MILWAUKEE — The World Series has arrived in town here in Milwaukee, only without the Commissioner’s Trophy … or even the commissioner.
There won’t be a trophy presentation on the field, or even an MVP being honored, with the baseball calendar declaring it’s only the National League Division Series.
Major League Baseball rules require that the winner of the Division Series must still win four more games in the National League Championship Series against the mighty Los Angeles Dodgers to even reach the World Series.
Then again, those people don’t know the sentiments of the Milwaukee Brewers fans in America’s heartland.
The Brewers’ winner-take-all game Saturday against the Chicago Cubs (8:08 p.m. ET, TBS) means just about everything but the Lombardi Trophy to the friendly, cheese-loving, beer-guzzling, Green Bay Packers-adoring folks of Milwaukee.
Beat the Cubs on Saturday at American Family Field, and it will be a season revered in Brewers lore for generations.
Lose to the Cubs and they will consider it a season ruined.
It’s just how it works here in Milwaukee, where going to the postseason has become an October ritual.
The Brewers have been to the playoffs seven of the last eight years. They shock the baseball world year after year, and just when you don’t think they can possibly win the NL Central, they do it again and again and again.
They weren’t supposed to be here, not after letting All-Star shortstop Willy Adames walk and trading All-Star closer Devin Williams to the Yankees in the offseason, one year after trading Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes.
They opened the season getting embarrassed by the Yankees, outscored 36-10 – and responded by winning 97 games, most in franchise history, and running away with the NL Central.
They were rewarded with a first-round bye, avoided having to play the Dodgers or the powerful Philadelphia Phillies in their bracket, and drew the Cubs.
Yep, those rich, ivy-loving spoiled kids down the interstate they love to hate.
The Brewers’ most cherished moment during this fabulous run was in 2018, when they walked into Wrigley Field, and with their fans storming the gates, beat the Cubs in Game 163 to win the NL Central. The Cubs were eliminated one day later by the Colorado Rockies in the wild-card game, while the Brewers advanced to the NLCS, losing in seven games to the Dodgers.
It was also the last time the Brewers won a postseason series.
Now, playing the Cubs for the first time in their postseason history, they have the opportunity for bragging rights until the day their breweries run out of beer.
If the Brewers win Saturday, and no matter what happens in the NLCS, even if they get swept by the powerful Dodgers, it still will forever be hailed as a glorious season.
If they lose, it will ruin everything they accomplished this year, leaving their fans frustrated and bitter for allowing their hopes to build so high, only to be crushed by their annoying I-94 neighbors.
The Brewers’ fans thought they had this thing wrapped up a few days ago, laughing it up, drinking hard, and celebrating after running over the Cubs in the first two games at Miller Park, 9-3 and 7-3, leaving them just one victory away from winning the series.
Then, the series moved to Wrigley, the Cubs fans made their lives miserable, and once they smelled fear, beat the Brewers, 4-3 in Game 3 and barrel-rolled them, 6-0, in Game 4.
“There is nobody on our team except for (Christian) Yelich and (Freddy) Peralta that’s ever played an away playoff game,’’ Brewers manager Pat Murphy said of his two veterans. “So they got their first taste of it in an unbelievable environment. … To criticize this team for losing two games in Chicago in that environment, as well as the Cubs played, how well they capitalized on every little thing, that’s baseball.’’
And to suddenly now write them off, believing the Cubs’ momentum is too great to overcome, then you just don’t know Murphy’s Brew Crew. They’ve won more games the past two seasons than any team in franchise history. They haven’t had a losing streak longer than four games. They’ve won three consecutive division titles, and four in the last five years, despite being baseball’s smallest market with one of the game’s lowest player payrolls.
“Will they respond?,’’ Murphy said. “They always do. I fully expect them to respond. That was a tough environment for two days for these young kids.’’
Now is the Brewers’ chance to make the pain all go away, terminating the Cubs’ season, and staying home to play the Dodgers in a classic David vs. Goliath matchup.
Win, and maybe they even start to forgive Cubs manager Craig Counsell for abandoning them, and maybe those handful of current and former Brewers executives will even speak to him again.
Win, and they’ll have bragging rights over the city of Chicago until the Bears return to the Super Bowl.
Win, and their bitter cold winters will feel like Tahiti, their skin still glowing from pride.
This is a team, after all, that has won five full-season NL Central Division titles since the Cubs’ last one in 2017.
“They’ve done that without the big roster, without the big budget, without the free agent signings, without the trade deadline stuff,’’ Murphy said. “So respect this team.’’
Sure, no one said this will be easy, and they’re quite aware that history hasn’t been kind to them in these circumstances. They have lost five consecutive games in which they had the opportunity to end their opponent’s season, dating back to Game 7 of the NLCS against the Dodgers in 2018.
The last time they won a winner-take-all game was back in 2011, when Nyjer Morgan hit a walk-off single in the 10th inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 5 of the NLDS in Milwaukee.
Yet, history will also tell them that only two times in NLDS history has a team blown a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series (1981, 2012).
History will tell them that they have one of the greatest home-field advantages in baseball, with only two teams winning more games at home this season.
And history will tell them that over 162 games all season, they were better than the Cubs, finishing five games ahead in the standings.
It was Counsell who knew the Cubs were in trouble after losing the first two games of the series, but boldly said, “We get to decide how this story ends.”
Now, it’s the Brewers’ turn to have the pen in their hands.
“There’s not one prognosticator that picked them over .500,’’ Murphy said, “so this team has overachieved all year. And this team had a dream, wanted to do something special for the fans of Milwaukee, for Bob Uecker, for each other. …
“We’re the only small market team doing this. Get behind these guys. I’m proud we’re in the spot we’re in. We’re five wins away from the World Series. I learned a lot about this team, and one thing is it’s resilient and they bounce back.’’
And there’s no reason, Murphy believes, why they won’t do it once again, scoffing at the idea that they need a victory over the Cubs to validate their season.
“I’m not looking to validate anything with anyone…,’’ Murphy says. “To be in the position we’re in, there’s no validation. I just want to do this very badly. … Are we not good because we didn’t win a playoff series after we got a bye in the first round, by having the best record in the league? That’s got to count for something.
“But I’m not going to think about that. I’m just going to plan on tomorrow.
“And plan on winning.’’
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