It may have ended sooner than many hoped, but the 2025 Milwaukee Brewers season still left us with as much or more to remember than any season in franchise history. For nearly two decades I’ve been maintaining a “Today in Wisconsin Baseball History” calendar, a collection of notable transactions, games, and moments, which I occasionally share on BlueSky. I added 55 items to that calendar during the 2025 season, a new record.
During the previous installment in this series, we covered the first 25 such items, from January through July 25. What follows is the stretch run and conclusion, where the Brewers picked up the pace and added 30 more.
July 27 – A First and a Last Chance in Cooperstown
Combined, they played just a season and a half in Milwaukee, but CC Sabathia and Dave Parker made outsized impacts during their brief tenures with the Brewers. Parker was playing his 18th MLB season, but was an All Star and the American League’s Silver Slugger Award winner at DH during his year with the Brewers in 1991 (chronicled here in a deleted chapter from his biography, Cobra) and Sabathia logged over 130 innings in three months with the Brewers in 2008, often pitching on short rest to help power the Crew to their first postseason appearance in 26 years. On this day Sabathia, selected on the first ballot by the Baseball Writers Association of America and Parker, voted in by the Hall’s Classic Baseball Era Committee, became members of the Baseball Hall of Fame together.
The duo were the first former Brewers inducted into the Hall since the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee selected Ted Simmons in 2020, and it was the first time ever that two former Brewers were inducted in the same year.
July 28 – Two Streaks Passing in the Night
Most of the news on this day was good for the Brewers: An 8-4 win over the Cubs at American Family Field pushed them to 63-43 on the season and moved them past Chicago and into sole possession of first place in the NL Central. They had held the lead temporarily on prior occasions, but this time they were starting a streak of 61 consecutive days alone in first, a run that would carry them through the end of the season. Individually, however, the news was not as good for Jackson Chourio. He went 0-for-3 with a pair of walks to snap his career-best hitting streak at 20 games. That was tied for the third longest streak by any major leaguer this season (Bobby Witt, Jr. of the Royals had a 22-game streak) and also tied for the sixth longest streak in Brewers franchise history. Before this, the last Brewer to get a hit in 20 consecutive games was Ryan Braun in 2011.
July 30 – Third Place for Freddy
In Part 1 of this series we noted that Freddy Peralta passed a strikeout milestone in May when he became the fourth Brewer ever to record 1000 of them in a career. He was not done yet, however, and he tracked down another milestone in July. Peralta only recorded three strikeouts in this game, an eventual 10-3 loss to the Cubs, but the second one was significant: It was the 1,082nd of his Brewers career, moving him past Teddy Higuera and into sole possession of third place on the franchise’s all-time list. Peralta finished the season with 1,153, leaving him just 53 shy of Ben Sheets and 73 behind Yovani Gallardo for the top spot on that list.
August 1 – 25 in 2025
The Brewers’ bats heated up on their first night in Washington. They scored five runs in the third inning to blow the game open and seven more late in the game to secure a 16-9 victory. Eight different Brewers had multiple hits in the game, including five for William Contreras, and the 25 hits they collected as a team were the third most in franchise history.
August 3 – Sweep and Sweep Some More
Earlier in the season the Brewers had pulled off one of the more unlikely season sweeps in franchise history, winning all six games against the defending World Series champion Dodgers. That was only the fifth time in franchise history the Brewers had gone unbeaten in six or more games against the same opponent, but they didn’t have to wait long for the sixth.
The Brewers scored early and tacked on seven more runs in the seventh on this day on their way to a 14-3 win over the Nationals to complete a sweep in Washington. They had also swept the Nationals in Milwaukee in July, so this was the second time this year the Brewers completed a season series sweep.
That wasn’t the day’s only note: The first run in that seventh inning scored when Caleb Durbin was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. It was the second time this season he’d been plunked to drive in a run, and he joined Richie Sexson as only the second Brewer ever to have it happen twice in one year.
August 5 – Riding High
The Brewers followed their sweep in Washington with a sweep in Atlanta, and their 7-2 win in the middle game of that series pushed them into unprecedented territory in franchise history: They improved to 44-16 in their last 60 games, something the organization had never done before.
Of course, this was also the start of a 21-9 month and the fifth of what would go on to be 14 consecutive wins, so in addition to the best 60 game stretch in franchise history the 2025 Brewers also had the best 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, and 103 game stretches.
