MILWAUKEE – Logan Henderson doesn’t need much prompting before he starts rattling off his favourite World Series moments.
There’s Game 5 of the 2017 World Series, which ended in the 10th inning on an Alex Bregman walk-off single. There’s Game 6 of the 2022 World Series, when Yordan Alvarez homered off Jose Alvarado en route to an Astros clinch. Without hesitation, Henderson lists Houston’s four most recent World Series appearances: 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2022.
He knows because he was there. A Houston native, the 24-year-old Henderson attended at least one World Series game each of those seasons along with his dad and his stepmom. He cherishes those memories to this day, and just a few years later, he’s a big reason the Brewers are here in the 2026 World Series.
The right-hander now lines up to start Game 2 against the Rays, and his dad and step-mom will be on hand to see it all unfold.
“It's really, really cool to think back on those games, now knowing that my dad's going to be in the stands again, watching me,” he told Sportsnet at World Series media day. “That was what me and my dad bonded most over.”
Henderson’s not alone in cherishing this chance on baseball’s biggest stage, which is new for all but three of this year’s players: Yandy Diaz and Steven Matz of the Rays and Dustin May of the Brewers. That trio has combined for only eight World Series games – the lowest total since 1907, when the series was just four years old. As a result, it’s a series filled with newcomers and many of them, like Rays third baseman Junior Caminero, would “definitely” be watching if they weren’t playing. For them, arriving here is a full-circle moment worthy of appreciation.
“Yeah, I love baseball,” said Rays catcher Liam Hicks, a Toronto native. “I think I watched every game last year. I always grew up trying to watch every game. I just love the sport.”
But while the likes of Hicks and Henderson find real meaning in the Fall Classic, others wouldn’t necessarily be watching unless they were playing.
“The truth is I'm not one to watch a whole lot of games,” Brewers outfielder Jackson Chourio confessed via interpreter. “I feel like it's a little bit boring.”
He’s not alone, either. Veteran right-hander Dustin May helped the Dodgers to their 2020 championship and was in the organization in 2024, though he was injured. Obviously, he was locked in for those two years. But otherwise?
“I probably wouldn’t even watch,” he said. “I'm not a huge sports fan, so if I don't have any, like, direct ties to a person that's on a team, I'm probably not watching.”
And instead, he’d do what?
“Anything,” he replied. “Literally anything.”
Yet even if some players are willing to turn their focus elsewhere and separate work from life, more have meaningful World Series memories of some kind.
“I love baseball,” said Rays outfielder Cedric Mullins, who grew up a Braves fan. “So any chance I get, I'm watching.”
And while so many players pictured themselves here, others didn’t even dare dream this big. Hicks recalls watching Jose Bautista’s epic 2015 post-season run while playing travel ball in Texas, but even then his dream was simply to play pro ball.
“I remember that vividly,” he said. “But my dreams didn’t go as far as I’ve reached now which is really cool.”
Growing up, Griffin Jax went to lots of games in Arizona and the 31-year-old’s just old enough to remember the classic seven-game World Series between the Yankees and Diamondbacks in 2001. A decade later, his mom took him to Target to buy a case for his iPod and there were two options: Cardinals or Red Sox. He chose St. Louis.
“And that made me feel like I needed to be a Cardinals fan,” he recalled.
In the decade since he was drafted, Jax has made a point of watching every World Series game. In a way, it’s all been preparation for the challenge he’s now facing against the Brewers.
“I like to imagine myself in that moment as that pitcher,” he said. “Think about what I would do, how I’d pitch that guy. So I watch it for scouting reasons, but also just to enjoy it as a fan.”
Like their teammates, utility players Richie Palacios and Ryan Vilade would be watching even if the Rays hadn’t advanced. Palacios watches every year with friends and looks to see who’s panicking and who’s living up to the moment. For instance, last year’s Blue Jays team stood out because of their tenacity.
“Just their will to win,” Palacios said. “Guys just not willing to get out, just fighting pitches off and just grinding and passing a baton.”
This year, Palacios wants to be that guy. As for Vilade, his World Series memories are painful as a result of David Freese’s clutch hits against his beloved Rangers in 2011.
“Dude, you ruined my childhood,” Vilade told Freese when they met with the Cardinals.
Back on the Brewers side, Missouri native and Brewers Game 1 starter Jacob Misiorowski recalls cheering for the Royals growing up. As much as he enjoyed their 2015 World Series run, one moment that stands out was Salvador Perez’s walk-off hit down the third-base line in the 2014 Wild Card Game against the Athletics.
"I still can replay it in my mind," Misiorowski said. "That was really cool."
One of his teammates remembers Perez and the Royals, but for different reasons. A few weeks after that walk-off hit, Perez popped up to third base as the Giants clinched their third championship in five years. At home in Northern California, Brewers infielder Andrew Vaughn was watching.
“I’ll never forget Pablo Sandoval catching the pop-up,” Vaughn said, smiling at the memory.
For others, the significance of the World Series is more abstract. Brewers left-hander DL Hall doesn’t have a favourite World Series memory in mind, but he does tend to watch.
“Because usually hunting season hasn't started during the World Series,” explained Hall, a George native who says he’s pretty good at hunting ducks.
With Hall here in the World Series, he’s reflecting on childhood dreams that are now on the brink of coming true. When he was a kid playing in his backyard, he’d pretend it was the late innings of the World Series. Now, he’s thinking back to the games he once played and finding it all hard to believe.
“Bringing that to the actual World Series, it ties you back to being a kid,” he said. “Like, hey, it's actually a 2-2 count in the bottom of the seventh of the World Series. You're not in your backyard saying that. You're actually here. So it's a blessing. It's really cool to connect that to childhood.”
0:49
