{"id":14257,"date":"2026-10-30T08:07:45","date_gmt":"2026-10-30T13:07:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/?post_type=campus_story&p=14257"},"modified":"2026-10-30T08:10:36","modified_gmt":"2026-10-30T13:10:36","slug":"from-uw-madison-to-the-world-series","status":"publish","type":"campus_story","link":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/story\/from-uw-madison-to-the-world-series\/","title":{"rendered":"From UW-Madison to the World Series"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Photo:<\/a>
Stadium photo: Scott Paulus\/Milwaukee Brewers<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Alumni contribute to the Milwaukee Brewers\u2019 pennant-winning season<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s true: a UW\u2013Madison degree can get you to the World Series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Granted, no UW grads are currently suiting up for the pennant-winning Milwaukee Brewers. But Badgers fill key slots throughout the Brewers organization, including top business executives, marketers, software engineers, videographers, finance managers and analytics specialists. They all played their part in the team\u2019s unlikely journey to the fall classic for the first time since 1982. The series begins on October 23 against the Tampa Bay Rays \u2014 a red-letter day for Wisconsin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How does a UW student go from a degree in journalism, child development or political science to a Major League Baseball job? Here\u2019s a sampling of stories from the Brewers\u2019 behind-the-scenes heroes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Creative content<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

All season, fans have marveled over the chemistry of a team that earned baseball\u2019s best record despite its underdog status. According to Emily Bremer, the Brewers\u2019 senior director of marketing, that special magic characterizes the whole organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s so much camaraderie with both the front office and the team on the field,\u201d says Bremer, who oversees the digital operation, social media and copywriting. \u201cIt\u2019s a special group of people, and our team is churning at a level we never have before. It feels like the stars have aligned after many years of laying the groundwork.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Emily<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n

The players have made history in almost every game they\u2019ve played in the last five weeks. To be on the inside when all that\u2019s happening \u2014 it\u2019s just unmatched.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Emily Bremer<\/strong>, Brewers\u2019 senior director of marketing<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bremer\u2019s superpower is engaging the Brewers\u2019 growing national fan base with creative content on every conceivable platform: email, social media, the team website, text messages, TV, radio, an app, billboards and ballpark signage. The pace is relentless, as the marketing campaign for one game gives way to the marketing campaign for the next day\u2019s game, and on and on throughout the long season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bremer\u2019s number-one thrill? Overseeing videos and other marketing content for the Brewers\u2019 biggest stage \u2014 American Family Field \u2014 and then watching fans enjoy them in person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe sit and watch it with everyone else, and it\u2019s just amazing. How often do you get to hear real-time reactions to something you\u2019ve created?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bremer grew up in the Madison area and had eyes for only one college. \u201cThe feeling of being on the UW campus is something that you don\u2019t get anywhere else,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She focused on child development at UW\u2019s School of Human Ecology for her 2011 undergrad degree, then earned an MBA from the Wisconsin School of Business in 2019. A stint with the UW cycling club sparked an interest in sports marketing and led to a position with Trek Bicycle in Waterloo, Wisconsin. After gaining more experience on the East Coast, Bremer migrated back to Wisconsin for the Brewers job in 2024 \u2014 just in time to start the journey toward this extraordinary season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe players have made history in almost every game they\u2019ve played in the last five weeks,\u201d she says. \u201cTo be on the inside when all that\u2019s happening \u2014 it\u2019s just unmatched.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ultimate success<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Rick Schlesinger is the Brewers\u2019 president of business operations. And as he acknowledges, \u201cIt\u2019s not a normal business.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For this organization, the mission statement is to win the World Series. Obviously, that\u2019s not a goal you\u2019re going to be able meet every year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo much depends on the health and success of young baseball players,\u201d Schlesinger says. \u201cThey\u2019re human beings, and injuries or bad luck or an off season can negatively impact your team.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Rick
Photo: Kenny Yoo\/<\/em>Milwaukee Business Journal<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n

