World Series Takeaways

Photo by Harry How from Getty Images

Sometimes, the bad guy wins.

It happens lots of times in movies and video games, and it always leaves a sour taste in your mouth.

And with the Astros winning the World Series for the second time in their history, lots of people may be feeling that way.

But is it deserved?

Let’s discuss the 2022 World Series.

Let’s start with the Phillies.

The end of the 2022 season and first few rounds of the 2022 postseason were exactly what the Phillies thought this year would be like when it started.

Good starting pitching, fantastic hitting and a really solid team overall.

And in games 1 and 3 of the World Series, it looked like that would continue.

A fantastic rally won them game 1, and they slaughtered Houston in game 3. The red hot team was only two games away from a world title.

And then the bats went cold.

One game after setting the record for home runs in a World Series game, the Phillies were no hit in game 4.

And then in games 5 and 6, both there to be won, the Phillies got nothing out of Hoskins, Realmuto and Castellanos.

They simply went cold at the wrong time against the wrong opponent, and an amazing run unfortunately fell short.

And then, there’s Houston.

Let’s not get it muddled.

Houston cheated for the world title. Everyone knows it. They know it. They don’t even care about it and had no remorse whatsoever about it.

I feel many other baseball fans share the sentiment I have about this team.

I hate them.

But man, I have no choice but to respect them.

The cheating scandal was in 2017.

The manager is gone. The general manager is gone. A lot of the players from that team are gone.

And yet, the Astros are still here.

They lose Carlos Correa and George Springer, they slot in new homegrown talent like Jeremy Pena and Yordan Alvarez.

The pitching rotation is amazing. The bullpen is great. They don’t have a single hole in their lineup.

Even 5 years post cheating scandal, the Astros are not only the team of now, but they’re the team of the future as well.

Nobody outside of Houston likes them.

They are the bad guys. They are the villains.

But sometimes, the bad guys win.

And frankly, the Houston Astros do not give a damn that nobody likes them.

And I have to respect it.