Ranking the 48 postseason home runs in Brewers history
Brian Anderson on the call and a Milwaukee Brewers draft pick hitting a walk-off homer in the championship series?
You could forgive Brewers fans for being a little jealous of the circumstances Thursday, when David Fry's walk-off homer lifted the Cleveland Guardians to an unbelievable 7-5 win over the New York Yankees.
With regular Brewers play-by-play man Anderson in the booth, Cleveland tied the game with two outs in the ninth on a home run by Jhonkensy Noel, then won the game in the 10th on a blast by Fry, who was drafted by Milwaukee in 2018 and traded before the 2022 season to Cleveland as the player to be named later in a deal for reliever J.C. Mejía.
The Brewers don't get to enjoy the fruits of Thursday's big moment, and they've never hit a walk-off home run in their postseason history. Here's what they've had, as we rank the 48 postseason home runs in Milwaukee Brewers history:
48. Prince Fielder - Game 2 of 2011 National League Championship Series vs. St. Louis
Fielder took St. Louis pitcher Mitchell Boggs deep with a titanic blast to right leading off the eighth inning, but the Cardinals were already ahead, 11-2, and this just made it 11-3. David Freese homered in the top of ninth to get it right back.
47. Carlos Gómez - Game 4 of 2011 NL Division Series vs. Arizona
The exciting center fielder hit a two-run homer with nobody out in the eighth against Arizona's David Hernandez at Chase Field, but that only brought the Brewers to within 10-6, a score that became final an inning later.
46. Prince Fielder - Game 4 of 2008 NLDS vs. Philadelphia
It was too late for the only Brewers home run of the 2008 postseason. Fielder led off the seventh against Philadelphia's Joe Blanton at Miller Park with a blast, but the Brewers were already down, 5-0. That made it 5-1, but Philly got the run back in the top of the eighth on a Pat Burrell home run, and Milwaukee had to settle for a 6-2, eliminating loss. Fielder's blast was nonetheless the first Milwaukee postseason home run since Game 7 of the 1982 World Series.
45. Rickie Weeks - Game 2 of 2011 NLCS vs. St. Louis
Weeks hit a two-run homer off Edwin Jackson in the fourth, shortly after Prince Fielder had doubled, turning a 5-0 deficit into a 5-2 count. The Cardinals went on to win, 12-3.
44. Rickie Weeks - Game 6 of 2011 NLCS vs. St. Louis
For the second time in the series, Weeks hit a home run off St. Louis pitcher Edwin Jackson to pull his team to within exactly 5-2. St. Louis had just gotten a run back after the Brewers gave up four in the first but scored once in the bottom half, and Weeks led off the second with a homer. The Brewers would never get all the way back to even and lost, 12-6, in the elimination game.
43. Orlando Arcia - Game 3 of 2018 NLDS vs. Colorado
In a game the Brewers already led, 4-0, with a 2-0 series lead, Arcia led off the ninth inning with a blast off Rockies closer Wade Davis to make it 5-0. The shortstop hit only three home runs in the regular season and wound up hitting three in the postseason.
42. Keon Broxton - Game 3 of 2018 NLDS vs. Colorado
The center fielder became an unlikely author of a postseason home run, making it back-to-back blasts against Davis in the ninth inning of a game the Brewers already led, 4-0, heading into the frame. Conspiring with Arcia for the blasts at Coors Field, the Brewers wound up with a 6-0 lead that would become the final score. Broxton hit only four home runs during the regular season.
41. Corey Hart - Game 3 of 2011 NLDS vs. Arizona
Hart led off the top of the third against Josh Collmenter of Arizona to pull Milwaukee within 2-1, but the Brewers didn't score again and lost, 8-1.
40. Orlando Arcia - Game 1 of 2020 wild-card series vs. Los Angeles Dodgers
After the Dodgers took a 3-0 lead, Arcia's two-out homer off Walker Buehler in the fourth made it a 3-2 game and gave the Brewers some energy in the COVID-19 postseason, with Daniel Vogelbach (who had doubled) scoring ahead of Arcia. But the Brewers got no closer and lost, 4-2. It was their only home run of the 2020 postseason.
