2026 MLB World Series

The 2026 MLB World Series featured two teams that have never won the title before in their history for the first time since the 1980 World Series between the Philadelphia Phillies and Kansas City Royals. This year, the fall classic would be played with the Milwaukee Brewers, and the Tampa Bay Rays hosted in American Family Field in Milwaukee, and Tropicana field in Tampa. 

Why are these teams so special?

Heading into the 2026 MLB season, everyone from the casual fan to analytical professionals had all their votes on the Los Angeles Dodgers to be the best team in baseball, and win the world series. The Dodgers had won it in 2024 versus the Yankees, and 2025 versus the Blue Jays. At this point in time, they seemed unstoppable, and it looked that the league would head into a lockout. A lockout essentially means that baseball would not be played in 2027, especially if the Dodgers had won again in 2026 competing for the three peat. The reason why a lockout was threatened was because the players and coaches were not going to agree upon a Collective Bargaining Agreement, or CBA, centered around a salary cap. The Dodgers consistently have a very high payroll, and in 2024 and 2025 they seemed to spend every penny their owner had to win the classic twice. Fans and some players agreed that they “bought” their wins, and they only conquered the other teams because of their payroll. In order for baseball to be “saved” and played in the following year, something needed to change. Someone needed to save baseball. Eventually, this would fall into the hands of the smaller market teams, when many fans relied on the Rays, Brewers, Guardians, and White Sox later in the postseason. All of these teams fell on the bottom of the payroll spectrum, and had to prove that they were worthy of taking down the Dodgers, and proving the sport was not dependent on salary. The Brewers were 19th out of 30th on payroll, the White Sox 24th, Rays 28th, and Guardians 30th. The Guardians had the lowest payroll in all of major league baseball and made it to the top 4. Once the Rays took down the Guardians, and The Brewers dismantled the Dodgers in a 4 game sweep, the world series was going to be played against two fresh teams for the first time in 46 years,  meaning none of them have ever won the World Series in their franchises history. Most importantly, knocking the Dodgers out contention for winning their third title in as many years. 

The Series

Right out the gate, the Brewers took early control in the series, defeating the Rays in game one, 3-2. Jacob Misiorowski, the starting pitcher for the brewers in the first game, got the ball as the team's ace. The “Miz” as he is referred to by the fans, had one of the most impressive starting pitching seasons in MLB history in his sophomore season. However, his postseason history in 2026 was already a bit shaky. But by his standards, shaky meant he still retained the stats of a solid ace. After Chrstian Yelich, the captain of the Brewers, gave them the lead in the first inning, it seemed all energy was shifted their way. And it was true throughout the rest of the game, and ultimately the series. The Rays fought back at the end, but the Brewers closer, Trevor Megill, got the save and ended their hopes of a game one victory. 

Game two however was a little more exciting, but still ended with a Brewers victory of 5-4. The Rays battled, and came out very strong putting up 4 runs in the very first inning. However, as one could tell from the final score, that was all they put up all night.Yelich came out in the clutch for the Brewers again in revenge, bringing the game within one run at 4-3 in the 4th. In the bottom of the 6th inning, the Brewers tied the Rays on an electric solo home run from Sal Frelick, a smaller player not known for hitting for power or home runs whatsoever. The energy was now back in hands of the Brewers, and the go ahead run in the 7th by Rookie Cooper Pratt secured them the lead, and the victory. 

Now, the rays were headed into game 3 with their back against the walls. Going down 2-0 in a best of 7 is a ton of pressure, and if they went down 3-0, they would have to win 4 straight to win; which has never been done before in world series history. In fact, no team has even forced a game 6 after going down 3-0. But, unfortunately for the Rays, they will be crushed in a 10-1 loss in game 3. The Brewers got out to an early lead in the 3rd inning 2-0, and the Rays offense was silent. With 2 outs in the 5th inning, the Brewers still led comfortably 2-0, but a small blunder by Rays third baseman, and their most valuable player, Junior Caminero, extended the inning with two outs and allowed the Brewers to load the bases. Then they went on to string together seven consecutive two out hits. This rallied up for the largest two out scoring in World Series history, as the Brewers had put up 8 runs without making an out in the 5th inning. To many, this game was definitely over, and the World Series was over as well. 

Luckily for Rays fans, their team did not go down without a fight. They won game 4 in a thrilling 12 inning walk-off to prevent the sweep. Led almost entirely by Chandler Simpon, the slap hitting speedster of the Rays, they once again took an early lead. However, the Brewers tied it up and ended up sending the game into extra innings, after being tied through 9. Neither team put up a hit in the 10th or 11th inning, but perhaps were saving it all for the 12th. The rookie for the Brewers, in his first postseason, who was put into the roster for defensive reinforcement, hit a go ahead solo home run putting the Brewers up 3-2. This was the moment of Cooper Pratt, and it was going to be remembered as the Cooper Pratt game once they completed the sweep. However, the Rays found themselves in a great position after Caminero reached base on an error. After 2 consecutive hits, the game was tied at 3. And the unlikely hero, Ben Williamson, who seemed to only be on the team since they had an extra spot on the playoff roster, walked it off and ended the game on a single giving the Rays the 4-3 win in the bottom of the 12th. 

It felt great for the Rays to prevent the sweep, and at least win one game, but that is all they had. Although Rays fans were pumped, and some Brewers fans were nervous, the big picture was that the Brewers were still up 3-1 in a best of 7. They just needed one more win to advance and win their first ever title in franchise history. And that is what they did in game 5, on October 28th. This game was a battle for the pitchers, with Brewers young ace Jacob Misiorowski back on the bump, facing Rays ace Drew Rasmussen, who was only pitching on 3 days rest. Rather than the typical break of 5 for a starter. Drew was lights out in the regular season, and even stronger in the postseason, however his world series statistics were not great. Mostly because of game 5. After the Brewers went up three nothing, there was nothing to stop them. The Lousy offense of the Rays put up one run, and it cost them their series. The Milwaukee Brewers had won the World Series in Tropicana field, and it was their first title in the franchises history. 

Why is this so special?

The big storyline of 2026 was the Brewers capturing their first world series title in the franchise's history. The victory ended a drought dating back to the founding in 1969. The Legacy of the 2026 Brewers will be remembered forever by not only Brewers fans, but sports fans as a whole. They only lost 2 postseason games during their run this year. They were notable for their depth, very strong player development especially with their pitchers, and a deep bullpen. The Brewers were also known for playing “small ball”, meaning less home runs and more base hits, stealing bases, and bunting. They played the game many interpreted as “the right way”. This series demonstrated that smaller market teams can build championship contenders through other skills and development, not just riches. The Brewers were able to stop the Dodgers in their tracks, possibly having saved the league from the lockout, all while achieving their first title in history. The 2026 word series was refined by two hungry teams, but Milwaukee's dominant performance of offense and pitching changed the Brewers place in history forever.