{"id":648764,"date":"2026-03-28T15:02:04","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T15:02:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/648764\/"},"modified":"2026-03-28T15:02:04","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T15:02:04","slug":"it-should-be-a-holiday-milwaukee-brewers-fans-celebrate-start-of-the-2026-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/648764\/","title":{"rendered":"‘It should be a holiday’: Milwaukee Brewers fans celebrate start of the 2026 season\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Richard Plautz of Milton said he\u2019s been coming to Opening Day games for the Milwaukee Brewers since 1977.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The 67-year-old has strong opinions about the day, which marks the official return of baseball to the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt should be a holiday,\u201d Plautz said. \u201cIt really should.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Understanding Wisconsin, Together.<\/p>\n

WPR\u2019s \u201cWisconsin Today\u201d newsletter keeps you connected to the state you love without feeling overwhelmed. No paywall. No agenda. No corporate filter.<\/p>\n

Plautz joined thousands of other passionate baseball fans who tailgated in the parking lots outside of American Family Field hours before the game began Thursday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis just kind of gets your juices going and just makes you feel like man, this is Wisconsin, this is MLB baseball,\u201d Plautz said. \u201cIt\u2019s a great day, it\u2019s a fun day.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"AQuintell Robinson of Milwaukee plates up burgers during a tailgate Thursday, March 26, 2026, at American Family Field in Milwaukee, Wis. Angela Major\/WPR<\/p>\n

A few rows of vehicles down was West Bend resident Jordan Pearson, who arrived at the parking lot around an hour before the lots opened Thursday morning. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m always late to everything, so this is a first,\u201d Pearson said.<\/p>\n

While most fans grilled hot dogs or burgers, Pearson made eggs, bacon and hashbrowns. And some brats too, of course.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like just the kickoff of summer,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s better than spending a day at the ballpark, honestly,\u201d she added. \u201cAnd so, it\u2019s just kind of like our big kickoff.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kacy Kliment and his 4-year-old son came all the way from Columbus, Ohio to watch the Brewers take on the Chicago White Sox Thursday. Kliment, a Wisconsin native, estimated he\u2019s been to over 20 Opening Day games in Milwaukee.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s now continuing the tradition with his son.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just love it, it\u2019s the start of summer,\u201d Kliment said. \u201cI mean, it doesn\u2019t seem like it today, it\u2019s cold, it\u2019s windy, but it\u2019s the start of summer, it\u2019s the start of baseball.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AFour-year-old Brewers fan Winston pitches to his dad during a tailgate Thursday, March 26, 2026, before the team\u2019s season opener against the Chicago White Sox at American Family Field in Milwaukee, Wis. Angela Major\/WPR<\/p>\n

The 2025 season was historic for the Brewers<\/a>. The team set their franchise record for wins during the regular season, as they finished the season with a 97-65 record.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, the Brewers failed to make it to the World Series, losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Kliment said his son is estimating the team will win 100 games this year. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll see if he\u2019s got that right this year,\u201d Kliment said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Milwaukee resident Alonzo Grayson has high hopes for this season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a Brewer fan, man, we think we\u2019re going to go all the way every year,\u201d Grayson said before the game. \u201cWe get bounced out of the playoffs pretty quick, but you know, maybe this year we turn around.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ABrewers fans gather to tailgate on opening day Thursday, March 26, 2026, at American Family Field in Milwaukee, Wis. Angela Major\/WPR<\/p>\n

Rick Schlesinger, the team\u2019s president of business operations, said fans have a lot to look forward to at the ballpark, including a renovated kids zone and new food offerings like deep-fried kringle and cream puffs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Schlesinger said tailgating is part of the \u201cDNA\u201d of the fanbase. <\/p>\n

\u201cFans love the communal aspects of tailgating,\u201d Schlesinger said. \u201cIt\u2019s fun. And even when the weather is not quite 75 and sunny, people come out and tailgate. They love to grill the brats and have fun and toss the baseball around.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"AThe Milwaukee Brewers celebrate after winning Game 5 of baseball\u2019s National League Division Series against the Chicago Cubs Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025, in Milwaukee. AP Photo\/Morry Gash<\/p>\n

Wisconsin Public Radio, \u00a9 Copyright 2026, Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System and Wisconsin Educational Communications Board.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Richard Plautz of Milton said he\u2019s been coming to Opening Day games for the Milwaukee Brewers since 1977.\u00a0…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":648765,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2401],"tags":[5,136,843,59,4280,4,169,185],"class_list":{"0":"post-648764","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-milwaukee-brewers","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-brewers","10":"tag-milwaukee","11":"tag-milwaukee-brewers","12":"tag-milwaukeebrewers","13":"tag-mlb","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116307413310070393","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=648764"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648764\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/648765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=648764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=648764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=648764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}