ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Milwaukee Brewers clinched the franchise's first World Series championship Wednesday night with a 4-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 5 at Tropicana Field, ending a 57-year title drought.
A Project Eight Years in the Making
The championship culminates a build that began with Christian Yelich's arrival in 2018. Yelich, now 34, won MVP in his first season and led the Brewers to the NLCS that year. Milwaukee made the playoffs in every subsequent season with Yelich except 2022. As his playing role diminished, Yelich embraced a leadership role. "It's an awesome feeling, man, and just so happy for our team, our city, all the guys," Yelich said.
Pat Murphy's Redemption
Manager Pat Murphy, in his first season as skipper after succeeding Craig Counsell, described the team's mindset: "They decided to be uncommon. And when they made that decision that it was about each other — when it's about each other and it's a team, you can accomplish anything." Murphy's path included a college coaching career at Arizona State, an NCAA investigation in 2009 that ended his tenure, and a rebuild through minor league management before joining the Brewers as bench coach in 2015. "I wasn't a very good coach," Murphy admitted. "I had a lot of wins maybe. Exactly 1,000 of them."
Homegrown Core and Key Contributors
The roster featured numerous homegrown players developed under president of baseball operations Matt Arnold, who took over after David Stearns' departure in 2023. Key contributors included rookie Jacob Misiorowski, who tossed 5⅓ scoreless innings in Game 5, and catcher William Contreras, named World Series MVP after a dominant postseason. Contreras had been benched late in the regular season for lack of hustle, a move Murphy said was done with love. "The ones that are toughest to love need the love the most," Murphy said.
Underdogs Defy Projections
Despite winning 97 games in 2025, preseason projections pegged Milwaukee for 80-84 wins. The rotation relied on young arms like Misiorowski, Logan Henderson, Kyle Harrison, and an injury-prone Brandon Woodruff after trading Freddy Peralta to the Mets. The Brewers overcame the departures of stars such as Josh Hader, Corbin Burnes, Devin Williams, and former manager Counsell. "We invest a lot of minutes in acquisition and development," Arnold said. "We've got to make sure that pipeline is very strong. That's our foundation."
As champagne flowed in the visitors' clubhouse, Murphy reflected on the journey: "I needed them more than they needed me." He added, "We're always under construction."
