Houston Astros Win 1st World Series in Franchise History

Image courtesy of Keith Allison's Flickr page - Houston Astros  Astros at Orioles 7/23/17: https://www.flickr.com/photos/keithallison/35985573951/in/photolist-WPVtqc-quzj96-WnFunW-qvKc6J-KPmmB-bTWTL-fk1rPt-ngPyNc-qvL5b1-bg8Tep-VJDtg6-fk1dxZ-WnzKJu-fkRCqm-VJC7mc-fkBrzg-fz8rJB-KPf6o-qJHHPm-qvSCgk-fk1HiT-bTX11-asozH-fkSftN-fk12me-quxRnV-ed5sBe-fkdBNf-4U37Po-fmeyV4-fmt9fu-qNabun-5PbNh-4U8sq-bN8rkX-qL2s5d-qvL45d-qNaen6-mF6kkp-WpsgEq-bg92aP-8WcWu1-47dBA-apHiY-pRjiEQ-fk24FH-qLQgnc-47vvA-KPoWa-4EjJ18

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The Houston Astros defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-1, in Game 7 of the World Series tonight, to capture the first World Series title in that franchise's history, which stretches back to over half a century!

It was a back and forth kind of series, with the Dodgers looking capable of blowing the Astros out through the first game and a half or so. But then, the Astros pulled off a great comeback in a classic in game 2, and then took the third game for a 2-1 series lead. But the Dodgers took tied the series in the next game, and with the final two games to be played in Los Angeles, they looked in good shape.

Then, the Dodgers had a sizable lead in the fifth game of the series, only to see the Astros, once again, pull off a huge comeback in another back and forth contest. Ultimately, Houston won an electrifying game for a 3-2 series lead as the series shifted back to the City of Angels.

The Dodgers looked very good once again in the sixth game, and some of the Dodgers seemed to suggest that there was no way that the Astros would win the seventh and final game now.

Except that they did. And they dominated, to boot.

To be fair, it was that kind of a series, where it was difficult to tell who was going to win, or how the next game was going to play out. But in the end, the Astros found a way to win the championship for the first time. It is only the third time that the city of Houston has seen one of their major league franchises win championships. The Rockets won back-to-back championships back in the mid-nineties, although many people put an asterisk beside those titles, as they happened to be during the two years when Michael Jordan was either not on the Bulls during his first retirement, or when he was not at full strength, such as in the 1995 playoffs.

This World Series victory by Houston continues an interesting trend that, to my mind, seems to have spiced baseball up quite a bit. At a time when certain teams keep on winning championship after championship in other sports (the Bulls and Lakers in basketball, the Patriots in football, and Red Wings and Blackhawks in hockey, and even the Yankees in baseball), there have been numerous teams breaking out and enjoying success, which has been entirely new for most fans.

In the two or so decades in baseball, we have seen numerous teams either win the World Series for the very first time, or break epic dry streaks in terms of winning championships. The Florida Marlins won their first World Series title ever in 1997, then the Arizona Diamondbacks took the first title in that franchise's history in 2001. The Anaheim Angeles (formerly the California Angels, and now known as the Los Angeles Angels) won their first, and so far only, World Series in 2002. Now, the Astros have taken their first title ever. 

But the most interesting World Series titles have been won by long suffering franchises that had gone an incredibly long time without any titles. The St. Louis Cardinals won the title in 2006, after a drought of nearly a quarter of a century. The Philadelphia Phillies won their first World Series in nearly three decades in 2008, and the first title for the city of Philadelphia in nearly that long, as well.

Yet, that is pretty tame, compared with some of the other streaks that ended during the last two decades. In 2004, the Boston Red Sox overcame an 0-3 series deficit, to become the first team to win a series after losing the first three games. They then went on to win the World Series, ending the "Curse of the Bambino" that had lasted 86 years. The very next year, the Chicago White Sox won it, ending 88 years of futility. And then, the longest such streak in North American professional sports history ended just last year, when the Chicago Cubs finally ended 108 years of futility by winning the first World Series title for that franchise since before World War I broke out, or even before the Titanic sank.

Personally, I am not a very big baseball fan, but the diversity of the different teams winning championships makes it definitely more intriguing than most of the other sports. For example, I could not even watch the NBA Finals when the Lakers won titles. Supposedly, they are the most successful team, and rake in big ratings and big money. But how entertaining is it to see the same team win the title, over and over again? I mean, they won five titles in the 1980's (more than the 49ers, the "Team of the Decade" of that same decade) and they won five titles in the 2000's (two more than the Patriots, the "Team of the Decade" for that same decade). Seriously, that is boring as watching paint dry.

So, however baseball succeeded in doing it, it is impressive, and they seem to have achieved some serious parity! Kudos to Major League Baseball!

And congratulations to the Houston Astros, your 2017 World Series champions!