The Milwaukee Brewers have returned to the World Series after a 44-year wait. Their National League pennant became official Thursday at Dodger Stadium, where they erased a four-run deficit and defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-4 in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series, completing a four-game sweep of the two-time defending champions.
Milwaukee’s next challenge begins October 23, when World Series Game 1 airs on FOX. The Brewers will enter the Fall Classic seeking the first championship in franchise history.
A Comeback That Changed the Series
The Dodgers appeared to have control early, but Milwaukee gradually turned the game around. The Brewers’ attack proved more powerful than expected throughout the series, producing seven home runs compared with Los Angeles’s one.
Garrett Mitchell delivered the decisive blow in the sixth inning, driving a solo homer that put Milwaukee ahead. David Hamilton then provided valuable insurance with a ninth-inning home run, giving the bullpen room to protect the lead.
The final moment belonged to Jackson Chourio. He raced toward the left-field warning track and caught a deep fly ball for the final out, setting off a celebration both on the field and among the travelling Brewers supporters in the stands.
Milwaukee radio broadcaster Jeff Levering, who once shared the booth with the late Bob Uecker, made the call as the club secured its pennant. His announcement that the World Series would run through Wisconsin instantly became part of the franchise’s latest chapter.
From a Historic Misquote to a New Pennant Call
For decades, many fans associated the most famous championship phrase in Brewers history with Uecker. The story, however, is different. During Game 5 of the 1982 American League Championship Series, Uecker left the broadcast booth late in the contest and headed to the clubhouse to prepare for the radio celebration.
When Rod Carew hit a ground ball to Robin Yount, the shortstop’s throw to Cecil Cooper completed the decisive play. The crowd at County Stadium rushed onto the field, but Uecker’s broadcast partner, Dwayne Mosley, was the voice who announced that Milwaukee had reached the World Series.
That moment stood alone for more than four decades. Milwaukee’s latest pennant now gives the club another unforgettable call, this time after a victory that sends the franchise to its first World Series since 1982.
Yelich and the Brewers Reverse Last Year’s Story
Christian Yelich experienced the disappointment of the previous season from the same visitors’ clubhouse. The Dodgers had swept Milwaukee in the 2025 NLCS, extending a painful pattern that had also included playoff defeats in 2018 and 2020.
In 2018, Los Angeles ended the Brewers’ season in Game 7, with Dodgers left fielder Chris Taylor making a crucial catch. Another postseason loss followed in 2020, and the 2025 sweep appeared to deepen the frustration surrounding Milwaukee’s repeated failures against the club from Los Angeles.
This time, Yelich helped lead a different outcome. The veteran is the longest-serving hitter on the roster and joined the Brewers in 2018, at the beginning of the organization’s current successful era. The club named him captain this season, a decision that reflected his leadership inside the clubhouse.
Yelich repeatedly emphasized that the new team should not be defined by the previous year’s result. After the clincher, he pointed to the group’s confidence, internal trust and refusal to treat the past as a prediction of the future.
Milwaukee’s Identity Goes Beyond Home Runs
The 1982 Brewers were known as “Harvey’s Wallbangers” because they led the majors in home runs. The current roster reached the World Series by following a very different formula.
Milwaukee finished tied for second-last in regular-season home runs, yet scored the second-most runs in baseball. The club created pressure through long at-bats, aggressive running and relentless contact. Outfielder Sal Frelick described that approach in memorable terms, saying the Brewers make pitchers work until the game feels unbearable.
The sudden power surge against Los Angeles added an unexpected dimension. Mitchell and Hamilton supplied the most important homers in the clincher, but the pennant was built on a broader offensive identity that had carried Milwaukee through the regular season and the earlier playoff rounds.
| Stage of the 2026 season | Milwaukee result | Why it mattered |
|---|---|---|
| Regular season | 103 wins | The best record in the majors and a franchise record |
| National League Division Series | Three wins over San Diego | Milwaukee eliminated a Padres club that had posted baseball’s best post-All-Star-break record |
| National League Championship Series | Four wins over Los Angeles | The Brewers captured their first National League pennant |
| Total meaningful games | 110 victories in 170 games | A remarkable season-long level of consistency |
Numbers That Put the Achievement in Context
Thursday’s victory was Milwaukee’s 110th win in its 170th meaningful game of the year. The total includes 103 regular-season victories, three NLDS wins and four victories over the Dodgers in the NLCS.
