Imagine seeing those comments 6 years ago. Or at any point from 1993-2022. 14 year old me still can't believe it.

Bill Zito has naturally adopted the Miami Marlins as his MLB team in the years since becoming the Florida Panthers’ general manager. But the Wisconsin-raised 62-year-old still has a Milwaukee Brewers logo tattooed on his heart.

“Where you’re from, that’s your team, right?” Zito said. “There’s a sense of pride of people that come from Milwaukee. Buffalo is kind of similar. There’s other places like that. But it’s so fun to grow up as a fan of those teams. When they do well, you can’t help it.”

Well, there’s a little more to Zito’s ties to the Brewers than that — especially right now.

It’s a fun, sentimental connection — but don’t underestimate the real-life impact that experience had on Zito. He insists it helped him get where he is today.

“One hundred percent,” Zito said without hesitation.

The story begins with Zito’s friendship with the daughters of then-Brewers GM Harry Dalton.

“Very, very bright guy,” Zito said of Dalton, who was also GM of the Baltimore Orioles and California Angels. “He was a very accomplished general manager. His daughters helped me secure the (bat boy) job. I was a huge baseball fan. And then Mr. Dalton would always talk to me when he ran into me.

Read the rest here for free: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7701429/2026/10/19/bill-zito-brewers-bat-boy-panthers-nhl-mlb/?unlocked_article_code=1.J1E.bkxj.dWxLfI6WvBTV&source=emp_shared_article&smid=url-share-ta

Cowboy coming back up to the Cats!