Molson Coors is celebrating the National League team's second World Series appearance by offering fans a free beer for Game 1 of the Fall Classic on Friday, Oct. 23.
Wisconsin residents aged 21 years or older can purchase a 16-ounce Miller Lite or larger on game day and get reimbursed through the company's rebate program, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, part of the USA TODAY Network.
Molson Coors is also offering free tours of the Miller Brewery on game day. The company is treating 120 fans to an afternoon tour, which usually costs $20 and includes three beer samples. Each fan will also receive a Miller Lite Brewers hat.
“We can’t think of a better way to toast the Brewers’ incredible run than with beer and tours of the brewery we proudly call home," Alison Hanrahan, community affairs manager for the Miller Brewery, said in a statement.
In the World Series, Milwaukee will take on the Tampa Bay Rays, who are making their third appearance in the title series. Neither team has won a World Series, which means there will be a first-time champion.
The Brewers faced the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1982 World Series and lost in seven games. That Milwaukee team featured several players who would eventually be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame: Rollie Fingers, Don Sutton, Robin Yount, Paul Molitor and Ted Simmons.
To get to this year's championship matchup, Milwaukee swept the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series. The Brewers previously beat the San Diego Padres 3-1 in the Division Series after finishing the regular season with a 103-59 record, making them the National League's top seed.
Flamethrowing right-hander Jacob Misiorowski, a near-lock for the National League Cy Young award, will look to give the Brewers an early advantage in their quest to win the first World Series in franchise history.
While Milwaukee has won both of Misiorowski's first two postseason starts, he's been far from the overpowering pitcher he was in the regular season.
Against both the Padres and Dodgers, the 24-year-old was unable to get through five innings while throwing 88 and 94 pitches and giving up a total of three earned runs.
What can we expect from The Miz in this year's World Series?
Jacob Misiorowski stats
Misiorowski was incredibly dominant during his 30 regular-season starts in 2026.
He tied for third in the majors this season with 16 wins, but perhaps the most eye-opening stat is that his ratio of walks plus hits to innings pitched (WHIP) was the lowest by a major league starter since Pedro Martinez in 2000.
Granted it's a very small sample, but Misiorowski has a 3.24 ERA and 1.56 WHIP in his two playoff starts, both no-decisions.
Perhaps the main reason he hasn't been as dominant as he was during the 2026 regular season, as MLB.com's David Adler points out, is that he hasn't been racking up swinging strikes anywhere near as often.
Misiorowski threw his fastball 60% of the time during the regular season, more often than any other starting pitcher. He also got swings and misses on an incredible 40% of his four-seamers. But in two postseason starts, that whiff rate has dropped to 16% as Padres and Dodgers hitters excelled at fouling those pitches off − even though 96 of his 122 fastballs were clocked at 100 mph or higher.
How successful Misiorowski is at getting Rays hitters to swing and miss could be one of the keys to Game 1.
MILWAUKEE, WI - OCTOBER 04: Jackson Chourio #11 celebrates with Antonio Senzatela #49 of the Milwaukee Brewers after hitting a walk-off single in Game Two of the National League Division Series presented by Booking.com between the San Diego Padres and the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field on Sunday, October 4, 2026 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Rob Tringali/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
The World Series starts tomorrow!
This is one of the only times of the year where the entire baseball watching fandom is able to settle in and focus on the same thing. It’s time to enjoy baseball at the highest level available.
“I’m going to look at all the coaching, like I do every year, and yes, I’m definitely focused on the offense and on the hitting,” Steinbrenner said at the postmortem news conference Wednesday, when a potential target was placed on James Rowson and the staff under him.
For each of the past three seasons, Rowson has been the club’s hitting coach and Casey Dykes has been assistant hitting coach. Before last season, the Yankees moved on from another assistant, Pat Roessler, and added Jake Hirst.
Rowson, Dykes and Hirst led a 2026 attack that is difficult to assess. In the regular season, the Yankees finished tied for ninth in runs scored largely on the back of the second-most home runs slugged.
