Ex-Yankee Jake Bauers is quickly becoming a household name in Milwaukee.

The Brewers first baseman earned NLCS MVP honors after recording six RBIs in the four-game sweep of the two-time defending champion Dodgers.

He put his name in the franchise’s history books by becoming the first Brewer to win the championship series honor, with his go-ahead two-run homer in Game 3 potentially swinging the series.

Brewers first baseman Jake Bauers holds the NLCS MVP trophy after Game 4 of baseball’s National League Championship Series between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Dodgers, Friday, Oct. 16, 2026, in Los Angeles. AP Photo/Ashley Landis

“I don’t know,” Bauers said said after Thursday’s 6-4 win. “I just let it all come to me. I didn’t chase it. I didn’t want anything. I just wanted to be a part of something, and that’s what I got.”

The other time they won a league pennant, in the 1982 ALCS, the award went to the Angels’ Fred Lynn.

Bauers was close to being nowhere near the NLCS when he contemplated retirement two years ago.

He batted .202 and hit twelve home runs for the Yankees in 2023 and was traded to Milwaukee after the season’s end. He began his tenure there by batting .199 in 2024.

Bauers only changed his mind on retirement when his wife told him she was pregnant, and Bauers kept at it to help support his family.

Bauers had decent stretches for the Yankees in a rough 2023 for the club, working his way up from Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre, but his 30-game stretch with a .495 OPS in August and September ended the season on a sour note, and the Yankees sent him to the Brewers for two minor league outfielders.

Jake Bauers #61 of the Yankees jogs to first during the first inning against the Houston Astros during a 2023 game. Getty Images

Bauers might very well face the team that he debuted with in the World Series in a week’s time: he was drafted by the Padres in 2013, but was traded to the Rays the following year and made his debut in Tampa in June 2018.

After floating through several organizations and spending time between the majors and minors in 2025, Bauers had a breakout this season, slashing .266/.389/.484 with 26 home runs.

Now, after four trades, three releases and thoughts of retirement, he’s helped lead the Brewers to their first pennant since 1982, just a year after being swept by the Dodgers in the same series.

He went 4-for-14 en route to the NLCS MVP award, but the four hits made noise.

He had a two-run double in Game 4 during the Brewers’ comeback and hit a two-run home run in the seventh inning of Game 3 to help Milwaukee grab the lead for good.

“He’s been huge for us all season, and I’m just really proud of him,” teammate Christian Yelich said. “He’s been a huge part of our team, and he had an unbelievable series with some great at-bats and a huge homer last night and a big double today to get things rolling. He did a great job.”

Bauers and his Brewers will open the World Series and host the Guardians or Rays at American Family Field on Oct. 23.