Haudricourt: Wait for another World Series continues as Dodgers dash Brewers' dreams in Game 7

Tom Haudricourt | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The long wait for the Milwaukee Brewers' second World Series continues.

The hopes of fans and team alike of snapping a 36-year drought in advancing to the Fall Classic were dashed Saturday night by the Los Angeles Dodgers, who captured their second consecutive pennant with a 5-1 victory in Game 7 of the National League Championship Series and will face the mighty Boston Red Sox.

Unlike the previous night, when Miller Park was as electric as the Las Vegas strip after the Brewers bolted to a 4-1 lead in the first inning, the energy was siphoned away by the Dodgers after Christian Yelich finally broke through for his first home run of the series in the first inning.

The first blow by the visitors was a two-run homer in the second by Cody Bellinger off Brewers "initial out-getter" Jhoulys Chacin, a 425-foot drive into the second deck in right. But the real dagger came in the sixth, when Yasiel Puig lined a three-run homer off reliever Jeremy Jeffress, whose all-star season ended with a mostly miserable October (6.75 ERA in eight appearances).

As damaging as those blows were, the real issue in the Brewers falling one game shy of the World Series was an offense that sputtered too often against the Dodgers' strong pitching staff. In their four losses, the Brewers scored a total of seven runs, including a 2-1 loss in 13 innings in Game 4.

That's just not enough to dispatch a strong, deep team such as the Dodgers. In their three victories, the Brewers did not score fewer than four runs, which usually is the magic number in baseball for assuring success.

"The bottom line was they pitched well and they didn't let us get anything going," said Brewers manager Craig Counsell, whose team put more than one runner on base only once in the finale. "We weren't able to put together rallies, multiple hits, and get things going. Credit to them for how they pitched tonight."

Over time, Brewers fans will realize what a great ride the team gave them down the stretch, including a 20-7 September, a game No. 163 victory over the Cubs that snatched away the NL Central title and the three-game sweep of Colorado in the NL Division Series. From that perspective, the Brewers far exceeded expectations in the third year of a large-scale rebuild.

But the long, painful wait since the franchise's only foray in the World Series since 1982 goes on. Not even the good vibes of having the MVP of that team, Robin Yount, throw out the ceremonial first pitch could prevent the disappointment that awaited.

Yount, who continues to support the Brewers in every way possible, knew as well or better than anyone what was at stake for the clubs. Beyond that, he understood the emotional investment of local fans in getting the first World Series to Miller Park.

“We need this stuff around here. This is what gets people excited,” said Yount, who could barely contain his own anxious excitement before the game.

“If it wasn’t for the fans, none of this stuff happens. So, to see this much excitement around here, it’s the best. You wish it could happen every year but obviously it doesn’t.”

Robin Yount meets with media before throwing out first pitch in Game 7 Brewers legend Robin Yount met with media before throwing out the first pitch in Game 7 of the NLCS on Saturday.

No, it doesn’t. There was no way to know when that star-studded ’82 team made it to the World Series, only to lose in heartbreak in seven games to St. Louis, that a return trip would not be forthcoming. Many Brewers fans thought that team would make it back the next year, but a late-season fade nixed those hopes.

Then years passed, and decades, with no World Series. In 2011, the Brewers were knocked off in Game 6 of the NLCS by the Cardinals, whose destiny has been to break the hearts of Milwaukee fans in October.

Seemingly out of nowhere, the 2018 Brewers got hot just at the right time, ending a seven-year wait for postseason play. When they quickly dispatched the Rockies in the NLDS, there were hopes of surviving the Dodgers and becoming a surprise small-market entrant in the World Series.

The Brewers became the talk of the town when they roared into the postseason at full steam, stretching their winning streak to 12 games and forcing George Webb restaurants to fork over free hamburgers for the first time since 1987. It was an incredible surge for a team that utilized its deep, hard-throwing bullpen to the max.

"For the last two nights, we were the centerpiece for Major League Baseball," principal owner Mark Attanasio said. "Everyone got to see what a phenomenal fan base we have. Everyone got to see what a brilliant manager Craig Counsell is. We took a really good team to the seventh game. I couldn't be more proud of the entire organization."

Not all storybook tales have happy endings. As much as the 2018 Brewers captured the imagination of baseball fans across the state and pushed further into October than anyone predicted, there's always disappointment when a dream ends prematurely.

"We would have liked to take this last step," said Yelich, the presumptive NL MVP. "We were one game away from the World Series. But we can be proud of what we did. We played amazing down the stretch. We had to win a lot of tough games and tough series to give ourselves this opportunity.

Game 7 loss is disappointing Christian Yelich talks about balancing disappointment of Game 7 loss with how well Brewers played to get there.

"When you think about it like that, you realize it's a special group. A lot of these guys are coming back next year and we can build off this and use it for motivation. You take that 'so close' feeling and channel that, and remember that we're playing for something big."

So, the wait for another World Series continues. And it hurts. But, as that pain dims in the coming days, Brewers fans will realize just how special this group was, and how for weeks on end they were the talk of baseball.

"I just told them that they took us on an amazing journey," Counsell said. "They really did. They took us on an incredible journey that we should all be grateful for being able to see because it was a magical run, especially in the month of September and into October."