Trevor Megill signs autographs for fans before Brewers game
Brewers pitcher Trevor Megill signs autographs for fans before the July 25, 2025, game against the Miami Marlins at American Family Field.
Among the stranger developments in the 2025 Milwaukee Brewers season has been the adoption of the phrase “power of friendship,” offered as a possible explanation for the team’s out-of-nowhere ride to the best record in baseball.
So where did it come from?
It seems to have originated with a comment by Brewers closer Trevor Megill, speaking to USA TODAY’s Gabe Lacques in a story that published July 18.
“The way the Brewers run themselves and the research they do on people, personalities — that goes into a lot of what we’re seeing right now,” Megill said. “Power of friendship, right? We’ve got a college-minded coach at the helm and I think a lot of our guys are just that gritty, tough and we go and get after it. I think that’s our biggest strength: A lot of guys that like each other and a lot of guys willing to put their body on the line every night.”
USA TODAY columnist Bob Nightengale also spoke to Megill for a story that published July 23 in the first of many national stories on the team’s unlikely rise to the best team in baseball, even without a roster of mashers.
“We’re going to start wearing ‘Power of Friendship’ T-shirts,” Megill said, presumably with tongue in cheek. “Then people can start recognizing who we are. I mean, people were freaking out last year when we won 93 games. Maybe they didn’t think we could do it again.”
The “power of friendship” trope is as good of an explanation as any, even for a sport based on individual outcomes more so than other professional leagues. Certainly, others have tried to offer their explanation, in such national outlets as the Washington Post and The Athletic.
Great pitching doesn’t hurt, either. Megill surrendered a home run in the Brewers’ sixth straight win Aug. 6, but he still locked down his 26th save of the year, and he has a 2.31 ERA in his first All-Star season at age 31.