World Series Game Five: For Bob

Game Four was the Milwaukee Brewers' very first chance to capture their first World Championship, but extra innings and the Tampa Bay Rays had other plans. A 4-3 walk-off victory kept Tampa's faint chances alive, and forced the Brewers to wait another day. Game Five was Take Two for the Brewers; a second chance to get that proverbial brass ring, and regardless of the outcome, this was the last game of the season at Tropicana Field. While the Brewers looked to win the whole thing, the Rays looked to force the Fall Classic to return to Milwaukee.

The aces were on the mound for this one: Drew Rasmussen for the Rays, and Jacob Misiorowski for the Brewers. The scoring opened up in the second inning, and it was Cooper Pratt driving in Brice Turang. In the fifth inning, David Hamilton continued his hot streak with yet another RBI to make it 2-0. In the sixth inning, William Contreras (10 years after his brother Wilson Contreras did so in Game Seven of the World Series) had an RBI double, which was followed by Pratt adding another RBI.

It was 4-0, and the Rays couldn't get anything off Miz. It was over. The score continued to hold up the rest of the way; Tampa Bay had a meaningless RBI in the bottom of the ninth, but the Brewers ended up sealing it. On April 8, 1969, the Seattle Pilots played their first game in franchise history. On April 6, 1970, the relocated Milwaukee Brewers began their first season after the move.

And on October 28, 2026, the Brewers were champions for the very first time!

The Brewers won Game Five of the World Series, 4-1, to capture their very first World Championship in their franchise history. What a run for this team! Best record in baseball, first 100+ win season in team history, went 11-2 in this year's postseason, never trailed in a series and never faced elimination at all! Needed four games to defeat the Padres in the NLDS, swept the Dodgers as payback in the NLCS, and won the World Series in just five games. So many players became champions for the first time. Christian Yelich, who became the team's first captain this year, finally became World Champion. You know who else became World Champion? Former longtime Yankee Gary Sanchez. Yeah. Only two players from this team have won before. One is former Dodger Dustin May, who started Game Four of this Series.

The other?

William Contreras. Contreras was on the 2021 Atlanta Braves squad that won the whole thing. Here it is, five years later, and he's won the World Baseball Classic, the World Series, and was named World Series MVP! Contreras went 8-for-21 with four RBIs during this series. Jackson Chourio went 11-for-24 with a pair of RBIs. Cooper Pratt drove in seven runs in this Series, including the 12th inning homer in Game Four. Jacob Misiorowski had two of the Brewers' four wins, and had a sub-1.00 ERA in the Series.

The Series as a whole guaranteed that MLB would see a first-time champion crowned, and this year, it was the Brewers. While it's the first one for the Brewers, it's not the first for the city of Milwaukee, as the Braves won the World Series back in 1957. Also with the Brewers' win, that leaves four teams looking for their first championship: the Rays, Padres, Rockies, and the still pennant-less Mariners. Speaking of the Padres, they are now the sole owners of the longest wait for their first championship; they debuted the same year as the Brewers.

There's one more name I have to mention:

We all know who this icon is. Robert George Uecker, born in Milwaukee on January 26, 1934. After a very brief playing career that saw him with four teams in six seasons and only hit 14 career homers, Uecker became the radio voice of the Brewers in 1971, which was the team's third season of play and second season in Milwaukee. 54 seasons. That's how long he spent as the radio voice of the Brewers. While doing so, Uecker also made appearances for the then-named World Wrestling Federation, and of course, he's remembered for playing George Owens on the hit sitcom, Mr. Belvedere, and playing play-by-play announcer Harry Doyle in the Major League trilogy.

We lost Ueck last January; he was 10 days shy of his 91st birthday. In 54 seasons, Uecker only saw one pennant in 1982, and sadly, his final Brewers call was Game Three of that Wild Card Series against the Mets, the ninth inning HR from Pete Alonso. So when the Brewers reached the World Series this year, they definitely had to win this one for Ueck. And win it they did!

So another baseball season is in the books, and it ends with the Brewers as World Champions for the very first time! Major congrats to the Brewers, a very awesome season for a team who scratched and clawed their way to victory. There's all sorts of speculation over what will, or won't, happen with the sport in 2027, but whatever happens, it should be quite interesting. Here's hoping for the best in baseball in 2027!