Although we've felt the energy shifting over the last decade here in Wisconsin, it's taken a bit longer for the baseball community at large to catch on to what's happening here. The Milwaukee Brewers are building a unique homegrown product with one of the most lovable managers in the game, a lineup of colorful characters with unique journeys to the majors, one of the best fan bases in a beautiful stadium, and a unique, undeniable culture.
This season, however, it feels like the MLB at large is finally starting to understand just how lovable this Brewers team is, and that came to a head during their road series in Los Angeles, where they won three of four games against the Dodgers. According to MLB on FOX, the Saturday night matchup featuring the prodigy himself, Jacob Misiorowski on the mound, was the most-watched MLB telecast of the week and the second-most-watched Saturday night game of the season for FOX.
Sure, plenty of that can be chalked up to the popularity of the Dodgers, but FOX provided viewership details that showed immense viewership in Milwaukee, Boston, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, and Phoenix, as well. It speaks not only to the intrigue of the matchup, but also to the revelation of what the Brewers are building and why it resonates so deeply with true baseball fans.
If the Brewers are David and the Dodgers are Goliath, then America seems to be pulling for the underdog darling in Milwaukee.
How a team that's leading the league in winning percentage can still be an underdog is a mystery, but that's how it is in the current state of baseball. The Brewers are a middling team in terms of payroll with one of the lesser-proven bullpens, but that doesn't make them any less fearsome. Under the sterling leadership of Pat Murphy, whose larger-than-life personality is matched only by his attention to detail, the Brewers have grown from a sleeper to a full-blown powerhouse in the NL Central.
As we inch closer to the postseason, with the Cubs still hot on their trail in the chase for the division lead, the Brewers have enough holes in their game to make them an underdog some nights. But watching them learn to play together and patch those holes along the way has made them one of the most entertaining viewing experiences in the MLB this year.
How that carries into the postseason will be fascinating to see play out, as allegiances play out and drama ensues. As a franchise, the Milwaukee Brewers might not have ever put themselves in a better position to contend for a World Series than they are in right now, and as the pool of remaining teams dwindles, it's safe to bet that more and more baseball fans are going to put their support behind the Brew Crew in their pursuit of changing franchise history for the better.
Add us as a preferred source on Google