Barb Caffrey's Blog

Folks, as a fan of the Milwaukee Brewers, I am happy, maybe even elated, to know that the 2026 version of the Brewers is going to the World Series for the first time in 44 years…and only the second time in franchise history.

See, in 1982, I was privileged enough to see over 40 Brewers home games at old Milwaukee County Stadium in the regular season, then saw one playoff game (the five-game American League Championship series, as the Brewers were in the AL back then, against the California Angels), and finally one World Series game against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Mind you, tickets back then were not as tough to get, were not nearly as expensive (even when adjusted for inflation), and it was harder for out-of-state people to get their hands on tickets due to the lack of the internet. (They could still call, and many did. But the priority for home games in the playoffs and the World Series were the local fans.) But it probably wasn’t all that easy, either.

I was very excited to see all that, as anyone would be if they’d have had the chance. The Brewers had five future Hall of Fame players on the team — Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, Rollie Fingers, Ted Simmons, and Don Sutton — plus several All-Stars like Gorman Thomas (home run champ), Cecil Cooper (always hit for a high batting average and drove in lots of runs), and Ben Oglivie, plus super-subs like my favorite player ever, Charlie Moore (he caught and played right field). They had the Cy Young Award winner for ’82 on the team, Pete Vuckovich. They had Brewers iron man, Jim Gantner, who often played every single game at second base no matter how he felt, and was a steady and sure defender along with a good “advance the runner-type” hitter. (He was more of a table-setter than a RBI man, but he did a great job and the fans loved him.) They were phenomenally good hitters at a time hitting was king and a good pitcher’s ERA probably was over 3.00 while an exceptional pitcher’s ERA might’ve been 2.75 (these figures are for how many runs in a game the pitcher is expected to give up based on past performance, roughly). They were a scrappy team, they did the best they could, and I never had the feeling — not even during a doubleheader where one of the games was 14-5 for the other team and the Brewers didn’t win the second game either — that they couldn’t come all the way back and take the lead.

The ’82 Brewers didn’t have Rollie Fingers available due to a season-ending injury in 1982. If they’d had him, it would’ve been likely they would’ve won the World Series, instead of losing in seven games to the St. Louis Cardinals. But the Brewers fans were so happy about them going that despite bad weather (chilly, snow flurries, etc.), Milwaukee held a parade for them. The team didn’t think anyone would show up, but the streets were packed full of fans happy to cheer their team one final time. The parade ended in Milwaukee County Stadium, and one of the enduring images of that season was Robin Yount, on his motorcycle, circling the stadium.

Back then, the hopes were that the Brewers would go straight back to the World Series the next year and finally win it. But that didn’t happen…and for years, while the teams were still decent to very good, the Brewers couldn’t make it into the playoff format (as back then, there were no Wild Card entrants, and there were only two divisions — AL East, and AL West. The Brewers were in the AL East.)

Fast-forward to 2026.

This year’s Brewers, like the ’82 team, is a scrappy bunch. I never got a sense that the Brewers were unable to come all the way back and win any given game, as they competed as if their lives depended on it. They have excellent players like Jackson Chourio (left fielder), Brice Turang (second baseman), and Jake Bauers (first base/right field), the latter possibly winning an award due to his emergence being so very unexpected. (Prior to this season, I think Bauers’s best home run total in a season was twelve. This year, he hit twenty-six.) They have great pitching, including the young Jacob Misiorowski (“the Miz”), Logan Henderson, Aaron Ashby, Abner Uribe, and closer Trevor Megill, among others. Their team defense, like the ’82 team’s, has been stellar. They play excellent fundamental baseball, they exceed expectations, and have many “unsung” players such as outfielder Sal Frelick, center fielder Garrett Mitchell, and team captain Christian Yelich (a former Most Valuable Player in the NL). They won their division, then won the division series against the Padres, and finally swept the LA Dodgers a year after the Dodgers had swept the Brewers.

So, it’s a well-built team from top to bottom. That reminds me very much of 1982. But unlike 1982, two of the best pitchers the Brewers have are Miz (2nd year player) and Henderson (a rookie). They also have outstanding middle and late relief pitchers that consistently get the job done, which again couldn’t be said of the ’82 Brewers (though it would’ve been far better had Fingers not become injured, of course; it’s hard to do without a HoF closer).

What really reminds me of the ’82 team, though, is the attitude. The ’26 Brewers know they’re good. They know they can beat anyone on any given day, and they refuse to give up beforehand in their heads. They are fierce competitors. They also have a manager in Pat Murphy who completely understands them, just as the ’82 Brewers had Harvey Kuenn, who had started the year as the hitting coach and ended up as the manager and pushed all the right buttons.

It’s been a lot of fun to watch the Brewers play.

You might be wondering why I haven’t said much, if anything at all, up until this point, though. It mostly is that I wanted the Brewers to win the NL pennant before I talked about how good of a team they are, because until they did that, comparisons with the ’82 team were nonsensical.

And of course there are going to be comparisons. These are the two best teams the Brewers have ever had. The only pennant winning teams, one in the AL, one now in the NL. For now, none of the players look like they’ll be ticketed to go to the Hall of Fame, unlike the Dodgers, that probably have five or six sure HoF players and another three or four who might make it someday. (Chourio and Turang are the most likely contenders if they have long and stellar careers. So far, their careers are short but stellar, and I have a lot of hope for them all the way around.)

I think, though, as a fan who lived through the euphoria and then the heartbreak of the 1982 team’s journey, that what exemplifies both of the best-ever Brewers squads comes down to heart on the one hand, and hard work on the other. Plus, they play as a team and win as a team; if one person falters, rather than yelling at him, the other players do their best to pick that person up. (I’m sure they already know the player who had a bad day is yelling at themselves enough as it is.)

My father was a huge Brewers fan and wanted them to return to the World Series. He didn’t get to see that. I really wish he had, because he had high hopes for Jackson Chourio and Brice Turang and several of the other current Brewers squad, and believed that if they all played their best, someday soon, the team would fulfill their enormous potential.

I like to think that Dad, along with of course Bob Uecker (the Brewers former Hall of Fame announcer, who died a few years ago), are up in Heaven, smiling, drinking toasts to the ’26 Brewers’ health and such, and are enjoying this as much as I am, here on Earth. (I’ll never know for sure. But it comforts me to believe this.)

All I know is, I’m very happy that the Brewers are finally returning to the World Series after 44 long years. And I hope that the national announcers will figure out just how good this team is, rather than acting like it’s been a huge secret. (It hasn’t been. My goodness, they won over 100 games…how can a team that wins over 100 games in one year be a huge secret?)