Calgary Brewing

By IAN WILSON

The Milwaukee Brewers are World Series champions and Calgarians have good reason to raise a glass to the triumph.

The Brew Crew claimed their first Major League Baseball (MLB) title in dominant fashion with a 4-1 series victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.

Milwaukee was a force all year long, picking up 103 wins as the best team in the regular season before going 11-2 in the MLB postseason.

While World Series MVP catcher William Contreras – who successfully won 10 of 13 Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) System challenges during the Fall Classic – and star players such as outfielder Jackson Chourio, clutch shortstop Cooper Pratt, veteran slugger Christian Yelich, stellar starting pitcher Jacob Misiorowski and unhittable reliever Aaron Ashby rightfully seized the spotlight during the postseason, there were a number of key individuals with ties to Alberta who helped the Brewers raise the Commissioner’s Trophy in 2026.

Here’s a closer look at some of the Calgary connections to the World Series-winning Milwaukee Brewers:

JIM HENDERSON

The pitching coordinator with the Brewers, and a member of the big-league coaching staff since 2022, Jim Henderson was tasked with implementing a pitching strategy ahead of each game to keep some of the world’s top hitters in check.

According to a Sportsnet article by Shi Davidi, Henderson had “an ideal set-up written down and prepared and an, uh-oh, one as well. Then I have to adjust when Murph comes up to me in the fourth inning and says, ‘I want to switch out,’ and improvise. … For us to put the puzzle together and figure out how to get through that game, matching up, that’s fun to me and I’ve enjoyed that part of the gig.”

Manager Pat Murphy told Davidi this of their relationship: “We’re lucky … Jimmy Henderson and I, we fight about it all game on the bench. I don’t know who the arbitrator is, but we fight about it all game, and then we come up with something. So far, so good.”

Henderson – who appeared as a relief pitcher in 111 MLB games with the Brewers – was an original member of the Calgary Dawgs youth team that grew to include the Dawgs summer collegiate squad in the Western Major Baseball League (WMBL), the forerunner of the Western Canadian Baseball League (WCBL). Dawgs Academy is now located in Okotoks, where the Seaman Stadium Complex is a mecca of Canadian baseball, and the summer collegiate team has won eight WCBL championships.

“I couldn’t be here without them, obviously,” Henderson said of the Dawgs.

“It’s hard to even say how important it was. It was beyond important for my development. It’s as simple as that.”

You can learn more about the Okotoks Dawgs Hall of Famer’s journey from Calgary to Milwaukee here.

CHARLIE GREENE

Bullpen coach Charlie Greene suited up for the New York Mets, Baltimore Orioles, Toronto Blue Jays and the Brewers during his 55 MLB games as a catcher.

Near the end of his playing days, he appeared in 99 games with the Triple-A Calgary Cannons of the Pacific Coast League. During that 2002 season, Greene batted .250 with 34 runs, 24 doubles, 41 RBI and seven home runs.

The Miami native joined the coaching staff of the Brewers as a fielding coordinator and catching instructor in 2010 and was promoted to the role of bullpen coach in 2024.

MATT ERICKSON

Managing traffic at third base for the Brewers was Matt Erickson, an Appleton, Wisconsin product who only played in four MLB games, but all of them were with Milwaukee in his home state.

Erickson was a teammate of Greene’s with the Cannons. The infielder appeared in 223 games for Calgary in 2001 and 2002. In that time, he collected 129 runs, 237 hits, 51 doubles, 26 stolen bases and three long balls.

The seventh-round selection of the Florida Marlins also took time to work with young players at one of the Cannons instructional baseball camps in July of 2001.

“I know as a young kid, growing up in a town that had a minor-league baseball team, I’d love to go out and see the guys play,” Erickson told the Calgary Herald newspaper at the time.

“And I still remember that any interaction I had with them was a big highlight for me. Hopefully, if I now can do that for some kids in this city, it makes me feel good. Hey, it’s also fun to be out there.”

Erickson joined the coaching staff of the Single-A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers in 2009 and took over as manager in 2011, a job he held for a decade. The Timber Rattlers won a Midwest League championship in 2012.

The Brewers brought him onto the parent club as an assistant hitting coach and infield coach in 2022 and he was named the third base coach in 2026.

“The Brewers have been in all parts of my life and baseball upbringing,” Erickson said in a recent interview with Whole Hog Sports.

“To be a fan and then a player, and now a coach, and to see this stadium the last couple of weeks and throughout the summer just filled with joy and excitement from our fans, it has been truly remarkable.”

PAT CASEY

College Baseball Hall of Famer Pat Casey joined the Brewers in 2025 as a player development and high performance consultant.

Casey was a long-time skipper at Oregon State University, where he won three national championships and claimed five coach of the year awards.