As has become expected, the Yankees were strong in drawing walks (fifth) and poor at collecting hits (a fifth-worst .235 batting average) while striking out too often (fourth most). In the postseason, the Yankees lineup was incredible against the Red Sox and inept against the Rays.
Of course, the above numbers were accumulated with just 383 total plate appearances from Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, who left massive voids that are impossible to replace and, thus, were not replaced.
Nonetheless, the Yankees expected more from Jazz Chisholm Jr., whose regular-season OPS dropped 102 points from 2025. And from Trent Grisham (108-point plunge), Ryan McMahon (58) and Austin Wells (88). Anthony Volpe and Jasson Domínguez stagnated.
The only true step forward belonged to Ben Rice. George Lombard Jr. and Spencer Jones debuted with promise, but was that more a reflection of the Yankees’ player-development system or major league coaches?
“We do feel like there were guys that I feel like had, call it ‘down years’ or whatever — not to what I believe they’re capable of,” Boone said before exempting Wells, who began brutally but found his stroke by August. “Some of that is young players that go through it. … But there were a handful of guys that I feel like probably underperformed expectations. So you’re constantly looking into that.”
The Yankees’ offense struggled this past season under hitting coach James Rowson. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
In Boone’s mind at least, Rowson is not to blame.
“I think James leads a great hitting group,” he said. “I’ve been really impressed with the culture that he’s created year in and year out over the last few seasons. So there’s a lot of reasons that go into why there’s underperformance in certain areas of the club, and you try and address those all as best you can.”
Rowson took over for Sean Casey, who had taken over midseason in 2023 for the hit-strikes-hard, analytically minded Dillon Lawson.
The personable Rowson, a former Yankees minor leaguer and minor league hitting instructor, is popular in the clubhouse and regarded less for a hitting philosophy and more for his connection with the players.
Owner Hal Steinbrenner called out the Yankees’ offense for not being effective this past offseason. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
His greatest connection could be his greatest lifeline. Rowson is close with Judge, whose relationship dates back to Rowson’s days as the Yankees’ minor league hitting coordinator while Judge was just an intriguing prospect.
Judge vouched for Rowson upon being hired and certainly will be heard before the Yankees make decisions regarding their coaching staff. Steinbrenner said he and Judge “had a great conversation [Tuesday] over a number of subjects.”
In Rowson’s first two seasons as Yankees hitting coach, the club won the American League Silver Slugger award. Last October, the Yankees were knocked out by the Blue Jays predominantly because their pitching, and not hitting, failed them, but Steinbrenner believes the problem with the offense was not isolated to 2026.
“It wasn’t just a one-year deal,” he said of a club that led baseball in runs scored in 2025, but also struck out the third-most times and then fell to a team that hit better for contact. “It’s two years now, and I’m seeing some of the same things.
“And yes, we need to get to the bottom of it.”
There were more issues (and more significant injuries) in 2026, though Rowson, like all Yankees, will be ultimately judged for his offense’s performance in the postseason.
The Yankees scored 18 runs in a two-game sweep of the Red Sox. They then scored five runs on 12 hits in a three-game sweep at the Rays’ hands, when the long ball could not be found and there were little traces of small ball.
For the majority of the playoff run, Rowson was not around the team because he tended to a family medical emergency.
Steinbrenner said the team would look into “everything” regarding the hitting issues, which could mean personnel — the Yankees could conceivably add a new third baseman, second baseman and perhaps center fielder that could change the dynamic of their lineup — and could mean the coaches in charge of that personnel.
“I feel like overall, our offensive preparation is very good and how the table is set and kind of the program that J-Row leads,” Boone said. “But we didn’t perform what I believe is up to our capabilities offensively, and we got to look into certainly all of that.”
The Dodgers won the trade deadline with the acquisition of Tarik Skubal — but that doesn’t mean they ultimately prevailed.
The Brewers were reportedly in the mix to land Skubal in a blockbuster trade, but Milwaukee managed to sweep the Dodgers despite losing out on the two-time American League Cy Young Award winner.
“This team was built, not bought. It’s critical to look at how we got here, and because I want to have sustained success, we had to do that by being careful about how many prospects we gave up,” Attanasio said.
Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Tarik Skubal (29) reacts during the fifth inning against the Milwaukee Brewers in game one of the NLCS for the 2026 MLB Playoffs at American Family Field in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
“I thought a lot about it. If we had not won that Game 4, we would’ve seen Skubal and [Yoshinobu Yamamoto] again, and we could’ve been looking at Game 7.”
Milwaukee Brewers Chairman and Principal Owner Mark Attanasio speaks at a press conference before a workout session prior to the World Series, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The Dodgers had the highest payroll of MLB’s final four teams, but were eliminated in four games by Milwaukee.
Attanasio’s comments ring true, the Brewers have taken years to build a winning team and it appears the squad has a strong chance of hoisting the Commissioner’s Trophy. But many of the Dodgers’ biggest critics tend to overlook the team’s top farm system.
While money is no object for the Dodgers, the team wouldn’t have won back-to-back World Series if the organization didn’t have the ability to make blockbuster trades because of its top prospects.
Milwaukee Brewers players react to winning NLCS Game 4 against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026. Carlin Stiehl for CA Post
Skubal didn’t guarantee the Dodgers another ring, but it certainly improved their chances.
Todd Benzinger of the Cincinnati Reds plays during the 1990 World Series against the Oakland Athletics at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in Oakland, Calif.
Todd Benzinger, a key member of the Reds’ 1990 World Series championship team, died on Wednesday, the team announced.
He was 63.
“Todd will forever be remembered by Reds fans for catching the final out of the 1990 World Series, but those of us who had the privilege of knowing him will remember so much more,” Rick Walls, executive director of the Reds Hall of Fame Museum, said in a statement.
“Todd remained close to the Cincinnati community and was a tremendous friend to the Reds Hall of Fame and Museum, generously participating in our events and sharing his time with fans. We will miss his friendship, his kindness and his presence in our community.”
Cincinnati Reds’ Todd Benzinger in action at first base. Sporting News via Getty Images
The first baseman’s cause of death has yet to be announced, but Hall of Fame shortstop Barry Larkin, a Reds teammate of Benzinger, said that his death came as a “shock.”
“I saw him at an event this past summer in Cincinnati and he looked good. It’s kind of a shock out of nowhere,” Larkin told MLB.com. “I know he’s got some young kids, so I feel really bad for his family.”
A Cincinnati-area native, Benzinger was drafted by the Red Sox out of high school in 1981 and spent two MLB seasons in Boston before being traded to his hometown Reds during the 1988 offseason.
Benzinger spent parts of three seasons with the Reds before they dealt him to the Royals midway through the 1991 season.
His most famous moment in Cincinnati was catching the final out in Game 4 of the 1990 World Series to seal the Reds’ most recent championship.
Oakland Athletics’ Jose Canseco is almost picked off by Boston Red Sox first baseman Todd Benzinger during the first inning of a baseball game in Oakland, Calif. AP Photo/PAUL SAKUMA
Across his nine-year MLB career, Benzinger put up a slash line of .257/.301/.386 with 733 hits and 376 RBIs in 924 games.
After retiring in 1995, Benzinger maintained a close relationship with the Reds and was a regular at select events and team camps.
He also managed the Dayton Dragons, Cincinnati’s High-A affiliate, from 2009-10.
“He was a super nice guy,” Larkin said. “He was always a hard worker, not real loud. Just about doing his business. He was just a steady, consistent contributor. There was no craziness about him. He fit in well with the team.
SAN DIEGO, CA - OCTOBER 06: Xander Bogaerts #2 of the San Diego Padres celebrates after defeating the Milwaukee Brewers in Game Three of the National League Division Series presented by Booking.com at Petco Park on Tuesday, October 6, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Rob Tringali/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Welcome to our series grading every member of the San Diego Padres’ 40-man roster. The roster being evaluated is current as of Oct. 18, prior to the end of the World Series. Because of that, it will include players who will be free agents once the postseason concludes. Each player will be graded on their performance in the 2026 season, including the playoffs. That performance will be weighted based on how much time the player spent with the team (availability is the best ability).
