Houston Astros win World Series for the frst time in team history
By Brett Deresinski
Houston, we have a champion.
The 2017 MLB season wrapped up on November 1 with the Houston Astros winning their first World Series title in franchise history, defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-1 at Dodger Stadium in Game 7 of the World Series.
It was as much a victory for the city of Houston as it was for the Astros. After Hurricane Harvey ravaged the city in late August, amounting to the costliest natural disaster in US history, the Astros wore “Houston Strong” patches on their jersey sleeves throughout the remainder of the regular season and postseason. Manager A.J. Hinch said that the team was playing to “boost moral support for the city.”
The series itself was a wild one. George Springer was named the Willie Mays World Series MVP after homering in 5 games, including each of the last 4 of the series, to tie Reggie Jackson (1977) and Chase Utley (2009) for the most home runs in a World Series all-time. In the process, he put up a tremendous triple slash line of .379/.471/1.000. After hitting just .115 in the American League Championship Series against the New York Yankees with no homers, this was a remarkable bounce-back performance.
The first two games of the series were played in Los Angeles. After the Dodgers won the first game 3-1, the Astros came back to win the second game 7-6 in 11 innings. In game two, both teams combined for eight home runs, setting a new World Series single-game record, with Springer’s go-ahead two-run homer in the 11th inning proving to be the difference.
When the series shifted to Houston for game three, the Astros won two out of three on their home field. Houston won game three 5-3, while the Dodgers won game four 6-1 after putting up five runs in the ninth inning. Game five has already been called an instant classic, with the Astros winning 13-12 on a walk-off single by Alex Bregman in the 10th inning. This game, which took 5:17 to complete, was the second longest World Series game of all-time, and the second highest scoring World Series game ever.
After the series shifted back to Los Angeles, the Dodgers won game six 3-1. This sent the World Series to a seventh game for the second consecutive year, making this the first time since 2001 and 2002 that back-to-back World Series went seven games. In game seven, the Astros won 5-1, scoring all five of their runs in the first two innings of the game, and snapping their 55-year championship drought. According to Nielsen ratings, 24.68 million viewers tuned into watch game seven, which was the second highest viewed baseball game in the last 13 years. The only game in that stretch with higher ratings was game seven of the 2016 World Series, where the Chicago Cubs broke their 108-year championship drought.
In his 20th MLB season, outfielder Carlos Beltran won his first World Series ring, while pitcher and ALCS MVP Justin Verlander, who was acquired from the Detroit Tigers at the August 31 trade deadline, won his first ring in his 12th MLB season.
Impressively, the Astros defeated the teams with the top three payrolls en route to their title, defeating the Boston Red Sox (third-highest payroll) in the American League Division Series, the Yankees (second-highest payroll) in the ALCS, and the Dodgers (highest payroll) in the World Series. By defeating the Dodgers, Houston, which ranked 15th in team payroll, made it eight consecutive years in which the team with the highest payroll did not win the World Series. The last team to win the title with the highest payroll was the 2009 Yankees.
The Houston Astros are still built around a solid young core of players and will not be going anywhere anytime soon.