In baseball, Milwaukee is no longer just the city of Fonzie. The Brewers have won the World Series

Fifty-seven years after arriving in Wisconsin (thanks to former commissioner Bud Selig, who rescued the team from bankruptcy whilst it was still based in Seattle and had a different name), the team from the city of Fonzie and Richie Cunningham can finally celebrate an MLB title.

The Brewers have, in fact, won the World Series – the final series that crowns the world baseball champions – an event Milwaukee had not contested for forty-four years.

The 122nd edition of the final series of the North American baseball championship saw Milwaukee beat the Tampa Bay Rays by four wins to one (the series was played as a best-of-seven).

Let’s get this out of the way straight away: the best team won. The Badger State franchise was the strongest throughout the entire season, scoring the most points, boasting the best batting average and winning no fewer than 103 matches in the regular season. Added to these achievements is the almost flawless record maintained during the play-offs (eleven wins to just two defeats).

The fact that they also beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in the play-offs – the heavy favourites at the start of the season and the team that, a year ago, had dashed the Brewers’ dreams of reaching the World Series (the Dodgers prevailed in the National League finals) – clearly illustrates just how well-deserved this triumph was.

This success is down to manager Pat Murphy, but also to the work carried out by owner Mark Attanasio. Since buying the team in 2005, the 69-year-old New York tycoon has built a franchise that has grown year on year.

Attanasio was not daunted by the fact that his team plays in one of the smallest markets in the US in terms of media coverage and, together with Matt Arnold, the club’s president and general manager, has put together a team that is extremely strong in the pitching department, whilst also excelling in defence. It is no coincidence that the Brewers have been among the strongest teams in the league in several defensive statistics as well.

And, for that matter, in the five final games against the Rays, the Brewers’ pitchers conceded just 12 runs.

Attanasio has also laid the foundations for potential future success by assembling a squad which, alongside veterans such as 34-year-old outfielder Christian Yelich and 33-year-old pitcher Brandon Woodruff, has also featured players capable of making a contribution in the seasons to come, such as 24-year-old Jacob Misiorowski (starting pitcher in Game Five), or those in their prime, starting with the 28-year-old Venezuelan catcher William Contreras, the World Series MVP.

This is another reason why the Milwaukee Brewers are already among the favourites to win next season, with only the Dodgers ahead of them in the bookmakers’ odds.

However, we will turn our attention to that once spring arrives, when the MLB kicks off a new season. For now, it is time to celebrate in Milwaukee. With rivers of beer (after all, ‘brewer’ means ‘beer maker’), of course.