The Milwaukee Brewers won the first World Series in team history on Wednesday night more than a thousand miles from home. Somehow the loudest party still happened in a ballpark with nobody on the field.

Thousands of fans filled the seats at American Family Field to watch Game 5 from St. Petersburg on the giant scoreboard. When the final out landed in a 4-1 win over the Rays, blue and gold confetti poured down onto an empty diamond. "Glory Days" boomed through the speakers. Total strangers hugged. A few people simply stood there frozen.

Fans treated the night like a real home game. The stadium played each hitter's walk-up song as if he were strolling to the plate below. Catcher William Contreras' trumpet intro had the whole place clapping along. Every time Cooper Pratt popped up on the screen the crowd let out a long, rolling "Cooooop!" He rewarded them with an RBI single and a run scored.

Fans who waited since 1982

For plenty of people in the stands the wait went back decades. Don MacLeod, a fan since 1970 and a season-ticket holder for 20 years, sat through Games 6 and 7 in St. Louis back in 1982 when Milwaukee came up one win short. He joked that it was a very long drive home. This time he said he had waited his whole life and finally got it.

An usher remembered skipping a day of high school to watch that 1982 series on an antenna TV. Sandra Kohn, who keeps score at every game in a cap signed by the whole team, said the ballpark became her place to go after her husband died. She has not missed a playoff game or a watch party all season.

A 96-year-old saw it coming

Up north in Wausau, 96-year-old Joan Jehn watched from her living room and was thrilled. She used to make the trip to Milwaukee with her late husband. After he died she kept going on her own by bus. She laughs about the time she stepped off at the tailgate lot and somebody put a beer in her hand right away.

Jehn was not worried after Tuesday's loss. Before the clincher she predicted the bats would wake up and her favorite young flamethrower Jacob Misiorowski would handle the rest. He closed out the fifth inning with a big strikeout and a fist pump. Back home the fans roared.

The party did not stop at the final out. Fans gathered around the Bob Uecker statue outside, chanted "Let's go Brewers!" across the parking lots and lined up all the way around the stadium for championship gear. The parade is set for Friday. Milwaukee might not sleep before then.