UW taught me to be a critical thinker. I learned how to assess different structures and recognize that, while there\u2019s only one set of facts, there are many interpretations regarding events and their significance.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Rick Schlesinger<\/strong>, Brewers\u2019 president of business operations<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But in 2026, the goal is finally within Schlesinger\u2019s grasp. It\u2019s the payoff for all the effort he\u2019s put into ticketing, sponsorships, broadcasting, public relations, stadium operations, financial analysis and the many other parts of his demanding job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou work very hard for moments like this, and to be in the World Series is magical,\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019re making so many people happy, getting so many text messages and emails and letters and calls from fans who are just ecstatic. It does motivate you to do the best in your job and achieve the ultimate success.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schlesinger had one important credential for his current position: He grew up in Milwaukee as a Brewers fanatic. He knew he wanted to attend UW\u2013Madison from an early age, and he considers his majors in history and political science<\/a> as perfect preparation for a career in business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt taught me to be a critical thinker,\u201d he says. \u201cI learned how to assess different structures and recognize that, while there\u2019s only one set of facts, there are many interpretations regarding events and their significance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After graduating in 1983, Schlesinger attended Harvard Law School and then worked for pro sports franchises in California before getting back to where he always wanted to be. In 2003, he started work with his beloved Brewers and now has an office above the idyllic green turf at American Family Field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As he says, \u201cIt\u2019s hard to have a bad day at the office when you\u2019re overlooking a baseball field.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interesting angles<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Curt Hogg doesn\u2019t work for the Brewers, but he expertly covers them as a sportswriter. As a baseball-obsessed kid growing up in Brown Deer, Wisconsin, he fell in love with the team and then, with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, found the perfect outlet for his passion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year\u2019s awe-inspiring Brew Crew, however, has put his writing skills to the test.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Curt<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n

I learned, early on, how to turn something around on deadline that is interesting, in your own voice, and with a different angle on a subject.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Curt Hogg<\/strong>, journalist for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis team is overflowing with interesting angles and compelling characters. That makes the job harder, in a sense, because you have a responsibility to tell it in the right way,\u201d Hogg says. \u201cI\u2019m as shocked as everyone else that the Brewers are going to the World Series, which is kind of a problem when you have to put it into words.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luckily, Hogg\u2019s UW journalism degree prepared him for such a challenge. He recalls a formative assignment in which he had to write 400 words on a fictional Madison-area train crash in just 30 minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI learned, early on, how to turn something around on deadline that is interesting, in your own voice, and with a different angle on a subject,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During college, Hogg covered Badger sports for the Bucky\u2019s Fifth Quarter blog. When he graduated in 2016, he paid his dues as a sportswriter for Minnesota\u2019s West Central Tribune before landing his dream job with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel two years later. And now, he finds himself the newspaper\u2019s man on the scene at a World Series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the playoffs, the Brewers had a habit of falling behind and testing their fans\u2019 faith before a thrilling comeback. Do they have a shot against the Tampa Bay Rays?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI won\u2019t count them out under any circumstances,\u201d Hogg says. \u201cI mean, they keep doing the dang thing. It\u2019s unlike anything I\u2019ve ever seen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Studio<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The UW grad who created the Milwaukee Brewers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Among UW\u2013Madison alumni with Milwaukee Brewers connections, Allan \u201cBud\u201d Selig is surely the most valuable player. Selig graduated in 1956 with dreams of becoming a UW history professor.<\/a> Instead, after a stint in the automotive industry, he made a different dream come true: bringing baseball back to Milwaukee, which had lost the Braves franchise to Atlanta in 1966. In 1970, Selig bought out the bankrupt Seattle Pilots and remade them as the Brewers. He led the team to a pennant in 1982 (their only one before this year\u2019s), then stepped away in 1992 to become Major League Baseball\u2019s commissioner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Selig left that gig in 2015, he returned to an earlier love: UW\u2013Madison. He endowed the Allan H. Selig Chair in the Department of History<\/a>, served as the 2018 commencement speaker<\/a>, and became the history teacher he\u2019d always wanted to be with his long-running UW seminar, Major League Baseball and American Society Since World War II.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI love Madison and I love the university,\u201d Selig said on the occasion of his commencement address. \u201cThose were four of the best years of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photo: Jeff Miller\/UW\u2013Madison<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stadium phot<\/em>o: Scott Paulus\/Milwaukee Brewers<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Written by Dean Robbins<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Link to original story: https:\/\/news.wisc.edu\/from-uw-madison-to-the-world-series\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alumni contribute to the Milwaukee Brewers\u2019 pennant-winning season It\u2019s true: a UW\u2013Madison degree can get you to the World Series. Granted, no UW grads are currently suiting up for the pennant-winning Milwaukee Brewers. But Badgers fill key slots throughout the Brewers organization, including top business executives, marketers, software engineers, videographers, finance managers and analytics specialists. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":14258,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","institution":[103],"story_category":[147,148,150],"class_list":["post-14257","campus_story","type-campus_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","institution-uw-madison","story_category-community","story_category-economy","story_category-featured"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story\/14257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/campus_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14257"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"institution","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/institution?post=14257"},{"taxonomy":"story_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story_category?post=14257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}