The Veteran Shortstop
When Xander Bogaerts was signed to an 11-year, $280 million contract prior to the 2023 season (wow, that’s still insane to think about), he was expected to man shortstop for the next several years for San Diego. He’s done so faithfully and has been available for the majority of his tenure thus far. Bogaerts has played in 130-plus games in three of four seasons with the Padres. However, he has yet to perform better than his first year in San Diego (4.2 Wins Above Replacement).
Overall Grade: C+
Bogaerts’ production has continued to decline year by year. This season was no different, with the shortstop posting a .231/.332/.344 slash line and 13 home runs. The homer total was an increase from the last two seasons, but his batting average took a sharp downturn. Bogaerts’ bat was downright anemic apart from certain portions of the year.
That being said, Bogaerts ended the season batting .315 in September and slashed .286/.348/.476 with a home run in the playoffs. His defense took a step back from his stellar performance in 2025 (+6 Fielding Run Value, +7 Outs Above Average), but he was still solid at the position with +4 FRV and +3 OAA. Bogaerts manned shortstop faithfully for the Friars, playing in 151 games for San Diego.
The biggest question for Bogaerts is whether his offense can return to form. Since joining San Diego, he has yet to prove he can make a difference with his bat apart from a solid 2023 campaign. That being said, Bogaerts was somewhat unlucky in 2026. The veteran shortstop batted .231 with an expected batting average of .248. That’s not a great deal better, but it’s certainly an improvement.
The veteran infielder announced his retirement from Major League Baseball after the Dodgers were swept in the National League Championship Series by the Brewers. But Rojas will represent his home country one last time to play in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League for the Tiburones de La Guaira club.
Los Angeles Dodgers’ Miguel Rojas works out ahead of Game 1 of baseball’s National League Championship Series between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Los Angeles Dodgers, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, in Milwaukee. AP Photo/Kyla Wolf
The Dodgers World Series hero will participate in special games for the team on Nov. 14 and 15 at LoanDepot Park in Miami.
Turns out Game 4 of the NLCS won’t be Rojas’ final game of his career.
“One last time on the field. One last time representing Venezuela,” Rojas said in an Instagram caption.
Rojas previously expressed disappointment with the World Baseball Classic after he was not able to participate in the spring tournament due to issues obtaining insurance on his MLB contract. The 37-year-old has never participated in a WBC and the 2026 tournament was his last chance before he retired.
Los Angeles Dodgers second baseman Miguel Rojas (72) throws to first base for an out against the Atlanta Braves during the first inning in game three of the NLDS for the 2026 MLB Playoffs at Truist Park. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters ConnectLos Angeles Dodgers Miguel Rojas watches from the dugout against the Milwaukee Brewers in the ninth inning of Game 4 of the NLCS. Wally Skalij for the CA Post
“I didn’t know that my chance to go represent my country for the first and only time, probably as a player, was gonna get blocked because of an insurance problem,” Rojas said. “Even though we know we have to be ready for the season and we have to play and be healthy for our contract, at the end of the day, we didn’t know all those restrictions were gonna be in place the way they are right now.”
Rojas wasn’t able to represent Venezuela in the WBC, but he will play one last time for his home country next month.
ST. PETERSBURG, FL - OCTOBER 19: Junior Caminero #13 of the Tampa Bay Rays celebrates after defeating the Cleveland Guardians at Tropicana Field on Monday, October 19, 2026 in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Mary DeCicco/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
On the newest Rays Your Voice, I break down the Rays’ pennant-clinching game 6 win over the Guardians, and what the atmosphere was like inside Tropicana Field.
About halfway through the episode, I am joined by Danny Russell to preview the World Series matchup against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Stay tuned for instant reaction podcasts after World Series games, which will be streamed live from our YouTube channel. All episodes are also available wherever you get your podcasts!
MILWAUKEE — The Miz will try to whiz his famous fastball by batters on baseball’s biggest stage, opening a new-look World Series between teams guaranteed to produce a first-time champion.
