A Heart Stopper
Out of the major sports in North America, baseball is often considered one of the worst if what you are looking for is non-stop action.
In truth, the sport is not meant to be one that has people sitting on the edge of their seats throughout the entire game.
There are massive breaks in action where nothing happens punctuated by brief moments of excitement over the course of three hours.
It is not a sport that lends itself to having massive action because the structure of the sport is just not that way.
It is even a sport where, as exciting as offence is great but makes the game much slower whereas a great defensive battle with one run scored can make the game go in about half of the time.
What the game does do is make fans appreciate the small things like a big hit at the exact right time or a pitch located at the exact right spot to strikeout the side.
These little things make the game and the big fans can appreciate that while most other lesser fans enjoy it in short spurts.
That is partially why the MLB has seen some decline over recent years as the younger generation struggles to pay attention for that long with so little action.
If the World Series continues on the path that it is currently on though things might be changing for the league and the sport.
Last year the Chicago Cubs broke their 100+ year World Series drought in an unbelievable World Series against the Cleveland Indians.
It was one for the ages as there was a little bit of everything including a rain delay in Game 7 that changed the game and the series for the Cubs.
Nobody thought it would ever be outdone as the seven games played were exciting with plenty of offence and some great pitching making it a good series for baseball fans and fans of sports in general.
Then came the 2017 World Series between Los Angeles and Houston, two long-suffering teams looking to give their city something to cheer about.
The entire series was a war between two teams that simply were not going to give up their chance to take home a championship.
Although Game 1 was not the most thrilling game with a 3-1 win for the Dodgers the rest of the series was something else.
Two games went into extra innings and both represented the best of baseball as neither team would give in.
No matter what happened there seemed to always be that possibility of a comeback because it happened so often.
When the Dodgers went up the Astros would come right back and tie things up or take the lead only to see the Dodgers come back and do the same.
It was a tight battle the entire time and nobody knew when that big inning was going to come because both teams got offence from everywhere.
Despite the great pitching that both teams had with Clayton Kershaw, Yu Darvish, Justin Verlander and Dallas Keuchel none could hold the opposing team for long.
Some came out with good performances only to see it fall apart eventually in another game as the hitting was simply too good and too deep from both teams to handle.
The Astros took both of those extra-inning games but the Dodgers were there for plenty of other games to make sure they pushed Houston as much as they could.
They took a game in Houston becoming the first team to beat the Astros at Minute Maid Park making things a lot more unexpected.
Eventually, the series went to Game 7 with everyone watching to see what type of game they would get in a series with plenty to talk about.
The final game was slightly boring compared to the other games in the series as the Astros got out to an early 5-0 lead in the game.
There was still that sense that something could happen though as the rest of the series showed that no lead was ever safe with these two teams.
The Dodgers went through the rest of the game looking for those runs but couldn’t manage to get back into the game.
It was just too much for the Dodgers who couldn’t get their offence going in the final game and who will extend their drought.
It has been a while since they have taken a World Series and unfortunately their reputation of getting close but never finishing continued.
For the Astros, it was their offence that was struggling at the start of the series but that came through when they needed it the most.
They got on top of Darvish in Game 7 and put this series away early in what is sure to be a big win not only for the team but for the city.
After Houston was rocked by a Hurricane earlier this year the Astros have been a welcomed distraction and although it can’t fix things it gives the city something to cheer about.
It is the first title in the history of the franchise ending the third-longest drought, 55 years, in the MLB right now.
After a series that had it all the MLB is enjoying a resurgence in their most important games and for another year a new franchise was on top.
It is a good trend as more people tuned in this year than years before and coming out on top is a franchise with plenty of fans happy to see their team sitting on top of the baseball world for the first time in franchise history.
The Sport Addiction 