You are going to hear a lot during this World Series about the culture of the Milwaukee Brewers and about the way they play the game -- and play it right -- under their manager, Pat Murphy. And how they have been shaped, and mightily, by the postseason disappointments that have taken them all the way to Game 1 on Friday night vs. the Rays at American Family Field.
And guess what? In their case, it all happens to be true. Just listen to Sal Frelick, the right fielder who is one of their glue guys, a Massachusetts kid who played at Boston College and who knows exactly how hard he and his teammates worked to get to a moment in baseball all players dream about.
“I didn’t know a lot about the Brewers when they drafted me, to tell you the truth,” Frelick told me the other night. “I’m from Lexington, Mass., and I grew up a Red Sox fan before I went to BC. So I didn’t know much about the team, or about Milwaukee. And all I can tell you now is how grateful I am to be here. Listen, I know culture can be an overused word in sports. But I love the culture we have here. I love the style of play, guys like me who are into bunting and baserunning and playing defense.
“From my rookie year, I could see that they’ve built a way of playing baseball here that they believe in, and get everybody who either grew up in the organization or came here from somewhere else to believe in. We have a way of drafting the right guy, or picking the right players to bring in from somewhere else, even if we sometimes look like a bunch of Average Joes.”
Frelick paused and added this: “Maybe it is a college atmosphere because of all the years our manager coached in college. [Pat Murphy once coached for more than 25 years in college, the last two decades at Notre Dame and Arizona State.] So I guess you can call it Murph Ball.”
The Brewers have gone through a lot to finally make it back to the World Series for the first time since 1982. Frelick has gone through all of it with them, starting with all the October heartbreak that came before October 2026.
I’ve closely followed his career because I’m a Boston College guy, too. So I was well aware he had been one of the best players in the history of our school before the Brewers selected him in the first round of the 2021 Draft. His rookie year would be 2023. The Brewers lost to the Diamondbacks in the Wild Card Series, two games to none. It only set Frelick and his teammates up for much bigger heartbreak in the 2024 Wild Card Series, them against the Mets.
That one went to Game 3, in Milwaukee. It was a 0-0 game into the seventh, but then Jake Bauers -- gee, whatever happened to him? -- hit a home run to make it 1-0 for the Brewers. It was then that the 24-year-old Frelick made what was the biggest swing of his young career to that point, hitting a home run of his own that made it 2-0.
“Greatest moment of my life to that point, no doubt,” he said. “Finally, it was the ninth inning, and we’re bringing in Devin [Williams] and I’m out in right field telling myself it’s over. Already imagining being with my family afterward. The next thing I know is that Pete Alonso’s ball is flying over my head and into the stands, and a few minutes later, our season is over. And all I could think was, ‘You gotta be kidding me.’”
The next year, of course, the Brewers got swept by the same Dodgers team they just swept in the National League Championship Series. Now here they are.
“It wasn’t just a year of waiting to finally get here,” Frelick said. “It was like three years of waiting. Before we lost to the Dodgers, we’d just beaten the Cubs in Game 5, and because they’re such a huge rival, that felt a little bit like winning the World Series.
"Only then, in what felt like a blink of an eye against the Dodgers, we were home. But we came back again, with the same core guys who’ve gone through the same pain at this time of year. Maybe it’s why we never felt like we were out of games against the Dodgers, even when we kept falling behind. That’s us. We keep coming back no matter how many times we get punched in the face.”
Frelick paused and added this: “Here’s something you have to understand. We all wanted to play the Dodgers again.”
Frelick and the Brewers kept getting knocked down at this time of year. Kept coming. Now they take the best record in their sport into the World Series. A Fall Classic for two teams that don’t spend a lot of money, but who both play the game the right way.
“I guess the best way to put it is like this,” Frelick said. “We know who we are.”
Now they’re exactly where they’re supposed to be. Game 1. Friday night. American Family Field. Perfect name for a baseball family like theirs.