Brewers claim first title after 44 years, echoing 1982 cartoon

The Milwaukee Brewers won their first World Series title on Wednesday, ending a 44-year championship drought. The team defeated the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 5 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. The victory concluded a series that saw the Brewers overcome a critical setback in the previous day’s play.

The win recalls a famous editorial cartoon from 1982. Jeff MacNelly, a Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist for the Chicago Tribune, drew the piece during the 1982 World Series. The image featured a smiling Cubs fan in a Hawaiian shirt surrounded by bundled-up Brewers fans. It carried the caption, “Hope springs eternal …”

MacNelly created the cartoon while the Brewers led that series 3-2. The Brewers eventually lost the final two games in seven games. The cartoon depicted a typical Cubs fan as an optimist who sees a 35-degree forecast and chooses summer clothing. It was a subtle critique of the Tribune Co. ownership, which had finished as one of the worst teams in the majors that season.

The 1982 series is remembered for the Brewers blowing a 3-0 lead. No team in history had ever surrendered such a lead in the World Series. The Cubs later ended their own title drought in 2016. Since then, the two teams have become archrivals in the National League Central division.

In the 2026 series, the Brewers faced a similar anxiety point. They entered Tuesday night on the verge of a sweep but blew a one-run lead in the 12th inning. They lost Game 4, 4-3, to the Rays. The loss kept the series alive and created tension among fans in Wisconsin.

Thousands of Wisconsin fans traveled to Florida to support the team. They turned Tropicana Field into a home away from home. The Brewers did not surrender their 3-1 series lead. They secured the franchise’s first championship in front of a crowd that had waited four decades for a trophy.

MacNelly died of lymphoma in 2000 at age 53. His obituary described him as the most brilliant political cartoonist of the time. The 1982 cartoon remains a classic, often replicated on merchandise. The 2026 victory shifts the role of the eternal optimist from the Cubs fans to the Wisconsin supporters.