The Milwaukee Brewers are the 2026 World Series champions — their first title in 44 years — and Mexico has two rings on that roster. Left-handed reliever JoJo Romero posted a 1.69 ERA in the postseason, and infielder Joey Ortiz hit .270 during the regular season. Both are Mexican-American. Both have worn the Mexican national team jersey. And now both have a championship ring.
JoJo Romero: The Guy Who Put Out Fires in October
If anyone on the Milwaukee staff earned that ring from the mound, it was Romero. The left-hander from Camarillo, California — raised in a Mexican-American family — was one of the Brewers’ most reliable bullpen arms throughout the entire postseason run.
Against the Dodgers in the NLCS, Romero made four appearances, picked up two wins, and threw 5.1 innings with a 1.69 ERA and 9 strikeouts. When Milwaukee needed to close out the decisive Game 5 at Tropicana Field, Romero entered in the fifth inning in relief of Jacob Misiorowski, working alongside Abner Uribe and Trevor Megill. The Brewers won. The ring followed.
For his career, Romero carries an 18-14 record and a 3.51 ERA in the majors. October treated him better than any regular-season month ever has.
Joey Ortiz: The Ring Is Real, Even If October Was Tough
Ortiz had a quiet bat in the postseason — no sugarcoating it. He hit .105 in 19 plate appearances across 8 games, with 2 hits and 1 RBI. There were stretches where David Hamilton took his spot in the lineup.
But the regular season told a different story: .270 average, 9 home runs, and 100 hits in 134 games, with steady defense at the infield corners that helped carry Milwaukee all the way to the Fall Classic. A World Series ring has no asterisk. Ortiz was on the roster, he earned it, and he’s celebrating just like everyone else.
Mexico Was in Both Dugouts — But the Trophy Stays in Milwaukee
One of the more interesting wrinkles of the 2026 World Series: there were players with Mexican roots on both sides. The Tampa Bay Rays had Jonathan Aranda, from Tijuana, Baja California, and Yucatán-born pitcher Manuel Rodríguez. Four players connected to Mexico played in this Fall Classic. The championship, though, belongs to the Brewers.
Both Romero and Ortiz have represented Team Mexico in the World Baseball Classic — Romero in 2023, when Mexico finished third; Ortiz in the 2026 edition. Two players who already knew what it felt like to wear the tricolor now know what October champagne tastes like.
The Brewers hadn’t won a World Series — hadn’t even played in one — since 1982. Forty-four years of waiting ended with two Mexican-Americans on the roster and one of them pitching in the clinching game.