39. Corey Hart - Game 6 of 2011 NLCS vs. St. Louis
In an elimination game and after the Cardinals scored four runs in a nightmare first inning against Brewers starter Shaun Marcum, Hart reminded people that it was a long game with a leadoff home run to straightaway center against Edwin Jackson at Miller Park. It was still mostly just long for the Brewers, though, in a 12-6 loss.
38. Mark Kotsay - Game 3 of 2011 NLCS vs. St. Louis
The Brewers fell behind by a 4-0 count against the Cardinals at Busch Stadium but clawed back quickly with two in the second and then one in the third, with Mark Kotsay homering off Chris Carpenter to lead off the inning. But neither team scored again in 4-3 loss.
37. Prince Fielder - Game 1 of 2011 NLDS vs. Arizona
With two outs in seventh, Fielder turned a 2-0 lead into a 4-0 one against Arizona's Ian Kennedy, allowing Brewers fanx exhale en route to a 4-1 victory. Braun had doubled with two outs, and Fielder lined one out of American Family Field.
36. Orlando Arcia - Game 2 of 2018 NLCS vs. Los Angeles Dodgers
With one out in bottom of the fifth, Arcia provided the first run of the game off Dodgers pitcher Hyun Jin Ryu. Ryan Braun later added an RBI groundout to make it 2-0, but the Brewers lost the game, 5-3.
35. Cecil Cooper - Game 3 of 1982 World Series vs. St. Louis
It might have only made a small ripple but it was, after all, the World Series. With Cardinals future Hall of Famer Bruce Sutter pitching in the eighth and holding 5-0 lead, Cooper made it a 5-2 game with two outs, scoring Robin Yount ahead of him. The Cardinals were still well on their way to a 6-2 victory.
34. Jesús Aguilar - Game 3 of 2018 NLDS vs. Colorado
His blast at Coors Field in the fourth inning was the first of three home runs in the game, and this shot off Germán Márquez took a 1-0 lead and made it 2-0. The Brewers wound up winning the game, 6-0, and sweeping the series. Announcer Bob Costas accidentally referred to the slugger as Jesús Aguilara.
33. Ryan Braun - Game 2 of 2011 NLDS vs. Arizona
With one out in the opening inning, Braun's homer to center off Daniel Hudson scored Hart (who had singled) and gave the Brewers a 2-0 lead, already up in the series, 1-0. Paul Goldschmidt answered in the top of the second with a solo homer off Zack Greinke, but Fielder and Weeks had RBI hits in the third to make it 4-1. The Diamondbacks came back to tie before the Brewers logged a five-run sixth to win, 9-4.
32. Orlando Arcia - Game 3 of 2018 NLCS vs. Los Angeles Dodgers
His third home run of the postseason was a two-run shot against Walker Buehler of the Dodgers, making a 2-0 lead into a 4-0 advantage in the seventh inning. The shot tucked inside the right field foul pole scored Erik Kratz, who had doubled one batter earlier, and the Brewers won in a shutout to take a 2-1 series lead.
31. Travis Shaw - Game 2 of 2018 NLCS vs. Los Angeles Dodgers
With one out in the sixth inning, his home run just over the wall in center against Alex Wood gave the Brewers a 3-0 lead, and it started to look like Milwaukee would take a 2-0 lead in the series. That didn't happen, however; Milwaukee started to give the lead back in the seventh and lost, 4-3.
30. Jesús Aguilar - Game 1 of 2018 NLCS vs. Los Angeles Dodgers
Leading off seventh against Julio Urías, the slugging first baseman made it 6-1 with an opposite-field shot, which didn't feel like all that important of a home run in the moment. But the Brewers wound up needing it when the Dodgers came surging back, stranding the tying run at third base in the ninth in what became a 6-5 Brewers victory.
29. Yuniesky Betancourt - Game 1 of 2011 NLCS vs. St. Louis
Two batters after a Fielder go-ahead home run in the fifth and just after Weeks had reached on a clumsy, short throw by pitcher Octavio Dotel to first base, Betancourt became an unlikely guy to homer and give Milwaukee an 8-5 lead. He capped a six-run frame before the Cardinals had an out. The capstone helped Milwaukee prevail over St. Louis, 9-6. It was already Betancourt's sixth hit of the postseason.
