You'll have to forgive the state of Wisconsin today. We're sleep deprived, probably hung over, but supremely happy. Last night, for the first time in the 57-year franchise history, the Brewers won the World Series. It was the second time they'd made it to the big dance; they lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1982 — three months before I was born.
For my entire life, I have dealt with rough seasons where the Brewers had no chance of making the playoffs. Where the bullpen couldn't throw strikes and the bats couldn't hit the side of a barn. We were there, loyal as ever, through the lean years. From 1982 to 2008, we didn't even see a playoff game.
Then we started to see glimmers of hope. In 2008, we made it to the NLDS and lost to the Phillies. In 2011, we made it to the NLCS and lost to St. Louis. We did the same thing in 2018, losing to the Dodgers. In 2019 and 2020 we lost in the Wild Card. In 2021 we lost to the Braves and in 2023 we lost to the Diamondbacks.
The loss to the New York Mets in 2024 was particularly hard. It was clear, in retrospect, that the players — especially Christian Yelich — knew then that longtime Brewers radio announcer Bob Uecker had called his last game. Uecker died January 16, 2025, leaving a hole in Milwaukee baseball that can never be filled. We were swept by the Dodgers in the NLCS later that year.
Then, there was this year. Milwaukee finished the regular season with the best record in MLB: 130 wins and 59 losses (.636). We finished 14 games ahead of the Chicago Cubs. In the postseason, we went 11 and two, ending with 114 wins and just 61 losses, the fourth-best overall record in MLB history.
Our star starting pitcher, Jacob Misiorowski, has 16 wins, a 1.80 ERA, and 252 strikeouts. He has thrown more than 1,000 pitches at 100 mph in the regular season. For comparison, the entire Tampa Bay bullpen threw just 28.
this is actually insane pic.twitter.com/E91QxOdPpy
— Baseball Quotes (@BaseballQuotes1) October 24, 2026
Our closer, Trevor Megill, has recorded 30 saves in the regular season and five in the playoff run. Reliever Aaron Ashby has appeared in nine of 13 postseason games and picked up three saves.
But those are numbers. Stats. Stuff for Hall of Fame plaques and record books.
I'm here to talk about the feelings.
"You ought to be awfully proud ... you're the first-ever Milwaukee Brewers team to be World Champions"#WinOurWay pic.twitter.com/W5kq0YQ3qK
— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) October 29, 2026
For Game 4, we were downtown in the Deer District, watching the game on a big screen with thousands of others. We lost the game 4-3 in 12 innings, and the disappointment was evident. We didn't get home until 1:30 AM, and we were tired on Wednesday.
But there was baseball to be had, and hope was still alive. I didn't believe we'd lose four in a row, and I didn't think Tampa would win four in a row.
I made a futile attempt to get tickets to the AmFam Field watch party, but couldn't get through before they sold out, so we went with plan B: I took my 17-year-old son to the sports bar at a local movie theatre.
We were there with about a dozen other people, all eager to watch the game with others but not wanting to deal with the crowds or the cool October weather. The staff gave us free popcorn, we ordered a pizza, I drank beer, and my son talked to the other fans. With each run we scored, and each out we got against the Rays, the energy in the room got more palpable.
In the bottom of the ninth, still up by three runs and with two outs, no one was seated.
Then Richie Palacios was at bat with a runner on second and two outs. Megill pitched; Palacios hit a grounder to Bryce Turang, who threw it to first.
And it was over.
The call from Brewers Radio
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) October 29, 2026
They’ve waited a lifetime to hear this pic.twitter.com/dpbB79Kn2X
For a small group of people, we got loud.
Then we cried.
I cried because I have spent 43 years waiting for this. I cried because my dad, who loved the Brewers, died in 2020 and missed this. I cried because my ex-husband, jaded by a lockout in the 90s, would have probably enjoyed watching games with our sons. He died in 2024.
And I cried happy tears for my boys, 19, 17, and 13, who love baseball more than anything. Who have been as heartbroken by the losses as they were bolstered by the wins. My eldest dropped a pretty penny to go to Game One, he's that dedicated a fan. And now they got to see their team take it all.
They also got to see that hard work pays off. The Brewers are not a rich team. Instead, they are strong gamers who played smart baseball — they hit only 13 out-of-the-park homers this postseason. All the other runs were scored by base hits, doubles, bunting, steals, and just all around intelligent play.
More than that, they got to spend years watching the national sports media and fans of big-market teams like the Yankees and Dodgers dump all over us, dismiss us, accuse us of cheating (that was rampant after the Game Three trouncing). They came up with any and every excuse to avoid the reality: this was a d**n good baseball team.
And they won.
For fans like me, this means more than the Brewers will ever fully understand.