August 5 – Meanwhile, in Miami
The Brewers were already involved in one new calendar entry on this day, but another significant note in Wisconsin baseball history was happening on the other side of the country. Astros pitcher AJ Blubaugh entered in relief in the third inning of Houston’s eventual 7-3 win over the Marlins, pitched five innings, and was rewarded with his first MLB win. Blubaugh, a seventh round pick in the 2022 draft, was the first UW-Milwaukee pitcher ever to win a game in the Majors (thanks to longtime data researcher David Schultz for this tip).
August 10 – Collins Caps Comeback
The longest regular season winning streak in franchise history almost didn’t happen on several occasions, and one was this Sunday afternoon game against the Mets. New York scored in each of the first five innings and had a lead as large as 5-0 at one point, but the Brewers rallied to tie it with Joey Ortiz’s RBI infield single in the eighth inning and walked off with a win in the ninth when Isaac Collins led off the inning with a homer off all-time great closer Edwin Diaz. Collins was just the 65th Brewer in franchise history to hit a walkoff home run, and the Brewers had won nine games in a row.
August 13 – Burger Pandemonium
All winning streaks are fun, of course, but there’s nothing inherently special about winning 12 in a row as compared to, for example, 11 or 13. The exception, of course, is if you live in Milwaukee and like free burgers. For much of Brewers franchise history, George Webb has offered free burgers to fans if the Brewers win 12 games in a row, and this day’s 12-5 win over the Pirates pushed them across that threshold for just the third time in franchise history.
[Highlight] "Let's go burgers" are raining down in Milwaukee for their 12th straight win, a mark that local chain George Webb will celebrate with free burgers for everyone
byu/ExpirjTec inbaseball
Estimates varied, but it’s possible this win streak led to as many as 180,000 free burgers being handed out on the designated day the following week.
August 15 – Eight Isn’t Enough
After a 6-0 road trip and a 6-0 homestand, the Brewers headed off to Cincinnati, where it looked like the fun might be over. Brewers pitchers gave up a run in the first and seven more in the second of the opener against the Reds, and it seemed pretty certain the winning streak would come to an end at 12 games.
The Brewers bounced right back with five runs of their own in the top of the third, eventually tied the game in the sixth on Christian Yelich’s solo home run, and took the lead in the seventh when Sal Frelick scored on a wild pitch. Five Brewers relievers kept the Reds off the bases for the final five innings and the Brewers won 9-8 in a game where in the second inning they had an estimated 3% chance at victory.
August 16 – No Lead Is Safe
A day after coming back from seven runs down to beat the Reds on a Friday night, the Brewers had a more conventional comeback story in the Saturday game. They trailed 2-1 heading into the ninth inning, but Brice Turang and Tyler Black walked and Turang came around to score from second on a throwing error on what could have been a game-ending double play.
The game eventually went to extras and got even wilder: Both teams scored in the tenth but the Brewers got three in the eleventh on Andruw Monasterio’s home run, the biggest of just six he had collected in 191 games in the majors. The Brewers eventually held on in the bottom of the inning for a 6-5 victory and their 14th consecutive win, tied for the seventh longest streak in the Majors this century.
August 22 – Willy and William
A pair of stars from the 2024 Brewers had big moments on this day, but only one was still playing for Milwaukee. First, with the Giants in town Willy Adames was in the lineup as a visiting player at American Family Field for the first time since leaving as a free agent last winter. He wasted no time reintroducing himself to the Milwaukee fans, homering in the first and again in the eighth.
The big star on this day, however, was William Contreras and his late game heroics. He gave the Brewers a 3-2 lead with an RBI double in the seventh inning, then gave them the lead again once and for all with a walkoff home run in the ninth. Contreras is only the seventh Brewer ever to get two go-ahead hits in the seventh inning or later of the same game.
August 24 – Remembering Ueck
As we noted in Part 1 of this series, Bob Uecker’s memory was never far from the forefront in the first season since his passing. On this day, it was front and center as the Brewers held a pre-game celebration of life for the iconic figure. Matt Wild was there and has a recap in addition to video of the full event.