Jacob Misiorowski brings his record-setting heat to the mound for the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday night when he throws the first pitch of the best-of-seven championship against the Tampa Bay Rays, a matchup of modest-money marvels who bumped off glamorous rivals with a throwback base-to-base style.
“Forrest Gump, everyone,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said Thursday, introducing his ace to the assembled media.
“I’m still fresh to this and have no idea what the hell is going on,” Misiorowski said a few minutes later.
Few predicted this pairing of pennant winners when the season opened March 25. The first World Series with robot umpires is the first since 1980 between teams seeking their first championship and also could be the first with a 104 mph pitch — thanks to Misiorowski — and the first to be played totally indoors.
“I’m excited to see two great teams that play the game a little differently than maybe it’s been played the last decade or so,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said.
Milwaukee is in the Series for the second time after a 44-year absence — an appropriate number given that it was the jersey of the Cream City’s most famous baseball player, Hank Aaron, who became a star with the Milwaukee Braves in the 1950s and ended his career with the expansion Brewers in the 1970s.
Both teams fell short in previous Series trips, the Brewers losing to St. Louis in 1982 and the Rays to Philadelphia in 2008 and to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2020. Not since the Phillies beat Kansas City in 1980 have two teams met seeking their first title. The time before that was in 1920.
Misiorowski is likely to set a World Series velocity record
Misiorowski, a 24-year-old right-hander in his first full major league season, is a starting pitcher like no other. He threw 1,115 pitches of 100 mph or higher this year — shattering the old high of 673 since tracking began in 2008, by Jordan Hicks in 2018.
His fastest pitch was 105.5 mph to the Chicago Cubs’ Pete Crow-Armstrong on June 27, and he appears likely to break the 101.1 mph record for a Series starter by the New York Mets’ Noah Syndergaard in 2015 and possibly the overall Series high of 103.2 mph by Cubs reliever Aroldis Chapman to Cleveland’s Coco Crisp in Game 2 of 2016.
Misiorowski didn’t finish the fifth inning in either of his first two postseason starts this year. Batters have swung at 94 of his 182 postseason pitches and fouled off 51 — 28% of pitches and 54% of swings.
“He hasn’t been as crisp,” Murphy said. “They’re obviously looking at an area. They’re trying to exploit everything. He’s exposed, like all these guys get at some point.”
The Brewers and Rays have throwback offenses
In an age where power bats usually rule, Milwaukee scored a major league-low 32.1% of its runs on homers and Tampa Bay was second-lowest at 34.4%, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
“It’s cool that you don’t have to be that team to hit 170 home runs a game or whatever,” Misiorowski said. “You can win a baseball game so many different ways.”
Rays batters had the fewest strikeouts among the 30 teams and Tampa Bay’s 45 sacrifice bunts were the most among American League teams since 2015.
“I was a little discouraged for the last 10 or 15 years in the way the game had gone as far as relying on the home run, not worrying about strikeouts,” said Hall of Famer Robin Yount, a star of the ’82 Brewers. “The game today looks like they’re starting to really focus on playing baseball again.”
After back-to-back Dodgers titles, MLB will have a small-payroll champion
This marks the first time since 1991 that both Series teams are in the bottom half of payrolls: the Brewers were 19th as of Aug. 31 and the Rays 25th. Milwaukee, MLB’s smallest market, could become the first small-market champion since Kansas City in 2015. The Rays rank 15th in market size.
To reach the Series, the Brewers swept the deep-pocketed, two-time champion Dodgers in the NL Championship Series and the Rays swept the New York Yankees in an AL Division Series.
The highest-paid player in the Series, Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich, was 44th overall in the majors on opening day. Yandy Díaz, who earns most among the Rays, ranked 154th.
Robot umps are changing games
Batters have succeeded on 63% of challenges during the postseason in the first year of the Automated Ball-Strike System, winning 40 of 63 appeals to the robot umps. That is up from 49% during the regular season.
Catchers’ 58% success rate in the playoffs (58 of 99) is down a tick from 59% during the regular season and pitchers are 1 for 1 — Tampa Bay’s Griffin Jax made the only challenge. The 60% overall rate is up from 54% in the regular season.
