Fans Gear Up For 1st Playoff Match-up Between Cubs & Brewers in MLB History 

The Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers faced off in the playoffs for the first time in MLB history on Saturday. The division rivals came out of the regular season with the Cubs taking the season series 7-6. The rivalry was neck-and-neck during the season and looked to be the same going into the playoff series.  

Since this is the first playoff meeting of its kind for these two teams, fans were excited to see the outcome. Many were looking forward to the matchup with their rival team. One thought, however, on many Brewers fans’ minds is their stress level. Jody Friese, a Brewers fan, believes this will be a very tense matchup. 

“It definitely raises the stress level,” Friese said. “It’s such a hated rivalry or at least hated from our side down there.” 

Some Cubs and Brewers fans were just outside the stadium at many different parking lots to talk about the game. They were all mingling and having drinks before the game. However, some Cubs’ fans are feeling the stress levels, too, as they gave their thoughts on how they feel about the Brewers. They believe the fans will put their two cents into this game. 

“I think it’s a great rivalry,” Cubs Fan Adam Gonzalez said. “Fans will definitely be involved today.” 

Many friends and families are also divided by the Brewers and the Cubs. Sonia Vella and Chris Yodice are Brewers fans, while Drew Vail is a Cubs fan. Vella believes that it will again be an energetic and great crowd. Vella also made note of the distance between the two fan bases’ ballparks. 

“I think everyone is excited to see these 90-mile difference teams play each other,” Vella said. “There has been a long-time rivalry between these two teams, but at the end of the day, the Brew Crew is strong.”  

Yodice says he is a born and raised New Yorker and has lived with these tense rivalries. 

“I am a born and raised New Yorker, and I moved to Chicago about four years ago,” Yodice said. “Where I grew up, Yankees vs Mets and Rangers vs Islanders had terrible vitriol whenever they teamed up.” 

Yodice points out that Midwest people tend to be nicer, and he is looking to see when the matchup gets intense, that fans are still treating each other with humility. 

“When things get tense, I’m looking to see people treat each other with humility,” Yodice said. “That’s what this world needs right now.” 

Vail wants to see a great baseball game between the two teams and is looking forward to the matchup. 

“I very much look forward to a great baseball game between two great cities on one of the greatest bodies of water,” Vail said. “And with that, though, I hope that the Cubs absolutely destroy the Brewers.” 

With these big factors leading into this rivalry game, it was time for the kickoff. The fans were very loud to start the game, and it came with a heavily anticipated pitching match-up. Two all-stars were on the bump with Freddy Peralta for the Brewers and Matthew Boyd for the Cubs. 

Peralta started the game for the Brewers at the top of the first. The all-star pitcher, however, started off a little shaky, giving up a leadoff homer to Michael Busch. Busch led the Cubs in homers this year and had five leadoff homers for them during the season. 

It was home-field advantage for the Brewers for game one, but the home fans were not heard after the loud homer by Busch. The Cubs fans were cheering loudly for the great start and hoped for the bats to continue to rake. This was not the case, however, as Peralta settled in after the leadoff homer. 

Danny Gonzalez, who is also a Cubs fan, took the time to point out that not only are the Cubs and Brewers a big rivalry, but also the other Wisconsin and Illinois teams. 

“We got the Packers and the Bears, which is one of the oldest rivalries,” Gonzalez said. “Now this rivalry is building up to that, and they’re calling this series the I-94 series.” 

Danny and Adam Gonzalez drove up from Chicago to watch this series and believe this will be a grueling and emotional series.  

“We drove up an hour to get here,” Gonzalez said. “We wouldn’t miss it for the world.” 

Some Brewers fans had different thoughts on this series, saying that Cubs fans call them something different than a Brewers fan.  

“They sometimes make fun of us and call us Wrigley North,” Brewers’ fan Griffin Papian said. “The fan base here at these games is divided, so there is a lot more energy at these games.” 

Papian explained how much more energy will be in this series because it’s the playoffs. 

“I can imagine a playoff game is going to be a little more energetic,” Papian said. “It’s a little more special.” 

Another big factor in this historic rivalry is that the Cubs now have the former manager of the Brewers, Craig Counsell. Counsell signed a five-year $40 million dollar deal with the Cubs two offseason ago. Counsell now looks to beat his former team in the NLDS with the hope of advancing to the next round. Fans gave their input at the game on the move, and how it might impact the games in this series. 

“Since he left for a bitter rival that stung,” Steve Papian, a Brewers fan, said. “This would be a great win for the Brewers.” 

Gary Papian believes that the Brewers got the better manager out of the deal. Pat Murphy. The Brewers’ current manager got the Brewers to 97 wins this season and has been with the organization since 2015. The Cubs under Counsell only won 92 games and lost the division midway through the year. 

“I am a big fan of Pat,” Griffin Papian said. “No love lost with Craig Counsell, but I will join in on the boos though.” 

Danny Gonzalez gave his perspective on the Counsell move and believes that Brewers fans are not happy about the move. 

“I don’t think their happy,” Gonzalez said. “They’re going to be booing, and you’re going to hear the boo birds when he comes out of the dugout.” 

Gonzalez said that he believed the Brewers fans were downplaying the move all year and said he wasn’t a good manager. He thinks it will definitely impact the fans during this game. 

Drew Vail, however, is a Cubs fan and believes that the Brewers have the better manager despite what other Cubs fans are saying about the situation. 

“They’re paying their manager a lot less and he is doing a lot better,” Vail said. “Right now, there is nothing to cry about with us signing Craig Counsell.” 

On the other side, Boyd was looking to continue his great season with the Cubs by shutting the door on the Brewers in game one. However, the unthinkable happened for Boyd as in the bottom of the first, he gave up three straight doubles to start off the game. 

The Brewers crowd erupted and stomped on the Cubs fans’ Cheers. The Cubs fans could no longer be heard. Boyd was taken out of the first inning before it was over. The Cubs’ relievers proceeded to give up two more runs after Boyd gave up four of his own in the first. The Brewers did not look back after that inning. They scored three more runs compared to the Cubs’ two more runs for the rest of the game. 

The final score was 9-3; the Brewers ended the game with a resounding win and roar from the crowd. The first game of the series was finished with the Brewers being crowd winners. There is potential for more games to go with the game two being on Monday, Oct. 6, with an 8:08 p.m. start time.