28. Eric Thames - wild-card game of 2019
Leading off the second inning against Max Scherzer, he homered and made a 2-0 lead into a 3-0 lead in Washington, although the runs would dry up from there and the Brewers would suffer a gut-punch 4-3 loss.
27. Ted Simmons - Game 2 of 1982 World Series
The Brewers were ahead 2-0 when Simmons took John Stuper deep for a no-doubt home run in the third at Busch Stadium, making it a 3-0 lead and putting the Brewers in position to take a 2-0 series lead on the Cardinals. But St. Louis scored two in the third and later tied the game in the sixth at 4-4, then won thanks to a run walked in by Brewers reliever Pete Ladd after the inning continued on a different controversial ball-four call. The series was all about catchers hurting their former teams; Simmons hit two home runs against the franchise with whom he'd spent most of his career, but former Brewers catcher Darrell Porter wound up as World Series MVP for the Cardinals.
26. Jonathan Lucroy - Game 6 of 2011 NLCS vs. St. Louis
The Brewers fell behind early against the Cardinals in an elimination game, but Lucroy provided some hope when his two-run homer in the second inning pulled the Brewers closer and made it a 5-4 game. But it was the Cardinals' day; Albert Pujols homered leading off the third to kick off a four-run inning, and St. Louis won, 12-6.
25. Gorman Thomas - Game 1 of 1982 American League Championship Series vs. California
The Brewers grabbed a 2-1 lead in the second inning on Thomas' blast, after the California Angels had grabbed a 1-0 lead. The home run off Tommy John scored Ted Simmons, who had singled leading off the inning, but the Brewers eventually lost, 8-3.
24. Ted Simmons - Game 1 of 1982 World Series
In the top of the fifth against Bob Forsch, Simmons clubbed a homer that turned a 3-0 lead into a 4-0 edge, en route to a 10-0 blowout win over St. Louis. The ball landed in almost the exact same spot one night later in right field. One pitch before this home run, he hit a no-doubt blast out to right ... but foul.
23. Rowdy Tellez - Game 4 of 2021 NLDS vs. Atlanta
With the score tied at 2-2 in the fifth, Tellez took Huascar Ynoa out for a 4-2 lead, giving the Brewers an advantage in an elimination game. Christian Yelich, who had singled, also scored with one out. The Braves, however, tied the game in the fifth and won in the ninth.
22. Jackson Chourio - Game 2 of 2024 wild-card series vs. New York Mets
The 20-year old phenom had an incredible second half to the season, then a memorable postseason, as well. His first of two home runs, a laser to the opposite field leading off the bottom of the first, erased an early 1-0 Mets lead against Sean Manaea … on an 0-2 pitch, no less. The Brewers wound up winning the game thanks to a three-run eighth, with Chourio's second homer playing a part.
21. Tyrone Taylor - Game 1 of 2023 wild-card series vs. Arizona
The two-run shot in the second inning off Arizona's Brandon Pfaadt turned a 1-0 lead into a 3-0 lead, lending optimism that the Brewers would take the important first game of the three-game series at American Family Field. Instead, the Brewers gave the lead back in the top of the third and ultimately lost, 6-3.
20. Ryan Braun - Game 1 of 2011 NLCS vs. St. Louis
Down 1-0 in the first, Braun took Jaime García deep to left center and made it a 2-1 game, scoring Jerry Hairston (who had walked). The Brewers wound up winning the game, 9-6.
19. Gorman Thomas - Game 5 of 1981 ALDS vs. New York Yankees
For a moment, the Brewers had a lead in the decisive game against the Yankees, having battled back from a two-game deficit in the series to tie and then pull ahead in the second inning when Thomas went deep against Ron Guidry at Yankee Stadium. Alas, the game would be known perhaps for a home-run ball that didn't leave the park, when Don Money's great swing on a ball died at the warning track in left field. New York went on to win, 7-3.
