World Series Preview: Dodgers dethroned, new champion awaits
Major League Baseball (MLB) fans, rejoice. The Fall Classic is finally upon us. This year's series promises to be one for the history books.
The Los Angeles Dodgers were victorious in back-to-back World Series championships.
Neither the Milwaukee Brewers nor the Tampa Bay Rays have won a title. Now, with baseball’s defending champions eliminated, one of those franchises is four wins away from rewriting history.
Game one of the World Series came last Friday at American Family Field in Milwaukee. The game featured a matchup between two clubs who have spent the season challenging baseball’s established powers. It is also the first series between debutants since 1980.
Milwaukee solved Tampa's starter early. In the first inning, the Brewers scored two runs, one of which came off the bat of Christian Yelich. Tampa finally solved Jacob Misiorowski in the top of the fourth. The Brewers answered with a run in the seventh.
Tampa had a rally in the top of the ninth. They scored one run, but it was too little, too late. Milwaukee took game one by a score of 3-2, following that up with a comeback win in game two.
Milwaukee finished with a record of 103-59, good enough for the top of MLB standings. The Brew Crew swept Los Angeles in the National League (NL) Championship Series, a change from last season. Milwaukee was swept by Los Angeles last year.
The Brewers’ sweep was a statement. With a 6-4 victory in Game 4, Milwaukee ended Los Angeles’ hopes of becoming the first team in 20 years to win three straight World Series titles. Milwaukee punched their ticket to the Fall Classic for the first time since 1982.
The team’s strength has been its ability to get contributions throughout the lineup while relying on its pitching staff to close out games.
Misiorowski has, at times, looked like the best pitcher in baseball. He finished the regular season with 16 wins and five losses, boasting an earned run average of just under two. Those numbers are sure to make Misiorowski a Cy Young candidate.
Young outfielder Jackson Chourio adds athleticism and offensive potential to the Brewers' lineup. The bullpen has played a key role in the club’s postseason run.
Andy Campbell, communications manager for the University of New Brunswick REDS, said Milwaukee’s regular-season success reflects its dominance across the league.
“They’re a tremendous team. 103 wins speaks to their dominance of not just the National League, but [the MLB] as a whole,” said Campbell. “They’re well managed, they have strong pitching and they’re an offensive juggernaut.”
Beyond their record, the Brewers’ run has made them an appealing underdog story despite their success on the field.
“What a feel-good story it would be to see that particular ‘small market’ win it all,” said Campbell.
Tampa Bay took a different route to the Fall Classic. The team began the American League (AL) Championship Series against the Cleveland Guardians by losing two of the first three games. Yet, they overcame adversity to win the pennant in six games.
Tampa's 7-3 victory in game six was powered by two-run home runs from Junior Caminero and Yandy Díaz.
Freddy Peralta earned MVP honours after allowing just one run over 12 innings across three appearances.
Caminero, 22, gives the Rays a young power threat capable of changing a game with one swing. Tampa Bay will need production against a Milwaukee team that has rarely allowed opponents to build momentum this postseason.
Campbell said Tampa Bay has the talent to make the series competitive, pointing to Caminero and Drew Rasmussen as players who could make a difference.
“Tampa is equally as talented. The likes of Caminero and Rasmussen make them more than a threat to win it,” he said.
The Brewers enter with home-field advantage and the league’s best regular-season record. The Rays arrive having proved they can recover when a series turns against them. Both teams have reached the final round before, with Milwaukee appearing in 1982 and Tampa Bay in 2008 and 2020, but neither has lifted the Commissioner’s Trophy.
Campbell expects a competitive series, but his pick is Milwaukee.
“While I’ll be rooting for the Brewers, I’m looking forward to at least a six-game series and some great baseball,” he said. “If pressed, I’ll say Brewers in six.”
For one franchise, the wait ends this month. For the other, another opportunity slips away. After a postseason that saw the Dodgers’ bid for a third straight title come to an end, the World Series will crown a new champion and give either Milwaukee or Tampa Bay the biggest moment in its history.
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