The Brewers Lead the Rays 2-0 in the World Series. A Team That Does Not Quit Is Worth Watching.
The Brewers, chasing their first title, came back from a four-run deficit to beat the Rays 5-4 and take a 2-0 World Series lead.
The facts come first below. My opinion follows in the section marked as opinion.
The Milwaukee Brewers are two wins from the first World Series title in their history. They lead the Tampa Bay Rays two games to none after a 5-4 comeback win in Game 2 in Milwaukee, and the series moves to St. Petersburg, Florida, for Game 3 on Monday night at 8 p.m. Eastern on Fox, according to MLB's schedule.
How Milwaukee came back
The Rays scored four runs in the top of the first inning before the Brewers came to bat. The rally began when rookie shortstop Cooper Pratt bounced a throw on the game's first ground ball for an error. Milwaukee answered with RBI singles from William Contreras and Garrett Mitchell in the bottom of the first, and Sal Frelick tied the game with a home run leading off the sixth, MLB.com reported.
In the seventh, with one out and Brice Turang at third, the 22-year-old Pratt fell behind 1-2 against reliever Kevin Kelly, then lined a sinker to the opposite field to drive in the winning run, Sports Illustrated reported. "My heart was racing," Pratt said. "I'm not going to lie."
The Brewers sent 41 batters to the plate and made Tampa Bay throw 184 pitches, according to Sports Illustrated. Milwaukee is 9-1 this postseason and has trailed in seven of those 10 games. "These guys just don't give up," manager Pat Murphy said, MLB.com reported. "They believe, and they don't give up."
A 44-year wait
Milwaukee's only other World Series came in 1982, when the Brewers led the St. Louis Cardinals three games to two and lost in seven. Hall of Famer Robin Yount, the shortstop on that team, has been in the stands this October. "Hey, I waited 44 years for this!" Yount said. "I am not missing a game," MLB.com reported. The Brewers are the only franchise to come within one win of a title without ever winning one, Sports Illustrated noted.
History favors them. In best-of-seven postseason series, teams that took a 2-0 lead have gone on to win 80 of 96 times. But no team has come back from 0-2 to win the World Series since the 1996 Yankees, according to MLB.com.
Opinion: A team that does not quit is worth watching
In an age when so much of sports is about the star and the contract, the Brewers are a refreshing team. Sports Illustrated called them "a true collective." It is hard to tell the bottom of the lineup from the top, and nearly everybody has had a turn as the hero. They do not win by blowing teams out. They win by grinding through at-bats, one pitch at a time, until the other side breaks.
Cooper Pratt is a good picture of that team. He made the error that started the Rays' big inning. He did not hide from it. He kept battling and drove in the winning run. Sports Illustrated reported that when the Brewers clinched their division, Pratt was sick in his hotel room, so his teammates brought the celebration to him, with apple cider instead of alcohol, according to the magazine. Character like that is worth noticing, and so is a clubhouse that honors it.
Scripture says it plainly: "And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." Baseball is only a game, but the habit of not fainting matters in real life too. Families who are behind, workers who made a costly mistake, churches in a hard season: all of us can learn something from a team that keeps showing up after a bad first inning.
Fame earned the old-fashioned way lasts, as I wrote about another honoree in Tom Cruise to Receive 52nd AFI Life Achievement Award in 2027. Whether Milwaukee finishes the job or not, this team has given Wisconsin a fall to remember. Two more wins, and a city that waited 44 years can finally celebrate.
