ST. PETERSBURG – Every now and again, Jim Gasser pinches himself and wonders if this is really unfolding before him.
“What a small baseball world,” Jim said on the eve of watching his son, Robert Gasser, start for the Brewers in Game 3 of the World Series on Monday night at Tropicana Field, “that the team that drafted me doesn’t draft my son but picks him up in a trade, and here he is, pitching in the World Series for Milwaukee. You can’t make that stuff up.”
This scenario was never particularly close for Jim Gasser. When the Brewers drafted him in the 27th round out of Newbury Park High School in Thousand Oaks, Calif., in 1984, he had dreams of making it as a hitter. He was a shortstop and third baseman who had won high school batting championships, and he thought he could be the next Robin Yount or Paul Molitor.
But Jim Gasser also pitched, and the Brewers saw him as a pitcher. So he went to Moorpark College and was drafted again by the Giants in the eighth round in 1986, only to go down with an elbow injury before he could get to the pro ranks.
Forty years later, his son is living his dream. He’s about to pitch in the World Series.
“I wasn’t sure I was going to survive the LCS,” Jim Gasser said. “It’s amazing. As each day gets closer and closer, my wife and I and our whole family, our heart rates get faster and faster. It’s exciting. It’s fantastic. I’m super proud of Robert, obviously. I don’t know how he does it. I don’t know how anybody does it.”
He does it, Robert Gasser has said, with the help of his family. Each of his first two starts in this postseason have come on the road, in Game 4 of the National League Division Series at Petco Park in San Diego on the raucous night the Brewers clinched that series, then in Game 3 of the NL Championship Series at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
Gasser has allowed only one run – on a Fernando Tatis Jr. homer – in nine innings over those two games. And both times, he got to give a wave to his mom and dad beforehand. They leaned over the bullpen railing in San Diego, then stayed a little farther away at Dodger Stadium.
“They were a little too close” for the first start, Robert Gasser said, smiling. “I think they did leave before I started throwing, but when I walked out, I saw them.”
It meant a lot to have them there. And they will be there again on Monday night, though Tropicana Field’s warning track bullpens mean his parents will be a safe distance.
“As these games get more important and critical, I stay away from him,” Jim Gasser said. “Through the whole playoffs, we haven’t spent too many minutes with him, besides waving to him and having fun on the field with him at Dodger Stadium after they clinched. He’s got enough on his plate.”
And he knows his son has plenty of support around him.
“I think it’s a special year,” Jim Gasser said, “with a really special group of guys and an organization. I’m proud of him. It’s been a roller coaster for him. Didn’t have a spot [on the Opening Day roster]. His arm was hurting a little bit, didn’t have good feel, went back to [Triple-A] Nashville. Came back, got pulled in the middle of an at-bat.
“But he found it. He’s pitching with confidence. He’s got swag. It’s fun to see.”
Roof ball
The Brewers’ very first order of business during their workout at Tropicana Field on Sunday evening was to familiarize themselves with the roof rings that often come into play during games here. Third-base coach Matt Erickson pointed a pitching machine at the sky and played target practice while infielders and outfielders reacted whenever he hit the mark.
“It's very much a different place,” manager Pat Murphy said. “It seems like a great place, and you have to make adjustments to it. That's part of being a big leaguer.”
The Brewers have not played here since May 2025, when they lost two of three games. So they, and you, can re-familiarize yourself with the ground rules here.
Did he go?
There was much talk in the aftermath of Game 2 about Rays designated hitter Yandy Díaz’s check-swing strikeout against Aaron Ashby to end the game with the potential tying run on third base. Díaz argued that he didn’t go. Initially, Murphy didn’t think he went, either.
“I can say this in general, that's why the league is testing this opportunity to maybe, you have a [way to] check that and have a definition of what it really is, because it is so tough to see and tough to judge,” Murphy said. “From the view that I saw last night, I'm like, ‘No, he didn't go.’ He did it so nicely, so quick, then brought his hands up. I didn't feel like where I'm standing – I've got a pretty good view, but I didn't think they were going to call it.
“Now, when you slow it down, sure enough, his barrel's in front. That's why we're getting into these rule changes and ways to make the game even better.”
Meanwhile, back home
Brewers World Series merchandise remains red hot, with long lines at the team store at American Family Field on Sunday. The store will be open again on Monday and Tuesday from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. CT both days before closing to the public so the ballpark can be prepped for the team’s watch parties.