2017 World Series Preview
They may never admit it but the MLB is not very happy with how the postseason has worked out before.
It isn’t that the games aren’t great as the series so far have been pretty good and very close through some of them.
The games have provided a lot of drama and through the American League side of the bracket, it has been the perfect postseason for the league.
All aside from the fact that the New York Yankee didn’t make the World Series which is why the MLB is not happy with the way things worked out.
Obviously, they can’t do anything about it nor would they ever try to sway the results, despite the conspiracy theorists who might believe otherwise.
What they would have loved to see would have been the two biggest markets in all of North America face off for the championship.
With Los Angeles walking through most of their postseason so far they were the first team into the World Series.
On the other side, the Yankees were taking on the Astros in what looked like a comeback series as the Yankees were down two games to none then won three straight.
New York was only a game away from moving into the World Series in what would have been a clash of the titans.
The Yankees and the Dodgers are the two biggest franchises in the league with the biggest followings and the biggest TV centres in North America.
The league would have loved to see these two giants face off in what likely would have been a championship with one of the biggest TV audiences ever.
That wasn’t the case though as the Houston Astros came back winning the final two games in Houston and taking their second pennant, also becoming the first to take both the NL and AL pennant.
Now the MLB gets a matchup that could be one of the worst for them with two western teams fighting for the championship.
Everyone knows that any league is based in the east coast with the largest viewers coming from that are.
Pitting two western teams is certainly not ideal for a league that needs the east coast to tune in but it certainly creates one of the best matchups that could be for this season.
Both the Dodgers and the Astros rose to the top of the MLB this year sitting at the top of both the NL and the AL ad different points in the season.
The Astros were hovering around that top spot but were just short of that AL title thanks to the Cleveland Indians.
The Dodgers started a little rough this season with Arizona and Colorado rising quickly and pushing the Dodgers further down.
As the season went on they got stronger and began finding their groove until rising to the top of the MLB finishing with the best record.
Two great teams are set to face-off and both have done it in very different ways as the Astros represent the offence from the AL and the Dodgers represent the defence from the NL.
It has been this way for a very long time as the leagues have always done things differently and both teams represent that perfectly.
The Dodgers come into the World Series with Clayton Kershaw and Yu Darvish both pitching well, although Darvish is on another level right now.
They are also getting some offensive output with Yasiel Puig just beginning to heat up while some of the younger batters like Justin Turner and Cody Bellinger stepping up.
In Houston, things have been slightly different as they have struggled at the start with their offensive production but seem to be picking up steam.
Jose Altuve is getting going after putting together some big games that earned him an ALCS MVP award while Evan Gattis and Brian McCann are starting to provide more timely hits.
What saved them for some of their games when the offence struggled was the pitching of Justin Verlander doing everything they wanted him to do.
If their offence can continue to stay hot and Dallas Keuchel can begin to step up to Verlander’s level they are going to be tough to beat.
The Dodgers have the same amount of talent on their team though and if their offence and pitching can keep going from the Championship series they are no easy out either.
Both teams put on a strong performance in the regular season and they are where they belong as two of the best teams in the MLB.
One team has to win though and that is going to be a struggle for anyone as they need all of their top players to step up to their level.
They will also need the role players to come through in big situations which has been the case for the Dodgers so far.
Although the Astros haven’t been as consistent they seemed to find their groove at the end of the ALCS.
Granted that was t home where they have been great all year and now they take on the Dodgers in Los Angeles four possibly four of the seven games.
That puts things in the corner of the Dodgers as the big team from the west coast could take this series and take home a title for the first time since 1988.
Never underestimate the underdogs though as the Astros have the firepower to push the Dodgers.
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