Milwaukee Brewers catcher William Contreras was named the World Series Most Valuable Player on Wednesday after his team won its first championship.
During the best-of-seven series, in which the Brewers beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4-1, the 28-year-old Contreras hit .381 with four RBIs. Behind the plate, he helped to hold the Rays to 11 runs in five games.
He is the eighth catcher to win the MVP award and the first since Salvador Perez won it with the Kansas City Royals in 2015.
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“I don’t want to offend any of the other catchers in the league. The last thing I want to do is offend any of them,” Contreras, who is Venezuelan and speaks Spanish, said through a translator. “But sitting up here today, champion of the world, I feel like I’m the best catcher in the league. Again, that’s no disrespect to any of them. That’s the last thing I want to do. But today I feel like I’m the best catcher in the world.”
Contreras also completed a rare feat not seen in nearly 90 years. The catcher stole a base while also throwing out the Rays’ top base stealer. The last player to accomplish the feat was New York Yankees catcher Bill Dickey in 1938.
It is Contreras’ second World Series title after winning the championship with the Atlanta Braves in 2021.
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