After four days of waiting, the Milwaukee Brewers will officially face the Tampa Bay Rays in the World Series beginning on Friday.

Both franchises will be competing for its first title in history.

Milwaukee is making its first World Series appearance since 1982, when it lost seven games to the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Rays' last title run came during the shortened 2020 season, when the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated them in six games. They played each game at Globe Life Field, which served as the "neutral-site bubble."

Even though both sides are seeking their first franchise title, Milwaukee's journey to get here feels different.

Over the last few seasons, Milwaukee has done great in the regular season.

However, this season was their best yet, with a franchise-record 103 wins that earned them the top seed in the National League playoffs and featured young breakout stars like Jacob Misorowski and Jackson Chourio, who made a strong impact. 

With that, uncertainty remained about the squad and how they would perform in the postseason, given the team’s history of playoff shortcomings.

Those shortcomings include a 2025 NLCS sweep by the Dodgers, but up to this point, Milwaukee has avenged some of those playoff woes.

After the San Diego Padres dominated the Chicago Cubs in their Wild Card series, the Brewers quickly dispatched them in the NLDS, winning in four games behind timely hits from their batting lineup, which has shown up all season.

Then the Brewers exacted ultimate revenge on the Dodgers in the NLCS, not only preventing the reigning champions from winning their third consecutive World Series title but also sweeping them. They are now looking to put a bow on the historic season with a championship.

While it would make for a good story, they will still have to get past a tough Tampa Bay team that has been atop the American League all season, like Milwaukee, and that also wants to repay its fanbase for postseason shortcomings.

Nonetheless, this is by far the best chance for the Brewers to finally do it, and if not this season, it's possible it may never happen, because we know how unforgiving sports can be and that opportunities for titles are never easy to come by.

The team has been through every low you can imagine, and now it's time for them to take control of their own story.