Another MLB season is in the books, and another year has been shed off my life watching another heartbreaking Brewers playoff exit. I honestly don't even want to write a reflection this year, so I'm going to keep this one brief. The pain is still fresh from the loss (especially since the Dodgers won again) and each year gets harder than the next to reflect on. I was literally texting friends just a couple of weeks ago about World Series travel plans, so this year hurt for sure. I also don't really want to be writing this because you can just go back in the blog and read last year's reflection which was almost identical to 2025. A team that was not expected to even be competitive, let alone have the best record in baseball and 4 wins away from the World Series, made for another season that was both surprising and disappointing at the same time. Another year of an elite coaching staff, stellar defense littered with Gold Glove nominees, and another year that we successfully piecemealed a rotation together. And another year of the same offseason holes to fill. If you replace Garrett Mitchell in my 2024 post with Caleb Durbin, it was a remarkably similar season ending in the same result. Barring an unexpected fire sale or a large influx of cash from ownership, I expect 2026 to be another year of growth for the young players, another offseason of difficult trade decisions, and more of the same of the 2024 and 2025 seasons. Hopefully next year, we can squeeze that last bit of "Uecker Magic" out of the tube, and finally make it to The Dance. The exciting thing to watch for next year will be that - you would think - as an organization we will finally garner some respect nationally after two very prosperous seasons, and the NL Central is rapidly improving around us, so it will be fun to watch how the team steps up to that challenge of higher perceived expectations.
Erik and I already have a general framework for next year's trip, so stay tuned this winter for an announcement on that. Until then, stay warm, and dream about the 2026 Caribbean Series coming up in a long, dark 87 days.
Peter - 31
touch with baseball when his childhood heroes Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, and Jim Gantner retired but the Great Home Run Chase of 1998 reignited his passion. As a student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Erik became involved with the campus chapter of Habitat for Humanity. With this group Erik traveled to Portland, OR and Baltimore, MD to work on construction projects and help the group raise $25,000 to partially sponsor a house in Milwaukee. Also at UWM, Erik met Peter Nagel. The two attended their first Brewers game together during Opening Weekend 2003. Despite their failure to ignite the coals at their first tailgate, the two had a blast and were soon making weekly trips to the ballpark. Erik has gone on to several colleges and changed careers several times, and has moved all the way out to New Hampshire, but has always stayed true to his baseball roots by holding part-time stadium usher jobs. To this day he looks back fondly on his incredible cross-country journey.
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