44 Years In the Making: The Milwaukee Brewers Are Headed Back To the World Series

For just the second time in franchise history, the first time since 1982, and the first time as a member of the National League, the Milwaukee Brewers are headed back to the World Series.

I’m sure there are many who never thought they would see the day.

There was a point in time when a winning record was cause for celebration in Milwaukee, an excuse to pop the champagne and enjoy the success of a winning season.

There was a time when simply reaching the postseason felt like the mountaintop. After the franchise’s one and only World Series appearance, 25 seasons of disappointment followed. When CC Sabathia went on his unprecedented run with the Brewers in 2008, ending the franchise’s postseason drought, it felt like a World Series celebration in its own right.

There was a point in time when 2018 felt like the ceiling, when the Brewers reached Game 7 of the NLCS only to fall short in heartbreaking fashion. It felt like this ballclub would never get that close again.

Then came the 2020s, when the Brewers built a winning formula predicated on doing the little things and executing the fundamentals better than anybody else in the game.

The 2020s have brought a lot of winning. In fact, few teams have won more regular-season games than the Milwaukee Brewers this decade.

But regular-season success only means so much when a team with championship aspirations continuously comes up short.

In 2021, the Brewers had three All-Stars spearheading their rotation in Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff, and Freddy Peralta. It felt like that level of pitching was unbeatable.

They came up short that season, losing three straight games in the NLDS to an Atlanta Braves team that was en route to a World Series title.

In 2023, things finally felt different. After missing the postseason in 2022, it felt as if the Brewers were primed to buck their unfortunate trend of early postseason exits.

Instead, they were swept at home in the Wild Card Series by the eventual National League champion Arizona Diamondbacks.

The 2024 season featured one of the most heartbreaking postseason exits in franchise history. Pete Alonso sent a Devin Williams changeup over the right-field wall in the top of the ninth inning, flipping the scoreboard and giving the Mets a 3-2 lead. The end result was another Brewers defeat at home in the Wild Card Series, marking their second consecutive first-round exit.

Then, the team went and made history in 2025. On top of winning a franchise-record 14 straight games during the regular season, the Brewers won the most games in franchise history at the time and topped their division rival Chicago Cubs in the NLDS. It was a series win that finally felt as if they had exorcised their demons. There was a certain type of “Uecker Magic” surrounding this ballclub.

Then came the NLCS, where they were swept by the eventual champion Los Angeles Dodgers in embarrassing fashion. They ran out of gas at the end, and, frankly, the hopes of ever reaching the World Series again felt like a distant dream. It was a goal that seemed truly insurmountable in the current landscape of Major League Baseball, and the disappointment was starting to pile up.

Then came 2026.

This team was resilient. This team was the best in baseball for the majority of the season. They played great defense, were a great baserunning team, and were among the most fundamentally sound ballclubs in the league. Not just to start the year. Not just to end the season. But over the course of all 162 games.

But we’ve all seen this story before with the Milwaukee Brewers. Heck, I’ve probably written that same praise once or twice before when talking about this team. We’ve seen the Brewers dominate in the regular season only to lose their identity in the postseason. There are fans who were reluctant to get their hopes up because we had seen this story before, and it didn’t have a happy ending. And how can you blame them?

But the 2026 Milwaukee Brewers are proving to be different from the teams that came before them.

The 2026 Brewers are built on grit, resilience, and heart. It’s a clubhouse that trusts one another, plays for one another, and never backs down. As cheesy as that might sound, it’s become the identity of this team. That has come through in each and every one of their wins so far this postseason.

Whether it’s William Contreras hitting a go-ahead home run in Game 1 of the NLDS, Jackson Chourio coming up with the most improbable walk-off against all-world closer Mason Miller in Game 2, or Garrett Mitchell saving the series with a heart-stopping home run robbery to send the team to the NLCS, this team has found a way to deliver when it matters most.

Then there was Brice Turang’s slump-busting, left-on-left home run off Tarik Skubal in Game 1 of the NLCS, followed by 21-year-old rookie Luis Lara giving the Brew Crew the lead with an RBI single off the best pitcher in the world. William Contreras delivered a signature performance to propel the Brewers to victory in Game 2, and Jake Bauers came through with his second signature at-bat of the series to drive the dagger through the hearts of Dodgers fans in Game 3. Then Garrett Mitchell launched a solo shot to put the Brewers on top after they had trailed 4-0 in Game 4, sending this team back to the Fall Classic.

This team is built on big moments, and everybody is rising to the occasion right now.

To some, the Brewers haven’t won anything yet. And that’s true. They haven’t.

There’s still a series to play, the biggest one yet. The one for all the marbles.

But for Brewers fans everywhere, there’s a large contingent who never thought they’d even get to see the words “Brewers” and “World Series Game 1” in the same sentence.

I write this piece now because baseball is a beautiful, gut-wrenching, spectacular, cruel sport. It can snatch your heart just as quickly as it gives you hope. It can also give you validation for why you suffer through the grind of 162 games, only to experience the raw emotion of watching your team be the last one standing.

But for Brewers fans, while there is still one more obstacle standing between this team and the ultimate goal, take in what this team has accomplished this season. Appreciate what this team has given you: quality baseball throughout the regular season, signature moments throughout October, and a feat that some may never have imagined possible because it once seemed so far-fetched.

Baseball is wildly unpredictable, and you never know when, or if, a team will ever make it back.

I know some have been reluctant to call the NLCS a David vs. Goliath story because the Brewers won an MLB-best 103 games. Perhaps on the field, that’s true. But in the grand scheme of what this meant to the fanbase, the players, and the overall landscape of MLB, that’s exactly what it was.

The Dodgers were the two-time reigning champions. They had built what many would consider the best roster in Major League Baseball history, traded for the two-time AL Cy Young Award winner, and established a brand that reaches across the globe thanks to their collection of superstars and some of the best baseball players in the world.

The Brewers, meanwhile, are the smallest of small markets. They rank 19th in payroll in one of the most unfair markets in professional sports. And while they have proven they can win at the highest level, they were still the underdog against a baseball superteam, regardless of what their regular-season win total showed.

But what this team did in the NLCS was something betting odds can’t quantify, and the outcome could have serious ramifications for the future of Major League Baseball with a lockout looming. What the Milwaukee Brewers did in the NLCS was something out of a storybook, and that, Brewers fans, is cause for celebration.

The Milwaukee Brewers have won the National League pennant, sweeping the back-to-back defending champions and earning their first trip to the World Series in 44 years. It’s more than deserved, but they still have one more hill to climb before reaching the mountaintop.