In five seasons as the Brewers television play-by-play voice, Matt Vasgersian developed a cult-like following with his freewheeling style and encyclopedic knowledge of pop culture.

Roughly 4½ seasons have passed since the California native left Wisconsin to work in San Diego, and his popularity in these parts hasn't diminished much, if at all.

The admiration is mutual.

Vasgersian, 38, who is in town for a four-game series this week at Miller Park, looks forward to visiting the area with the Padres each season and usually makes at least one other trip a year to see friends and the family of his longtime girlfriend, Emily, a Milwaukee native.

Although he has experienced some professional highs (Olympic ski jumping) and lows (XFL play-by-play) during the past decade, Vasgersian has fond memories of his time in Milwaukee and often acts as an unofficial ambassador for the city that adopted him as one of its own.

“I love it here,” Vasgersian said. “Every time I come back, whether it's for baseball or around the holidays to see Emily's family, I have a great time. Milwaukee has grown so much since I got here in December of '96. That's only 10 years, but the changes are unbelievable.”

Two hours before the first pitch on Tuesday night, Vasgersian sat in the visitor's TV booth and talked about the city, the evolution of his broadcasting style and his future plans. Enjoy this updated Milwaukee Talks interview with Matt Vasgersian.

OnMilwaukee.com: On the radio this morning, you mentioned how much the city has changed since you left. One thing that hasn't changed much is your popularity in town. How do you explain that?

Vasgersian: I'm not sure I can. It has to do with the fan base. This is one of the last markets where people really care and you're seen as something more than just the soundtrack to the games. It's hard to put it in words. If the Brewers are ever worth a damn on the field, this place will just erupt with love. It's going to be awesome. It's close. They're closer than they ever were when I was here, that's for sure. The market is so special, I find myself defending Milwaukee all the time.

OMC: How is that?

Vasgersian: When we go there, I was on the bus and this unnamed person in our traveling party who is from Cleveland was having a conversation on his cell phone. I heard him say “Yeah, we've got to go to beautiful Milwaukee,” with a tone of sarcasm. I turned around and said “Wait a minute -- you're from Cleveland and you're going to come up on Milwaukee? You better step off, right now. Just because you don't know where to go because you don't travel more than a block away from The Pfister (hotel) and you think there is nothing in Milwaukee … don't be that stupid.”

OMC: That's pretty inspiring. It sounds like maybe the convention and visitors bureau could use you in a commercial.

Vasgersian: This is such a sleeper town. The lakefront is alive. (Monday) was an awesome day. I went for a run / walk -- mostly a walk, given my physical condition -- and I was thinking to myself the whole time that to do this in this clean a setting, this pristine a setting, this safe a setting in California you'd have to pay to go onto private property somewhere.

If you're doing that on Venice Beach or Mission Beach, you're stepping over homeless people. You've got to make sure that you've got really good shoes on because you're going to be stepping on broken glass. There is going to be a shakedown around the next corner and an arrest on the next block.

There is still -- it sounds corny -- but there is still a quality of life factor that I have not found since I left Milwaukee -- before or since, actually.

OMC: The other day, (former Bucks announcer) Eddie Doucette spoke highly of your broadcast ability. He said you did some fresh things and you had a “young sound.”  How has your style changed since you started with the Brewers?

Vasgersian: Ten years ago, the ESPN culture had not permeated sports as it does now. You didn't have every ESPN news guy on a 20-minute loop trying to do their own schtick. It's not that I invented it, but it came naturally to me back then and I was having a good time. Now, if I tried to do that, it would be perceived as trying to rip off an ESPN deal.

OMC: I can remember the anchors on “SportsCenter” making fun of your home-run calls. Not too long after that, they were all trying out their own.

Vasgersian: They acted like I was a dickhead, which was true. It was accurate.

OMC: How have you changed?

Vasgersian: It's not that I started all that wild stuff, but I think I've kind of dialed it back a little more. I get a little more sensitive to criticism now. Believe it or not, I was much less sensitive (when I started in Milwaukee). My finger was up to anybody who didn't like me. I couldn't give two sh**s. I was doing it for me. Now, you start thinking about your longevity and your career. The only criticism that bothers me is people who say that by virtue of having fun on the air that you don't know what you're talking about or that you don't respect baseball.

