The Milwaukee Brewers are headed to the World Series for the first time in 44 years. They will play Game 1 at American Family Field on October 23. That stadium exists, and the team remains in Milwaukee, because of one man who knew the cost.
Instagram influencers may be trying to give David Crowley credit for why the Brewers are still here in Milwaukee. But he did not create the home that made the modern Brewers possible. A Republican state senator from Racine laid the foundation three decades earlier by flipping his vote and losing his job.
On October 5-6, 1995, the Wisconsin Senate debated a 0.1 percent sales tax in five counties, including Racine, to fund a new ballpark to replace County Stadium. The Brewers said they would leave without it. The bill failed twice. Sen. George Petak, who had promised his constituents he would oppose including Racine, voted no both times. After nearly 18 hours, shortly before 5 a.m., he switched. The measure passed 16-15.
“It’s a tough vote, but the right vote,” Petak said that morning, according to UPI. He later told CBS 58, “I was convinced then, and I’m convinced now that it was the right thing to do at the right time.” He told the Journal Sentinel he did what he thought was in the best interests of the state. Bud Selig called him a true Milwaukee and Wisconsin hero who paid a tough price. Tim Sheehy of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce put it plainly: without Petak’s vote at 4:45 in the morning, professional baseball in Wisconsin was in doubt.
The price came fast. Racine County opposed the tax, and a recall campaign was in full swing by March 1996. In June, Petak became the first Wisconsin legislator removed by recall, losing to Democrat Kimberly Plache. He never expressed regret. “It was worth it, frankly,” he said years later. The tax raised roughly $600 million before it expired in 2020. Miller Park opened in 2001. Fans still call the place “Petak’s Petard” in some corners. Petak threw out a first pitch after the recall and later celebrated the stadium’s opening.
Petak’s vote was the original act of keeping major league baseball in Wisconsin when the alternative was relocation. Without the stadium, there would be no World Series-bound team for Crowley or anyone else to claim credit for retaining.
Petak died on Christmas Eve 2024 at age 75. Selig said, when you enter American Family Field and think of the Brewers, remember George played a vital part in keeping them in Wisconsin. The Brewers organization said he loved Wisconsin and did so much, including his crucial support that made it possible for the team to call Milwaukee home.
This week’s National League pennant winners play in the ballpark his vote built. When fans pack the stadium for the World Series, they owe that to a man who put the state’s interest ahead of his own reelection. Milwaukee should honor the man who kept baseball in Milwaukee.
