Baseball’s conventional thinking would tell you the Milwaukee Brewers weren’t supposed to be there on Wednesday night, celebrating at Tropicana Field, World Series champions for the first time ever.
They weren’t from a big enough market. They didn’t have a big enough payroll. And a frequent one in recent years for Milwaukee: They don’t hit enough home runs.
But there they were, these pesky, potent, prolific Brewers, joyfully embracing after a five-game win in the best-of-seven series over the Tampa Bay Rays.
The Brewers won the clincher on the road, but their home ballpark back in Milwaukee was packed to the brim, too.
This was a win for a city that had never had such a triumph before on the diamond.
The Brewers had last been in the World Series so long ago, 1982, that they still played in the American League then.
Baseball has changed a lot since 1982. Spending should’ve left the Brewers — and the Rays for that matter — in the dust.
But there’s more to life than money. The Brewers proved that, sending quite the message just before MLB goes into an almost-certain lockout.
Brewers’ Path to Title
The Brewers showed they could beat anyone on the way to the World Series.
First, they beat the San Diego Padres 3-1 in the NLDS in four low-scoring games.
Then they swept the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS. Mind you, these Dodgers were back-to-back World Series champs who swept Milwaukee a year ago. But this time around, the Brewers saw no reason to worry against one of the most expensive teams in baseball history. They sent them home just the same.
And in the irony of ironies, the Brewers found another small market in the World Series in the Rays. This was an oddball Fall Classic ahead of collective bargaining negotiations that will say that teams like these are disadvantaged.
It was also a chance for fans to worry about TV ratings, as if it matters to the average fan how many people are watching. All that you can control is whether you watch.
And hopefully you did, because this Brewers team may not have been expensive, but they put together one of the most complete World Series performances in recent times.
They deserved every bit of those celebrations, having won 103 games during the regular season — best in baseball — and hit cruise control during the postseason, but not right at the speed limit — more like 77 miles per hour.
Lockout Looms
The other reason you hopefully savored this World Series is this — there’s no telling when baseball will be back.
The labor negotiations this offseason promise to be contentious. The owners want a salary cap. The players say they’ll never agree to that.
There are plenty of smart minds in baseball who think games will be missed next season, that they won’t play a full 162 or 154 or anything like that.
There very likely will be a delay to that magical day when pitchers and catchers report, the first sign that spring is coming.
There’s a ton of unknown that won’t be solved anytime soon.
But what’s known is this: The Milwaukee Brewers didn’t look or play or get paid like the teams that are expected to be the best baseball team on the planet. But this season, over the course of an impressive regular season and an even more impressive postseason, that’s what the Brewers were.
Even if you were a fan of another ballclub, you have to have appreciated what the Brewers achieved this season.
Savor that, all of it — the line drives, the bunts, the steals, Jacob Misiorowski’s 103 MPH fastballs, the unlikely Sal Frelick home run, the eighth-inning diving catch by Jackson Chourio, the mob scene on the mound when it was all over.
We may not get baseball again anytime soon, but the Brewers reminded us why we love this game in the first place. It’s not about the money. It’s about the moments.
Brewers Send Clear Message in World Series Before MLB Lockout