Why Seattle Mariners Fans Should Root For The Milwaukee Brewers

As the World Series is set to begin on Friday, most fans of the Seattle Mariners are reminded that their franchise is the only remaining team in Major League Baseball to never appear in the Fall Classic. 

That fact is all the more poignant upon reflection that just a little over a year ago, the Mariners were a handful of outs away from making a trip to the World Series a reality. Visions of George Springer’s three-run homer in the seventh inning of game seven continue to haunt Mariners’ fans, especially in the aftermath of the nightmare that was the 2026 season. What might have been seems very far in the past. 

There Will Be a First-Time Champion

But for fans of the Milwaukee Brewers and the Tampa Rays, the precipice of success is in sight, for one of these franchises will, indeed, finally win the World Series. It is inevitable that there will be a first-time Series winner, leaving just the other, the San Diego Padres, and the Seattle Mariners without a title. 

But which team will win? For fans of the Mariners, the obvious rooting interest is for the Milwaukee Brewers. The ties are closer than you may think. 

The Story of the Seattle Pilots

In 1969, MLB expanded from twenty teams to twenty-four, adding the San Diego Padres and the Montreal Expos in the National League and the Kansas City Royals and the Seattle Pilots in the American League. For those readers who may not be familiar with the Montreal Expos or the Seattle Pilots, the Expos relocated and rebranded as the Washington Nationals in 2005, while the Pilots played only one season in Seattle before moving to Milwaukee to become the Brewers, the very same Milwaukee Brewers who are favorites to win the World Series. 

In 1969, the new Seattle Pilots’ roster largely consisted of the dregs of the existing ten teams in the American League. The expansion draft was segregated by league, with only the American League available to the Pilots and the Royals. Each of the ten existing teams was allowed to protect fifteen players, and each team was subject to six selections from the new franchises.

The result of the draft for the Pilots would produce a team that won 64 games and finished 11^th out of 12 teams in the AL and in last place in the Western Division. Only the Cleveland Indians had a worse record at 62-99. 

Perhaps the most recognizable name on the Pilots roster in that one lone season was two-time NL batting champion Tommy Davis from the 1960’s Los Angeles Dodgers teams that won the World Series in 1963 and 1965 behind the pitching of Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale. But by age 30, most of Davis’s magic had left him, and he produced -0.8 WAR in that one season in the Pacific Northwest.

One highlight from that season was second baseman Tommy Harper leading the league in stolen bases with 73. He also led the league in caught stealing with 18. Alas, there are no other bold numbers for the Pilots on their Baseball Reference page. Harper would have his best season in the majors with a 7.4 WAR the next year in Milwaukee. 

There were few of note on a pitching staff that only provided 8.5 WAR for the whole season. The “ace” of the staff, one Mike Marshall, who went on to have a few pretty good seasons in Montreal and later with the Minnesota Twins. In a somewhat confusing team statistics page, he accounts for 0.4 WAR but is credited with -0.1 WAR on his individual page. 

In an all-too-familiar story to sports fans in Seattle, financial woes and disputes about public funding for a ballpark would see the Pilots leave after just one season and relocate to Milwaukee as the Brewers under the ownership of former commissioner Bud Selig. For more depth and detail on Seattle’s first major league team, the book The 1969 Seattle Pilots: Major League Baseball’s One Year Team is a good source, as is the 2010 documentary Seattle Pilots: Short Flight into History. 

The 2026 World Series Features Pure Baseball

But if you’d rather watch baseball, then tune in for the Brewers and the Rays. It should be a good matchup for fans of well-played baseball. In a recent interview, Tim Kurkijan of ESPN noted that both teams play the game like the game was played 40 years ago. Each team hits above league average, runs the bases well, and plays excellent defense.

While none of those praises would have applied to the 1969 Seattle Pilots, perhaps Seattle fans can take some pride in rooting for their descendants – the Milwaukee Brewers.