First of its kind: A World Series preview

The matchup of the Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays guarantees a Fall Classic first. Over the next week or so, baseball will deliver unto one of these franchises and fanbases its first World Series celebration.

“First” is one of the best words you can encounter in sports, and “place in the standings” might be its least intriguing application. Like a third-base coach touching his nose or tapping his belt, “first” is an indicator signal for a fun fact about to be delivered.

Entry level versions follow the “first … since …” format. The thing has been done before, but perhaps the time elapsed or the last team/player to accomplish it makes it interesting. A pitcher throwing a compete game would be the first complete game since Yoshinobu Yamamoto in 2025. Yeah, not that interesting. A champion clinching in its home ballpark would be the first since 2022 and only the second since 2013. OK, weird.

Relentlessly deployed Brewers fireman Aaron Ashby might have a shot at a fun one, if the series cooperates: First pitcher to pitch in seven games of a World Series since Brandon Morrow in 2017, or first pitcher to record an out in seven games of a World Series since Darold Knowles in 1974. That would be something!

But for this preview, I wanted to aim higher, to true beacons of novelty, of revelation, of “I Was There” momentous occasions.

Here are nine firsts that have never happened in the World Series, ranked by likelihood they happen in Brewers-Rays, starting with the most likely.