World Series Game 7: Your 2017 World Series Champions

The final recap of the season ends with the most amount of games played possible to reach the end.  Game 7 of the World Series was everything baseball wanted heading into the game.  3-3 series tied heading into a winner take all championship game.  As a baseball fan, before the game started I did not necessarily have preference for who I want to win the game, as I am a New York Yankees fan, but I got the butterflies just like any athlete before a big game and couldn’t wait to see Game 7.  As you can tell by the first photo the Houston Astros became this year’s World Series Champions by a score of 5-1.  Charlie Morton earned the W for the Astros surprisingly in 4 innings of relief.  Yu Darvish ended up with the loss and struggled not even making it through the first 2 innings.

The Astros put on a great performance this postseason.  The dominated the Red Sox in the ALDS, then rallied from down 3-2 to beat the Yankees in the ALCS, and then to come up and rise above the adversity to defeat the Dodgers in 7 games to win their first Championship in franchise history was huge.  The big catalyst for the Astros run has been All-Star slugger and World Series MVP George Springer.  Springer tallied 5 homers in the World Series, which is almost one home run per game, which is a scary stat for the Dodgers.  He was named World Series MVP and will hopefully be the league MVP someday in the league.

This title means more than any ordinary World Series Championship.  This was for the city and means a ton to the fans who supported the Astros during a tough time for the city with the devastation by Hurricane Harvey.  JJ Watt of the Houston Texans raised over $35 million for the city, and the Astros were looking to do something big for the city as well.  It is almost like once Harvey happened, the eye of the tiger was instilled in every player on the team and they all had one common goal: Bring home a World Series Trophy for the city of Houston.  They gave the city everything they possibly could have and the fans couldn’t be more happy.  Not only was this a big time to win a title for the city, but it is even more special since it’s the first championship in franchise history.  In a year where the city needed a title and the Astros wanted to end a drought, they were able to accomplish both.  They draw slight comparisons to the 2013 Boston Red Sox championship team who were “Boston Strong” after the Boston Marathon Bombing.  They had a city who rallied behind them and pushed them toward the title.  These teams both share that eye of the tiger and that passion for winning needed to lift up the city during a tough time.  

This franchise has done some serious rebuilding as well, so don’t think this team happened overnight. We are gonna take a quick flashback to 2011 when the Astros had finished 56-106 and were considered the absolute laughing stock of the league.  When you lose 100+ games you know that you’ve had a rough year.  The even sadder thing is the next 2 seasons they finished even worse.  In 2012 they finished 55-107 and then hit a big time low going 51-111 in 2013.  After spending 3 seasons at the absolute bottom of the league and in need of someway to climb out of the hole, the Astros did an amazing job scouting and making trades and drafting prospects such as 2011 1st rounder OF George Springer, 2012 1st rounder Carlos Correa, 2009 7th rounder SP Dallas Keuchel, and tryout pickup Jose Altuve (who would make his debut in 2011).  They completely reshaped their roster and started coming back to a competitive team.   They placed 2nd in the 2015 season, going 86-76 and beating the New York Yankees in the Wildcard before falling to the Kansas City Royals in the ALDS 3-2.  They barely missed the playoffs last season, with a 84-78 record, and then bounced back huge this year and won the division for the first time since 2001 with a 101-61 record.  If there is a franchise most deserving of a title it’s the Houston Astros.  They built their team from the ground up and it equalled wins and now a championship.  

As a baseball fan, I am proud of the Astros and all that they have accomplished and tip my cap to their front office for putting the team together, the fans for supporting them through the tough times, and now the good times, and the players for never giving up and reaching their goal and being Houston Strong.

Written by Nick Kazandjian