With a franchise record 103 wins in hand and currently enjoying a first-round bye, the Milwaukee Brewers have charged into October chasing the goal that’s eluded them since 1982: a spot in the World Series.
Because most of our Brewers experience this season has been through the screen and the airwaves, it made sense to go to someone inside the team who plays a role on both: broadcaster Jeff Levering.
The California native represents a segment of Brewers fandom that has only experienced what he calls “the golden era of Brewers baseball.” By Levering’s count, Milwaukee has played exactly two games without playoff implications since he arrived in 2015. In fact, as he told us during this interview, success has tended to follow him throughout his broadcast career.
But, after calling Minor League championships at both the Double-A and Triple-A levels, what does Levering think about his odds of doing so in the Big Show this season for the Brewers? And does he have a signature call ready in the event that (in an effort to avoid jinxing anything) something REALLY great happens on the last day of the Crew’s season?
Levering answers both questions in the full interview, plus he shares his thoughts on the clubhouse vibes, the unsung heroes of the team and the importance of home-field (and home-fan) advantage as the Brewers get ready to launch their postseason run.
Interview highlights
On what makes this Brewers team different:
This group is as together as any group that I've been a part of. I go back to the series in New York when Cooper Pratt was benched, and the first guys that come over and talk to him are Sal Frelick and Jake Bauers. They just get Cooper in a sandwich and they go, "Okay, this is what we're going to do, and this is how you play the game.”
And Coop, after the ball game, says those exact things, and he has gone balls to the wall ever since. … He said, "That's not who I am. I made a mistake. It'll never happen again." And it hasn't. So I would say that these guys have each other's backs.
On Daniel Vogelbach and the entire coaching staff:
He has one of the most iconic home runs in Brewers franchise history — 2021, the walk-off grand slam against the Cardinals. That kind of catapulted the Brewers in that season, and there was a no-hitter they threw a week later after that.
So he's had some big moments wearing a Brewers uniform, and now he's the hitting coach, and he puts in the work, that's for sure. Now, he does look like he should pull out a couple of Polish sausages and brats, and have a beer with him in the clubhouse or in the dugout [laughs]. But that's neither here nor there. …
I mean, being a hitting coach is so hard because you can't go up there and hit for the players. All you can do is make sure they're ready and they're prepared, and then they have to go do it. You're just kind of hands off and, “All right, good luck, kid. Yeah, go get him. This guy's throwing 100 miles an hour. I'm glad I don't have to swing the bat.”
But it's a thankless job. And you live and die with the results of your players. That's how it is. You can't do anything for them. Every coach is that way. And you want the best out of your kids. I think this coaching staff has done a really really good job.
On the broadcast team he’s a part of:
I've been really lucky with the people that I've worked with here. Ueck was one of one. It doesn't get better than him. And Uke never really gave me advice. He just said, “Just be you and make sure that the game is the thing, right? Don't make it about you.” That was his biggest thing.
And B.A. (Brian Anderson) has been tremendous with me with my opportunities to do radio and then flip over and do television. The people that I work with on the TV side, Bill Schroeder is one of the best analysts in Major League Baseball. I'm not just saying that because he's sitting next to me. But I absolutely adore working with Rock. He treats me like I've been doing it forever, and that's really special. We have a really good rapport on the air.
And then working with Tim (Dillard) and Vinny (Rottino), it's like two totally different broadcast styles when I work with all those three different partners on TV. It keeps me fresh, which is good because everybody does their own thing, and they bring their own set of skills to each broadcast. That challenges me as a broadcaster to make sure I get the best out of the people that I'm working with. So I've been very blessed with the people that I've had the opportunity to work with.
