Milwaukee Brewers decade in review: From Ryan Braun to Tony Plush, the best moments of the decade

The 2010s saw more Brewers success than the previous two decades combined, with a return to annual relevance and three trips to the postseason, including two of the best teams in franchise history, both of which making trips to the National League Championship Series.

That kind of success leads to higher stakes and plenty of memorable moments. Here are 10 of the defining Brewers moments from the 2010s (plus a few extras).

Honorable Mention: Keon Broxton’s walkoff home run robbery against the Cardinals (8/30/17)

You can’t tell the story of the Brewers of the 2010s without some of the defensive contributions of Broxton, perhaps none more memorable than this as the 2017 Brewers tried to make an unexpected push for the playoffs heading into the final month.

Honorable Mention: Ryan Braun’s 3-2, 2 out, go-ahead Grand Slam against the Cardinals (9/15/19)

Braun has made a habit of clutch September moments in his career, and that continued right up until the end of the decade as he delivered a huge home run to keep Milwaukee’s division and playoff hopes alive on what could’ve been the last pitch of the game.

Honorable Mention: Yasmani Grandal’s first pitch, 2-run home run off Max Scherzer in NL Wildcard Game (10/1/19)

The end result of the game likely keeps this off the official Top 10, but don’t let it overshadow just how big it was in the moment. With many dreading a do-or-die game against one of the best pitchers of this era, Grandal showed no fear in ripping the first pitch he saw for a laser of a home run — quickly shutting up a Nationals home crowd that feared yet another postseason loss.

10.) Christian Yelich and Ryan Braun go back-to-back on back-to-back pitches to walk off against the Cardinals (4/3/18)

Yelich’s first home run as a Brewer was a big one, tying the game with two outs in the 9th inning against the Cardinals. Braun did him one better, following it up with the walkoff on the very next pitch. It was just the 5th game of the 2018 season, but an early sign that it would be a special year.

9.) Lorenzo Cain’s walk-off catch against the Cardinals on Opening Day (3/28/19)

Cain finally got the Gold Glove he deserved in 2019, and that campaign started early with a game-winning home run robbery on Opening Day that proved to be the national highlight of the day.

8.) Mother’s Day Miracles (2015, 2017, 2018)

This is cheating a bit, but the Brewers made such a habit of making memories on Mother’s Day that we’ll just lump them all into one here. It started with Martin Maldonado’s game-winning hit in 2016. Manny Pina was the unlikely hero two years later, hitting a go-ahead home run in the 8th inning in 2017. Then came Freddy Peralta’s record-breaking 13-strikeout MLB debut in 2018 with his mom in attendance.

7.) Yelich homers twice to force NL Central tie with one game to play (9/29/18)

The Brewers already had a playoff spot in their pocket heading into the final weekend of the season against the lowly Detroit Tigers, but continued to chase down the Chicago Cubs in the standings until the end. Yelich cemented his case for MVP by hitting two home runs and was the difference in the win that forced a tie in the NL Central heading into the season’s final day.

6.) Prince Fielder puts the Brewers ahead to stay in Game 1 of the NLCS (10/9/11)

It would prove to be Prince’s final few games with the Brewers, but he still made an impact early in the 2011 NLCS, crushing a go-ahead home run off of lefty Jaime Garcia that would help the Brewers to a Game 1 win and an early advantage in the series.

5.) Mike Moustakas walks off in his first postseason game as a Brewer (10/4/18)

Moustakas had a history of postseason memories in Kansas City earlier in the decade, and quickly made one in Milwaukee, delivering the game-winning hit in his first postseason game in Milwaukee.

4.) Brandon Woodruff homers off Clayton Kershaw (10/12/18)

Not only was Woodruff not intimidated by going toe-to-toe on the mound with the best pitcher of his generation, he wasn’t intimidated in the batter’s box, hitting a home run that might end up being the defining moment of his career to even the score in Game 1 of the NLCS — a game he and the Brewers eventually won.

3.) Brewers rally, break Wrigley’s heart in 8th inning of Game 163 (10/1/18)

Jesus Aguilar prophesied the day before that the Cubs knew “they had a problem” heading into the tiebreaker game to decide who would win the NL Central, and that came to fruition. With the Cubs holding a 1-0 lead heading into the 8th inning, Domingo Santana tied the game with an RBI double before RBI singles by Lorenzo Cain and Ryan Braun gave the Brewers a 3-1 lead, with Josh Hader getting the final outs for the Brewers’ second division title of the decade and 4th overall.

2.) Braun’s bomb clinches first division title in nearly 30 years (9/23/11)

Also possibly the moment that clinched Braun’s 2011 MVP win, he crushed a no-doubt home run to dead center in the 8th inning to give the Brewers the lead they needed to clinch their first division title since 1982. Everyone knew it was gone off the bat — including Corey Hart, who was on second base at the time and was seen immediately celebrating at the bottom of the screen.

1.) Nyjer Morgan, aka Tony Clutch (10/7/11)

It came early in the decade, but frankly, there’s no other choice for this spot, and it has to be viewed with Bob Uecker’s call.

Feel free to chime in with other memorable moments from the past ten years in the comments.