Florida Panthers’ Bill Zito ready to see hometown Brewers in World Series

Florida Panthers admin October 22, 2026 0 Comments

Florida Panthers’ Bill Zito ready to see hometown Brewers in World Series

The question posed to Bill Zito was intentionally leading.

“Brewers in…”

Zito didn’t hesitate with his response.

“Four,” he said in a brief exchange Tuesday.

Long before Zito became the Florida Panthers’ president of hockey operations and general manager, a role in which he has led the club to three Stanley Cup Finals and two championships, he got an up-close look at what it takes to play for a title in one of professional sports’ top leagues.

The year: 1982. Zito was 18 at the time.

His role: Bat boy for the Brewers, who were set to play in their first World Series. The Brewers ultimately lost the series in seven games to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Forty-four years later, the Brewers are finally back in the World Series. The best-of-7 series with the Tampa Bay Rays begins Friday from Milwaukee’s American Family Field (8 p.m., Fox).

And with a bit of scheduling luck on his side, Zito plans to be in attendance.

The Panthers are in the midst of a four-game road trip that began with a 5-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday and continues Thursday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The team will then fly to Chicago on Friday for a Sunday matinee against the Blackhawks. That’s only a 90-minute drive for Zito to get to Milwaukee.

Zito, who grew up about 15 minutes of Milwaukee in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, was a Brewers bat boy and clubhouse attendant for three years, from 1981 to 1983. His pursuits in sports primarily shifted to hockey from there. He played three seasons as a forward at Yale before having a brief professional career in Finland before attending law school at the University of Wisconsin, which paved his way to become a player agent and eventually NHL management.

But baseball and the Brewers in particular still hold a special place in Zito’s heart. After the Panthers won their first Stanley Cup in 2024, he brought the trophy to American Family Field.

“In the hockey world, that’s sort of a gesture of appreciation and respect and thanks,” Zito said at the time. “I wanted to do that.”

Now, he will get to watch as the first pro team he worked for aims to get its first trophy.

Marlins ties to the World Series

Five former Marlins players are participating in the World Series.

The headliner is outfielder Christian Yelich, who the Marlins selected No. 23 overall in the 2010 MLB Draft and played for Miami from 2013 to 2017 before being shipped to Milwaukee in one of the headliner trades early in the Derek Jeter era. Miami received four prospects in return for Yelich: outfielders Lewis Brinson and Monte Harrison, infielder Isan Diaz and pitcher Jordan Yamamoto. None are still playing in MLB (although Monte Harrison is now a college wide receiver at Arkansas).

Yelich, meanwhile, has carved out a solid career with Milwaukee. He has a .277 batting average with an .846 on-base-plus-slugging mark, 186 home runs and 617 RBI across 1,091 games over nine seasons with the Brewers. He is hitting .292 (7 of 24) so far in the 2026 playoffs.

Meanwhile, the Rays have four Marlins on their roster, three of whom were dealt to Tampa Bay during the past two seasons by current president of baseball operations Peter Bendix in catchers Liam Hicks and Nick Fortes plus outfielder Victor Mesa Jr.

Mesa Jr., who signed with the Marlins alongside his older brother Victor Victor Mesa in October 2018, was traded to Tampa Bay in February for infielder prospect Angel Brachi after making a brief MLB debut in 2025. He has excelled for the Rays this season, hitting .260 with an .825 OPS, 14 home runs and 37 runs scored in 79 regular-season games. He hit the go-ahead two-run home run in Tampa Bay’s ALDS-clinching win over the New York Yankees.

Miami acquired Hicks in the 2025 Rule 5 Draft, and he quickly became one of the team’s steadier hitters across his one-and-a-half seasons with the Marlins while splitting time between catcher, first base and designated hitter. Hicks was hitting .282 with a .795 OPS, 14 home runs and 62 RBI in 101 games this season before being dealt to the Rays for three prospects — infielders Brayden Taylor and Adrian Santana plus pitcher Jacob Kisting. He has started all nine playoff games for the Rays.

And Fortes was a fourth-round pick by the Marlins in 2018 who played in parts of five seasons with Miami from 2021-2025 before being dealt to the Rays at the 2025 trade deadline.

Relief pitcher Cole Sulser, who spent the 2022 season with Miami, is in the Rays’ bullpen.