On the field, it wasn’t the Brewers’ best day: They took a 3-2 lead into the top of the ninth but lost 4-3 to the Giants, a rare defeat during a month where they went 21-9. As was the case for many of the thousands of days during Uecker’s tenure, the day’s most memorable moments weren’t about the play on the field.
August 31 – Max’d Out
In the years to come, we might remember 2025 as the final hurrah for a trio of the game’s all-time great pitchers as Clayton Kershaw has already announced his pending retirement, and the time appears near for both Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer. If this is the end for “Mad Max,” then his final game against the Brewers will have come during the Blue Jays’ series against the Crew on this day.
The Brewers are in rare company in that they actually got the best of Scherzer more often than not throughout the years, winning 10 of the 15 regular season games he appeared in against them. That looked like it might be the case again on this day, when they hung four runs on him on nine hits across just four innings and only struck out one time. The Blue Jays rallied, however, and won the game 8-4.
September 5 – The (Other) Mighty Quinn
As noted in Part 1 of this series, it looked like a desperation move when the Brewers made an April trade to acquire one-time top pitching prospect Quinn Priester from the Red Sox. By this point, Priester had established himself as much more than a stopgap. He had a 3.28 ERA across over 134 innings as a Brewer heading into his Friday night start against the Pirates, and his seven inning outing that night put him in position to make history: He was the winning pitcher in that game and had recorded 11 of them since his last loss, a franchise record. All told, the Brewers won 19 games in a row when Priester pitched from late May through mid-September, and he received the decision in 12 of them.
September 12 – Another Ninety
Across the first 54 seasons of Brewers franchise history, the team reached the 90-win threshold just 12 times, roughly once every 4 ½ years. An 8-2 win over the Cardinals on this day guaranteed they would get there for the third season in a row. It’s the only time in franchise history they’ve done that, and only half of all MLB teams have done it this century.
September 13 – Backing In, Walking Off
By mid-September, the Brewers were building a gap on the field in the race for the game’s best record, and so with weeks left to play, they started to get opportunities to lock down a position in the postseason. They got a little help for the first of those accomplishments as the Mets blew a 2-0, eighth inning lead at home and clinched a playoff spot for the Brewers on a Saturday afternoon.
The Brewers took the field on that Saturday night and looked like they might need the help as they trailed the Cardinals 6-2 in the seventh inning. They went on to score seven runs in the final three innings, including three to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth and two more to win it in the bottom of the tenth.
September 20 – Koenig Crushes Cardinals
Many of the relievers that were a big part of the Brewers’ success in 2024 either did not return or did not perform at the same level in 2025, but Jared Koenig was one of the exceptions to that. He pitched in 72 games in relief during the regular season with a 2.86 ERA, giving the Brewers a second solid lefty option in relief behind Aaron Ashby. On this day against the Cardinals, he had one of the most impactful outings a reliever can possibly have.
The Brewers sent Koenig to the mound in the bottom of the ninth inning in St. Louis looking to extend a 2-2 game and he faced the minimum, hitting a batter but getting a ground ball double play. The Brewers scored in the top of the tenth, sent Koenig back out to close out the game and he did it while facing just two batters, inducing a double play to erase the automatic runner and a fly out to end the game. By Win Percentage Added (WPA), Koenig’s outing was the fifth best by a Brewers reliever this century.
September 21 – Getting Bye with a Little Help from their Friends
The Brewers lost that weekend’s series finale, falling behind early and losing 5-1 to the Cardinals in St. Louis. The bigger news came in Cincinnati, however, where the Reds pitched a 1-0 shutout win over the Cubs. Chicago’s loss guaranteed the Brewers first place in the NL Central and a top-two finish in the National League, earning them a first round bye in the postseason.
September 26 – The Youngest with One Becomes the Youngest with Two
On September 12, 2024 Jackson Chourio hit his 20th home run of his rookie year, becoming the youngest player ever to collect 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases in an MLB season. It took him two extra weeks to reach that pinnacle in 2025, but a stolen base in this night’s 3-1 loss to the Reds pushed him into that club again. Still only 21 years old, Chourio is now the youngest player ever to have a 20/20 season and the youngest ever to do it twice.
September 27 – Top of the Mountain
After clinching the NL Central, the Brewers lost five out of six games, including this night’s game against the suddenly contending Reds. Yet for the second time that month, the Brewers were the beneficiaries of results elsewhere: The Phillies’ 5-0 home loss to Minnesota meant the Brewers were guaranteed MLB’s best record, the first time they’d accomplished that feat since 1982.
