Jake Bauers won the 2026 NLCS MVP after nearly retiring two years earlier, a decision his wife’s pregnancy reversed. For Bauers, 2024 seemed to mark the end of his baseball journey after a disappointing season with the Milwaukee Brewers pushed him to the edge. But life had other plans. His wife’s pregnancy and the family’s health insurance needs convinced him to keep playing.

Fast-forward to 2026, and the same player who once contemplated hanging up his cleats is now celebrating an NLCS MVP award after going 4-for-14 across four games, helping the Brewers reach their first World Series since 1982. From a career on the brink to becoming the hero of Milwaukee’s historic run, Bauers talked about how his life came full circle.

“I was beat up after a long season — we had our daughter, we didn’t necessarily know what was next. I was a free agent. There wasn’t a lot of interest around the league. And so I just felt like it could’ve been time to move on,” ABC News quoted Jake Bauers.

After batting .202 with the Yankees in 2023, Bauers was traded to Milwaukee, where he regressed further before hitting free agency in 2024. After spending time with seven different franchises, Bauers was ready to move on from the sport, feeling worn out, hitting .199 that season.

Knowing that there would be little interest around him, Bauers intended to become a stay-at-home dad while his wife returned to her full-time teaching job. But just a week after the first baseman called his agent to talk about his retirement, Lauren Bauers found out that they were pregnant, making it the turning point.

Realizing that his wife couldn’t return to full-time work right away and that they urgently needed health insurance for their growing family, Bauers decided to put off retirement and give professional baseball another shot.

“The story goes, ‘We do need health insurance,'” Lauren recalled.

Jake chose to give baseball another chance and made sure to make things different. The Brewers signed him again.

Deciding to be the best version of himself, his .308 average in 2025 earned him a contract extension, setting up his 2026 breakout where the slugger, along with his team, won a franchise record of 103 games, and just 4 wins away from their first ring, pushing through 44 years after the Suds Series. And Jake Bauers can be considered one of the heroes to defeat the 2025 World Series champs.

In NLCS Game 3, Bauers outsmarted 2x Cy Young winner Blake Snell.

After battling through five two-strike foul balls, Bauers launched the 11th pitch of the at-bat for 412 feet over the right-field wall for a dramatic, go-ahead two-run home run. Again in Game 4, he smashed a two-run ground-rule double to cut into an early deficit before drawing a crucial, bases-loaded walk to bring home the game-tying run.

Manager Pat Murphy called it an “incredible at-bat,” while teammate Garrett Mitchell added, “Super sick.”

Bauers has the answer about how his redemption was made possible.

“I think what changed for me this year was I stopped caring about results. I started caring about competing; I started caring about being in the moment and getting out of my own way.”

His at-bats prove he cares deeply about results, recording a career-high 26 homers in the regular season, and the Brewers don’t mind, as long as it ends their 44-year drought. But there is one quite interesting fact about this year’s World Series.

The two MVPs from the Championship Series have had experience with the opposite franchises, debuting in 2018. Freddy Peralta with the Brewers and Jake Bauers with the Tampa Bay Rays. We are about to experience a full-circle moment.