Tampa Bay’s batters have yet to make a postseason challenge. Milwaukee’s have won 4 of 7, including a perfect 2 for 2 by Jake Bauers.
Brewers catcher William Contreras has won 60% (12 of 20) and Rays catcher Liam Hicks 67% (8 of 12).
Rest vs rust: Extra time off hasn’t been helpful in recent years
Milwaukee will have had seven days off going into the opener.
While teams with less rest are 15-15 in the Series since Wild Card Era started in 1995, they are 12-4 since 2009.
Both teams are happy at home
Milwaukee and Tampa Bay tied for the best home record this year at 55-26.
Forced from Tropicana Field for 2025 after damage from Hurricane Milton, the Rays played across the bay at the Yankees’ spring training stadium in St. Petersburg, Florida, and then returned to the refurbished Trop for 2026.
ST. PETERSBURG, FL - OCTOBER 13: Manager Stephen Vogt #12 of the Cleveland Guardians talks with media during a press conference prior to Game Two of the American League Championship Series between the Cleveland Guardians and the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field on Tuesday, October 13, 2026 in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Mike Carlson/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
The Stephen Vogt as next Mariners manager rumors can officially be put to bed. Vogt told Cleveland media at today’s Guardians end-of-season media availability that he is coming back to Cleveland.
Here’s Vogt speaking directly on it:
"You've gotten more phone calls than I have. I have not heard a word about it and I'm under contract here and I love Cleveland. I would love to be close to my family if I'm being honest. I miss them everyday. It's the hardest part of the job…but I'm committed to being here in… pic.twitter.com/OgLhPLzOLu
Vogt’s name has been connected by some to the Mariners managerial search since the position became vacant, despite him being under contract with the Guardians, meaning the two teams would have to pull off a trade in order to get Vogt to Seattle – an extremely rare occurrence, and one that would require the Guardians to willingly part with a manager who has overseen three straight playoff appearances in the three years he’s been with the club. The flames of this fantasy were stoked by geography – Vogt’s family is based in the Olympia area, and the former catcher got his pro coaching start with the Mariners in 2023.
Those flames blew into their biggest fire yet when Anthony Castrovince, a long-tenured MLB.com reporter and generally one of the Voices We Trust around here, went on Cleveland sports radio and said that in his “personal observation” it “kills” Vogt to be away from his family:
“I can’t possibly rule it out, just knowing the personal element.”
Now, Castrovince wasn’t exactly speaking as a journalist here, but more as an opinion-giver on what he’s perceived over Vogt’s tenure, but there’s a reason there’s no “personal observation” class taught in J-school. This soundbite obviously got picked up and bandied about as proof that Vogt might be on the move back to Seattle, logic and facts be darned. It’s a good reminder that smoke doesn’t necessarily mean fire in this process, and the best voices to listen to are the local, deeply informed ones – such as Ryan Divish in The Seattle Times, who called the Vogt idea a “nonstarter” weeks ago.
It’s also a reminder that the Mariners front office – and specifically Jerry Dipoto – despise internal leaks: recall the brouhaha around who broke the news about Scott Servais’s firing in 2024. There’s a very good chance the list of managerial candidates that circulates publicly vs. the internal list has one or two or zero overlapping names. A more constructive path is to think of what qualities the Mariners might prize most highly in a managerial candidate, and then seek to identify people who fit those qualifications. Teaser: tomorrow we’ll be publishing a wishlist of what the LL staff considers non-negotiables for a future manager that you can refer to in building your own list.
May 12, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; The 1995 World Series trophy on the field in honor of former Atlanta Braves owner Ted Turner and former manager Bobby Cox before a game against and Chicago Cubs at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The 2026 World Series creeps ever closer.
Both teams participated in World Series Media Day on Thursday before the action finally gets underway Friday night in Milwaukee.
Which team are you pulling for to win its first World Series? Personally, a good friend of mine is a diehard Rays fan so I’m throwing my weight behind Tampa Bay to beat Milwaukee.
For those who will be watching even with the Braves not involved for the fifth straight year, here’s an appetizer MLB posted on its YouTube account Thursday.
