The 2026 baseball season ends with the World Series. In one dugout, the best record in the National League, namely the 103-59 Milwaukee Brewers. In the other dugout, the best record in the American League, namely the 98-64 Tampa Bay Rays. This is very fitting, the best against the best. Both teams are famous for combining modest payrolls with high levels of baseball smarts. Both teams hit 0.258 on the season, tying them for MLB best. The staff ERA of 3.51 for the Brewers, and 3.54 for the Rays are MLB’s 2nd and 3rd best. In addition, neither team has ever won the WS before, so that’s something. Our kodachrome noted the other night that this is the first time in a decade neither team was from the state of Texas or California. It should be fun, and it might well turn out to be a true fall classic.
The Brewers play in Miller Park (now renamed something else), which has a closable roof. Their manager for the past three seasons is Pat Murphy, now with a combined record of 486-292 as the skip. Brice Turang led the Crew with 100 RBI, while Jake Bauers knocked 26 over the fence. Other bats to watch are William Contreras, Jackson Churio, and Garrett Mitchell. Jacob Misiorowski (30 GS, 1.80 ERA) is the staff ace, while the closer is Trevor Megill (0.89 WHIP).
The Rays play at Tropicana Field, which is a non-retractable domed stadium, that underwent repairs after a hurricane, to be open again this year. It will be used until 2028. The Rays are led by 12th year manager Kevin Cash, who has put up a 1,842-994 record as the skip. Twelve years makes Cash the longest tenured field manager in the bigs. Junior Caminaro took team slugging with 101 RBI and 42 homers. Other bats to watch are Jonathan Aranda, Yandy Diaz, and Richie Palacios. The staff ace since a clever trade is Freddy Peralta (10 GS, 3.25 ERA) and the closer is Bryan Baker (0.91 WHIP).
The WS starts Friday in Milwaukee, with games FS before Sunday travel to Tampa. The middle three, MTW are in Tampa. If need be, there’s a Thursday travel day back to Milwaukee for possible games on FS. All games start at the 5:00 hour, and will be on rabbit ears FOX.
Which brings us to a bonus frisson of pleasure! FOX will have Joe Buck call the game, so we can listen to him try to explain why Ohtani and Co. are not in the WS. Ha, ha, MLB, your precious little blue darlings were spanked in the NLDS!
MLB will post details such as starting pitchers here: https://www.mlb.com/postseason
