No one can cast a shadow on you when you're sitting at the top of the mountain, but that doesn't mean you'll feel any less defensive. Milwaukee Brewers fans are learning that very quickly, with the World Series championship celebration firmly in the rearview and emerging offseason comments, like those made by Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy, coming out of the woodwork.
During an interview on Foul Territory TV, the veteran All-Star discussed what went right for the Brewers this offseason and why they emerged as the top dog in the National League. His comments were largely full of praise, but some people took parts of it as backhanded:
"Watching them, they did everything that we did the last two years, you know? Just, things went right for them. They had guys get hot. They pitched well. You know, they caught a couple breaks here and there, and that's what you have to have to win in October," Muncy said. "For the Brewers this year, they were arguably the best team in the playoffs, and they got hot, so yeah, there was no finding a way around them."
Regardless of how they made you feel, Muncy's comments speak to something fascinating about being a competitor and how the Brewers were viewed this season.
Max Muncy might come off as condescending to Brewers fans, but he was mostly right in his analysis of Milwaukee's postseason run.
On the one hand, Muncy complimented the Brewers repeatedly. Some fans in Milwaukee, and some Dodgers haters around the world, took ire with Muncy's statement that the Brewers were "arguably the best team in the playoffs" when they were very clearly the best team in the playoffs, based on their World Series trophy. In the eyes of a fan, that makes sense. But in Muncy's eyes — those of a competitor — he's not going to outright crown the Brewers when, in his heart, he probably believes in the team he was a part of in L.A.
The other aspect that some fans disliked was Muncy's analysis that Milwaukee "did everything that [the Dodgers] did the last two years," which is a bit more complex. The Dodgers are the closest thing we have to a pay-to-win team in professional sports, with a tremendous payroll and the luxury of Los Angeles luring many of the top names in baseball to play for them. Milwaukee's payroll was a little more than 43% of Los Angeles' payroll this season, so it's not a one-to-one comparison.
However, Muncy isn't wrong that the Brewers accomplished something the Dodgers had for the previous two years. Muncy's analysis that a couple of Brewers players got hot at the right time was apt — just check Milwaukee's batting splits in the postseason. They saw massive contributions across the board, with the likes of Sal Frelick and David Hamilton becoming heroes in the World Series.
Similarly, the Brewers had elite pitching, and they absolutely did get a few breaks. There were plenty of Tampa Bay Rays hits in the World Series that could've been home runs if they just got a little bit of air under them, or were launched just a few degrees in the other direction. That doesn't take anything away from the Brew Crew, but maybe try to separate the message from the messenger, because in many ways, Muncy was right about the Brewers' playoff run...
... Except for the " arguably the best team in the playoffs" part. Milwaukee did have the best team in the playoffs.
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