A quirky six-year World Series streak ended when Milwaukee swept Los Angeles out of the National League Championship Series, stopping the run of a “Will Smith” getting a ring.
Story Highlights
- Major League Baseball reported a six-year run of World Series wins by players named Will Smith from 2020 to 2025.
- The Milwaukee Brewers ended the streak by sweeping the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2026 National League Championship Series.
- Dodgers catcher Will Smith figured into titles in 2020, 2024, and 2025; other Will Smiths covered the in-between years.
- The run was a fun statistical oddity, not a formal record, and it ended with the Dodgers’ elimination.
Dodgers’ NLCS Sweep Ends a Name-Game Run
Major League Baseball detailed how a player named Will Smith collected a World Series ring in every season from 2020 through 2025, a rare name-based streak that crossed teams and roles. Milwaukee closed the book by beating the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series, four games to none, stopping Los Angeles before it could return to the Fall Classic. The result also shut the door on any chance of the streak continuing into 2026, since no Will Smith would play for the season’s champion.
League coverage framed the streak as a novelty that became a talking point during the Dodgers’ push for another title. It was never an official record. It was a tidy, memorable line about one shared name that kept showing up with the winners. The end came with the series itself, not a roster shuffle. Milwaukee’s sweep settled the matter on the field and removed the last “Will Smith” still alive in the bracket, which is what made the coincidence work in the first place.
How the Will Smith Seasons Stacked Up
Yahoo Sports summarized the casting of characters. The Dodgers’ catcher Will Smith was on Los Angeles’ championship rosters in 2020, 2024, and 2025, giving the streak a clear anchor in three of the six years. In the other seasons, a different player named Will Smith filled the gap, keeping the chain unbroken across six straight World Series. That continuity created a neat headline and a steady drumbeat each October, until Milwaukee’s sweep removed Los Angeles from the 2026 race.
Major League Baseball’s own write-up underscored two simple points. First, the run really did happen for six straight years, and second, it stopped when the Dodgers failed to reach the World Series in 2026. The league also tied the end of the streak directly to the Brewers knocking out Los Angeles in the National League Championship Series. Those facts leave little wiggle room. Once Los Angeles fell, the streak fell with it, because no other remaining club had a Will Smith to carry the torch.
Why Fans Noticed—and Why It Matters Now
Fans latched on to the streak because it was easy to follow and fun to repeat. It also linked to a powerhouse team that kept making deep runs. The Dodgers’ catcher Will Smith sat at the center of the story in 2020, 2024, and 2025, which pushed the theme from a trivia blip to a yearly beat. When Milwaukee swept the Dodgers, people did not just see one team lose. They saw a catchy trivia line lose its life, and that gave the news a larger echo beyond Los Angeles.
A Will Smith has played in six straight World Series, and that streak ends with the Dodgers' NLCS loss to the Brewers. pic.twitter.com/ZPHEUOuAzo
— Mockingjay (@Mockingjay_us) October 17, 2026
Conservative readers know that media often sells moments with glitzy framing. This streak was fine as light fun, but wins still come from hard play and clear rules, not names. Milwaukee earned the sweep. The Dodgers did not do enough. Major League Baseball confirmed the six-year run and its end, and that is the whole story: a tidy oddity, now over, with the result decided between the lines, not by spin or a trending tag.
Sources:
dodgerblue.com, sports.yahoo.com, nbcsports.com
