Photo courtesy Milwaukee Brewers
The final pitch of the 2026 Major League Baseball season was thrown by a son of Long Beach.
Milwaukee Brewers closer Trevor Megill slammed the door in Game 5 of the World Series at Tropicana Field on Wednesday night, helping the Brew Crew defeat the Tampa Bay Rays by a score of 4-1 to claim the franchise’s first World Series title.
“For the last two months or so this is all I could think of going to bed, coming to the field every single day, this moment right here,” Megill told Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal on the field shortly after the game. “This is just incredible, man. Ten-year-old me would be so proud.”
An NL All-Star during the 2025 season, Megill got off to a slow start this year while dealing with arm soreness, but was one of the most effective bullpen arms in the sport over the second half. He finished the regular season with 30 saves, tying for 10th-most in MLB, while posting a 2.63 ERA in 61.2 innings pitched.
The 32-year-old right-hander was even better in the postseason, making eight appearances while going a perfect 5-for-5 in save opportunities. In his nine innings of work, Megill allowed two earned runs on five hits and three walks while striking out 11 batters.
He was able to record the last six outs of Milwaukee’s World Series-clinching victory, allowing one run while striking out three Rays in the process. When asked what made this year’s Brewers team special, Megill gave a unique response.
“The friendship, man. The power of friendship,” said Megill during his postgame interview. “We failed last year. We’ll be damned if that wasn’t something to learn from. Came back this year with something to f–ing prove and we did it.”
Megill joins a long line of Long Beach ballplayers to win the World Series, becoming the first since catcher Travis d’Arnaud won it all with the Atlanta Braves in 2021.