OMC: Do you get that a lot?

Vasgersian: Some people don't understand it's three or 3 1/2 hours a night. Simply by doing a baseball game, 99 percent of what comes out of your mouth is going to be baseball. The shut-in somewhere is going to be upset because I use a movie line? Get over it. Get past it. Move on to the next thing. I never used to care about that stuff when I was here. But, it bothers me sometimes now.

OMC: You really seemed to connect with younger fans during your time here. I bet there are a lot of people who were in their teens when you were here who will say you helped them get into the Brewers.

Vasgersian: That kind of thing is flattering. Again, it has to do with the fan base. The fans here have a better sensibility than people on the coast. People on the coast think it has to be buttoned up all the time. A place like San Diego is different. It's more conservative than you imagine. That's what gets me -- I'm a conservative guy. When I get an e-mail some guy accusing me of being a jagoff, I want to e-mail him back and say, “Dude, believe me I'm more conservative than you are.” Let's compare voting records. Let's share philosophies on life. I'm probably more conservative than you are.

OMC: San Diego is a military town, isn't it?

Vasgersian:  Yes, and I'm on board with that. My dad is retired military. That's why when I get e-mail like that, it is particularly troubling. My first year with the Padres, we got an e-mail about (Whitefish Bay native) Craig Counsel. He was playing for Arizona at the time, and we mentioned that he went to Notre Dame. We said it a couple times, because it's unusual. There are not a lot of Notre Dame alumni playing in the major leagues. They disbanded baseball program for awhile. It was a talking point. But, we get an e-mail from some crazy freak to the tune of “Quit trying to shove your Catholic agenda down our throats.” This guy accused me of being a cheerleader for Catholicism and Jesuit universities. It was unreal.

OMC: You've done a lot of things outside of baseball in your career. You're doing Fox Sports football now, you've been the voice of MLB 2006 on PlayStation2, you've done game shows, poker, toughman competitions. Is there anything you regret now? The XFL, perhaps?

Vasgersian: At the time I did the XFL, the choice I had was to do the XFL and stuff at NBC or do baseball and football for Fox. I learned a lot from that XFL thing. Looking back on it, it's pretty funny. At the time, we were all getting buried everywhere and it wasn't so much fun. Now, you look back on it and I grew a lot. I learned to sign off on my own sensibilities and listen those people around me.

OMC: Well, with the XFL you were getting into a relationship with (NBC Sports chairman) Dick Ebersol, who has a pretty good track record of success.

Vasgersian: No doubt. He's also a guy that if you stay loyal to there will be a place for you in the future. They've kept me around, which I appreciate. If I hadn't done the XFL, I never would have been able to have dinner at the Governor's Mansion in St. Paul (Minn.) with The Body (Jesse Ventura, color commentator for the XFL and former governor of Minnesota). Those are life experiences. I don't know if I'd have done anything different.

OMC: You have done a lot of different things …

Vasgersian: I've done a lot of jagoff stuff. I did XFL, Toughman. I did a UFC fight in November -- UFC 56 on pay-per-view. I did a dog show. I did celebrity blackjack.

OMC: That is still on, isn't it? Isn't it weird that you probably filmed a whole season in a week or two and it's on virtually non-stop?

Vasgersian: It airs forever. It's on indefinitely for the rest of your life. You're channel surfing and like “Oh, sh*t, not this thing again.” The dog show I did was fun. It was an excuse to say the word “bitch” as much as you possibly can. I was working with this lady who was a hound breeder in St. Louis. She was new to TV and she was as straight and nice and proper as proper can be. She wass talking about, whatever, the boxer and she said “this is a great looking bitch.” So, I jump on it and chomp it to death. I said “This is a great looking bitch. In fact there are a lot of great-looking bitches here. I've never seen as many great-looking bitches as I have today.” Every time she said it, I would just kill it.

OMC: The baseball season doesn't allow a lot of time for extra-curricular work in the summer. I know you liked doing the NFL games on Fox and you still do some San Diego State and USC basketball. What else is on the horizon?

Vasgersian: I don't know, but I've got to start picking my spots a little better. I do too much. I need to spend some more quality time at home. It's part of the promise I made to Emily that I've actually broken many times over. I say “Honey, I won't take all this extra work,” and then the phone rings and it's a chance to go make a couple grand and it's easy. Why wouldn't I do it?