18. Paul Molitor - Game 3 of 1982 ALCS vs. California
The Brewers were facing elimination but built a 5-0 lead on California at County Stadium, with a two-run homer by Molitor off Mike Witt with two outs in the seventh providing some of the boost. Those runs came in awfully handy when the Angels scored three runs in the top of the eighth to make it 5-3; the Brewers went on to win by that count and force a Game 4 (and then a Game 5, which they won).
17. Rowdy Tellez - Game 1 of 2021 NLDS vs. Atlanta
Milwaukee's playoff opener against Atlanta was a scoreless tie until the seventh, when Tellez launched a two-run homer against Charlie Morton to break a scoreless tie and help the Brewers ultimately win, 2-1. Avisaíl García was hit by a pitch leading off the inning, and Tellez didn't miss immediately thereafter. The first baseman became the team's lone offensive weapon in the series, with another home run in Game 4 (and two shutouts in between). Atlanta got one run back in the top of eighth, but Milwaukee prevailed for the only win of the series.
16. Christian Yelich - Game 1 of 2018 NLDS vs. Colorado
Miller Park reached a frenzy when Yelich delivered a two-run shot in the bottom of the third against Colorado's Antonio Senzatela, scoring Yelich and Lorenzo Cain, who had walked. The Brewers were in the playoffs for the first time since 2011, and Cain and Yelich were a big reason why, signed and acquired via trade, respectively, before the season. Milwaukee went on to win the game in extras, 4-3, and kept winning to sweep the series and ultimately win 12 games in a row. Yelich's first career postseason hit was a bomb.
15. Yasmani Grandal - wild-card game of 2019
After Trent Grisham walked leading off the game in Washington, Grandal parked a ball over right field wall against Nationals future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer to spot the Brewers a 2-0 lead before they had recorded an out. Thames followed with a homer the next inning, though Milwaukee's 3-0 lead wouldn't last in a heartbreaking 4-3 loss.
14. Ted Simmons - Game 3 of 1981 division series vs. New York Yankees
It gets points as the first postseason homer in Brewers history, and it also came in the immediate aftermath of a bizarre scene at Yankee Stadium.
After Cecil Cooper reached on a ball mishandled by Yankees first baseman Bob Watson, a fan came out of the stands with a weapon at third-base umpire Mike Reilly, apparently incensed about a close tag call the previous inning. Both benches emptied trying to defend the umpire, who wasn't hurt.
The two-run shot off Tommy John in the top of the seventh turned a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead, scoring Cooper as the Brewers looked to stave off elimination. Sal Bando's single made it 3-1 later in the inning, and the Brewers went on to win the game, even though the Yankees ultimately scored twice in the seventh to tie the score.
13. Ben Oglivie - Game 5 of 1982 ALCS vs. California
The game has always been remembered for Cooper's two-run single in the seventh that helped the Brewers win the game, 4-3, and reach the team's first and only World Series. It's easy to forget about Oglivie's home run, which helped the Brewers pull to within 3-2 in the fourth inning. The solo shot to the right field corner with one out off Bruce Kison set the stage for the heroics that came later.
12. Jake Bauers - Game 3 of 2024 wild-card series vs. New York Mets
Bauers entered the game as a pinch hitter for the team's big offseason signing, Rhys Hoskins, who had been 0-for-9 in the series. Though Bauers himself had batted .199 during the regular season, he pummeled a full-count pitch from New York Mets reliever José Buttó for a home run in the seventh that marked the first run of the game. The Brewers went up one pitch later, 2-0, on Sal Frelick's home run but ultimately lost the game, 4-2, in a winner-take-all playoff battle.
11. Paul Molitor - Game 2 of 1982 ALCS vs. California
It's the only inside-the-park home run in Brewers playoff history, though it came in the context of a 4-2 loss to the California Angels. The Brewers were down 4-0 in the fifth when Molitor sent a liner to center off pitcher Bruce Kison. Fred Lynn made a failed dive for the ball, that rolled all the way to the fence, and Molitor was able to motor around and score standing up. Charlie Moore scored in front of Molitor, but they were the only runs the Brewers scored in the game.
