rutlandherald
In a historic victory, the Milwaukee Brewers captured their first World Series title, and catcher William Contreras was named the Series MVP. Contreras, the eighth catcher to receive the honor, batted .381 and played a crucial role in guiding the Brewers' pitching staff. He also excelled in the first World Series to feature the Automated Ball-Strike challenge system, winning 10 of 13 appeals.
Contreras contributed an RBI double in Milwaukee's 4-1 clinching win in Game 5 on Wednesday night. Relief pitcher Aaron Ashby praised Contreras, saying, "He posts every day. This team's not what it is without this guy. He's unbelievable."
Immediately after receiving the MVP award, Contreras shared an emotional embrace with his older brother, Willson Contreras, a first baseman for the Boston Red Sox who won a World Series with the Chicago Cubs in 2016. "My brother's my best friend," William said through tears. He became emotional again when discussing his home country of Venezuela.
Contreras was part of Venezuela's team that won its first World Baseball Classic in March, though he struggled individually, going 0 for 13 with no RBIs. On Wednesday, he celebrated on the field with a Venezuelan flag draped over his shoulders. He and teammates Jackson Chourio and Antonio Senzatela joined Alex Bregman and Luke Gregerson (Team USA/Houston Astros in 2017) as the only players to win both the WBC and World Series in the same year. "It means everything because that's the first time Venezuela guys win the WBC and the World Series," he said. "It's history, history for my country. I love Venezuela. It's my country."
Contreras joins Gene Tenace (1972), Johnny Bench (1976), Steve Yeager (co-winner in 1981), Darrell Porter (1982), Rick Dempsey (1983), Pat Borders (1992), and Salvador Perez (2015) as catchers who have won the award.
A three-time All-Star, the 28-year-old Contreras batted .270 with 18 home runs and a career-high 94 RBIs during the regular season as the Brewers won their fourth consecutive NL Central title. He was particularly adept at using baseball's new robot umpire challenge system, leading MLB with 185 challenges and 105 overturns. In the World Series, he was successful on 10 of 13 challenges, and overall in the postseason, he went 22 for 33.
In the Division Series against the San Diego Padres, Contreras hit .444 with two solo home runs, including a tiebreaking seventh-inning drive in Game 1 and another homer in Game 3. In the Championship Series sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers, he batted .357 with one home run and three RBIs.
Milwaukee had several other strong MVP candidates. Rookie Cooper Pratt set a World Series rookie record with six consecutive hits and tied Gil McDougald's 1951 rookie mark with seven RBIs, including go-ahead hits in the final three games. Jackson Chourio recorded 11 hits, the most by any player in a five-game World Series. Ace Jacob Misiorowski allowed just one run over 10 2/3 innings, and reliever Aaron Ashby pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings with a save and nine strikeouts.
Originally reported by rutlandherald.