And for those who are only particularly interested in watching when the Braves are involved, the timestamp you’re looking for is 47:30.
James Hoye has been named the crew chief of the nine-umpire crew that will work this year's Fall Classic, Major League Baseball announced on Thursday, Oct. 22. There are seven MLB umpires assigned to the field with a rotation each game that will ensure a different person is behind home plate. There are also two MLB umpires assigned to manage the league's replay system throughout the series.
The Brewers and Rays are set to open the 2026 World Series with Game 1 in Milwaukee on Friday. Here's a look at the umpires selected to work the series and their assignments for each game:
MILWAUKEE, WI - OCTOBER 13: Hall of Famer Robin Yount embraces Ryan Braun after delivering the ceremonial first pitch prior to Game One of the National League Championship Series presented by loanDepot between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field on Monday, October 13, 2025 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Aaron Gash/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
After the Brewers clinched the pennant, the first person I reached out to was my dad.
My father was born and raised in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. He’s been a Brewers fan his entire life, no doubt a consequence of coming of age during the franchise’s glory years in the late ’70s and early ’80s. When I was a kid, he’d tell me about (and show me highlights of) players like Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, Sal Bando, and Rollie Fingers.
In 1982, he was 15, and the Brewers were the best team he’d ever seen. Yount was at short, Molitor at third, Gantner at second, and his cousin Tom was Bernie Brewer. If he had friends he wanted to impress, he’d have Tom wave at him from the top of the slide.
My dad had been going to games at Milwaukee County Stadium for years thanks to his uncle, who would take him whenever he didn’t have school. But that fall, his sister took him to see the Brewers play the Angels in the ALCS. The Brewers beat the Angels, but they went on to lose the World Series to the Cardinals in seven games. I asked him whether that loss took the air out of him.
“If anything, it made me more of a fan,” he said. The Brewers were still a great team, one of the best in baseball, and to him, it looked like they had what it took to win a World Series. They’d make it back soon enough.
But slowly, those late ’70s and early ’80s Brewers teams fell apart. While Yount and Molitor remained, Gorman Thomas and Don Money were gone by the end of the ’83 season, Don Sutton by the end of ’84, Fingers by ’86, and Ben Oglivie by ’87.
From 1988 to 2007, the Brewers won 90 games just once and finished under .500 more often than not. As my dad got older, his fandom faded a little, too. He went to college, moved away, and spent much of those 20 years working, preoccupied with more immediate concerns than the Brewers’ record. Baseball is magical, but it’s easier to see the magic when you’re a kid. He never stopped being a fan, but the love he’d had for those late ’70s and early ’80s teams didn’t quite return. Not until I came along.
He showed me the Brewers, and somewhere along the way, I fell in love with them on my own.
We visited family in Milwaukee in 2007, and my dad took me to a game at Miller Park, the first baseball game I ever saw in person. Rickie Weeks hit a walk-off single, and that was it: I was officially a Brewers fan, too. What my dad felt as a kid watching Yount and Molitor, I felt watching Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun, Yovani Gallardo, and Rickie Weeks.
And because I cared about the Brewers, he started caring about them again, too. When he’d pick me up from school or take me to practice, he’d already have the Brewers game on the radio. He’d given me the team. Without meaning to, I gave it back.
I was six years old in 2008, the year my dad really got back into the Brewers. He remembers the CC Sabathia trade fondly, as many fans do. CC only pitched half a season in Milwaukee, but that run was unforgettable. More than that, as my dad put it, it was the “first time in (his) memory that he ever saw the Brewers go after a big name midseason.” That team felt different from the teams that came before it.
As I fell in love with Fielder, Braun, Nyjer Morgan, and the 2011 squad, he did too. That team didn’t make it to the World Series, and neither did the 2018 team or the 2025 team, but our love for the Brewers never wavered. Whether or not the Brewers were doing well, we made a point of watching every game we could together.
Sometimes that meant complaining about the roster and praying for a .500 season, and sometimes it meant hoping the Brewers would finally make it back to the World Series. As every season ended in heartbreak, some more than others, the hope my dad had had for the 1982 team stayed with him, and with me. Someday, maybe next season, they’d be back in the World Series.
