American Family Field (Milwaukee) – The Brewers were trailing the Dodgers 4-0 in Los Angeles, and Shohei Ohtani had just woken up with a three-run home run. For so many teams, facing the two-time defending champions in their own ballpark, that would have ended their night. 

But Milwaukee spent the next few innings picking the Dodgers apart. The Brewers tied the game with their usual small-ball approach. That was expected. What came as a complete and total surprise was how clutch they were with the long ball. 

Brewers center fielder Garrett Mitchell led off the sixth inning with a go-ahead home run off Tanner Scott. The No. 9 hitter, third baseman David Hamilton, then added insurance with a solo shot off Dodgers closer Edwin Díaz in the ninth, completing a four-game sweep and sending Milwaukee to its first World Series in 44 years.

David Hamilton's home run was the exclamation point at the end of the Brewers' Game 4 win in the NLCS over the Dodgers. (Katelyn Mulcahy/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

It was a very different way to get there than the last time. In 1982, the Brewers were defined by their power. Unlike this year’s pennant-clinching team that has manager Pat Murphy’s fingerprints all over it, the ‘82 Brewers didn't sneak up on opposing teams with its pop.

Harvey’s Wallbangers, named after manager Harvey Kuenn, led the majors with 216 home runs, 30 more than Reggie Jackson’s Angels in second. That memorable Milwaukee club was anchored by Hall of Famers Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, and Ted Simmons, as well as multi-time All-Stars Gorman Thomas, Ben Oglivie and Cecil Cooper. 

Opposing pitchers faced a lineup that had no easy outs and no place to hide. Almost every hitter in that lineup could end the game with one swing. For that team, home runs were always the plan. And it still wasn’t enough. Milwaukee lost that World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games.

The 2026 Milwaukee Brewers will never be mistaken for Harvey’s Wallbangers. They’re more like Murphy’s Smallballers. 

"We had a few guys that hit 20 home runs this year," Hamilton told me on Thursday at American Family Field ahead of Game 1 of the 2026 World Series (Friday at 8 p.m. ET on FOX). "But people don't realize that 20 is still a lot. That's not really our game. Small ball is our game. We can hit the home run when we need to, but we don't always need to. I feel like that's a good thing."

This year’s Brewers club won a MLB-leading 103 games, but it did so with a relentless offensive approach that emphasized batting average, on-base percentage, walk rate, speed, sacrifice hits and patient at-bats — rather than a lineup of sluggers. First baseman and NLCS MVP Jake Bauers led Milwaukee with 26 home runs in the regular season. Jackson Chourio crushed 25 homers, and Brice Turang slugged 21. Everybody else didn't even reach 20.

Nobody in this Brewers dugout is going to be mistaken for Gorman Thomas. In last week's NLCS Game 4 against the Dodgers, Milwaukee's tying run came the same way so many other Brewers rallies do. Los Angeles' bullpen issued four walks and Milwaukee stole two bases. The Brewers created pressure and broke Los Angeles down. Just like the ‘82 team, the ‘26 Brewers have no easy outs and are exhausting to navigate. 

"I just don't think we sell out for power," Brewers shortstop Cooper Pratt told me. "There's a bunch of guys on this team that could hit 30 or more home runs. But it's just not how we play. We get on base, steal, bunt 'em over, get 'em over, and get 'em in. I think the guys will hit homers and stuff. We've hit a bunch in the playoffs. But I just don't really think guys are going up there trying to hit home runs every time."

But the power is there, and so far this October, it keeps arriving at exactly the right time.

In Game 3 of the NLCS, Bauers turned an 11-pitch at-bat against left-hander Blake Snell into a go-ahead homer. In the same game, left fielder Jackson Chourio led off the game with a first-pitch home run off Snell.

In Game 1 of the NLDS against the Padres, Chourio hit a game-tying two-run shot off southpaw Robbie Ray. In the seventh inning of that same game, catcher William Contreras smashed a go-ahead homer off lefty Adrian Morejon to give the Brewers a 3-2 lead they didn’t relinquish.

Hitting timely home runs – in addition to all the other excellent ways the Brewers grind down their opponents – is their secret weapon. 

Take Hamilton’s solo shot off Diaz in the ninth inning of NLCS Game 4. That only happened, according to Murphy, because he asked Hamilton to bunt in his first at-bat of the game. With two outs in the third inning, Hamilton bunted toward third on the first pitch. He was thrown out for the final out of the inning. But that bunt forced the Dodgers to set up for his future at-bats differently. Hamilton was, after all, Milwaukee’s No. 9 hitter, known for his elite speed and defensive versatility. He hit just four home runs across 121 games played this year. 

Hamilton was the last player the Dodgers expected to hit a ball out of the park, so they respected his bunt threat, and Diaz gave him a pitch to hit: a 90 mph slider over the middle of the plate. Hamilton sailed it 402 feet to right-center field.

"Just put a good swing on the ball and whatever happens, happens," Hamilton said of his approach in that momentous at-bat. "We shouldn't be going up there trying to hit home runs."

In recent years, Milwaukee’s lack of power has been criticized as one of the singular reasons the club had been unable to break through for a deep and successful postseason run, despite leading the league in wins in the regular season. This year, the Brewers ranked 29th in MLB with 154 home runs. In 2025, they ranked 22nd with 166 homers. In 2024, they ranked 16th with 177 homers. In 2023, they ranked 25th with 165 homers. 

In all four of those seasons, the Brewers finished first in the NL Central with 92 or more wins each year. But in the postseasons that followed from 2023 to 2025, the Brewers didn’t leave the park enough for homers to make a significant difference in October's win column. This year, entering the World Series, the Brewers lead all postseason teams with 10 home runs.

Having the propensity to hit the long ball from anywhere in the lineup all but erases the Brewers’ only real weakness as they get ready to face the Tampa Bay Rays in the Fall Classic on Friday.

"I think we've gotten the pitches to do it," Bauers told me. "We've been in situations where it's appropriate. No one's up there trying to hit a home run. But if you're wearing pitchers out, and you're having good at-bats up and down the lineup, chances are you're going to get one or two to hit. I think we're doing a good job of being ready for it when we get it.

"Our only intention up and down the lineup is making it hard for whoever's on the mound. Anytime you can have a long at-bat, anytime you can have a productive at-bat, it puts a little pressure on you and I think you're a little bit more likely to get one of those pitches."

Jake Bauers ends an 11-pitch at-bat against former Cy Young Award-winner Blake Snell by hitting a two-run homer in Game 3 of the 2026 NLCS. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

The 1982 team hit home runs because that was who they were. The 2026 team hits them when the moment calls for it. It’s one of the most fascinating differences between the two Milwaukee teams to reach the Fall Classic. 

The ‘82 Wallbangers slugged their way to the World Series. The ‘26 Smallballers just know when to swing.