10. Jackson Chourio - Game 2 of 2024 wild-card series vs. New York Mets
Leading off the eighth against Phil Maton and six outs away from elimination, the 20-year-old phenomenon Chourio walloped his second home run of the game, tying the score at 3-3 and setting the stage for another homer later that inning to steal a 5-3 victory over the Mets. New York went on to win the next game for the series victory, but it was a reminder of Milwaukee's bright future with its cornerstone outfielder.
9. Christian Yelich - Game 7 of 2018 NLCS vs. Los Angeles Dodgers
For a flicker, Milwaukee fans dared to dream about their first World Series since 1982. With one out in the bottom of the first at American Family Field in a series tied at 3-3, Yelich took Walker Buehler deep, with the ball just out of reach for right fielder Yasiel Puig. That gave the Brewers the 1-0 lead and offered yet another grace note on his MVP season. The game, however, turned quickly. The Dodgers scored twice in the second, Yelich's fly out to the warning track in left field became one of the "what-if" moments, and Los Angeles prevailed, 5-1.
8. Prince Fielder - Game 1 of 2011 NLCS vs. St. Louis
Down 5-2 against Cardinals left-hander Jaime García in the fifth, Braun hit a ground-rule double to make it 5-4 and then Fielder homered on the next pitch to give his team a 6-5 lead. Two batters later, Betancourt added another homer for an 8-5 lead, and the Brewers went on to a relatively comfortable 9-6 victory.
7. Ben Oglivie - Game 7 of 1982 World Series vs. St. Louis
It's easy to forget, in the context of a gut-wrenching 6-3 loss to the Cardinals in Game 7 of the 1982 World Series, that the Brewers had a two-run lead with 10 outs to go for a championship. Part of that success was Oglivie, whose home run tied the game at 1-1 in the fifth against Joaquín Andújar. The Cardinals starter had faced one over the minimum to that point, and Oglivie might have batted in the previous inning with two on, but Robin Yount was thrown out at third on Cooper's single.
6. Paul Molitor - Game 3 of 1981 ALDS vs. New York Yankees
The Brewers' first playoff stay was in danger of being a short one, with the Yankees owning a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five format (an unusual setup at the time, necessitated by a split season caused by a players' strike). But with Game 3 tied at 3-3 at Yankee Stadium, Molitor went deep against Tommy John leading off the top of the eighth, giving Milwaukee a 4-3 edge that turned into 5-3 by game's end thanks to a Simmons RBI double later in the inning.
The ball just barely eluded left fielder Dave Winfield, using the wall to elevate him and nearly make a miracle snag. Milwaukee went on to win the fourth game and gave New York a scare in the fifth before bowing out.
5. Mark Brouhard - Game 4 of 1982 ALCS vs. California
Brandon Woodruff's is still the most improbable postseason homer in Brewers history, but Brouhard is right there next in line. The part-time outfielder was taking the spot of banged-up Oglivie and he delivered the game of his life … in the only game of the 12 postseason games that season in which he even appeared at all.
California Angels slugger Don Baylor hit a grand slam in the top of the eighth, and suddenly a healthy Brewers lead was down to a nerve-racking 7-5. But in the bottom of the eighth, Money singled, Marshall Edwards pinch-ran and Brouhard brought two runs home with his two-run homer off Dave Goltz.
Brouhard had already been at the plate for a three-run round-tripper of a different variety in the second when two Angels errors allowed him to score on a single (on a play that scored three runs). Brouhard scored four runs overall in the 9-5 win, with a double mixed in, as well. The win staved off elimination and forced a decisive Game 5, which the Brewers won, as well, to clinch their first and only World Series trip.
4. Sal Frelick - Game 3 of 2024 wild-card series vs. New York Mets
There's something irresitable about improbable heroes coming up big in the playoffs. One pitch after José Buttó surrendered the go-ahead homer to Bauers in the seventh inning, breaking a scoreless tie, Frelick launched a no-doubt bomb into the right field bleachers that gave the Brewers a 2-0 lead in a winner-take-all game against the New York Mets.
