CHICAGO — Well, that was an unfortunate turn of events.
Instead of going down meekly to the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Milwaukee Brewers swept the National League Championship Series and are headed to the World Series.
The Brew Crew will take on the winner of the ALCS between the Tampa Bay Rays and Cleveland Guardians starting Friday night at the ballpark formerly known as Miller Park.
So get ready for the Racing Sausages, the Bud Selig Experience, Bob Ueckerisms and “Beer Barrel Polka” sing-alongs.
“Sing boom tararrel,” dontcha know?
It was an embarrassing ending to the Dodgers’ quest to buy a third straight championship, but they’re not the only ones feeling the pain of the rise of the cheeseheads.
It’s also an unfortunate epilogue for Chicago Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts, who outspends the Brewers annually but is just not getting a very good return on his investment. Fly the “L” flag, Tom, and better luck next year, assuming there is one.
It’s unfortunate as well for Cubs President Jed Hoyer and for manager Craig Counsell. Hoyer shockingly stole Counsell from the Brewers three years ago with the lure of the biggest managerial contract ever, believing Counsell’s obvious skills and brains would help strengthen the Cubs and weaken the Brewers. But the Cubs have finished behind the Brewers in all three seasons and were 14 games back this season.
The Brewers are 7-1 in this postseason, while the Cubs lost both wild-card games in San Diego. “L” flags for everyone.
It’s naturally unfortunate for New York Mets owner Steve Cohen, who hired away Brewers President David Stearns in 2023, believing he was the analytical mind that would make the Mets dominant — along with a $300 million-plus payroll. But the Mets missed the postseason in 2024 and were 10 1/2 games out on April 26, ending the suspense early this season.
And it’s doubly unfortunate for Stearns, who gave Juan Soto a 15-year, $276 million deal after ’24 as the missing link and acquired his former Brewers pitcher Freddy Peralta before this season while handing free agent Bo Bichette $126 million over three years. It was much easier not paying anyone in Milwaukee than overpaying players in Queens.
The Brewers’ success also made for a bad look for the writers, podcasters, pundits and bettors who surmised they were toast after Peralta and third baseman Caleb Durbin were dealt before the season and the Cubs added star Alex Bregman. It’s become a rite of spring: Write off the Brewers. Wea culpa.
But mostly it’s unfortunate for baseball owners who cry that the system needs to be fixed to help small-market teams compete against their big-spending rivals. That’s the crux of their demand for a salary cap that no doubt will lead to a lockout and severely damage the sport soon after this most entertaining postseason ends. The owners needed a Dodgers three-peat to boost their argument and instead get a World Series of smart, small-market spenders.
For baseball fans, casual or otherwise, the Brewers making it to the World Series is a stroke of luck, a breath of fresh air and a reason to watch. Even if you don’t know anything about them, you can feel good because obviously no one else outside Wisconsin did either.
And for Brewers fans, this is about as good as it gets.
In Chicago we like to think we have a monopoly on curses and heartbreak, but the Brewers haven’t been to a World Series since 1982, when they were still in the American League. “Harvey’s Wallbangers” lost that one to the St. Louis Cardinals after taking a 3-2 series lead, dropping the last two by scores of 13-1 in Game 6 and 6-3 in the finale.
They didn’t make it back to the postseason for another 25 seasons from 1983-2007, a drought of Cubs-like proportions. During that era they even switched from the AL to the NL in 1998 at the behest of Selig, the owner who also was commissioner. It was a revenue-enhancing move falsely advertised as the start of a major realignment. “The next step (Phase II) will involve a significant number of teams,” Selig said at the Pfister Hotel when making the move official in November 1997. “This will be so successful it will make future moves much easier.”
Spoiler alert: It did not.
Only the Houston Astros eventually switched leagues, going from the NL to the AL in another inane MLB decision. Selig in essence dumped his team’s AL tradition for a few more home games with the Cubs and their money-spending fans from the North Shore. By the 2010s, Cubs fans bought so many tickets to Cubs-Brewers games at Miller that the organization tried to come up with plans to keep them out. That didn’t work either.
Still, the Stearns-Counsell tag team, and then GM Matt Arnold and manager Pat Murphy, helped the Brewers make the postseason in eight of the last nine years. But until now, they never made it back to the Series in that stretch, losing to the Dodgers in Game 7 of the 2018 NLCS at Miller Park. The Brewers even have their own version of the White Flag trade, dealing star closer Josh Hader to the Padres for four players with the team in first at the 2022 deadline. They ended up watching the playoffs on TV.
The pain piled up, but the departure of homegrown hero Counsell to the hated Cubs in 2023 was perceived as the ultimate slap in the face.
Some fans have never gotten over the slight, even as Murphy has kept the train running smoothly. During last year’s NL Division Series against the Cubs, I asked owner Mark Attanasio why Brewers fans were still so obsessed with Counsell leaving.
“Your guess would be as good as mine,” he replied. “I think the more you’re loved, the more your heart is broken.”
Would they ever stop booing him?
“I don’t know,” he said. “I took one psychology class in college, that’s all.”
Maybe getting to the World Series will finally ease the pain of Brewers fans. It has been a long, hard road since ’82, and it should be a fun Series.
Savor every cheese curd, Wisconsin.
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