After seven thrilling games, the Houston Astros defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers to become World Series champions for the first time in franchise history. The 2017 World Series will go down as one of the best World Series of all-time. It’s certainly the best one I’ve ever seen. The Dodgers and Astros were so evenly matched going into the series, and each game, other than game seven, felt so close. Momentum kept shifting back and forth until the Astros finally seized control early in game seven to clinch their first ever World Series title.
What a turnaround it’s been for the Houston Astros franchise. From 2011-2013, the Astros lost more than 100 games and were the joke of Major League Baseball. Common nicknames included the “Disast-ros” and the “last-ros.” While the rest of the league beat up on them, the Astros quietly kept building a solid foundation led by analytics and player development, and now they are the 2017 World Series champions.
In 2011, the Astros drafted George Springer in the first round, then drafted Carlos Correa first overall in 2012 and Alex Bregman second overall in 2015. These players came up to Houston to finally help the soon-to-be MVP Jose Altuve and created a core for Houston that could be around for a long time. Springer just won the World Series MVP, Bregman and Correa played pivotal roles in the World Series, and Altuve won his third batting title in 2017 to most likely go along with an MVP. What’s scary about them? Springer is 28, Altuve is 27 and Bregman and Correa are both 23, so they’re just getting started.
What the Astros have done for the city of Houston truly feels like a Hollywood movie with a storybook ending. Of course a baseball championship doesn’t magically fix the devastation that Hurricane Harvey brought to Houston, but the Astros have brought tremendous joy and unification to the city. I was fortunate enough to attend games three and four of the World Series, and Minute Maid Park was deafeningly loud. Houston fans came together like never before for the common cause of guiding the Astros to glory.
The future is bright in Houston, a city that can for the first time call itself home to World Series champions. Now they’ll enjoy a parade and an off-season as champions, but then they’ve got to get back at it next season. There’s just 103 days until pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training!