All that separates the Milwaukee Brewers from their second-ever World Series appearances is four wins.
While everyone was distracted by a Sunday full of football, the Milwaukee Brewers very loudly advanced to the NLCS for just the third time in franchise history.
Now all that stands between the Brewers and their second ever World Series appearance is four wins (and probably the Dodgers). A World Series trophy has never made its way to Wisconsin, but this appears to be a team ready to not only change that but channel the likability that helped make the Houston Astros run last year feel so good for the objective observer.
Here’s where we stand now that the first ticket to the LCS has been punched by the Brewers:
It’s impossible to root against the Brewers
Unless you’re a Cubs fan, it’s pretty impossible to root against the Brewers making a run to the World Series. Everything about this team screams underdog, from the nature of the club’s rise to NL Central champions to little pieces working within the larger machine.
Everyone is talking about Christian Yelich and his MVP campaign, but there are other players to invest in. Reliever Corey Knebel was sent to the minors earlier this season before earning his way back to the Majors. After doing so he posted 30 strikeouts, 3 walks, 5 hits, and a 0.00 ERA in 14 innings of work over the last month of the season. He anchors a bullpen that many believe can do for the Brewers what the Indians bullpen did two years ago.
Bullpenning is a thing, but having a bullpen good enough to carry you to a World Series is harder to put together. Josh Hader, Jeremy Jefferies, Joakim Soria, and others are a part of a pen that helped maintain the Brewers surge to the top in September and carried Milwaukee to a NLDS sweep of Colorado.
Milwaukee isn’t the most popular team to root for as we trudge deeper into October, but they might be the right team to pull for if you truly want to see some postseason magic.