Tickets to the World Series in Milwaukee may be the highest World Series prices on record, but that's not stopping some fans from getting a peek of the action.
In fact, while standing room only tickets had a face value of over $700 for most people, several dozen fans paid $0 to gather just about 10 feet away – at the windows outside the right-field gates of American Family Field during Game 2 on Saturday night, Oct. 24.
Nikko Piccione of Cudahy rode his bike and brought an AM/FM radio, a lawn chair and a cigar, and set up camp.
"I can buy a lot of cigars with $1,000, and I listen to most of the games anyway," he said. "I just rode my bike out here and I'm going to listen right here, I guess."
One friend group that gathered outside the windows took a tech-savvy approach. They hoisted each other up to leave a phone on a window ledge above their heads.
"His phone is currently up there, it's Facetiming, so we can see the game from his phone," said Peter Kooiker, a student at Wisconsin Lutheran College.
Joining Kooiker were his friends and fellow students Jacob Bickel and Sam Lipps. Bickel had been fortunate enough to have a ticket inside the stadium for Game 1, but knew he wanted to come back. The friends got the idea to watch Game 2 from outside the stadium through an Instagram post of someone doing the same thing the previous night.
Despite the glass wall separating them from the more than 43,000 fans inside the stadium, the friends said they felt a part of the excitement.
"You can feel the energy," Lipps said. "You can feel it throughout the entire city even."
Other Brewers fans watching from outside the glass found creative ways to snag a few glimpses of the field.
Viktor Venta of Milwaukee is already about 6-foot-7, but he stood on a stool to increase his eyeline to well over 8 feet.
"I can see home plate. I can see every at-bat. I can see the whole outfield," he said. "Really, I can see everything from out here."
And it cost him nothing – like Piccione, Venta rode his bike to the ballpark.
Others used benches and the railing outside the UW Credit Union Plaza's Joie Play Yard for a taller vantage point. Even kids playing on the playground stood atop its timber cow to catch a glimpse of the game.
Leon White of Eagle said being on the grounds of the Brewers' first World Series in 44 years, even without a ticket, is a special experience – one that makes him think of his parents, who are no longer living but would have loved to experience the energy this World Series has brought to Milwaukee.
White's wife drives a shuttle bus for Camp Bar. He decided to join her and head to American Family Field just to be around all the excitement, when he realized fans were lining up outside the windows to watch the game.
"It dawned on me ... this is the next best thing. You've got standing room only, and it's just right here," he said. "You see all sorts of cool people walking by. ... It's just a privilege to be here."
Each Brewers hit and each Rays out brought just as much elation from the fans outside as those inside the stadium, with the outdoor fans banging on the glass as those indoors clapped and cheered. There was also a sense of camaraderie between the ticketholders and the onlookers, as many walking by waved and gave high fives through the glass.
The jubilance of the Brewers' second win of the World Series was palpable throughout every seat in the house – and the non-seats outside of the house.
"I always said I was gonna come to the World Series if they ever made it," Piccione said. "And I'm at the World Series."
Contact Kelli Arseneau at (920) 213-3721 or karseneau@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @ArseneauKelli.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: 'The next best thing': Brewers fans watch Series from outside stadium