Fall to some is all about the start of football season, but in my house, it has always meant the start of postseason Major League Baseball and the excitement surrounding the crowning of a new World Series champion.
This postseason is exciting for me, an avid New York Yankees fan since I was a child, because my team is still playing this October. Yes, I am a Yankees fan in the south, and I often take jabs from people for my support of the so-called “Evil Empire.” Let’s put aside my MLB affiliation for a moment (hopefully you’ll continue reading despite my love for the Yankees) and look at the MLB postseason, and more specifically, the current division series games.
If you’re reading this article, you probably have followed some of the action in the MLB this season. This season of baseball was full of unexpected injuries (like that of the Milwaukee Brewers right fielder and National League most valuable player candidate Christian Yelich on the brink of postseason play), Cinderella stories (like both teams in the National League Championship) and of course, a few familiar faces making yet another postseason appearance in the Houston Astros and the New York Yankees.
This postseason round has looked different than expected on the National League side. The MLB’s Instagram page posted a graphic earlier this week addressing the surprising turn of events, stating that on May 25, the Washington Nationals had a 0.1 percent chance of winning the National League pennant.
Just this week, the Nationals did the impossible in a four game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals and are now set to play in the franchise’s first ever World Series behind stellar pitching performances by Max Scherzer and incredible defensive strength.
This followed the Nationals’ five-game shocking defeat of the back-to-back National League Champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Cardinals were the underdog in their division series as well; they faced the young heavy-hitting Atlanta Braves, who the Cards (more specifically, Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina) defeated in an exciting five-game series to send them to the division series. After their record-setting game five, 10 run 1st inning and the incredible pitching performance by Jack Flaherty, the Cards just couldn’t string together a win to fight off the Nats.
From the American League side of things, most expected the Houston Astros and the New York Yankees to face off again for a shot at going the World Series. The Astros, who fell to the Boston Red Sox in the American League Championship last year and were prevented from defending their 2017 World Series title, entered this postseason with the most wins in baseball and three of the league’s strongest arms in their bullpen. The Astros went five games in the division series with the Tampa Bay Rays, who put up an incredible fight to get to division championship.
The New York Yankees entered this postseason with their arsenal of power-hitting young guns, like Gleyber Torres, Aaron Judge, Gio Urshela and DJ LeMahieu, with their sights set on the Astros early. The Yankees put up 23 total runs in their sweep of the Minnesota Twins, while only allowing the Twins seven.
The Astros now lead the Yankees 2-1 in the ALCS with Wednesday night’s game being postponed. Many see the postponement to be favorable to the Astros and will allow their flame-throwing pitching staff to be on full rest.
The Yankees opened the series with a 7-0 win in Houston last Saturday, but the Astros took Sunday’s game 11 innings winning 3-2 after Carlos Correa’s first pitch, solo home run broke the tie in the bottom of the 11th and ended the game. The Astros also won in New York on Tuesday night behind Gerrit Cole’s 7-inning outing, and Cole improved his record to 20-5 this season.
I’ve watched postseason baseball long enough to know that there’s still a lot of baseball to be played, and this series will definitely be one to watch, with both teams putting on a show on the mound and on offense.
This World Series is sure to be one to remember. I just hope I get to see the Yankees playing for their 28th title in a few days.