It was one of those days to sit back and savor, which isn’t the easiest task in today’s what’s-next world. But because of all they’ve accomplished, like posting the best record in baseball, what’s next for the Milwaukee Brewers can wait a few more days.
So reminisce for a bit about the sun-soaked Sunday afternoon at American Family Field, when those Brewers secured victory No. 97 for the winningest regular season in franchise history.
Nod knowingly that the decisive home run came from backup catcher Danny Jansen, which epitomizes the everyman approach that’s carried the Brewers to such great heights.
Smile at the “Let’s Go Brewers” chorus ringing throughout the stadium while interim closer Abner Uribe pitched the ninth, and how they morphed into raucous cheers at the final out.
Listen to Springsteen’s “Glory Days” serenade the celebration over the PA speakers, and watch the line of contented hugs and handshakes as the Brewers made their way back into the clubhouse.
And, above all, appreciate the curtain falling on a truly remarkable regular season.
Official Brewers attendance figures report that 2,650,089 fans – spent the summer bearing witness to the Best Team in Baseball, and did so in an era stacked against such small-market clubs. (They managed to draw the 12th-most fans in MLB this year.)
So good were the Brewers at being the best that finishing with one of their worst weeks didn’t much matter. This was only the fourth time in 2025 that the Brewers lost five games out of seven. It happened twice when they were still finding themselves in late April and early May. And then again one more time in June, shortly after they’d reeled off their masterful, franchise-record 14-game winning streak.
That’s the thing about spending the season piling up more victories than anyone else in the game. It means you can afford the occasional luxury of a bad week. And you even get to follow the bad week with an off week, thanks to MLB’s still-newish concept of a first-round playoff bye.
None of this should be taken for granted, especially in Milwaukee. Because if any team deserves to play the nobody-believed-in-us card, it’s these Brewers.
When Opening Day rolled around, oddsmakers had the Brewers at +10,000 to win the World Series, meaning a $100 bet would’ve netted you a cool $10,000. Today, the Brewers are at a mere +800 to take the crown, and winning that same 10 grand requires a wager of $1,250.
Not that we endorse such things, mind you. It’s just an illustration of the immensity of Milwaukee’s underdog status in terms of payroll, perceived talent and expectations. And just how much more of an underdog they were pegged to be six short months ago.
Now, the page turns to the playoffs, where nobody can afford a bad week. The Brewers wait to see if they’ll face San Diego’s Padres or old friend Craig Counsell’s Chicago Cubs. And like every other team, the Brewers have a few questions going into the postseason, mostly centered around health.
Will their injured pitchers have recovered enough to be their previously dominant selves? Closer Trevor Megill, sidelined a month by a flexor strain, looked promising in his Sunday cameo appearance. But the postseason status – and effectiveness – of Brandon Woodruff, Jose Quintana and others remains up in the air. Moreover, the Brewers will have to disprove the conventional wisdom and nagging notion that they simply don’t have the power bats required to succeed in the playoffs.
But those questions will be answered in due time. And they come with the knowledge that the last time the Brewers entered the playoffs with baseball’s best record, it was 1982.
You might remember savoring that team a bit, too.
