ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — For Tricia O’Leary, the road to the World Series runs through two places she calls home.
O’Leary grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and spent 30 years there before eventually making St. Petersburg home. Now, she spends her days driving visitors through downtown St. Pete as a local tour guide, sharing the history, landmarks and stories behind the city she has called home for nearly two decades.
But this week, the history unfolding around her is personal.
“Imagine being a tour guide in a city where the World Series is coming,” O’Leary said. “Now imagine being a tour guide when it’s your hometown and the town you grew up in, and the two teams are playing each other.”
WATCH NOW: A different route to the World Series: St. Pete tour guide has ties to both teams
As the Milwaukee Brewers arrive in St. Petersburg to face the Tampa Bay Rays, O’Leary is watching her two worlds collide.
“Neither has ever won a World Series,” she said. “Emotions are running high on all sides, and I’m here for it.”
A boost beyond the ballpark
From the seat of her golf cart, O’Leary regularly introduces visitors to St. Pete’s history, from downtown landmarks to Tropicana Field.
With baseball’s biggest stage now putting additional attention on the city, O’Leary believes the impact will extend beyond the games themselves.
“They don’t just go to the game,” O’Leary said of baseball visitors. “They come out to have dinner. They come and take tours. They want to shop locally. They want to experience the city of Saint Pete.”
O’Leary also works at Gusto, a small Italian restaurant downtown. She said the energy surrounding postseason baseball is welcome for businesses hoping to draw more customers.
“This kind of energy coming to the city, amazing,” O’Leary said. “Just bringing all kinds of excitement, energy, of course, dollars, many, many good things to be excited about no matter what team you’re rooting for.”
And when Wisconsin visitors climb aboard one of her tours, O’Leary admits she gets a little extra excited.
“I’d be lying if I said I don’t get excited when it’s Wisconsin people on the tour,” she said. “Just knowing that so many people from Wisconsin are headed down to my area for this fun and exciting time, it’s awesome.”
She also offered Tampa Bay businesses a little advice on what to expect from Brewers fans.
“They’re a very devout group of fans. They’re a warm group of people,” O’Leary said. “They love old-fashioneds, and yes, bratwurst and cheese as well.”
So who is she rooting for?
With Milwaukee roots and nearly two decades in St. Pete, picking a side is complicated.
For the next game, though, O’Leary has made her choice.
“I’m definitely rooting for the Rays tomorrow because I want the series to continue,” she said. “I don’t want to see either team just completely sweep the other team. I want it to be a nail-biter to the finish.”
Regardless of which team eventually wins, O’Leary knows this World Series will become another chapter in the history she shares with visitors.
“We always like to give people a history of the Trop,” O’Leary said.
Now, she is getting to watch some of that history unfold herself.
“When a sports team makes it to a thing like this and it’s happening in your town, it’s just a totally different experience than when you’re watching it take place in another city,” O’Leary said. “There’s just something about the excitement that it brings.”
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