Milwaukee Brewers End 57-Year Wait, Advance to NLCS After Beating Cubs

Fans of the Milwaukee Brewers probably feel like it's been long enough. After beating the Chicago Cubs 3-1 in Game 5 of the National League Division Series on Saturday night, the Brewers again moved a step closer to winning a World Series, a ticket the franchise has been waiting for 57 years to punch.

And, in case anyone happened to forget, somebody from seemingly every stage of Brewers history appeared at American Family Field to remind the fans of how long it's been since their team won in the Major League Baseball playoffs.

Paul Molitor fired up the home crowd by furiously waving a gold towel on the mound and tossing the ceremonial first pitch. Molitor was among the best players in the league in 1982, when the Brewers won their only National League pennant before falling to the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 7 of the World Series.

Ryan Braun also stopped by, hoping to push the home fans into a frenzy. Braun was the Brewers top slugger seven years ago when they fell in the NL Championship Series in seven games to the Los Angeles Dodgers. That was the most recent time the Brewers even played for a pennant.

Braun's manager that season happened to be Craig Counsell, in the visitors dugout this time as Cubs manager. Counsell's Brewers finished first in the NL Central and won 90-plus games three times, and they made the playoffs five times from 2018-2023. Only five other teams won more games in Counsell's seven full seasons as Brewers manager.

As if living individuals and testaments to Brewers greatness/near greatness weren't enough, the guest list got a little surreal from there -- at least virtually. Leading into the broadcast on TBS, the network showed the movie "Major League," which wasn't about the Brewers, but was filmed in Milwaukee, partly at their old ballpark County Stadium, and featured beloved broadcaster/legendary actor Bob Uecker calling the games.

TBS studio host Adam Lefkoe made note of the connection, praising the wizards in programming who came up with a fantastic transition that added context to the moment for the Brewers. Uecker died in January at age 90 having stopped working only toward the end of the 2024 season. But his memory, and even his presence, remains. Yes, sometimes to the point of absurdity (see the dimension-breaking "letter from Ueck" that manager Pat Murphy wrote and read to the team late in the regular season, with the help of owner Mark Attanasio. Sure, it wasn't real, but if you don't like it, you can go pound all of the sand in the world!)

The Uecker reminder on TBS was a fine touch. Uecker's connection to Milwaukee baseball runs deep, going back long before he became the team's broadcasting voice in the early 1970s -- around the time Bud Selig poached the franchise from Seattle. Uecker played with the Milwaukee Braves, and even though he was still in the minor leagues in 1957 when they beat the New York Yankees in the World Series with Henry Aaron, Eddie Matthews and Warren Spahn, he was born and raised in Milwaukee. Nobody has been waiting longer than Uecker for the major league team there to win the whole thing again. If you count the next life.

The time could be now. The Brewers finished with the best record in the majors, and they've made it this far in the postseason despite (like every other team in the postseason) losing key players to injuries. Their biggest hurdle yet and perhaps at all, the Dodgers in the NLCS, are expected by most to repeat as champions. But (also like every other team in the postseason), the Dodgers also have huge flaws. And hey, the Brewers beat them all six games they played them in '25.

Aside from hearing from The Fonz, which we are about to, all of the celebrity stops have been pulled. Molitor's relationship with the Brewers, after his playing days, hasn't always been great. He won his ring with the Toronto Blue Jays, and he works/has worked for his own hometown team, the Minnesota Twins. But Molly is there for the Brewers now.

Braun's relationship with the Brewers, and MLB in its entirety, has been awkward since he got caught lying about performance-enhancing drugs. Braunie, who's on the ballot for the Hall of Fame for the first time this year by the way, is there for the Brewers now.

Counsell helped the Brewers win, just not enough, and now he's been vanquished along with their rivals from the bigger city to the south. Craiggers, he's not in the way anymore.

Ueck is there in spirit, though to be fair it's a near-certainty that Ryne Sandberg's spirit wanted the Cubs to win the NLDS just as badly. But the Cubs have been missing the Commissioner's Trophy for only nine years. It's been literally forever for the Brewers, and about 68 years for MLB in Milwaukee.

So, maybe the Brewers can take a queue from a made-up player in a fictionalized version of a different team in a movie set in Cleveland from 36 years ago that featured their actual but dearly departed voice. Maybe this is the year the Brewers win the whole flippin' thing. It's all there is left to do.