A 57-year trek of heartbreak, hope, and finally, a championship.
What a week. What a month. What a year. What a journey.
The Milwaukee Brewers are World Series Champions. For real. It happened. And we were alive to see it. What an absolute joy.
Brewers fans will have wet eyes and smiles for weeks. This win means a lot. It’s beyond just a singular moment. Throughout this run, Brewers fans have been reflecting on what this team has meant to them, not just this year, but throughout their lives.
The Brewers are a part of people’s lives in a way that is hard to understand if you haven’t gone through the striving, the heartbreak and the loss all these years.
Winning the World Series sort of feels like how people describe a near-death experience — “I saw my life flash before my eyes.” Well, I think a lot of Brewers fans saw their fandom flash before their eyes — collecting Robin Yount and Paul Molitor cards; listening to Bob Uecker tell stories on the radio; tailgating at County Stadium and Miller Park and Am Fam Field.
But more than anything, I think in these flashes, we see the friends and loved ones we've shared this journey with. We remember those who didn't get to see this day.
Ueck, of course. But so many others, as well. Fifty-seven years is a long time to wait for a championship.
For me, it’s my grandmother. She was a giant baseball fan. I spent many days with her watching games. She would have adored this team.
It’s hard to put all these feelings into exact words — to explain them to people on the outside. But what’s been amazing is that the players seem to understand.
They get how important it is to us.
“I think people coming up to you saying they've been waiting their whole life for this and for this series and for the team to be back at this point, it's pretty cool,” Brewers captain Christian Yelich said a few days ago.
“It's cool to be able to provide memories for people to be able to share with their family, their kids, their grandparents, or just friends that have been Brewers fans over the years for decades and getting to kind of experience this together. It's been a really cool part of this run that we don't take lightly. We know we represent a city and a state, and we're proud to do it.”
We’re proud of you too. Our champions, forever.
CRAIG SAUER is a writer, communicator and former journalist living in Fitchburg, Wis. He is a life-long Milwaukee Brewers fan
