The Milwaukee Brewers’ decades-long pennant drought is officially over, as William Contreras, NLCS MVP Jake Bauers and friends are headed to the World Series for the first time since 1982. Despite falliing behind 4-0 after a Shohei Ohtani home run in Game 4, the Brewers were undaunted, even in Los Angeles. Bauers got it started with a ground rule double, Garrett Mitchell eventually delivered the go-ahead homer and then Milwaukee’s lockdown bullpen, especially Aaron Ashby, shut down the Dodgers to bring out the brooms.
We’ll learn within the coming days whether Milwaukee will host Tampa Bay or Cleveland to open the World Series. The Brewers won each of their three-game sets against the Rays (March 30-April 1) and Guardians (June 16-18) earlier this year.
Regardless of how this year’s Fall Classic turns out, the 2026 Brewers can already claim a piece of MLB history.
The Milwaukee Brewers are the first ex-American League team to reach the World Series as a National League club
This is admittedly an oddly specific stat, but it’s technically correct, and we all know that’s the best kind of correct.
In all seriousness, the Brewers spent their first three decades in the American League. Rather than have the Diamondbacks and Devil Rays both join the AL in 1998, then-Brewers owner and acting MLB commissioner Bud Selig had the Brew Crew move to the Senior Circuit. The transition made sense, especially since Hank Aaron and the Braves played in Milwaukee from 1953 through 1965.
As a result, the Brewers are the only American League team that later became a National League team. We’d say this achievement felt inevitable, but they also went nearly 45 years without making it this far.
However, they’re not the first team to reach the World Series as a member of both leagues. Remember: The Astros spent their first 51 seasons in the NL before transferring to the AL West in 2013. Roger Clemens and Lance Berkman led the 2005 Astros to a National League pennant, but Jermaine Dye and an upstart White Sox club soon swept them.
Houston didn’t return to the World Series until 2017, when Jose Altuve, Justin Verlander, and the AL West champions knocked off the Dodgers. The Astros have since captured three more pennants, including defeating the Phillies in the 2022 Fall Classic.
Could the Brewers parlay this year’s unforgettable run into a similar stretch of excellence? As long as they avoid any sign-stealing scandals or horrific and tone-deaf ownership decisions, we’re not ruling out such a possibility.
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