American Family Field went bananas. Frelick homered twice during the regular season; ironically, they came on back-to-back days in May. The ball he hit against Buttó registered as the hardest-hit and farthest-hit baseball he had ever encountered after a season in which he registered the weakest average contact of any MLB regular.
The Brewers lost the game in heartbreaking circumstances, 4-2, but for the moment, it was Salwaukee, Wisconsin.
3. Garrett Mitchell - Game 2 of 2024 wild-card series vs. New York Mets
Mitchell didn't start the game but was inserted as a pinch runner, and the results were unfortunate when he was thrown out trying to steal. So when he stepped to the plate with two outs in the eighth against Phil Maton, it was his first at-bat of the night. With the crowd still buzzing from Chourio's game-tying homer earlier in the inning, Mitchell didn't waste the chance.
After Willy Adames singled to keep the inning alive, Mitchell launched a two-run shot that bounced off the top of the wall in right center to break a 3-3 tie and give the Brewers a 5-3 lead that would cement into the final score one-half inning later. The Brewers forced a winner-take-all Game 3 against the Mets, a game that Milwaukee fell achingly short of taking in a 4-2 loss the next night.
2. Brandon Woodruff - Game 1 of 2018 NLCS vs. Los Angeles Dodgers
There's simply no explaining how a relief pitcher — batting left-handed, no less, against one of the greatest left-handers of his generation — could hit a playoff home run against Clayton Kershaw. Not only did Woodruff turn the feat in the third inning of the NLCS between the Brewers and Dodgers, he tied the game and the Brewers took the lead later in the inning en route to a tense 6-5 victory.
Woodruff's improbable home run felt like the most magical feat in an utterly charmed 12-game winning streak, one that began with a regular-season sprint to the finish, included a Game 163 playoff to secure the National League Central, added in a three-game sweep in the NLDS and started the Brewers on the right foot in the best-of-seven series. The Brewers went on to lose that series, but Woodruff's swing will live forever.
"The thing I remember most was hitting it and thinking I got it go and watching (rightfielder Cody) Bellinger pull up at the wall," Woodruff said. "That's when I realized I got it. That's about the time I started rounding the bases, and the emotion started coming out. It's one of those where you (don't) blank out but you just run around the bases not really thinking about much, not really hearing the crowd, not hearing nothing."
Woodruff entered the game early for starter Gio González, functionally the game's "opener" who allowed an early run. Woodruff worked two clean innings, and the Brewers held on for dear life, stranding the tying run at third base in the ninth to prevail.
It's a moment from a bygone era now. The National League switched from batting pitchers to the designated hitter after the 2021 season, meaning it's unlikely any team will experience anything like it again.
1. Robin Yount - Game 5 of 1982 World Series vs. St. Louis
The Brewers have never had a playoff walk-off home run and only two eighth-inning homers that flipped the score, but with the World Series tied at 2-2 in 1982, they did get an unforgettable seventh-inning blast two innings before fans rushed the field at Milwaukee County Stadium.
The Cardinals had just pulled to within 3-2 in the top of the seventh, but Yount renewed the thrill in Milwaukee with an opposite-field shot. After Bob Forsch retired the first two men he faced, Yount took him deep on a 2-1 pitch, and the Brewers' lead grew back to 4-2. The Brewers wound up winning, 6-4.
Yount was sensational in the world Series, finishing one hit shy of the World Series record of 13, going 12-for-29 (.414 batting average) with six runs and six RBI. His 4-for-4 performance in Game 5 was his second four-hit game of the series.
Moments before Yount's blast, Cooper had authored his own heroic moment, a sprawling save of a Darrell Porter ground ball that he converted into the final out of the seventh, keeping the lead intact.
More than 56,000 people in attendance showered Yount with MVP chants in the moment, possibly the apex of the 1982 season as Milwaukee took a 3-2 series lead before dropping the final two games in St. Louis.
"It's nice to be recognized for doing something well, but I'm not after that," Yount said. I'm just a human being like anyone else who has been gifted with the ability to play baseball."
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee Brewers' postseason home runs, ranked 1 to 48