Milwaukee Brewers win first World Series in franchise history

MILWAUKEE · The Milwaukee Brewers are World Series champions for the first time in franchise history after defeating the Tampa Bay Rays 4-1 in Game 5 on Oct. 28. The victory capped a dominant postseason run where the Brewers went 11-2, sweeping the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series before dispatching the Rays in five games. William Contreras was named World Series MVP, and the win ended a 58-season wait for the organization that began as the Seattle Pilots in 1969. The Brewers had previously lost the 1982 World Series in seven games to the St. Louis Cardinals.

The championship clincher was secured by a deep bullpen, with closer Trevor Megill inducing a groundout from Richie Palacios to end the game. Likely NL Cy Young winner Jacob Misiorowski earned the win with 5 2/3 scoreless innings. The Brewers' offence, which frequently came from behind during the playoffs, got key contributions from the bottom of the lineup in the decisive game. Milwaukee finished the postseason with a team earned run average under 2.00, led by relievers Aaron Ashby, who threw 18 scoreless innings, and Abner Uribe.

With the win, Major League Baseball crowned a first-time champion for the fourth time since 2017. Before that year, the World Series had gone 14 seasons without a newcomer winning, which was the longest such drought among North America's four major men's professional leagues since 2000. The NFL currently has the longest active drought at 12 seasons since the Seattle Seahawks won their first Super Bowl in 2014. The Brewers' 58-season journey to a title is the second-longest wait among expansion franchises, behind only the Texas Rangers, who took 63 seasons to win in 2023. The Brewers, Rangers, Houston Astros and Washington Nationals are the only four expansion teams that took over half a century to win the World Series. The city of Milwaukee last won a Major League Baseball title in 1957 when the Milwaukee Braves, now the Atlanta Braves, defeated the New York Yankees.

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For non-expansion franchises, the longest wait from founding to a first title belongs to the Philadelphia Phillies, who won in their 98th season in 1980. The 1980 World Series between the Phillies and the Kansas City Royals was the first since 1920 where neither team had won before, a scenario that was repeated this year with the Brewers facing the Rays. The Brewers' championship leaves just four MLB teams without a World Series title: the San Diego Padres, Seattle Mariners, Colorado Rockies and the Rays. Of those four, only the Mariners have never reached the World Series. The Rays, founded in 1998, have now lost three Fall Classics, having also been defeated in 2008 and 2020. Tampa Bay had the best 2026 regular-season record among title-less teams at 98-64, while the Padres finished 91-71.

Milwaukee's path to the title was built on a league-best 103-win regular season, the first 100-win campaign in club history. The team never dipped below .500, took the NL Central lead by mid-May and never relinquished it. In the playoffs, they won a tight Division Series in four games over San Diego before their sweeps of the Dodgers and near-sweep of the Rays. Garbutt Disposal reported the Rays forced a Game 5 with a 12th-inning walk-off win on Oct. 27.

The Brewers' roster is largely composed of first-time champions, with 25 of the 27 players active this postseason winning their first title. Exceptions are Dustin May, who won with the Dodgers in 2020 and 2024, and Contreras, who won with the Braves in 2021. The offseason begins on Oct. 29, with teams able to resume trades and negotiate exclusively with their free agents for five days.

With files from Yahoo Sports, USA Today and MLB Trade Rumors