The 2026 World Series will see the Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays square off, much to the chagrin of people who love complaining about how it's just "the same teams every single year."

People who love variety should be ecstatic with this matchup. Since we last had a first-time winner (the 2023 Texas Rangers), five MLB teams remain title-less: these same Brewers and Rays, plus the Colorado Rockies, San Diego Padres and Seattle Mariners. 

We are guaranteed to knock the answer to that trivia question down to four after this Fall Classic. There will be a first-time winner by Halloween. 

This is not, however, the first time these franchises have played in the World Series. Only the Mariners (who came tantalizingly close last year) have zero pennants. Here's how the previous World Series appearances went for the two 2026 pennant winners. 

1982: Brewers vs. Cardinals

Though it's very possible the 2026 Brewers have at least one Hall of Famer, maybe multiple, it's a great bet they won't match the 1982 group, which had five: Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, Ted Simmons, Rollie Fingers and Don Sutton. 

"Harvey's Wallbangers" was the affectionate nickname for this group under manager Harvey Kuenn. They won 95 games in the regular season before taking down the Angels (yes, the Brewers were in the American League at the time), three games to two in the ALCS. They then played in their first-ever World Series against a decorated franchise in the Cardinals, which at the time had 17 pennants and eight World Series titles. 

The Brewers announced their presence early and with authority. Yount and Molitor combined to go 9 for 12 and Simmons homered as the Brewers took Game 1, 10-0, behind Mike Caldwell's shutout. It was total domination. 

The Cardinals won Games 2 and 3 before the Brewers evened things up in Game 4 with a monster comeback. They were down 5-1 heading into the seventh inning and put up six runs. Yount and Gorman Thomas each had two-RBI singles in the big inning. The Brewers also took Game 5 behind Yount's 4 for 4 effort, which included a double and a home run. 

The Cardinals returned home for a blowout 13-1 win in Game 6 and then ripped out the Brewers' hearts in Game 7. It was a 3-1 Milwaukee lead in the middle of the sixth inning. A Keith Hernandez bases-loaded single was followed by a George Hendrick single and all of a sudden it was 4-3 Cardinals. They tacked two more on in the eighth and Hall of Fame reliever Bruce Sutter finished off his two-inning save in the ninth. 

2008: Rays vs. Phillies

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays started play in 1998 and were, for the most part, a laughingstock of a franchise through 2007. They finished in last place in the AL East each year except for 2004, when they snuck into fourth with 70 wins. That was their best record (70-91). They went 66-96 in 2007. A new ownership group, looking to tie in sunshine "rays" and for better vibes, dropped the "Devil" before 2008 and everything changed (no, not because of the name change). 

The Rays improved by 31 wins, going 97-65 and shockingly winning the AL East. They then beat the White Sox in the ALDS and took down the Red Sox in seven games in the ALCS. They were void of Hall of Famers, but had All-Stars Dioner Navarro, Evan Longoria (also AL Rookie of the Year) and Scott Kazmir, along with quality players like Carlos Peña, Carl Crawford, B.J. Upton and James Shields. They also got a boost late in the season and in the playoffs from a young lefty by the name of David Price. Perhaps you've heard of him. 

This World Series, unfortunately, might be most remembered outside of Philadelphia for the rain-suspended Game 5. Game 3 started after 10 p.m. ET due to rain as well. 

The Phillies won Game 1, but the Rays bounced back to win Game 2. They struck early, getting two runs in the first and another in the second. Shields threw well, and then Price finished the game, though he did allow two runs for a final score of 4-2. 

The rain-marred Philly portion of the series saw three Phillies wins. Game 3 was a heartbreaker. The Rays had tied it in the eighth when Upton stole third and the throw got away, allowing him to score. The Phillies walked it off in the ninth. Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard went off in Game 4, a 10-2 Phillies win. Then there was the suspended Game 5. It was 2-2 in the middle of the sixth when everyone packed up and returned the next night. When play resumed, the Phillies took the lead quickly. A Rocco Baldelli home run in the seventh tied it, but the Phillies responded right back with a Pedro Feliz RBI single in the bottom half. Brad Lidge closed things down in the ninth, giving the Phillies their first title since 1980.

2020: Rays vs. Dodgers

We don't need to rehash how awful the year 2020 was, do we? Nah. Just remember that these were all neutral-site games. 

The Rays were the No. 1 seed in the AL after a 40-20 regular season. They beat the Blue Jays (2-0) in the Wild Card Series, the Yankees (3-2) in the ALDS and the Astros (4-3) in the ALCS. Brandon Lowe, Yandy Díaz and Willy Adames were their muscle on offense, while the pitching staff was led by Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and a great back-end of the bullpen.

The Dodgers took Game 1, 8-3. The Rays responded with a 6-4 win in Game 2 thanks in large part to Lowe's two homers. The Dodgers won Game 3 and then the Rays survived a wild back-and-forth Game 4, 8-7, with a Brett Phillips walk-off single that also included an error at home plate to close things out. 

The Dodgers took Game 5 and then won it all in Game 6, most memorable for the Snell controversy. The lefty had a one-hit shutout with nine strikeouts through five innings and the Rays were clinging to a 1-0 lead. Snell recorded the first out of the inning and then gave up a single to Austin Barnes. Rays manager Kevin Cash elected to pull Snell in favor of shutdown reliever Nick Anderson. Anderson gave up a double to Mookie Betts, a wild pitch brought Barnes home and then Betts scored the go-ahead run on a Corey Seager groundout. Betts provided some insurance with a home run in the eighth and the Rays' season finished with a 3-1 loss.