The 2023 World Series will be won in Texas or Arizona, but the road to the Fall Classic continues to go through Milwaukee.
The Brewers won the NL Central this season with sights set on their first World Series title. That chase ended in the Wild Card Series, where they lost two home games to the sixth-seeded Arizona Diamondbacks.
Arizona’s improbable playoff run isn’t over yet. The team upset the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLCS to reach its second ever World Series and continue an unusual streak at the Brewers’ expense.
The Brewers have existed since 1969, when they joined Major League Baseball as the Seattle Pilots. They have made nine playoff appearances in the last 55 years, and each run has ended at the hands of a World Series team.
Get Southern California news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC LA newsletters.
That’s right – every team that has eliminated the Brewers from the playoffs has won the pennant.
One of the Brewers’ playoff defeats came in the World Series and two more happened in the NLCS. However, they have been a stepping stone in some improbable roads to the World Series in recent years. Three of the last five NL pennant winners started their playoff runs with a wild card triumph over the Brewers.
Even better news for the Diamondbacks: three of the last four World Series champions beat the Brewers en route to the Commissioner’s Trophy.
Here is a look at the first eight teams that eliminated the Brewers from the postseason and how they fared in the World Series:
- 1981 New York Yankees: Won ALDS vs. Brewers (3-2), lost World Series vs. Dodgers (4-2)
- 1982 St. Louis Cardinals: Won World Series vs. Brewers (4-3)
- 2008 Philadelphia Phillies: Won NLDS vs. Brewers (3-1), won World Series vs. Rays (4-1)
- 2011 St. Louis Cardinals: Won NLCS vs. Brewers (4-2), won World Series vs. Rangers (4-3)
- 2018 Los Angeles Dodgers: Won NLCS vs. Brewers (4-3), lost World Series vs. Red Sox (4-1)
- 2019 Washington Nationals: Won wild card game vs. Brewers, won World Series vs. Astros (4-3)
- 2020 Los Angeles Dodgers: Won Wild Card Series vs. Brewers (2-0), won World Series vs. Rays (4-2)
- 2021 Atlanta Braves: Won NLDS vs. Brewers (3-1), won World Series vs. Astros (4-2)