OMC: Your deal with the Padres is up after this season, isn't it?

Vasgersian: Yes.

OMC: What do you have in mind for next year?

Vasgersian: I think in the big picture I'd like to do fewer baseball games and a full NFL package. Maybe if I could do 75 percent of the baseball I'm doing now and 16 weeks of football. That would be good. I also want to produce and own my own shows. I've got a couple things that I'm hoping to get going in the next two years. In terms of the immediate future stuff, I could get all the baseball fix I need just doing the PlayStation game that I voice. That's fun.

OMC: Do you play the game?

Vasgersian: I play that game all the time. I played it this afternoon. I guarantee that I play that game more than any other announcer on any other sports video game in history. I always turn the soundtrack off, because I can't stand my voice. But, I play the full season. I'm in season mode with the A's. I'm on Aug. 22. If I lose, I don't save the game to the hard drive. I'm raking on that game. I'm going to win the World Series!

OMC: How long have you been doing that?

Vasgersian: Three years. The first year, I was the little sidekick bitch in the booth with (Vin) Scully and Dave Campbell. Then, it was me and Dave Campbell and now it's me and Dave Campbell and (Rex) Hudler. It's fun. I'm not kidding -- I play it so much that I'm having vision problems. Emily gets furious about it. I'm sitting in bed, playing video games and she's like “How old are you?”

OMC: I've got to ask a little about the recent Rick Sutcliffe episode. (Editor's note: During a May 10 game between the Brewers and Padres at Petco Park, former Vasgersian broadcast partner Rick Sutcliffe came into the booth for a boozy guest appearance that became national news). One of the things Sutcliffe mentioned was that other teams have been trying to hire you ….

Vasgersian: I didn't like the way that sounded. It made it sound like I was out there telling everybody I could get all these jobs. Sut is a close friend. Of course he knew about that stuff.

OMC: That whole episode was pretty awkward.

Vasgersian: It was. He didn't swear. He didn't say anything racial or sexual. Had it been somebody we weren't friends with, we would have goofed on him and said “Have another one and we'll see you in the seventh inning.”

It was the first time in my life I was speechless. I was totally stuck. I felt like Ted Koppel interviewing Al Campanis. I kept trying to throw him stuff. Mud (Grant) at one point said “Hey, thanks for joining us Rick,” and they didn't cut his mic off. When he got into “Did you guys here about George Clooney going to Africa? He's going to get this thing right, man …” I looked at his eyes and thought. “He's gone. He's totally boxed.”

I've thought about (the episode) and there was a point in my career where I would have been the guy getting the heat, even if I wasn't the guy doing the drinking. I probably would have said something to make it worse. I would have exacerbated the situation and made it worse. This time, I was in the rare position of being a non-factor in the controversy.

OMC: Back to what Sutcliffe said about your career -- isn't it true that the Cubs wanted to hire you, but the people in San Diego wouldn't let you leave?

Vasgersian: Yes. That sucked. I worked for a guy at the time who felt like he needed to sit on somebody's career. That job -- what people don't understand about the Cubs job is that you can't compare anything to that job. Not the Dodgers, not the Yankees and certainly not the Brewers and Padres and other mid-size markets. It's the Harry Caray chair. It's national cable. It's more money than any other job out there. I was disappointed about that because I thought it would be a great fit. In a way, Chicago is like a bigger version of Milwaukee. The sensibilities are different there. The people are cool. You can root and be one of their guys. I think it would have been great. Emily would have been an hour and a half away from her parents. But, it didn't work out for me. I'm glad that Len Kasper got the job. If it had to be anybody else in the game, I'm glad it was him.

OMC: Are you surprised that you have a decade of big-league time under your belt and you're at the point where you could be considered for a marquee job like the Cubs or the Dodgers?

Vasgersian: Yes. It all started here (in Milwaukee), working for the Brewers in Double-A in 1993 and '94. That's when I started liking this and thinking I could do it as a real job.

OMC: Do you consider it a job?

Vasgersian: No. It's playtime. It's fantasy. I take seriously, because I want to do a good job, but there are no lives in the balance doing Padres games on cable TV. Policemen, firemen and doctors have real jobs. We're just having fun.