On Top of the Mountain: Brewers Savor Their Summit Moment

One of Pat Murphy's pet analogies is that winning a World Series is like climbing a mountain. It's a dangerous and tedious endeavor. One wrong step can be deadly, so the safest approach is to stay in the moment and take one deliberate step at a time. Murphy last made the comparison midway through the NLCS, when the Brewers were two games away from the Fall Classic.

"You're climbing a mountain, and you're getting really close to the top, and when you are, usually that path narrows a little bit. It's not as wide," Murphy said. "I think, as you get closer, you've just got to keep your footing, keep your head down, make sure you keep your footing, and you can't look too far ahead. When you look up for the prize—'Oh, where's the top?'—you might step in a crack or a pothole. You've got to keep your head down and go forward."

When Trevor Megill jammed Richie Palacios with a 99-MPH fastball and Brice Turang tossed it to first base, for once, a season of Milwaukee baseball didn't end in disappointment or despair. Nearly a decade of postseason demons were vanquished. Their eighth bite at the apple in the David Stearns-to-Matt Arnold era was filling. A fanbase so hungry for a title that a massive contingent traveled to St. Petersburg during the work week erupted—at Tropicana Field, at American Family Field, and throughout Wisconsin. For the first time in franchise history, the Brewers are World Series champions. They're on top of the mountain.

How's the view?

"The view is fantastic," Megill said.

"Sensational," Logan Henderson said.

"It's just the greatest feeling ever," Christian Yelich said. "I don't even know how to describe it. I wish everybody could experience what that feels like, to run on the field after the third out right there and finally see it."

The longest-tenured Brewer except Brandon Woodruff, Yelich has been a constant through the golden age of Milwaukee baseball. That also means he's taken every October gut punch along the way. Chris Taylor snaring his sharp fly ball in Game 7 of the 2018 NLCS. Trent Grisham, filling in for an injured Yelich, misplaying Juan Soto's base hit in right field in the 2019 Wild Card Game meltdown. Freddie Freeman's go-ahead home run off Josh Hader in the 2021 NLDS. Pete Alonso's go-ahead blast in the 2024 Wild Card Series. Last year's sweep at the hands of the Dodgers, when Shohei Ohtani slammed the door with the greatest individual game of all time.

It was all necessary. Each heartbreak molded the Brewers into what they are now: the best and most undaunted team in baseball, and one that refused to stop fighting no matter the circumstances. The team that posted baseball's best regular-season record for the second straight year. The team that went 11-2 in one of the best postseasons ever, coming from behind in seven of those wins.

"The Alonso homer, I thank him when I see him," Murphy said. "Because it teaches you something. I told the group after that game, I said, 'Hey, I don't know why, but I promise you, this will help you.' And then after the Dodgers last year, I said the same thing."

The veteran Brewers learned from those failures. The younger players learned from last year's NLCS dressing-down. They all came back with a sharper edge and a stronger drive to finish the job. After the sweep, Yelich told the room that someday they would be baseball's reigning champion. Murphy claims that he started telling the group this season that 2026 would be that year.

"It's all worth it," Megill said. "It's only a failure if you don't learn from it. And this team be damned if we didn't come back this year after what we did last year and finish business."

The Brewers kept climbing and never looked back. They led the division for 148 days and won it by 14 games. The wins kept stacking in October, and their usual playoff pitfalls couldn't trip them up. Most of their postseason wins were close, but when the dust settled, the Brewers had throttled all three teams blocking their path to a championship.

"My college coach Mitch Thompson always said, 'You can't fall to the top of the mountain,'" Henderson said. "It's true. You start at the bottom, and you climb your way to the top. It's a lot of adversity, but it's very worth it."

After a long and strenuous climb, the Brewers reached the top of the mountain. They're the reigning World Series champions. Now, the organization and fanbase can enjoy the scenery.

"We fought like hell, and we handled business," Megill said.

Which team do you dislike the most in the NL Central?

Which team do you dislike the most in the NL Central?

• Which team do you dislike the most in the NL Central? Required
  • Cubs
  • Cardinals
  • Reds
  • Pirates
• Save

See All Brewers Polls >