Surprise visitor in Brewers' clubhouse: the Stanley Cup

MILWAUKEE – Brewers prospect Tyler Black and bullpen coach Jim Henderson leaned in, looking for the engraved names of their favorite Canadian players. Moments later, Bostonian Sal Frelick walked through the door and his eyes widened.

How did the Stanley Cup wind up perched on a table in the middle of a baseball clubhouse?

The answer was standing proudly nearby: Florida Panthers GM Bill Zito, a Milwaukee-area native whose first job in sports was as a 16-year-old clubhouse attendant and bat boy for his hometown Brewers, brought arguably the most famous trophy in sports for a visit. Zito's Brewers experience covered three summers in the early 1980s, including in 1982 when the team reached the World Series.

Now he’s celebrating after the Panthers won the Stanley Cup for the first time by beating the Edmonton Oilers in seven games. Per tradition, the title team gets to pass around the Cup in the offseason, and Zito knew that American Family Field would be on the agenda when he got his turn.

“It’s an act of appreciation,” Zito said. “There’s no chance I would do what I do, or be where I am if I had not had this experience here.”

The Brewers treated him well back then, from GM Harry Dalton offering career advice to Rollie Fingers slipping him $20 bills to Jim Gantner ribbing Zito after checking the box scores of his high school football games and Paul Molitor showing up at high school hockey games in the winter.

What was the biggest lesson he learned in the clubhouse?

“Family,” Zito said. “That team was made up of all different characters, but they were a team. Harvey Kuenn was the manager and he said, ‘You be you. Be the best you can be. If you’ve got flaws and you’ve got shortcomings, OK, I do too.’”

That lesson sticks with him today as he builds his own team.

“I knew I wasn’t going to be a ballplayer and I knew I wasn’t going to be in the NHL,” said Zito, who grew up in Whitefish Bay, Wis., loving both baseball and hockey. “But to come back home, I thought it would be a nice treat to bring the Cup here. The guys seem to like it.”

There were two rules, as explained by the two representatives of the Hockey Hall of Fame who travel with the Stanley Cup at all times.

1. You can touch it, but don’t lift it.

2. If you drink from it, somebody whose name is on it has to have poured the drink.

The Brewers didn’t test the latter rule, but everyone from hockey nuts like Black and Frelick to legendary broadcaster Bob Uecker did gather around for photos and a close look.

It capped a busy tour of Zito’s hometown. Among his stops were visits with the Milwaukee Bucks and Milwaukee Admirals (the city’s professional hockey team) and a surprise stop with healthcare workers at Froedtert Hospital. He visited University School, where he finished his high school hockey career. He toured Miller Brewery and resisted the urge to fill the Cup with beer.

At another stop, however, Zito couldn’t resist. He filled the Stanley Cup with frozen custard at Kopp's where Zito once worked the french fryer as a kid.

“That was awesome,” he said. “The guy made a big sundae for us.”