A year after the Cubs won their first World Series in 108 years, both the Astros and Dodgers are seeking to end World Series droughts of their own.
The Astros, are yet to win a World Series in their franchise’s 48 year history, while the Dodgers are seeking to end a 29 year stretch of their own without winning the title. Unlike the Astros who have never won, the Dodgers most recent World Series victory came in 1988 verse Oakland.
With both teams having a lot to play for, this has made for a World Series that has been exciting for both baseball and non-baseball fans alike.
Whether you have your team in it, you are a die hard baseball fan like myself or maybe you’re not a sports fan and just hanging with friends focusing on the matchup of who can have the best beard and watching the record amount of home runs hit, this World Series has had something for everyone.
If you’re just looking for the biggest beards in the postseason, both teams let the veterans show the young guns how its done. The Dodgers have big right handed bat Justin Turner with his flowing red hair and his James Harden-like beard.
The Astros on the other hand, bring a pair of veteran catchers with Brian McCann and Evan Gattis trying to compete with the lumberjack style beards.
This series has been an easy one for people to pick a team to root for because both teams are based off youth and love to hit the ball hard.
The Astros have been lead by 29 year old batting champion Jose Altuve while the Dodgers have leaned on (presumably) 2017 Rookie of the Year Cody Bellinger to lead their offenses.
However, both teams also have star shortstops. Both Corey Seager(Dodgers) and Carlos Correa(Astros) are just 23 years old and have shined this postseason for their respective teams.
Perhaps the best player matchup for both teams has been Clayton Kershaw versus Dallas Keuchel. 2014 MVP and Cy Young award winner Clayton Kershaw had a lights out season going with 18 wins with a 2.31 earned run average(ERA). Keuchel, the 2015 Cy Young award winner had 14 wins and a 2.90 earned run average during the regular season.
Game five Sunday night(10/29/17) was one of the best World Series games in recent history.
Looking at it from the start, everything pointed to a low scoring game with Kershaw verse Keuchel in a series tied up at two. However, after seven home runs, seven lead changes, and ten innings in five hours and 17 minutes, the Astros finished with a 13-12 victory giving them a 3-2 series lead going back to Los Angeles.
Game six is in LA on Tuesday(10/31) at 5 p.m. and if Sunday was a preview of the rest of the series, we are in for a good one.
Justin Couchot can be reached at [email protected] or @JCouchot_Sports on Twitter.
