By Zane Miller

The Milwaukee Brewers will battle the Tampa Bay Rays in the 122^nd World Series, as one of these two teams will take home their first championship in franchise history.

For the Brewers, their only past World Series appearance in 1982 ended in defeat against their now-division rival St. Louis Cardinals, falling in seven games as the Cardinals took advantage of the final two games being at home, winning both contests to hold the Brew Crew championship-less.

While the Rays have more recent experience in the Fall Classic, they too came up short. Their Cinderella run to the World Series in 2008 saw the glass slipper break in five games versus the Philadelphia Phillies, while their 2020 visit concluded in victory for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who won in six games but not without a fight from Tampa Bay.

Out of the 225 potential World Series matchups that would be possible under the current playoff format, 72 of them have occurred so far.

The most common matchup out of the ones that could still be possible to re-occur is the New York Yankees vs. Los Angeles Dodgers, as the franchises have faced each other 12 times, coming in 1941, 1947, 1949, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1963, 1977, 1978, 1981 and 2024.

Photo Credit: USA Today