The Milwaukee Brewers finished the 2023 regular season with 92 wins. This was good enough for the fifth most in baseball. Ahead of them were the Tampa Bay Rays with 99 wins, Los Angeles Dodgers with 100, Baltimore Orioles at 101, and the Atlanta Braves with 104. Fast forward to the middle of October and for the first time in Major League Baseball history none of the top five regular season teams are advancing to the League Championship Series.
Milwaukee Brewers a part of rare MLB playoff history first seen in 2023.
In year two of the new playoff format teams like the Braves, Orioles, and Dodgers all received byes for the Wild Card Series. The result for the Brewers in the Wild Card Series was losing in two games to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Arizona then went on to sweep the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLDS. On the American League side the Rays were also swept in the Wild Card Series. They lost to the Texas Rangers who then went on to sweep the Baltimore Orioles in the ALDS.
Of the teams mentioned in the beginning this leaves just the Atlanta Braves. The Braves ended up losing in the NLDS to the Philadelphia Phillies three games to one. They were the only top five playoff team to get a win as the combined postseason record between the Braves, Orioles, Dodgers, Rays, and Brewers was 1-12.
Related: Former Milwaukee Brewers shortstop Orlando Arcia trolled by Philadelphia Phillies fans.
To take this a step further for Brewers fans their postseason series losses dating back to 1881 have all resulted in the opposing team playing in the World Series. Their 1982 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals was of course in the World Series, but The Barrel Milwaukee made a graphic outlining who they all lost to and the World Series result that year.
Brewers postseason losses
1981: Lost to Yankees, Yankees lost WS
1982: Lost to Cardinals in WS
2008: Lost to Phillies, Phillies won WS
2011: Lost to Cardinals, Cardinals won WS
2018: Lost to Dodgers, Dodgers lost WS
2019: Lost to Nationals, Nationals won WS
2020: Lost to Dodgers,…— The Barrel Milwaukee (@thebarrelmke) October 12, 2023
In summary this has been a unique 2023 postseason in which history has been made. However for the second consecutive year teams playing in the Wild Card Series seem to be coming out ahead in the Divisional Rounds, which is something to keep in mind as this new playoff format continues.
Follow me on Twitter @tylerkoerth. Follow us @WiSportsHeroics for more great sports content. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest in Wisconsin sports, click here!. We cover the Milwaukee Brewers, Green Bay Packers, Milwaukee Bucks, Wisconsin Badgers, and Wisconsin High School Sports. Additionally we provide the latest news coverage on the NFL, MLB, and NBA.