Jake Bauers chokes up crediting wife Lauren in NLCS

Jon Morosi asked Bauers a simple question: who helped get him here? It turned out to be a loaded one.

Adam McCalvy

@AdamMcCalvy

Jake Bauers got choked up after @jonmorosi asked about the people in his life who helped him get to batting cleanup in Game 1 of the NLCS. Bauers' wife, Lauren, who convinced him to resist thoughts of retiring a couple of years ago, topped the list.

Lauren was first on his list, and it wasn't close. A couple of years ago Bauers was ready to walk away from baseball, and she's the reason he didn't. Now he's hitting 4th in the NL pennant race against the defending champs. You don't see an arc like that very often.

Bauers had already told the details earlier this month. He planned to retire after the 2024 postseason, worn down by years of getting bounced between organizations and never sticking. Lauren was going back to teaching full-time and he was going to stay home. Then, 3 days after he'd made the call, she told him she was pregnant with their second kid. His explanation for coming back took 4 words: "We needed health insurance."

So he signed a minor-league deal with Milwaukee, worked his way onto the roster and in 2026 had the best year of his career. He hit.266/.389/.484 with 26 home runs, which led the Brewers. This is a guy who had been below replacement level for most of his career. At 30, in his 3rd season in Milwaukee, he finally turned into a real middle-of-the-order bat.

That's why the cleanup spot meant so much. Hitting 4th in Game 1 of an NLCS isn't a participation trophy. A few years ago this guy was about to become a stay-at-home dad, and now Pat Murphy trusts him to protect the lineup against the Dodgers. Milwaukee took Game 1 2-1 behind its bullpen, so Bauers and the Brewers are 3 wins from the World Series in a rematch of last year's NLCS.

There's money riding on the rest of October too. Bauers is headed into the offseason on the back of a breakout year, and every big swing in this series helps his case. But the guy getting choked up on camera clearly wasn't thinking about his next contract. He was thinking about the person who told him not to quit. Somebody get Lauren a ring if Milwaukee pulls this off.