Rookie shortstop and Latter-day Saint Cooper Pratt helped lead the Milwaukee Brewers to their first World Series championship Wednesday, Oct. 28, as they defeated the Tampa Bay Rays four games to one.
Pratt delivered a record-setting performance, becoming the first rookie to record hits in six consecutive World Series at-bats. He batted a stellar .421 (8 for 19) with a home run and seven runs batted in. He also had a four-hit game and slammed a go-ahead home run in the 12th inning of Game 4.
In a postgame interview, Pratt described the moment as one of the greatest in his life. He directed his gratitude toward his teammates and his Heavenly Father.
“It’s some of the hardest but most fun baseball I’ve ever been a part of,” Pratt said. “I messed up a lot of times this postseason, but the guys picked me up. We’re here and we’re world champions. It’s so special, man. I’m so blessed. I owe it all to my Heavenly Father.”
A member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Pratt’s faith found a national spotlight throughout the postseason as he went viral for celebrating Milwaukee’s series wins with orange Fanta rather than the traditional champagne and beer.
Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who was Pratt’s father’s mission president, applauded the 22-year-old for staying true to his faith on Major League Baseball’s biggest stage and standing as a witness of God “at all times and in all things, and in all places” (Mosiah 18:9).
Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy told MLB.com that “Coop is special.”
“You chart that kid and how he lives his life, you see what he’s about,” Murphy said. “I know guys listening to this will chuckle; he’s got a ton to learn. But they trust him because he is undaunted and he’s focused, and he’s focused on the right stuff. You can’t replace that.”
Pratt, whose uncle Trent Pratt is BYU’s head baseball coach, is the first Latter-day Saint to win an MLB title since Jeremy Guthrie in 2015.
