As you've probably heard/read by now, this year's World Series teams have a few things in common.
It is a matchup of two "small-market" teams. It's two teams that play "small ball," or at least "smaller ball" than most of MLB teams have been playing the last several years. Both teams are based on pitching, speed, fielding, smart base-running and each have a couple of phenomenal hitters.
Also, both play in domed stadiums.
But there's more than those things that make them similar for me. For the longest time, my brain has frequently considered them the same team. I've often thought of the two teams as mirror images, the Rays as the "American League Brewers" and the Brewers as "the National League Rays".
Maybe it wouldn't be that way if they were in the same league (they probably should be, shouldn't they Mr. Selig?). I mean I do the same thing with the Brewers and the Mariners. The main reason I tend to think the Rays and Brewers are similar is that they have similar uniform colors.
Tampa Bay's colors are navy blue, light blue and yellow. Milwaukee's colors are navy blue and yellow. From the team color codes website, below are the main colors for each team:
RAYS
Even when you look at the retro colors for each team you can spot a similarity: green. The Rays wore green prominently during the 2000s and the Brewers used it as an accent color during the mid-1990s. Green isn't all that common for major league teams, excluding the A's (and those Mariners again), so it's interesting when two of them with the same color history pop up in the Series.
I am an outsider when it comes to this Series, no allegiances at all. If I lived in Tampa or Wisconsin I'd be proud and find my team unique -- the two teams certainly aren't the same as far as hometown -- but from far away they look pretty much the same.
Naturally, both teams have featured some of the same players, 86 in total according to baseball-reference. Jake Bauers is a current player who has played for the Rays and Brewers. I went through the list and found six other players who played the most amount of years with both teams.
I'll start with another current player:
DREW RASMUSSEN
Opposite of Jake Bauers, Drew Rasmussen started with Milwaukee and now plays for Tampa Bay. Rasmussen went straight from Milwaukee to Tampa, while Bauers took side trips to Cleveland, Seattle and the Yankees before arriving in Milwaukee.
Each of the other players with the most years with each team are no longer with either team. But one of them is still playing.
WILLY ADAMES
Willy Adames plays for the Giants now. I admit I liked him better with the Rays and the Brewers. He might wish he was playing with one of his old teams, too.
GREG VAUGHN
One of the early Brewer-Rays. Greg Vaughn played eight years with the Brewers and three with the Rays. He played for San Diego and Cincinnati in between.
MATT GARZA
Matt Garza probably had his most successful seasons with the Rays though he wasn't with them for very long. He wrapped up his career with four years with the Brewers.
SETH MCCLUNG
Until this moment I could feature cards from my collection but I don't have the Upper Deck Rays card of Seth McClung (I probably did once back when I bought up a ton of 2006 UD during repeated visits to Walmart).
McClung spent six years in the majors -- exactly three with the Rays and three with the Brewers. Forget Mirror Image Series, this is the Seth McClung Series!
ALBERTO REYES
Final player I'm showing. I have neither of these cards. Alberto Reyes started his major league career with the Brewers in 1995 (his minor league career began in the Expos organization in 1990). Then he played for the Orioles, Dodgers, Pirates, Yankees, Cardinals, dipped down into the minors, and emerged in 2007 as a grizzled veteran for the Rays!
There are plenty of other guys who played for both teams but I'm sure that's enough to show. You've got a World Series to watch!
I'll miss Game 1 (work) but I'll catch Game 2. Like almost every World Series in my lifetime, I'm looking forward to it. I don't really have a rooting interest, though my guess is I'll impulsively pull for the Brewers just based on the old Harvey's Wallbangers squads. If they show Cecil Cooper and Ben Oglivie enough times I'll just melt.
Enjoy the Series, it should be a well-played one if nothing else. Don't get the teams mixed up.
P.S.: Speaking of confusion, did Topps make enough Jackson Chourio cards in 2024?
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