September 28 – One More for History
There were teams in the National League with something to play for on the season’s final day, but the Brewers were not one of them. They had clinched MLB’s best record and home field advantage throughout the postseason and they came into the last game of the regular season with a pitching plan that looked more like a spring training game, with six pitchers scheduled to throw after Freddy Peralta’s two innings. Meanwhile, the Reds were still battling the Mets for the National League’s final playoff spot.
Sometimes baseball just doesn’t go the way all the arrows are pointing, however, and the Brewers got a fourth inning home run from Danny Jansen and beat Cincinnati 4-2. The victory gave the Brewers 97 on the season, setting a new franchise record, and forced the Reds to sweat a bit: The Mets could have overtaken them in the standings with a win in Miami, but lost 4-0 and sent Cincinnati to the playoffs in their place.
October 4 – A Red Hot Start
Sometimes teams that experience a long postseason layoff show some rust when it’s time to play again. The Brewers, on the other hand, looked like they spent their week off storing up hits to deploy against the Cubs in the NLDS. They gave up a run in the top of the first inning, but responded with six in the bottom half against Chicago starter Matthew Boyd, knocking him out of the game early and rolling to a 9-3 win.
The news was good and bad on this day for Jackson Chourio: He collected two hits in the bottom of the first inning and an infield single in the second, becoming the first player in MLB history with three hits in the first two innings of a postseason game. He also aggravated his longstanding hamstring issue and left the game following the third hit, setting the stage for a story that would follow the Brewers throughout the postseason. Chourio started all nine games and hit .303 with a .576 slugging in the playoffs, but left three games early with the aforementioned hamstring.
October 11 – Putting the L in NLDS
The home team won the first four games in the NLDS, leading to a winner-take-all return to American Family Field for Game 5. William Contreras set the tone with a solo home run in the bottom of the first inning and Andrew Vaughn and Brice Turang added two more while Jacob Misiorowski pitched four innings in relief to pick up a 3-1 victory and advance to the NLCS. This was just the fourth postseason series win in Brewers franchise history.
The postgame celebration featured plenty of memorable moments, of course, but one took on a life of its own: The Brewers posed for a team photo with an “L” flag, which a fan had brought to American Family Field to mock the “W” flag traditionally flown above Wrigley Field following Cubs wins. According to Curt Hogg of the Journal Sentinel, Jake Bauers brought it onto the field for the photo and at least one Brewer attempted to keep it out of view, but Trevor Megill wanted to hold it in the photo. The photo was, of course, shared widely on the internet in the week to come.
October 13 – The Longest Double Play
Six Brewers pitchers attempted to outduel Dodgers ace Blake Snell in the first game of the NLCS and for several innings they were able to match his performance, although they got a major assist from their defense and the Dodgers’ baserunning. The game was still scoreless but the Dodgers had the bases loaded with one out in the top of the fourth when Max Muncy hit what looked like a grand slam to blow the game open but Sal Frelick knocked it back into play, threw it back into the infield and forced out Dodgers runners Teoscar Hernandez and Will Smith at home and third, respectively.
In the end, however, that incredible/bizarre defensive moment would be overshadowed by Blake Snell allowing just one hit over eight innings. The Brewers’ only significant chance to score was in the bottom of the ninth, when they batted six times with the potential tying or go-ahead run at the plate, but the Dodgers held on to win 2-1.
October 17 – An Elimination for the Ages
Sometimes a playoff run hinges on a single moment or a fluke occurrence that will leave fans wondering what could have been for years, like Pete Alonso’s home run in the 2024 NLDS. The end to the 2025 Brewers’ season, however, was the polar opposite. A series where they were outscored 15-4 ended with what might have been the single most dominant performance in MLB history.
Shohei Ohtani already likely would have ended up as a footnote in history by striking out the side in the top of the first inning and hitting a home run in the bottom half, but he wasn’t done. He went on to pitch six scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts and hit three home runs, a feat so far removed from any other in the history of the sport that it’s difficult to even capture it. Despite Ohtani’s night the Brewers weren’t that far out of the game and had an opportunity to close the gap in the eighth inning, but the Dodgers held on to win 5-1 and clinch a spot in the World Series.