewers parade begins in Milwaukee after first championship since 1982

The Milwaukee Brewers began their victory parade on Friday morning, moving through downtown streets as fans waited in the cold. The event marks the first World Series title in franchise history.

The team clinched the championship on Wednesday with a 4-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays. The win ended the series in five games and ended a long wait for the small-market club. Milwaukee Public Schools canceled classes for the day to allow residents to attend the procession.

The parade route travels along Wisconsin Avenue. This path mirrors the one taken by the 1982 team, which lost the World Series in seven games to the St. Louis Cardinals. The franchise has not participated in the Fall Classic since that year until the current season.

Kasey Diedrich attended his first Brewers game at age 4 in 1983. He watched the team from the stands with his father, Mark Diedrich, a 76-year-old fan since the 1980s. Mark Diedrich owns the seats from the old Milwaukee County Stadium where he sat when Robin Yount recorded his 3,000th hit in 1992.

"I don’t think we still think it happened," Kasey Diedrich said. "It seems like a dream." His father added that the family has attended games for decades, remembering opening day at County Stadium with ice on the steps. "We’re sitting down to get ready for the game and a guy's spreading salt to melt the ice on the steps," Mark Diedrich said.

Craig Muehl, 42, brought his young children to the parade in the Milwaukee suburb of Brookfield. He described growing up with Brewers games on the radio during summer and fall. "It all started, just like many families around here, sitting outside in the summer and fall," Muehl said. "My dad had the Brewers game on the radio everywhere we went."

The celebration continues at Henry Maier Festival Park near Lake Michigan. The team visited Lambeau Field on Thursday night for the Green Bay Packers game. Brandon Woodruff carried the Commissioner's Trophy onto the field, and Sal Frelick performed a successful Lambeau leap into the crowd. A large police presence manages the heavy traffic and crowds for the event.