Editor's Note - With this week being the start of MLB's Postseason, #CoachJeff will focus on postseason baseball in Monday-Thursday editions. Today wraps up the four-part series. Next week, we'll resume our regular format and schedule.
Back when the Phuds roamed the intramural softball diamond during my grad school years, we had a few rival teams. The mixed history/english department team (the referred to themselves as "The Unified Team" or the Unies) was one of our rivals. The second was a team from the university hospital (they called themselves "The Lifesavers"). And then, there was the team from computing. They called themselves "The Bytes."
The Bytes had a big, larger-than-life pitcher who wore a Milwaukee Brewers cap. I never introduced myself or got his name. So, I always referred to him to our guys as The Milwaukee Brewer. Since the Brewers have never won a World Series, I wonder what the former Bytes pitcher would think if this turns out to be their year.
Hold that thought.
Certainly I wasn't thinking about that, either, during my visit to (then) Miller Park (now American Family Field) in Milwaukee. The Brewers stop came up fairly early in my tour of MLB Ballparks (4th of 30). In the early days of digital cameras, we were still shooting with film. Unfortunately, we didn't get a lot of good, representative photos that day.
Here's the best I could find in my files - me (ca. 2001) with Miller Park's interior as the backdrop.
Now, back to the picks.
But before we take a look at the final three predictions, let's review Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday's posts. On Monday, #CoachJeff did a quick recap of the 2026 regular season. Then, on Tuesday, I made my postseason picks for the wildcard round of the playoffs (an update - they don't look so good). Yesterday, I posted my predictions for the divisional round.
Note - If #CoachJeff had been batting a thousand, the final four would be set. But they're not.
I am only 1 for 3 in the Wild Card Round. A batter would be thrilled with .333 but a picker is not!
Ironically, the one remaining series is the one in which I have an emotional stake. I WISH I could be wrong about that pick (but fear I will not).
That said, I still predict the higher seeded teams will win in the divisional round. Think it will be Guardians and Rays with the Rays coming out on top in the ALCS.
American League Championship Series - #3 Astros #2 Guardians at #1 Rays
National League Championship Series - #2 Dodgers at #1 Brewers
As I told you yesterday, there are no surprises in my postseason crystal ball. I'm picking the top seeds in each league to advance to the 2026 World Series.
American League Championship Series - Here, I think the guile and postseason experience of the Astros reaches the end of the line. Sub the name Cleveland here. Tampa Bay, with three sluggers and a line-up full of professional hitters takes then out. Rays rule in the AL.
#CoachJeff Says - Rays 4-1
National League Championship Series -
In the National League, I expect an epic series. There are so many big names on the Dodgers ballclub. So many opportunities for one of those superstars to make a big postseason play - a diving catch, a ball that splits the gap, a bit strike-out.
That's exactly why I am flipping the script and predicting the BrewCrew will win in seven.
#CoachJeff Says - Brewers 4-3
As I let prediction that sink in, I would also be happy for the pitcher for the UTCC Bytes from all those years ago - the Milwaukee Brewer - even if I celebrated the Phuds beating his team for the 1996 summer intramural title.
2026 World Series
I could see this going either way, but I'm a National League guy through and through so...
#CoachJeff Says - Brewers 4-2
I'm sure The Milwaukee Brewer says Win Our Way.
JG
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