“He’s a great man and we’ve had a lot of fun competing against each other,” Murphy said of Casey in a 2011 interview.

“I really cherish our friendship … He’s a wonderful man and I think he’s accomplished a lot in college baseball.”

Casey was sent to Foothills Stadium to represent the Cannons in their inaugural season in 1985 and the infielder played 225 games for the Cannons over two seasons.

“I have fond memories about that whole experience. Loved Calgary, loved the people in that city,” Casey told Alberta Dugout Stories.

“I appreciated how much that front office and the people with the Calgary Cannons cared about baseball and what we were doing. We were treated really well there. There was just a lot of good things there. Every year that I played there was something that helped me in a positive way.”

BRIAN TURANG

Another connection to the Cannons comes from the Turang family.

Brian Turang, who played 78 games for the Seattle Mariners, made his way to Calgary for parts of three different PCL seasons from 1990 to 1994. In total, he repped the Cannons in 178 games.

The infielder and outfielder from Long Beach, California produced 135 runs, 36 doubles, 16 triples, 13 homers, 95 RBI and 29 stolen bases with the Cannons.

His son, Brice Turang, has been the starting second baseman for the Brewers since 2023.

“I was a little bit stronger than him, but that will come,” said the elder Turang in a 2022 MLB.com interview.

“He has height on me, speed on me. I just try to tell him, ‘Hey man, keep doing what you’re doing. Be you, and you’ve got it.’”

After fielding a ground ball from Jonathan Aranda for the final out of the Fall Classic, Turang has something else his father does not: a World Series championship.

TYLER HOLLICK

His day job is president of baseball operations with the Okotoks Dawgs, but Tyler Hollick has also been an associate scout for the Brewers for several years.

“They’re still going to make the decisions on who they want, it’s basically an extra set of eyes wherever I can,” Hollick said during a 2019 interview with Western Wheel reporter Remy Greer.

“It’s really cool and something I’ve wanted to do for a long time, specifically with the Brewers, they’re super-involved in Canada. Anyone that knows the history of the draft, the Brewers are one of the most aggressive teams in Canada.”

Added Hollick: “They decided they need some more help in Canada and I thought it would be a good fit …. It kind of goes full circle there with Jimmy and myself.”

The Calgarian was the 2011 WMBL Rookie of the Year as a member of the Dawgs, before being drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the 14th round of the 2012 MLB Draft.

Following his time in the minor leagues, he returned to Okotoks where he coached and took on a number of front office roles.

OTHER CONNECTIONS

John Axford, who was inducted into the Milwaukee Brewers Wall of Honor in 2025, took the bump for the Melville Millionaires in the WMBL in 2006. That summer he squared off against a number of teams across Saskatchewan and Alberta. During the regular season, the 6-foot-5 hill topper registered a 2.27 ERA and 66 strikeouts over 35.2 innings. He also limited opposing hitters to a .139 batting average and just 25 walks. His standout performances included a 19-strikeout effort against the Weyburn Beavers and a 17 K outing during a seven-inning game. The 19 strikeouts established a league record for the most Ks in a single game that still stands.

Alex Rodriguez, who covered the World Series as a FOX Sports analyst, played 32 games for the Cannons in 1994, a year that saw the 18-year-old prospect suit up in Single-A, Double-A, Triple-A and in the big leagues with the Mariners. In 119 at bats with the Cannons, he posted a .311 batting average, six homers, 21 RBI, 70 total bases, two stolen bases and a .359 on-base percentage.

If you want to play the “what if?” game, it’s interesting to consider outfielder Tristan Peters. The 2019 WCBL Postseason MVP and Rookie of the Year, who won a championship with the Okotoks Dawgs, had a breakout season with the Chicago White Sox. The Sox surprised many by sweeping the Houston Astros in the American League (AL) Wild Card Series and then pushed the Cleveland Guardians to five games before bowing out of the AL Division Series. Peters was a seventh-round pick of the Brewers in 2021 and he made his MLB debut with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2025. Had he stayed with Milwaukee, the Winkler, Manitoba native would have a lot to celebrate right now, but the Rays must also be reconsidering trading him for cash after watching the bottom of their lineup struggle in the World Series. In any event, Peters future in Chicago looks bright.

DOING IT FOR BOB

Many people thought of long-time broadcaster Bob Uecker when the Brewers won the World Series and rightfully so. Uecker, who passed away at the age of 90 in 2025, represented the soul of the ball club and players could feel him watching over them.

The beloved baseball icon made an appearance at a sportsman’s dinner in Lethbridge in 1972 and wowed the 600 people in attendance with his one-liners.

“I just want to do something for baseball,” Uecker said during the visit.

“It has given me a lot in my life and I am thankful for it.”

With the World Series win for the Brewers, it’s clear that baseball fans in Milwaukee are also thankful for Uecker.