Go
easy on my friend Ms. Roberts today.
Last
night, the Baseball Gods exhibited much cruelty on her hometown Astros as they
suffered a 6-2 loss in Game 7 of the World Series to the Washington Nationals.
The devastating
blow came in the top of the seventh inning when Howie Kendrick hit a two-run
home run that clanked off the right field foul pole that gave the Nationals the
lead once and for all.
Homefield
advantage did not mean much in this series as neither team won in their own
ballpark. This was the first time in MLB postseason history that this was
achieved. This has not happened in either the NBA or NHL which also utilize a
series to determine winners throughout their playoff rounds.
This
is the first World Series championship for the Nationals franchise. They were
founded 50 years ago as the Montreal Expos. 25 years ago, the baseball strike
ended the season and canceled the series for the first time since 1904. At the
time of the strike, the Expos had a league best 74-40 record. The strike ended
when a district court judge ruled that the owners violated labor laws and
effectively ended the strike.
Support
for the Expos collapsed and by 2005, they relocated to Washington, DC. This was
the third time Major League Baseball was in the nation’s capital. The previous
times it was the Washington Senators. The first iteration of the Senators won
the championship in 1924 and eventually moved to Minneapolis as the Twins in 1961.
When that team left, they were replaced by another Senators franchise who were lived
up to the phrase of “Washington: first in war, first in peace, and last in the
American League.” They left DC in 1971 for Arlington, TX and became the beloved
Red-shoed Texas Rangers.
There
was also the highly
successful Negro National League Homestead Greys that won 3 championships,
their final one coming in the league’s final season of 1948.
Throughout
this decade the Nationals were a highly talented team but had trouble getting
beyond the divisional series round. Washington started the 2019 season 19-31,
but finished 74-38 to end up 4 games behind the Atlanta Braves in the NL East
and claim the first Wild Card spot. In addition to winning the Wild Card game
against the Milwaukee Brewers, the Nationals won five elimination games. World
Series MVP pitcher Steven Strasburg went 5-0 on 5 postseason starts for a 1.98
ERA and 47 strikes vs. 4 walks that included two wins in the series.
And
that district judge who ended the baseball strike? It was SCOTUS Justice Sonia
Sotomayor, who
threw out the first pitch before a Nationals game in September.
As I
told Ms. Roberts last night on Twitter, baseball can sometimes be a cruel,
cruel sport. She is probably recounting all the times the Astros and other
Houston teams came up short in their history.
But she will have the memories
of 2017. And NO ONE can take that away from her or her city.
At
least the Astros were never leading a World Series Game 6. On the road. Into
the bottom of a final inning…
with
their opponent down to their last out
…
|
|
Me
|
Monica
|
|
WEEK
8
|
13-2
|
13-2
|
|
TOTAL
|
|
|
Kickoff
times are Mountain Time
Sunday
afternoon games airing in Denver are noted by (DEN)
Picks
are in BOLD
BYE WEEK
Bengals,
Falcons, Rams, Saints
THURSDAY
NIGHT, FOX/NFL 6:20 PM
Cardinals
at 49ers
NFL 7:30AM
Texans vs. Jaguars, in
London
CBS 11AM
Colts at
Steelers (DEN)
Titans at Panthers
Jets at
Dolphins
FOX 11AM
Vikings at Chiefs (DEN)
Washington
at Bills
Bears
at Eagles
CBS 2PM
Browns at Broncos (DEN)
Packers at Chargers
FOX 2PM
Lions at Raiders
Buccaneers
at Seahawks
SUNDAY
NIGHT, NBC 6:20PM
Patriots at Ravens
MONDAY
NIGHT, ESPN 6:15PM
Cowboys at Giants
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