By Nathaniel Montoya:
Baseball is back! It appears that America’s pastime is in route for a reincarnation of popularity. Nov. 1 saw the conclusion of one of the best World Series in recent history between the Houston Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers. Unfortunately, my Dodgers came up short but sports fans across America were able to witness a back and forth battle between Major League Baseball’s two best teams. This series truly lived up to the name “Fall Classic.”
The series was evenly matched the entire way with five of the seven games being decided by two runs or less. In my opinion, the two most electrifying games were two and five. Both of these games went to extra innings and saw Houston come out on top. Game 2 saw Los Angeles leading after nine innings but was tied up after Houston took the best closer in baseball, Kenly Jansen, deep in the ninth. Houston bombed five home runs in extra innings forcing the Dodgers to make an extra inning rally eventually falling just short and losing 7-6.
With Game 5 tied at two wins a piece, both teams brought their very best. The game ended with a combined 25 runs. On the mound for the Dodgers was pitching stud Clayton Kershaw, who was able to assist the Dodgers in getting a 4-0 lead. The Astros, however, had the hearts of champions and were able to rally back form the 4-0 deficit along with another 7-4 deficit. The game ended in a high scoring 13-12 shootout in one of the highest rated baseball games of the decade. Game 5 of the Series also out performed that nights Sunday night football game in the TV ratings.
The series was not without controversy though. In Game 3 Astros first baseman Yuli Gurriel made a racist gesture at Dodgers pitcher Yu Darvish. Gurriel was caught on national TV appearing to make his eyes to look like that of an Asian mocking the pitcher. Gurriel was then met with a sea boos when the series returned to Los Angeles.
Overall the series was great for the game of baseball. Seeing Houston become champions just months after being devastated by Hurricane Harvey is a great feel good story. This was also the Astros first title in their 50 plus year history. This now gives us two classic World Series in a row with last year’s champions the Chicago Cubs ending their 108 year World Series drought. Baseball is due for a golden era with great teams in big markets such as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Houston. Fans can now look forward to the return of America’s pastime.
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