For the first time in franchise history, the Milwaukee Brewers took home the Commissioner’s Trophy. The best team in baseball all year got to showcase who they were under the brightest lights.
The timing of this small-market World Series between the Brewers and Rays was nothing short of comical: the negotiations between the owners and the MLBPA have not seemed to progress, with the idea of a salary cap being the key focal point. After the Dodgers (consistently one of baseball’s biggest spenders) took home back-to-back championships in ‘24 and ‘25, the debate became clear: the Dodgers are bad for baseball, and the small-market teams can’t compete.
This year said otherwise. But it wasn’t just about the money — it was the philosophy and the style of play.
In the late 2010s, teams went all in on the long ball — stats like exit velocity, launch angle, and expected stats exploded. It was all about the home run, and who could hit the most. Small ball fell to the back burner, with the 2022 Braves setting the record for fewest sacrifice bunts in a full season (6).
The Brewers and Rays, however, did what other teams couldn’t this year. Spending $146 million and $96 million, respectively, they won their divisions and dominated their way to the World Series.
So what worked? The Brewers were 2nd in runs scored while being 28th in home runs in the regular season — an unheard-of contrast.
Some chalk it up to Pat Murphy, his leadership and style of baseball. Throughout the season, Pat Murphy pulled players for lackadaisical play and sub-par effort; some felt he was being too hard on his guys, but Murphy never wavered. The Brewers had discipline, heart, and soul — something that has been missing from MLB as a whole over the last several years. Home runs were never a concern. They were going to dominate on the mound and scrape across runs any way they could — moving runners over via the sacrifice, stealing bases, and using singles and doubles to cash in.
A perfect example is second baseman Brice Turang. Turang has been nominated for the NL MVP award, despite the fact that his offensive numbers are not that eye-catching: .268 with 21 homers and 19 stolen bases. But what put him in that conversation is his defense, another core pillar of the Brewers’ philosophy. Brice and the Brewers were never going to give their opponents an extra out to work with. Errors were limited, and that’s what made the Brewers so good — they were great everywhere.
The Brewers were 4th in Defensive Runs Saved in the league this year while being 4th in sacrifices per game, 5th in stolen bases, 1st in on-base percentage, and 1st in batting average. That’s a lot of numbers, but the gist is that the Brewers placed emphasis on the stats that baseball enthusiasts today tend to ignore. The little things. The fundamentals.
It begs the question: why don’t other teams copy the same philosophy? Well, when you break it down, it’s actually pretty simple.
This is arguably the most difficult kind of baseball to play. The entire roster, top to bottom, needs to be bought in. It is a selfless, team-oriented mindset that disregards individual statistics. That means you need a leader who supports that outlook, and players who are willing to fall in line for the greater good, the end goal.
Years ago, baseball entered its flagship “Let the Kids Play” campaign as a means of breaking down the unwritten rules of the baseball-of-old. It was a way to give the game more excitement, as it lost numbers and popularity to sports like football and basketball. While the strategy worked, it opened a door to a more individual-oriented game of baseball that detracted from the goal of winning the World Series. It drew fans to the ballpark to see a high-energy player, but in the end, baseball is a team sport — maybe more than any other. No single player can carry an entire roster, and the Brewers showed this year that playing an older style of baseball doesn’t mean you can’t have fun, and doesn’t mean you can’t win.
Milwaukee didn’t need to lead the league in home runs, have the highest payroll, or rely on one superstar to carry the team. They needed nine players to execute, a pitching staff to keep opponents off the scoreboard, and a manager who demanded accountability from everyone, no matter what role they played. They turned walks into opportunities, singles into rallies, stolen bases into runs, and routine defensive plays into outs. Every player had a responsibility, and every responsibility mattered. In a sport increasingly defined by individual accolades, the Brewers proved that winning baseball is still about doing the little things better than everyone else.
They say you can’t put a number on the intangibles, but the Brewers did: number 1.
Agreed! But as much as the 8 positions played great - they also had extraordinarily good pitching. The Rockies have had that in their position players but have never committed to building pitching. The contrast is staggering. And then the position players revolted - like Arenado and the team collapsed.
I want a cap in baseball. But it’s not going to solve problems of bad ownership and/Or front office mediocrity