Florida Panthers general manager Bill Zito expects to trade the rink for American Family Field during a rare break in the 2026-27 schedule, with the Panthers parked in Chicago before Sunday’s game against the Blackhawks and his hometown Milwaukee Brewers opening the World Series against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Zito grew up in Whitefish Bay, roughly 15 minutes north of Milwaukee, and plans to make the 90-minute trip north—or take a short flight—for one of the first two World Series games. Milwaukee is back on baseball’s biggest stage for the first time in 44 years.
“I’m working on getting tickets,” Zito said Tuesday. “We’re definitely going to make it happen.”
A World Series return with deep roots
The Brewers’ pennant run has put Zito back in touch with a chapter from long before he built Florida into a two-time Stanley Cup champion. He worked for Milwaukee as a batboy and clubhouse attendant from 1981 through 1983, including the club’s 1982 run to the World Series.
After Florida’s 3-2 overtime win over the Vancouver Canucks last Thursday, Zito hurried home with his son Billy and caught the closing moments of Milwaukee’s 6-4 Game 4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series. That win sent the Brewers back to the World Series.
It stirred memories of 1982, when Milwaukee captured the American League pennant before losing a seven-game World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals. The Brewers had reached the postseason for the first time only a year earlier.
Zito said the current run matters as much for his family and the city as it does for the result on the field. His father still lives in Milwaukee, and the club’s success has brought a familiar buzz back to the community.
He also remembers the makeup of the Brewers clubhouse—particularly the way stars such as Robin Yount, Paul Molitor and Rollie Fingers carried themselves around teammates and staff. Zito said a visitor would not have been able to identify the Hall of Famers simply by how they acted, because everyone was treated with the same respect.
Brewers influence carried into Panthers build
That old Milwaukee clubhouse left a mark on Zito’s approach to hockey operations. He said he never set out with a written plan to copy the Brewers, whether during his time as Columbus Blue Jackets assistant general manager beginning in 2013 or when he joined Florida in 2020.
Still, he said the way he evaluates personalities and builds a room has been directly shaped by that experience. The Panthers’ Stanley Cup teams in 2024 and 2025 have been built around a similar sense of connection, he said.
Former Brewers general manager Harry Dalton was another lasting influence. Dalton, who died in 2005, was the first person to encourage Zito to consider sports management as a career. Zito has been thinking about him during Milwaukee’s postseason and recently exchanged messages with Dalton’s daughter, Cindy.
Zito recalled approaching Dalton whenever he had the chance, firing questions at him without much hesitation. Dalton, he said, was generous with his advice, patient with his curiosity and welcoming to a young clubhouse worker with plenty of energy.
Baseball could have become Zito’s career path. Instead, hockey won out.
He played forward at Yale for three seasons from 1984 to 1987, then spent the 1987-88 season with Salo in Finland’s third division. After that, he attended the University of Wisconsin Law School, entered hockey as a player agent and eventually moved into front-office management.
Zito said he would have gladly pursued a baseball opportunity if one had appeared, but his college playing background, his hockey connections and his stronger passion for the sport led him toward the NHL.
Milwaukee remains home
Zito and his family have become Miami Marlins supporters during his seven years with the Panthers, but Milwaukee remains the place he identifies as home. When Florida won its first Stanley Cup in 2024, he brought the trophy to American Family Field during his allotted day with it.
He described that visit as an expression of gratitude toward the Brewers organization and the city where he grew up. One photo from the day included longtime Brewers clubhouse manager Tony Migliaccio, who worked with Zito during his batboy years, and broadcaster Bob Uecker.
For Zito, Uecker embodied the Brewers as much as anyone. Uecker, the longtime Milwaukee radio voice and former major league catcher, died in 2025.
Zito believes Uecker’s presence still hangs over this Brewers season, pointing to the broadcaster’s devotion to the team, Milwaukee and the game itself.
Now, with the Panthers idle in Chicago on Friday and Saturday, Zito has a chance to be in the building for another Milwaukee October memory—this time as an NHL executive who once swept through the same ballpark as a kid.
