In a city where baseball loyalties tend to lean toward the Toronto Blue Jays, Craig Meredith has always gone his own way.
The lifelong Peterborough resident is a diehard Milwaukee Brewers fan, a loyalty that has lasted since he was 10 years old and made him something of a local rarity.
So when the Brewers won their first-ever World Series championship this week, Meredith had plenty of reasons to celebrate. After years of cheering from more than 1,000 kilometres away, the team he has stuck with through thick and thin finally reached the top.
“It's been an emotional roller coaster,” Meredith said. “A lot of ups, a lot of downs, a lot of comeback wins, a lot of excitement overall. And, well, we ended off at the end winning the World Series.”
The journey to find a Peterborough Brewers fan wasn't particularly difficult. After putting out a call to find local supporters of the newly crowned champions, his name was the one that kept coming up.
And while plenty of people around town have shown their support during the team's playoff run, Meredith says he hasn't come across another local fan who shares his devotion.
“No, not at all,” he said when asked if he'd encountered other Brewers fans in the area. “I am the lone wolf. I went rogue on this one.”
That includes his own family. His father was a big Montreal Expos fan, meaning Meredith didn't exactly grow up in a Brewers household.
“I used to get chirped wearing some, I think I had a little Brewers hat when I was a kid,” he recalled.
Clearly, the teasing didn't work.
So, why Milwaukee?
It's a question Meredith says he gets almost every day, and he had a few answers ready.
For starters, there's the team's famous logo, which cleverly combines the letters M and B into a baseball glove. Then there's Milwaukee's association with beer, along with the team's seventh-inning sausage race, a tradition that sees costumed sausages race around the field.
“Everyone knows my history with sausages and hot dogs,” Meredith said with a laugh. “And Milwaukee, I do like a nice cold beer every now and then.”
It's a combination that seems to suit his personality. Meredith has embraced the fun side of the franchise, and he says the Brewers have a way of earning goodwill even from people who don't normally cheer for them.
He also remembers watching the team as a kid, when the Brewers played in the American League and were rivals of the Blue Jays. In fact, his first baseball game with his dad was against Milwaukee.
Over time, that childhood interest became a lifelong attachment.
“I just always love them,” he said.
A little help from Blue Jays fans
Although Meredith may be one of Peterborough's most devoted Brewers supporters, he hasn't been entirely alone during this year's playoff run.
The Blue Jays' heartbreaking World Series loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers last year left plenty of local fans looking for a new team to cheer for this fall. When Milwaukee faced Los Angeles in the National League Championship Series, Meredith suddenly had plenty of company.
“Everyone was on board with the Brew Crew,” he said.
Over the past six weeks, he's had strangers approach him in Brewers gear to offer high-fives, hugs and words of encouragement.
“Just fun stuff, right?” he said.
It's a welcome change for a fan who has spent much of his life supporting a team that isn't exactly the obvious choice in Peterborough.
Meredith even found some unexpected baseball companionship while travelling in the Dominican Republic a couple of years ago. He met a family from Milwaukee, and the group spent a week talking baseball.
“They thought I was half nuts being from Canada the way I cheer for them,” he said.
But distance has never been much of a deterrent. And after watching the Brewers fall short in previous seasons, Meredith was happy to see the team finally finish the job.
Now comes the recovery
After all the late nights, the dramatic comebacks and the emotional swings of a championship run, Meredith has earned a little downtime.
When asked how he was feeling after the historic win, he had one more important point to make.
“I just got to take this time to get my life back together,” he said. “Like I said, a lot of late nights, a lot of emotional roller coasters, and just soak it all in.”
Then came the words every longtime fan dreams of saying.
“We're the champs. Go Brewers.”
For a Peterborough superfan who has spent decades cheering for a team more than 1,000 kilometres away, those words were worth the wait.
