What do you know? The sun rose Sunday morning in Boston, New York, Los Angeles, and the rest of the United States. Houston and Atlanta are your World Series participants. Houston dispatched Boston in 6 games, as did Atlanta dispatch Los Angeles on Saturday in 6 games. Now I know, a lot of you are saying it's not going to be that great of a series because the big market teams are in. Atlanta won 19 games less than Los Angeles, 20 games less than San Francisco. After a slow start this season, Atlanta righted the ship, got some timely pitching down the stretch, and rode that momentum into the playoffs. They don't have the sexy names or the big payroll of Los Angeles. They played the game the old fashioned way, no analytics, or using analytics the least. They played hunches.
Houston won 95 games in the regular season. They did it with their best pitcher only winning 15 games, that being Zack Grienke and Lance McCullers. And McCullers will not be on the World Series roster due to injury. They won it with their bats. They have the usual subjects. Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa, Alex Bregman. They also had new contributors like Yuri Gurriel, Michael Brantley and Kyle Tucker. Houston is in their 3rd World Series in the last five years. They have the pedigree. They have won over 30 playoff games since the cheating scandal of 2017.
Atlanta comes in to the contest with a lot of names, that unless you are a fan of the Braves, you may not have heard of. Yes, there is Freddie Freeman and Ronald Acuna, Jr. and dont forget Mr. Joctober, Joc Pedersen. Ozzie Albies, and Austin Riley are not your average names. And what about the NLCS hero and MVP, Eddie Rosario, Jr. His clutch home run and play in the playoffs has reached him to new heights in the lore of Atlanta baseball history.
Now I know, I am hearing all the jokes already. How is Houston going to cheat to win this one. What lengths will they go to win this one. To that I ask, in 2017, why didn't LA win two of their home games? Did Houston cheat there? New York may have a legit beef, but why did New York with all of that payroll only win 11 playoff games in the same time Houston won 30 since then. And if you're going to still throw the cheating angle at me, don't let Alex Cora from Boston off the hook.
One reason i would vote for Houston to win the World Series is for Dusty Baker to finally taste success and get that ring. I grew up watching him play in LA and Atlanta. All of the stops as a manager, he has been so close. From San Francisco to Cincinnati and all points in between I am rooting for him.
Atlanta brings me intrigue. They have such a mix of great hitting and timely defense, and just enough pitching on the front and back end. I think they have the advantage there. As a sentimental value, my dad is visiting with me, and he followed both the Tigers and Milwaukee Braves back when he was a kid. So, he is rooting for them, so that puts me in a quandary.
It's going to come down to the little things. Small ball, pitching changes, outsmarting the shift. It is going to be an intriguing World Series. It is going to be one that would be just as good, if not better than if LA and New York, the so-called markets that matter, were in it.
My coin is flipped. Heart says Atlanta in 7....head say Houston in 7. Give me the Braves....I will go with Atlanta in 7...I think. That is the sign of a great series. Should be fun to watch! Can't wait!
Lou Gamelin
The Captain Lou Extravaganza
Tuesday nights 8-10pmET
photo credit: ty-welch-D5POJilPPYY-un
