Houston Astros Did It Again!
It feels like this team is never not deep in the postseason as Dusty Baker has led his Astros crew to another opportunity to win the World Series in their sweep of the New York Yankees. While Aaron Boone and New York fans are not so happy with the result, Houston Astros proved that keeping a lot of the same crew the past half-decade of Altuve, Alvarez, Bregman, Tucker, and Gurriel has paid off as their chemistry fielding the ball, as well as consistent hitting, led them to be one of the only teams in postseason history to go undefeated all the way to the World Series. The only team to win the whole thing when doing so was the Cincinnati Reds, led by Pete Rose.
With top aces in future hall of Famer Justin Verlander, Framber Valdez, and Jose Urquidy, this team has the veteran experience to dominate, and I won’t be surprised if we see Astros as the next champions. Of course, they do have their infamous history of having one of MLB’s most severe sanctions for in-game misconduct with the sign stealing scandals which overall gives a distaste to this organization for the baseball community. If we look at the numbers, this team is absolutely legendary. Reaching the World Series four out of the past six seasons and winning one is something we don’t usually see in most professional franchises. This team builds from the bottom up, brings in veteran talent, and always has a strong coach to direct the way.
Who’s Their Leader?
And their most unpredictable gem, and I think who will be the key to their victory, is rookie Jeremy Pena. Pena, being the cheapest starter in their lineup, is bringing the most invaluable contribution that nobody honestly expected. Him fielding like a gold glove to hitting hard shots over the outfield, he simply does it all. Last night, him knocking the three-run home run to tie the game as well as fielding amazingly at second basely, was just too much to overcome for New York. He got to win the ALCS MVP award last night as his stats for this postseason have been Pena batting a 303 average, with 3 home runs, and 5 rbi’s. With Pena’s father also playing in professional baseball but never reaching a postseason run as far as his son, this is a moment for his family and for the baseball community as a whole to potentially witness a champion, an MVP, and someone who will probably be in the league for a long time.
He’s replacing what Houston Astros fans have been used to at the second base position with Carlos Correa, and Jeremy’s doing it in his own way. Even in multiple interviews before the start of the season, he spoke into the existence that he hoped to get the opportunity to have a World Series ring around his finger by the end of the year and now he has the chance to actually do it. We’ll see if his dreams come true as the series between the Houston Astros and Philadelphia Phillies begins on Friday in Minute Maid Park.
