Interestingly, in 1982 -- the only time the Brewers ever reached the World Series -- they played the St. Louis Cardinals, the same team they are playing in this year's NLCS. The Cardinals won that series 4 games to 3.
The Cardinals have made eight previous trips to the NLCS. Here are their appearances in the NLCS, with pennant-winning years in bold:
1982, 1985, 1987, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2006
The Brewers and Cardinals are both in the National League Central, and the Brewers finished six games ahead of St. Louis in the standings. Again, I think it's silly that Milwaukee now has to beat St. Louis again, but that's the world in which we live. This is the third time two teams from the Central have met in the NLCS. In 2004, the Cardinals (who were the division winners) beat the Astros 4 games to 3. In 2005, the Astros (who won the Wild Card), beat the Cardinals 4 games to 2.
This is the first NLCS without the Phillies since 2007. It is the first year that no Eastern team reached the NLCS or the ALCS since 2005.
After that 1982 World Series, I figured Mike Caldwell was going to go down as one of the best pitchers in the history of baseball.
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