Catcher MVP
Brewers catcher William Contreras wins World Series MVP, the eighth catcher ever honored, as Milwaukee claims its first title.
William Contreras is the World Series MVP. Milwaukee beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4-1 in Game 5 to clinch the title, the BBC reported. Contreras batted .381 across the series and won 10 of 13 challenges he brought under the Automated Ball-Strike system. At 28, he's the eighth catcher to win the award and the third Venezuelan, according to the BBC.
The title is Milwaukee's first in the franchise's 57-year history, and just its second World Series appearance ever. Milwaukee lost its only other trip, in 1982, to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games as an American League club, NPR and ABC News reported.
For a second straight year, Milwaukee finished the regular season with baseball's best record, winning 103 games. The Brewers then swept past the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL Championship Series, trailing in every game before winning it, NPR reported. Garrett Mitchell's sixth-inning home run in Game 4 sealed that sweep.
In the World Series, Milwaukee won the first three games before Tampa Bay, the American League's top seed, forced a Game 5. Cooper Pratt's single, plus hits from David Hamilton and Contreras, extended the Brewers' lead in Florida. Starting pitcher Jacob Misiorowski worked into the sixth inning before the bullpen closed it out, the BBC reported.
Milwaukee plays in baseball's smallest market and carried the 19th-highest payroll among the sport's 30 teams this year, the BBC reported. Small market. Big trophy.
Guardian columnist Howard Bryant wrote that the title undercuts arguments from team owners that small-budget clubs cannot win, arguments he said are being used to justify a looming fight over a salary cap. Bryant wrote that labor negotiations this offseason could cancel spring training and part of the 2027 season.
Brewers manager Pat Murphy credited his team's attitude after the NLCS sweep. "I think the Dodgers figured out that we came in here with a little different attitude this year," he said, according to NPR and ABC News.
"There was never a doubt in that dugout what was going to happen tonight. We knew we were going to win that game," said first baseman Jake Bauers, the NLCS MVP, according to NPR.