The Brewers also achieved something no previous club had managed. After being swept by Los Angeles in the 2025 postseason, Milwaukee returned the following October and swept the same opponent. The accomplishment made the Brewers the first team in 103 years to lose a postseason sweep and then defeat that same club in the next postseason.
The turnaround is especially striking because Milwaukee had once been treated as one of baseball’s smallest-market underdogs. Over the past 10 regular seasons, only the Dodgers, Astros and Yankees had posted better winning percentages. Since Pat Murphy became manager three seasons ago, no club had won more often than Milwaukee.
From Doubt and Rebuilding to the Fall Classic
The organization’s leaders remember less glamorous days. After playoff appearances in 2008 and 2011, the Brewers endured a second-half collapse in 2014, changed managers early in 2015 and later experienced turnover throughout the roster and front office.
One frustrated fan even left a cake at the reception desk at the stadium, using blue icing to congratulate Milwaukee for no longer holding the worst record in the majors. Team employees understood the gesture as sarcasm, although several staff members still ate the cake.
Karl Mueller, who joined the organization in 2004 as one of Ned Yost’s analytically inclined scouting assistants, said the pennant remained difficult to absorb. President of baseball operations Matt Arnold acknowledged the significance of the achievement while immediately urging the organization to maintain its focus for the World Series.
Owner Mark Attanasio also spoke with 92-year-old Bud Selig after Milwaukee won Game 3. The call took place at 10:50 p.m. Central time, and Selig, too excited to sleep, repeatedly described the team as remarkable.
When Attanasio’s ownership group took control before the 2005 season, the Brewers had just completed their 12th consecutive losing campaign. A .500 record in that first season felt transformative, while the 2008 Wild Card appearance ended a 26-year playoff drought and seemed almost like a championship.
The Meaning Behind the Number 44
The 44-year gap carries special meaning in Milwaukee. Hank Aaron wore No. 44, including during his two seasons with the Brewers, and hit the final home run of his 755-homer career 50 years ago.
Aaron and Uecker later helped advocate for Miller Park, supporting efforts to keep professional baseball in Wisconsin’s smallest major-media market. Attanasio saw echoes of that history throughout the current playoff run.
Ty France’s fly ball once glanced off the stadium roof before Chourio caught it in the NLDS opener. Mitchell made a major defensive play by tracking down a deep Manny Machado drive to close the Division Series. Jake Bauers, who had considered retirement before choosing to continue after his wife became pregnant in 2024, produced a breakout season at age 30 and delivered several important NLCS at-bats.
Milwaukee also became the first team to win six comeback games in its opening eight contests of a postseason. Those recoveries helped define a club that never appeared ready to accept an early deficit as a final result.
Supporters Followed the Team Across the Country
Brewers fans filled sections of Dodger Stadium and stayed after the final out to watch the players receive the Warren C. Giles Trophy. Their presence gave the celebration a home-like atmosphere despite the thousands of kilometres separating Los Angeles from Wisconsin.
Joe Stolarczyk watched Game 3 at Hog Creek Bar & Grill in Mosinee before deciding at approximately 1 a.m. to fly to Los Angeles for the clincher. When friends did not respond, his brother David Stolarczyk and sister Mary Pilz joined him. They bought tickets while travelling toward a Minneapolis flight and reached seats behind home plate before batting practice ended.
Joe had been living in Alaska during Milwaukee’s 1982 World Series run, making the trip a way to experience the franchise’s return in person. Lifelong friends Dave Wuest of Atlanta and Murray Williams of Orange County also made the journey. They have known each other since kindergarten and still remember the Brewers’ painful seven-game loss to the Cardinals in 1982.
Yelich called the travelling crowd electric. With the World Series approaching, Milwaukee’s players will be counting on that same energy as the franchise pursues its first major league championship.