The Milwaukee Brewers are still celebrating their first World Series championship, and the festivities don’t look likely to end anytime soon. The team beat the Tampa Bay Rays in five games, giving Milwaukee and the wider state a title they’d never experienced before.
Christian Yelich, who joined the Brewers in 2018, said he understood right away what the victory meant to the team and its fans. The celebrations have kept him busy, with little sleep and plenty of time spent moving from one event to the next. He said he was still taking it all in and enjoying the moment with everyone.
Milwaukee’s success has also put its style of play in the spotlight. “Brewer Ball” relies on fundamentals and smart situational decisions, rather than focusing mainly on power and launch angles. The approach helped the team win 103 regular-season games, then sweep the reigning champion Los Angeles Dodgers before taking the World Series in five games. Tampa Bay’s walk-off win in Game 4 briefly extended the series.
Yelich thinks other teams may try to follow Milwaukee’s example, though he cautioned that it’s difficult to recreate. In his view, it takes a group that trusts one another, shares a goal and is willing to do whatever the team needs. That sense of togetherness, he said, was one of the Brewers’ biggest strengths.
The approach may sound simple, but it depends on players being willing to do the small things and work for one another. Milwaukee had that kind of group through the season’s ups and downs. Now the players are enjoying the payoff—and other teams may be watching closely.
Yelich has also been spending time with fans. After Milwaukee’s victory parade on Friday, he surprised more than 400 people at a Raising Cane’s in Greendale, Wisconsin, during a celebratory “shift.” He was joined by teammate Brice Turang and manager Pat Murphy for an appearance on “Saturday Night Live” over the weekend.
At the restaurant, Yelich brought his mother, grandmother and dog Winston, greeted fans and signed baseballs and jerseys. He said it was special to see people celebrating and making memories with the team. The Brewers had come close before, he added, so finally winning the title—and seeing how happy it made people—felt especially rewarding.
