I hate Altuve.
Congratulations to the Astros. Exellent team that well deserved a trip to the Series.
While disappointed with the final result, I never dreamed that the Yanks would to go as far as the seventh game of the ALCS. I’m gratified that they will be a contender for years to come.
This leaves me with a dilemma as to who to root for in the Series. I always like to see a team that has never won it all finally take the prize. On the other hand, the Astros are from fucking Texas. And I still hate Altuve. 
The Dodgers have been the great Yankees rival, but haven’t won for 28 years, and may be one of the great teams of all time.
Tis a puzzlement.
Astros are the first team to reach the World Series as an NL and AL team.
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There aren’t a lot of other potential teams. The only other one that could do that is the Brewers.
Congrats to the Astros.
I am sad my Yanks could not complete the job, but hey, game 7 in the ALCS is pretty good for a team that some pundits were picking for sub .500 and even last in the AL East.
While most of my picks went south, I’m happy that a team I root for is in the Series and going for its first championship (even as the major media and advertisers are crying in their beer that there won’t be a NY-Hollywood affair).
No overcoats in the stands, they’ll be rocking at [del]Enron Field[/del] Minute Maid Park, and I may sing along during the 7th inning stretch.
The stars at night are big and bright
Deep in the heart of Texas.
The prairie sky is wide and high
Deep in the heart of Texas.
The Sage in bloom is like perfume
Deep in the heart of Texas.
Reminds me of the one I love
Deep in the heart of Texas.
Go Astros!
So the Dodgers will and should be favorites in the series because the Astros have an obvious weakness (the bullpen) and the Dodgers do not. What the Astros do have, pitching-wise, is two aces who can go deep into games, and four pretty good pitchers who really didn’t go deep into games during the season; I wouldn’t be surprised if they piggy-back the four non-Keuchel/Verlander starters by design - pitch McCullers third and tell him to get into the sixth inning, then bring in Brad Peacock; then do the same with Morton and Collin McHugh. Of course, this falls apart if Keuchel or Verlander have to be pulled early.
I just saw someone comment that either Verlander or Granderson will finally get a ring.
Verlander probably deserves it more, but Verlander is also more likely to get a HOF plaque than Granderson, no? Y’all can let poor Curtis get one little ring, can’t you?
Astros vs Dodgers, a World Series that would have been impossible just five years ago.
As for going to the World Series from two different leagues, if you’re willing to stretch the definition a bit, the St. Louis Cardinals, then calling themselves the Browns, went four times to the American Association-National League World Series back in the 1880s before becoming a National League team and going to the current version of the World Series 19 times as that league’s champion. And given that neither the Astros nor the Brewers actually won the series in their prior league, the St. Louis franchise will, barring another league-switch, remain the only team to have WON World Series as representatives of two different leagues.
The Dodgers, then the Brooklyn Bridegrooms, went to the NL-AA World Series twice. In 1889 they were in the AA but lost to the NY Giants from the NL. The following year they joined the NL but lost to the Louisville Colonels from the AA. So the Dodgers have also gone to a World Series from two leagues, but have only won as an NL team (it took them until 1955 to win their first).
The Cincinnati Red Stockings, now the Reds, won the AA title in 1882 but there was no real inter-league series that year, just an 2-game exhibition with the NL Chicago White Stockings (now Cubs) in which each team won one game. So the Reds have also won a championship in two leagues but not a Series.
Good catch. I was so focused on the “only team that won series from two leagues” aspect that I neglected to note the other examples of those who made it from two.
Alex Cora is officially the new Red Sox manager. Story link.
It’s a great trivia question though.
I like to tell people the NY Mets played in the very first World Series. (No relation to the modern team, of course.)
I realized sometime this morning that the matchup means no really cold-weather games. It probably makes for better baseball but watching teams deal with temps near freezing is always interesting as well. At least modern domes don’t look like domes.
Just for light entertainment: Here’s Danny Kaye’s “Dodgers Song”.
I would be shocked if Granderson made the Hall of Fame; I’d be quite surprised if Verlander did not.
If Granderson sticks with the Dodgers he could win one in 2018, too. This is a good team.
In LA the sun angle at 5 PM this time of year is a bitch. So maybe no torrential downpours or cold snaps, but there’ll definitely be some weather-related hassles to contend with
Here’s hoping the LADs will be saying…
ɯǝlqoɹd ɐ ǝʌɐɥ ǝʍ 'uoʇsnoɥ
The Yankees will be back. I hope the Astros will not be. I’ve grown particularly un-fond of them over the past week and I particularly dislike Altuve. I usually root for the AL team, but I’m making an exception this year.
As for the Yankees, I think Headley should go back to third, Clint Frazier needs to get a starting outfield job, and it’s time to let CC and Ellsbury go. Trade Bettances for a starter. Keep Todd Frazier as backup infielder but let Torreyes go.
This is a pretty evenly matched series, actually. On paper it has to be one of the closest in recent memory. Both are legitimately A-level quality teams.
The interesting differences are:
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The Astros are a more offense dependent team. They had the best offense in the majors; LA was very good but not that good. The Dodgers are very good at drawing walks and hitting home runs but that’s really all the things they were good at; they don’t hit for average and aren’t the fastest teams you’ve ever seen. Houston, conversely, batted .282 and do everything well. The fact they use a DH doesn’t explain the gap, by the way.
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The Dodgers are a stronger pitching team.
I prefer the pitching team in a short series, and the numbers overall suggest LA is slightly better, but I think there’s two mitigating factors here;
First, Houston is the American League team, and the AL is the better league. They won the interleague play season, again, for what I think is the 14th year in a row. Granted, the NL has won a lot of World Serieses anyway, but it still counts, and
Secondly, Houston has Justin Verlander, who has been stupidly good. Verlander’s greatness does not show up much in Houston’s pitching numbers, since he was only there a month, but his presence makes their rotation completely different; it replaces Mike Fiers, who was one of the worzst starting pitchers in the major leagues, with one of the very best.
The Verlander factor feeds into the fact that, in playoffs, depth isn’t as important as it is in the regular season. In the regular season, a bad fifth starter or a lack of starting depth can cost you a playoff spot; a good fifth starter makes a huge difference. In the playoffs, your fifth starter is sitting on his ass or pitching garbage time (though Lance McCullers was amazing in Game 7 so big props to him.) If you look at the makeup of the two team’s regular season rotations the Dodgers are deeper than the Marianas Trench, where you can spend 20 minutes, and Houston hits a wall at Mike Fiers. But once you cut the rotations to four guys, one of whom will start once, it looks much more even, especially if Hinch continues the Piggyback Rotation approach of using Morton and McCullers together, and I think people forget Brad Peacock was sensational this year.
So really I think this series is as even as it gets.
You took a dislike to a guy who beat your favorite team? Man, even I didn’t dislike Derek Jeter or David Ortiz for pounding the shit outta the Blue Jays for 15-20 years.