This article is a part of Verducci’s View, a weekly baseball newsletter from Sports Illustrated senior writer Tom Verducci. Every Monday, Tom empties out his notebook over email and covers MLB’s hottest topics, provides in-depth analysis through both text and video breakdowns, looks forward to what’s worth watching during the week and more.

Home runs had been the coin of the realm in postseason baseball. The previous six World Series champions all finished among the top four in most regular season home runs. The Brewers redefined what wins in October. Last in the NL in home runs, and 28th overall, Milwaukee rode a game built on speed, contact and opposite field hitting to the title.

As Milwaukee first baseman Jake Bauers said about teams still playing the launch angle game, “It doesn’t win any more. It may work once in a while. But it’s not something that’s sustainable consistently with the way pitching is today. And when you rely on that kind of hitting, and it’s not working, you have nothing.…