Member-only story
A Big ‘Wow’ for the Washington Nationals
That was unexpected
Two weeks ago I wrote an impromptu piece on why “Baseball Still Has My Heart,” compelled as I was by the seeming improbability of the Washington Nationals’ comeback win against the Los Angeles Dodgers. As a reward for their resilience, the Nationals advanced to the World Series where they would face-off against the Houston Astros. Though they were the biggest World Series underdog in twelve years, the Nationals (spoiler alert) managed to win a thrilling series after seven unlikely games.
I say “unlikely” because, and this is true, the home team didn’t win a single game in the World Series. I’m told that this is the first time in American major sports that the home team lost all seven games of a full elimination series. Incredible.
In spite of some big-name batters, disproportionately members of the Houston Astros, this will go down in history as an epic series of pitchers duels. Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, Gerrit Cole, Zack Greinke, and Justin Verlander all put in strong performances. There was indeed great pitching, and selected moments of dynamic offense as well.
I love baseball, but even I will admit, it can be plodding and oft-times boring to watch. This World Series was anything but. Riveting to the end, it was won on the offensive side by two familiar names. Let’s…
