Jackson Chourio, William Contreras, and Antonio Senzatela just etched their names into baseball history, becoming only the third, fourth, and fifth players *ever* to win both a World Baseball Classic championship and a World Series title in the same calendar year. This is not some everyday feat, folks. We are talking about an exclusive club that, until this year, only had two members.
The Road to Rarity
Think about that for a second: only two players knew this feeling before the Brewers trio did it. Alex Bregman and Luke Gregerson were the pioneers, pulling off the double in 2017. They were with Team USA for the WBC win and then celebrated a World Series title with the Houston Astros. Bregman was a young 22-year-old in his first full big-league season back then, while Gregerson was a veteran reliever holding down the bullpen. Sure, plenty of legends have won both a WBC and a World Series over their careers , guys like Shohei Ohtani with Japan and the Dodgers, Buster Posey for USA and the Giants, or Salvador Perez with Venezuela and the Royals. But they did it in different years. Chourio, Contreras, and Senzatela did it all in 2026. What a ride!
Venezuela’s March to Glory
The first leg of their double-title journey kicked off back in March, when Team Venezuela absolutely crushed it in Miami, beating the United States 3-2 to secure their first-ever WBC championship. Chourio, despite a tough start to the year with a broken hand suffered during spring training, was there. He batted ninth for Venezuela and made it count, executing a hit-and-run in the semifinal against Italy and later scoring the go-ahead run. Maikel Garcia got the tournament MVP, but Chourio’s contribution was still clutch. Contreras also played a limited role in the WBC. Venezuelan captain Salvador Perez, a seasoned Royals veteran, handled most of the catching duties, so Contreras appeared in only four games and went hitless. But he still walked onto that podium, side by side with his older brother, Willson, the Boston Red Sox first baseman, to get their medals.
October’s Triumph and the Unlikely Path
Seven months later, the celebration was on again, this time for the big one: the World Series. The Milwaukee Brewers took down the Tampa Bay Rays 4-1 in Game 5. Contreras was a key piece, guiding Milwaukee’s pitching staff through the postseason, including a gutsy bullpen game in the NLCS clincher against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Senzatela’s path to this double title was arguably the wildest. He was still with the Colorado Rockies when he won the WBC, after spending his entire 10-year career in Colorado up to that point. But then, after moving to the bullpen full-time in 2026, the Brewers snagged him at the August 3 trade deadline to bolster their arm barn. What a move that turned out to be! There was almost a fourth Brewer on this exclusive list, too. Left-hander Ángel Zerpa pitched for Venezuela in the WBC, but a tough break sidelined him. He landed on the injured list in late April with left forearm tightness and then underwent Tommy John surgery in May, ending his season. What a brutal way to miss out on this historic moment. For the Brewers, who entered the postseason with MLB’s best, this caps off a truly remarkable turnaround for their first-ever championship.
What a year for Chourio, Contreras, and Senzatela. They just pulled off one of the rarest feats in baseball, securing a legacy that will be talked about for a long, long time. This isn’t just a championship, it’s two. And that’s something special for these guys to carry into next season.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Fox Sports.
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