The 2026-27 NHL schedule, and maybe fate, has the Florida Panthers in Chicago for off days on Friday and Saturday, putting general manager Bill Zito about a 90-minute drive or a brief flight away from where the Milwaukee Brewers will host the Tampa Bay Rays for the first two games of the World Series.
Panthers GM Zito eager to attend hometown Brewers’ World Series games
Former Milwaukee batboy plans to be on hand for hometown team’s return after 44 years
Zito, who grew up about 15 minutes north of Milwaukee in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, plans to take advantage of the mini break before the Panthers play the Blackhawks on Sunday to get to American Family Field to watch the Brewers’ first World Series appearance in 44 years.
“Yeah, I'm trying to get tickets,” Zito said Tuesday. “So, we'll absolutely get going.”
Zito had an inside view the last time the Brewers were in the World Series in 1982. Now 62, Zito at the time was a batboy and clubhouse attendant for the Brewers from 1981-83.
Zito raced home with his son, Billy, following the Panthers’ 3-2 overtime win against the Vancouver Canucks last Thursday in time to see the final outs of the Brewers’ pennant-clinching 6-4 victory against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series. The excitement brought Zito back to watching the Brewers advance to the World Series by defeating the California Angels for the American League pennant in 1982.
“It's an appreciation of, obviously, how fortunate and lucky I was to be able to have that full experience in the first place, and the World Series for Milwaukee and for friends,” Zito said. “… My dad's still in Milwaukee. So, all the fun associated with it is just wonderful for that city and that community.”
Although Milwaukee lost the 1982 World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games, Zito looks back fondly on the experience. The Brewers had never qualified for the postseason before 1981 and reached the World Series for the first time the following season.
“I wouldn't say that it's exclusive to the winning the pennant or the World Series,” Zito said. “The excitement that surrounded the achievement of the first playoffs, then the pennant. The similarities between those men and actually our team, the way that they treated each other. The sense of community insofar as if you walked in and you didn't know who the superstars were, like you'd never pick out Robin Yount as, ‘Well, that’s the Hall of Famer’ or Paul Molitor or Rollie Fingers.
“You couldn't because of the way they treated each other and everybody else and the kindness, actually.”
It’s not a coincidence that there’s a similar “sense of community” among the current Panthers players and their teams that won the Stanley Cup in 2024 and 2025.
“I can't tell you that I have something written down from 2013 in Columbus (as assistant GM) or 2020 when I came here that said your team has to mirror the Milwaukee Brewers,” Zito said. “But I can tell you that the construction of the personalities is directly influenced. There’s no doubt about that. It impacts me every day.”
Then-Brewers GM Harry Dalton was the first to suggest to Zito that he pursue a career in sports management. Dalton, who died in 2005, has been on Zito’s mind the past few days as well and he exchanged texts with his daughter, Cindy.
“It wasn't like I would go every day and go to Mr. Dalton's office,” Zito said. “But I had a lot of energy, so every time I'd see him, I pepper him, ask him questions and stuff. I don't know, for whatever reason, I wasn't intimidated. I wasn't afraid to ask the questions. … He was very considerate and gracious with opinions and guidance and just so nice.”
Given his love of baseball, Zito might have become the GM of a Major League Baseball team instead, but he said, “I just loved hockey more.” Zito played three seasons as a forward at Yale (1984-87) and had a brief professional career with Salo in Finland’s third division (1987-88) before attending the University of Wisconsin Law School and beginning his path as a player agent that eventually led to a shift to management.
“I would have been completely content had an opportunity in baseball arisen,” he said. “It was just my nature of having played in college and the people that I knew, and my passion, hockey was just it.”
Although Zito and his family have become Miami Marlins fans during his seven seasons with Florida, he has never forgotten his Milwaukee roots. After the Panthers won their first championship in 2024, Zito brought the Cup to American Family Field as part of his day with it.
Zito said his motivation was “appreciation and respect.”
“My kids, I think Florida is their home, but Milwaukee is my home,” he said. “My family, my parents, Milwaukee is where I grew up, and I don't think there's a chance that I'm living the life I am today if I had not had that opportunity. So, there was respect for the Brewers organization, and a lot of fun.”
One of the photos Zito took with the Cup that day was alongside longtime Brewers clubhouse manager Tony Migliaccio, who dates to Zito’s days as a batboy, and longtime Brewers radio announcer and former major league catcher Bob Uecker.
“That was really special, really cool,” Zito said. “Bob Uecker was the Brewers, still is the Brewers, and Tony is as well.”
Uecker died in 2025, but Zito believes he has still been a part of this magical Brewers season.
“I'm telling you, he's there,” Zito said. “I'm just telling you the impact that man had on those folks, that organization, how much he cared, and how much he openly and publicly supported the Milwaukee Brewers, the city of Milwaukee, and baseball, that man has a smile on his face.”
