Brewers finally shed bridesmaid label after winning World Series

After more than 50 seasons, the Milwaukee Brewers can finally call themselves World Series champions after beating the Tampa Bay Rays, 4-1, in Game 5 on Wednesday. The win ends a brutal stretch of the club consistently being the bridesmaid in the National League up until this season.

The Brewers didn’t have a long postseason resume before their recent run

Before 2018, Milwaukee didn’t taste much postseason success. In 1981, it won its first division title, albeit with a bit of an asterisk. There was a midseason strike that lasted from June 12-Aug. 9 which caused a split season. Milwaukee finished third in the first half, won the second half and won the overall AL East title, but lost to the first-half winners, the New York Yankees, in the postseason, who lost the World Series.

No harm, no foul as the Brewers returned better than ever in 1982, won the AL East outright, erased a 2-0 deficit in the ALCS to defeat the then-California Angels only to drop Games 6 and 7, the latter after blowing a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the sixth, to the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series.

The Milwaukee Bridesmaids are born

Milwaukee wouldn’t see the postseason again for another 26 years until 2008, when it was 11 years deep into its National League run. It qualified as a wild-card, but lost to the eventual World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies.

Three years later, the Brew Crew won their first division title in 29 years, taking the NL Central, and beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, only to lose to those pesky Cardinals in the NLCS, who ultimately won the title, and thus a theme is born.

We wouldn’t see them again until 2018, when Milwaukee would make eight of the next nine brackets, each elimination more painful than the last. It’s not like the Brewers snuck in either; they won the NL Central six times, but couldn’t navigate their side of the bracket.

2018 was probably the most painful and set the tone. After sweeping the Colorado Rockies, the Brewers dropped the NLCS to the Los Angeles Dodgers, another recurring theme, despite hosting Game 7 and outscoring the Dodgers, 24-23, in the series.

At least for Milwaukee’s sake, the Dodgers lost the World Series to the Boston Red Sox.

In 2019, the Brewers lost the wild-card game to the Washington Nationals, who won the title. 2020, they snuck in thanks to the expanded playoff format for the COVID-shortened season and got swept by the eventual-champion Dodgers. 2021, they lost the NLDS to the eventual-champion Atlanta Braves.

They were so tired of being the bridesmaid at this point, they missed the 2022 postseason altogether!

Don’t worry, in 2023 they went back for more, losing to the D-backs in the Wild-Card Series. Arizona would … lose the World Series? OK, some progress. 2024, they lost the NLWCS again, not good, to the New York Mets, who lost in the NLCS, a little better. 2025, Milwaukee won its first playoff series since 2018, besting the Chicago Cubs, only to get completely dominated by the Dodgers, who, say it with me, won the World Series.

Everything seemed to finally move in the Brewers’ favor

 This season, the tide seemed to shift in the Brewers’ favor. They won 100-plus games for the first time in franchise history; they were the clear-cut best team in MLB, and the Dodgers were even regressing. It’s like fate was tempting them to finally get the job done, and they did just that, going 11-2 in the postseason.