Cardinals History: Willie McGee prevents Brewers from winning their first World Series

Depending on when you read this, the Milwaukee Brewers may have already punched their ticket to the 2026 World Series, keeping their hopes alive of securing their first World Series title. What does that have to do with the St. Louis Cardinals? Well, they are a big reason why the Brewers still haven't secured a championship in their franchise history to this point.

Flashback to 1982. The Brewers are in the World Series, but this time, representing the American League, and they were tasked with facing the Cardinals on their quest to secure their first title.

The Cardinals had themselves a star-studded roster powered by Ozzie Smith, Keith Hernandez, Joaquin Andujar, Tom Herr, and a rookie Willie McGee. The first-year outfielder may not have had himself a great series overall, but he sure did win the Cardinals the pivotal Game 3 contest, helping lead the Cardinals to a title in seven games.

McGee slugged two home runs while driving in four runs and made multiple great plays in the field to give the Cardinals a 6-2 win over the Brewers. Without McGee's offense, the Cardinals would have only scored two runs, and without his catches, they would have given up more as well.

As the Brewers look to secure their first World Series title this month, they have McGee to thank for their franchise-long drought.

Willie McGee started his historic Cardinals tenure with World Series win over Brewers

Everyone loves McGee, and for good reason. He was one of the most fun Cardinals to watch play in franchise history - playing great defense, stealing a ton of bases, and mixing in a bunch of doubles and triples on his way to an MVP in 1985 and future induction into the Cardinals Hall of Fame.

McGee secured three Gold Gloves and four All-Star selections during his 18-year career, and all of that talent was on display as a 23-year-old in the World Series. That Game 3 victory helped put the Cardinals up 2-1 in the series, which would be critical considering they lost the next two outings to go down 3 games to 2.

McGee only drove in one more run in the rest of the series, with Hernandez, Herr, and Darrell Porter really carrying the offense in the series. Anudjar was brilliant in the series, including in the Cardinals Game 3 win alongside McGee's offensive output.

The Brewers didn't make their way to the National League Central until 1998, and their rivalry with the Cardinals has really blossomed since then. But this matchup in the Fall Classic certainly created some bad blood between the two, and Cardinals fans have been able to hold that over the Brewers ever since.

Well, now Milwaukee has the upper hand in a big way. They are arguably the best-run organization in the game right now, and not only are they the favorite to win the World Series, but they are also set up to remain on top for a long time.

The Cardinals have a lot of work to do to catch up, but Chaim Bloom and his staff have done a pretty great job of getting them on the right track. And hey, at least for a few more days, the Cardinals can claim they have the most hardware in the National League, while the Brew Crew has none.

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