It’s been more than six months since baseball season got under way. It’s an incredibly long slog that can test the patience and attention span of even the most die-hard fans.
But the days are getting shorter and colder, so that can only mean that the World Series is finally upon us, with this year’s edition featuring the Houston Astros and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
And even if you’re not a fan of either team, you couldn’t have asked for a much better matchup.
It should go without saying, but these are two really, really good teams.
The Dodgers won 104 games in the regular season and have cruised through the playoffs. The Astros followed up a 101-win season with a gutsy Game 7 win over the Yankees. This marks the first time since 1970 that two 100-win teams will square off in the Fall Classic.
As befitting of two dominant squads, there is plenty of star power on both sides.
Houston boasts perhaps the most exciting player in baseball in the diminutive Jose Altuve. The likely AL MVP has somehow been even better in October, coming up with big play after big play. He is joined in the lineup by 22 year-old phenom Carlos Correa, who may have a few MVP-caliber campaigns of his own in the near future.
On the other side, the Dodgers boast arguably the best pitcher of his generation in Clayton Kershaw, who finally gets a chance to perform on the biggest stage. For all the (deserved) acclaim heaped on the Yankees’ Aaron Judge, L.A.’s Cody Bellinger has had an equally impressive rookie campaign (39 home runs, 97 RBIs).
And how can you not like the flaming beard and red-hot play of Justin Turner, whose walk-off home run in the NLCS against the Cubs evoked memories of Kirk Gibson’s legendary long ball?
But it’s more than just marquee names that makes the 2017 World Series so fascinating. Both teams are extremely likeable, and have all kinds of interesting storylines.
The Astros are similar to last year’s Cubs: a once-moribund franchise that not too long ago won less than 60 games three years in a row but invested in young talent — like Correa, Altuve, George Springer, Alex Bregman, Dallas Keuchel, and Lance McCullers — and is finally reaping the rewards.
In the wake of the devastation of Hurricane Harvey, the Astros have served as a unifying force for its countless citizens whose lives were upended.
There’s even some reverse-jinxing at work: back in 2014, and coming off a 111-loss season, a Sports Illustrated cover infamously predicted that the Astros would win the 2017 World Series. Houston is just four wins away from making that fantasy a reality.
The Dodgers, on the other hand, will likely never be seen as an underdog thanks to their enormous budget, celebrity fans, and aura of mystique dating back to the days of Sandy Koufax.
But despite having plenty of regular season success over the past few decades, the Dodgers haven’t even appeared in a World Series since their triumph over the Athletics in 1988.
Kershaw has been the poster child of Los Angeles’ playoff futility in recent years due to several poor October outings. But with a couple of strong performances in this series, he can cement his status as one of the greatest pitchers of all time.
The Dodgers’ likeability extends to their manager Dave Roberts, who is no stranger to postseason heroics. He is perhaps best known for one of the most famous stolen bases in baseball history; his swipe of second in game 4 of the 2004 ALCS helped jump-start the Boston Red Sox’s historic comeback over the Yankees en route to Boston’s first World Series in 86 years.
The Dodgers’ title drought isn’t quite that long, but in a town with the kind of sports pedigree of Los Angeles, you can bet the pressure will be on to finally add another banner.
The 2016 World Series between the Cubs and Indians may go down as one of the greatest ever. If this year’s is even half as entertaining, we’ll all be in for a treat.
There’s no reason to believe otherwise.
