At Long Last, Brewers Clinch NL Central

I thought they'd never clinch that division!

The Milwaukee Brewers' magic number had been at 2 or lower for the entire past weekend. It was down to one because the Cubs lost, but despite having two opportunities to lock up the National League Central with a win, they lost both times. The Brewers and Cubs returned to play on Tuesday, September 27, 2023, and regarding the former, they were at home against the lowly St. Louis Cardinals. As for the Cubs, they were on the road against the dangerous Atlanta Braves.

So a division title is a foregone conclusion, right? Well...

The Cubs actually found themselves ahead 6-0 over the Braves. Even worse, the Brewers were losing to St. Louis. As I saw the scores, I literally went, "Not again!" They can't blow another golden opportunity, right? Well, the Brewers lost, 4-1, so again, they had to look elsewhere for their chance to celebrate. The Braves chipped away at that deficit, and thanks to Seiya Suzuki's fielding error, Atlanta took the lead in the bottom of the eighth. In the ninth inning, Ian Happ went down, but Cody Bellinger singled, putting the tying run on. The aforementioned Suzuki and Dansby Swanson went down in order, and with that, the Cubs lost, and the Brewers finally celebrated their NL Central title.

The Brewers debuted in 1969 as the Seattle Pilots, playing only that season in Seattle before moving to Milwaukee and becoming the Brewers in 1970. The Brew Crew haven't had a lot of postseasons; in their 54th season of play, this year marks only the ninth time that they will be in the playoffs. Their first taste of postseason baseball came in 1981, when they faced the New York Yankees in the makeshift American League East Division Series, which the Yankees won. 1982 was their golden season, as the Brewers won their only pennant in franchise history.

The Brewers moved to the National League in 1998, but would not make the postseason as part of the Senior Circuit until 2011, when they won the NL Central and reached the NLCS, only to be defeated by the eventual World Champions, the St. Louis Cardinals, in a rematch of the 1982 Fall Classic. This year's division crown is their sixth overall, and their fourth time winning the NL Central. Their other three postseason appearances came as Wild Cards in 2008, 2019, and 2020.

Since joining the team in 2018, Christian Yelich has been the Brewers' top star. That same year, Yelich was up for the Triple Crown, and actually had a bonus chance at it when the Brewers and the Cubs had to face each other in a tiebreaker for the NL Central. Since then, the numbers have taken a bit of a downward slide, plus Yelich ended up dealing with injuries. Regarding 2023, Yelich is only leading the team in at-bats, though he has racked up a decent season: .275 batting average, 19 home runs, and 75 runs batted in. William Contreras has the batting average lead with .289, while Willy Adames leads the team in home runs (24) and RBIs (78).

The Brewers are officially locked in as the #3 seed in the National League, and they will host a best-of-three Wild Card Series against whoever finishes as the #6 team. Milwaukee's last long run came in that aforementioned 2018 season, which saw them make it to Game Seven of the National League Championship Series, only to fall to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Brewers do have the home field to start with, but they'll have to cross paths with the Dodgers or Braves should they advance, and that's a definite uphill battle.