Baseball Fan Interviews: Theo Sery

For my story, "Cheering Out of a Suitcase," featured in the May edition of Norman Einstein's, I emailed a few people who have moved around the country to discuss their relationships with their hometown teams. Since I wasn't able to use their complete interviews in the story, I thought I'd share their full insights here. Today's post spotlights Theo Sery.

Theo is a friend of mine whom I met during my undergraduate years at Oregon State University. He now lives in Alaska, where he is getting his Masters in English. He will soon be pursuing his Ph.D at Indiana University in Pennsylvania, so he'll have more moving and baseball to add to this wonderful story.

I'm going to do something a little different with Theo's interview. I've removed my questions and let Theo's words tell the story. His emails were so insightful and full of vivid images that I wanted to remove myself from the text and let his story tell itself.


My name is Theo Sery. Whenever I am asked where I am from, I am puzzled because I grew up in so many places. However, since most of my family is from Wisconsin and I spent my high school years there, I always say that I am from Wisconsin. It is where my mind goes when I think of home.

I am a die-hard fan of the Milwaukee Brewers. My grandfather, Ambrose Sery, helped build the former County Stadium, and ever since I can remember, we would go to the games in summer and would wait outside for autographs. In fact, I remember in 1987 when Grandpa passed away, we all piled into cars after the funeral, still dressed in our funeral attire, and went and cheered on the crew. I'll never forget the stares! In fact, I believe that was the day that Robin Yount signed my program. I cannot say for certain, but I am sure he was confused as to why someone would dress their child in a suit and tie for a summer afternoon game!




The Brewers have always been closely tied to my family. We have a love/hate relationship with the Braves since they used to be in our city, and we still claim Hank Aaron as our own. Though we had no official relationship with the team besides my grandfather being part of the stadium crew.

Since Grandpa passed, a lot has changed with the crew. New uniforms, a switch to the National League, and not only that, but the house that Grandpa built has since been replaced with the gigantic Miller Park just a stone's throw away from where its predecessor once sat. Since then, it does not seem like the same team anymore. I believe the owners recognize this, since they still bring back the old uniforms several times in a year. However, to me it has not been the same. I haven't yet gone to a game at Miller Park but I am sure I will soon. Right now I am still relishing the thought that the last Brewer game I attended was at County Stadium.

Since the majority of my years have been spent in Oregon and I now reside in Alaska, you would think that I would have converted to a Mariners fan by now. Though I admit to liking them, I cannot let go of my allegiance to the Brewers. Strangely enough, however, is that my father—son of my grandfather—has since switched allegiances and now even wears a Mariners hat. I, for one, will never forgive him. I love the city of Milwaukee and the state of Wisconsin, so I will always root for the Brewers. That is not to say anything negative about Seattle. In fact, to balance it out, I am more of a Seahawks fan than a Packers fan.

I am so glad that the team is doing much better in recent years so I can stop worrying as much that they would leave Milwaukee.

The way I see it, when the Brewers are winning, the city is happy. That is why I root for the Brewers. It is a matter of exposure. I remember seeing a giant photo of Robin Young (a.k.a. God) on the billboard and really feeling like he held the emotions of the city on his hand. The three titanic figures of the day—Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, and Jim Gantner—really had the city wrapped around their fingers. If they played well, the city was happy. If not, the city was disappointed.

I follow the Brewers loosely due to the lack of exposure up here in Alaska. Sometimes I am able to find broadcasts of games online. Since moving away from Wisconsin and the team going through so many changes, it feels as though I am, as I mentioned, cheering an entirely different team than the one I grew up with.

Living in non-baseball cities makes it difficult to follow baseball because the game does not seem to help make up the collective ethos of the city. Minor league baseball helps, but it is difficult to follow since the players move around so much and don't really want to be there. It makes you feel like simply a step in their path.

The team's colors became the symbolic colors of the city. Think of the pinstripes in NYC. People emotionally bond to these iconic combinations. In a non-sport city, the bond is strictly a bond with the media. When the bat swings, it is not for you. You bond yourself to their actions and not the other way around. You have to actively seek out that bond, whereas in a baseball city, whether or not you are a fan, they are representing you. When you come from a non-baseball town, all you are defending is your choice and loyalty to that choice rather than your loyalty to your hometown.

Nonetheless, minor leagues games are great fun to go to and are a great value. They're fun to watch but much harder to follow consistently. Living in Corvallis during Oregon State University's two championship years really brought back the feeling and love for the sport.