Washington Nationals Upset Houston Astros to Win First Ever World Series

Never published this, even though it was weeks ago. So let me remedy that now:


Okay, admittedly, I am not much of a baseball fan. Never have been, and since I am not as into sports as in my younger years, my guess is I never will be.

Still, even I know that this was a strange series. 

First of all, it had low ratings, which surely was a disappointment to baseball fans, as well as to Major League Baseball, more generally.

Yet, it was not for a lack of suspense, or for poor play. Both teams brought out their best at different times in this series. Both teams looked capable of blowing the other team away at various points. Washington dominated the first two games, and then Houston looked unstoppable in the next three. Then, just when you think the series will begin to settle down and make sense, Washington dominated Game 6 o force a Game 7. But Houston was winning for most of this game, until Washington suddenly just came on fire in the very late innings, and put this one - and the World Series title - out of reach for the home team. 

And that's just the thing that also made this a very, very unusual series: not one team managed to win a home game in this series. The Nationals took Games 1 and 2 in Houston. But then the Astros swept all three games played in Washington. Finally, the Nats recovered to win Game 6 and came back to win Game 7 convincingly, earning this franchise's first ever World Series title.

That has never happened before in the history of Major League Baseball. Hell, I am not sure that it has ever happened in any of the major sports, because it is weird. Think about it: the series goes the distance, a full seven games. And not once did the home crowd go home feeling happy with the results, even though it is called home field advantage. Usually, it is an advantage to play at home. But not in this series, not with these two teams.

Very bizarre. 

I will say that it made me happy to see the Nationals win this series. Nothing against Houston, but they did win the World Series just two short years ago. The Nationals had never won, prior to last night. Hell, they had never even gone, stretching back to the early days, when this franchise played north of the border, and were known as the Montreal Expos, with that weird "M" that was supposed to look a bit like an "e" and an "X," yet actually kind of looked more like an "elb." I am not the only one who thought so, trust me on that one. 

But the Expos endured years and years of losing. I actually saw them twice. Once in New York, when they played the Mets. The next time was in 2002, and it was the best, most exciting baseball game that I have ever seen. The game was tied up 9-9 in the bottom of the ninth, and one player hit a Grand Slam to end it in victory for the hometown Expos. I know that this hardly sounds like a professional broadcaster, but I warned you that baseball is not my thing. 

Yes, I got into that game, as well as this series. Yes, I was pulling for the Nationals, simply because they were brand new to this, never having qualified for the World Series before. It is nice, sometimes, to see someone completely brand new enjoy their first sweet taste of success. This, in a city that had not tasted major championship success in one of the big four sports since the Redskins last won the Super Bowl in January of 1992. DC United did win championships - in the plural - and were in fact a dynasty. But even that was a long time ago now, and the MLS was not what it has become since. 

Then, all of a sudden, the Capitals hoisted the Stanley Cup last year. And then this year, the Washington Nationals, who started off the season with a dismal 19-31 record, which was apparently the second worst record in the league at the time, recovered in a big way. They were the winningest team in baseball from that point on, and fittingly, it culminated in the ultimate championship.

Suddenly, it feels a bit like Washington is the new Boston, right?

Congratulations to the newly crowned World Series Champions, the Washington Nationals!