Houston, You Have a Champion

Astros logo, 1965–1974 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Out of the receding flood waters of a hurricane-damaged city in Texas, a baseball team that only a few years ago were so bad that they had to change leagues has risen to become world champions.

They are the Houston Astros, born in 1962 as the Colt 45s, who won Game 7 of the World Series over the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-1 Wednesday night at Chavez Ravine.  The Astros scored all their runs in the first two innings.  Both starters Lance McCullers Jr. of the Astros and Yu Darvish of the Dodgers were knocked out by the third inning.  Unlike the high-scoring of earlier games in the series, in which it seemed like whoever scored last would win, this one ended quietly with Houston taking home the trophy and Carlos Correa taking home the woman he had proposed to on live TV.

About the Slugfest for the Ages, which had contributed to the most home runs in World Series history (25) and the Astros' George Springer (who hit five of them, another record) winning the MVP award, a few things stand out:

• Games 2 and 5 were high scoring affairs that ended in extra innings.
• The pitching staffs of both teams were fried, not only because they couldn't get anyone out but also because of how many times they were used during the playoffs.
• Comebacks from several runs down by both teams became common.  This has led to speculation that maybe the balls were juiced, like we never left the Steroid Era.
• The pace of the games were so pokey because of replay challenges and pitching changes (allowing enough time for Fox to slip in as many six-second commercials as possible) that most viewers went to bed before the finish.

In the last few years, teams who had been forever in last place had accumulated enough talent through shrewd deals and the draft to win a World Series or two.  It's happened to the San Francisco Giants, Kansas City Royals and Chicago Cubs.  This year it was the Astros, which had come all the way from the outhouse of a 111-loss season to the penthouse.  Of course, prying away pitcher Justin Verlander from the Detroit Tigers in midseason helped too.

This World Series championship was for the city of Houston, which is still recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Harvey.  They should celebrate, then go back to work no matter how much money T-Mobile is allegedly giving them in hurricane relief.  While we're at it, maybe San Juan and Key West deserve a break too, no matter if they have a baseball team or not.