Now, for the first time since my dad was 15, the Brewers are back in the World Series. This year’s team is also different. My dad, who watched the ’82 team in person, says it’s the most fun Brewers team he’s ever seen. He loves Pat Murphy and thinks Murphy has them playing “as a team” more than any other version of the Brewers he’s seen. No one player is bigger than the team, and no one lets his ego change the dynamic. No matter who’s in the starting lineup, it’s all the Brewers. He loves the small ball, too: “four hits in an inning instead of waiting around for someone to hit a homer.”
I asked him what it would mean if they finally won it.
“Like many people have said: just one before I die.”
I’m in my hometown for the playoffs for the first time since 2019, so I’ve been watching almost every game with him at my parents’ house. As is often the case with parents, my dad and I don’t always know what to say to each other. When the Brewers are on, we never have to figure it out.
It turns out that works with strangers, too. During last year’s playoffs, I met a guy wearing a Brewers hat in an airport in Portugal, of all places. We were both jet-lagged and tired, but we immediately flashed each other a smile and struck up a conversation about the team. We didn’t have to explain anything. We both knew about 1982, 2011, 2018, the Cardinals, the Cubs, and the Dodgers, and we all know how rare this is.
I wasn’t home for the clincher. I was at the game in Los Angeles. After the final out, I was outside Dodger Stadium high-fiving people I’d never met and will never see again. I saw Yount jerseys, Braun jerseys, Morgan jerseys, Ben Sheets jerseys. Even a Norichika Aoki jersey. In Los Angeles. For a franchise that’s never won a World Series, fans find each other.
It was the first postseason game I’d ever been to; I was both elated to be there and sad I couldn’t watch it with him. So I texted him from the Dodger Stadium bleachers. He wrote back:
“So glad you got to see it. So sad I am not with you.”
“Here in spirit,” I responded.
I’m grateful to the Brewers for always giving me a reason to reach out to him. I’ll be watching every World Series game with him, hoping he gets to see one before he dies. This time, I’ll be there with him.
Because for us, and for so many Brewers fans, the Brewers are more than just a baseball team.
Will Venable has plenty to smile about after leading the White Sox to the postseason in his second year as manager. | (Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)
The 2026 White Sox broke through the national recognition barrier that has haunted them as a team with a small-market reputation and the figurative youngest child in Chicago baseball. Sporting News named Will Venable AL Manager of the Year and tapped Chase Meidroth for the AL All-Star team, in voting by fellow managers and players, respectively.
Venable became the first manager in MLB history to lead a team to the postseason after the Sox posted back-to-back 100-plus-loss seasons. Although South Siders may scoff at their underwhelming September, no other team has won 84 games after losing 100-plus games in three consecutive years. Venable kept the Sox atop the AL Central for 96 days and became the third manager since 1901 to oversee a 19-plus-win improvement in consecutive seasons, excluding 2020 and strike seasons. Applause is especially warranted considering the Sox started 11-17 in the first month of the 2026 season.
Sporting News’ award makes Venable the sixth Sox manager to earn the title, alongside Ozzie Guillén (2005), Jerry Manuel (2000), Jeff Torborg (1990), Tony La Russa (1983) and Chuck Tanner (1972).
Though Meidroth made less history, everyone felt his impact on the field. The 25-year-old slashed .276/.350/.415 in 154 games and led AL second basemen in hits, walks, runs scored, doubles, total bases (235) and slugging percentage while ranking second in average, on-base percentage and OPS (.765). His 4.5 WAR this year was the highest among all Sox second basemen in the 21st century and the best performance at the keystone since Nellie Fox in 1959 (6.1 WAR).
Meidroth is a Gold Glove Award finalist and the second Sox second baseman named a Sporting News All-Star, and the first Chicago infielder since José Abreu in 2020 to earn the honor.
The Sox will keep basking in the glow of their pleasantly unexpected season while the World Series plays out. Even as chatter shifts to next year, Venable and Meidroth will remain cornerstones of Chicago’s near-term future.
