BOSTON -- A steady throng of Brewers fans followed the team for its first trip to Boston in 11 years, braving full flights or long drives, paying sky-high hotel-room rates and scrambling for tough-to-get tickets into sold-out Fenway Park.

For fans like Jeff Kranz, a Miller Park full-season ticketholder who drove from Milwaukee with his wife and two sons, it was worth the effort.

"They're killing me this year," Kranz said of the Brewers, who found themselves in last place in the National League Central on Sunday morning. "But this is Fenway Park. This place is amazing. It's how baseball was supposed to be played. The roots of the game are right here in ballparks like this. Think of the players who have played here before."

Kranz was wearing a bright blue replica Brewers jersey, and he was not alone. At every "T" stop and tavern and sidewalk memorabilia stand, you could spot Brewers caps or T-shirts or jerseys.

"I don't think you see this much Brewers gear in Milwaukee," said Tamra Reynolds, a fan from Cudahy, Wis., wearing a white "retro" Brewers jersey with pinstripes.

Fans like Kranz and Reynolds added to the already-chaotic weekend in Beantown. It was graduation weekend in one of the nation's great college towns, so fans trying to board the "B" train toward Fenway were crowded in with parents and grandparents in suits and dresses bound for Boston College.

There was also Game 7 of the NBA's Eastern Conference semifinal series between the Celtics and Cavaliers, scheduled to begin about an hour and a half after the start of Sunday's Brewers-Red Sox series finale.

That confluence of events helped push the price of downtown hotel rooms to $500 per night and above, and it sent many fans to rooms in the suburbs.

"Even out there, 20 minutes away, you see Brewers fans," said Reynolds. "A lot of them were probably like me; when I saw the Interleague schedule and saw Boston, I said, 'I've got to be there.' I've never been to Boston and I needed a reason to come here."

The same went for Joe Trovato and Aaron Hexom of Waukesha, Wis., who just finished their sophomore years of college, Trovato in Madison, Wis., and Hexom in LaCrosse, Wis. They purchased their tickets online months ago, and on Sunday, they were able to push their way down to the dugout to take pictures during batting practice.

"I think our fans are starting to travel better," said Trovato. "Still, I didn't expect to see so many Brewers fans out here. You walk around outside the stadium, they're everywhere."

The players noticed.

"It's crazy," said Brewers left fielder Ryan Braun, who homered in his first at-bat on Sunday. "A couple of people told me that the only teams that had more of their fans here were the Yankees and Mets. It's great to see."

The Brewers themselves became tourists. Craig Counsell's family took a city tour on Saturday, and general manager Doug Melvin, his son, Cory, traveling secretary Dan Larrea and media-relations boss Mike Vassallo climbed to the top of the Green Monster on Sunday morning. Brewers TV play-by-play man Brian Anderson watched Saturday's doubleheader from the front row of those seats.

"This is a destination," Counsell said. "It doesn't surprise me at all that fans would make the trip."

It did somewhat surprise Kranz, the season ticketholder.

"I'm quite pleased, actually," he said. "They're getting a stronger following back in Milwaukee, too. They're starting to win, put a competitive team on the field. They haven't hit lately, though."

He's keeping the faith.

"I've been keeping the faith since 1982, when they were in the World Series," Kranz said.