After years of ridicule, the Houston Astros have been freed from the unrelenting jokes of Major League Baseball (MLB) fans.
On Nov. 5, the Houston Astros took down the Philadelphia Phillies in game six of the 2022 World Series, coming back from a 2-1 series deficit and taking the final two games of the series to claim victory. The Astros, often referred to as the ‘Stros, were led by star rookie shortstop Jeremy Peña and left fielder Yordan Alvarez. In what was somewhat a boring series at times, it was not the outcome that many fans were interested in. What made this World Series so significant was its relation to a World Series that occurred five years ago.
The 2017 World Series between Houston and the Los Angeles Dodgers still feels sour to fans across baseball today. The cheating scandal that rocked the baseball world still holds significance, especially considering the fact that the Astros faced no viable punishment for their admitted actions.
Nonetheless, the 2022 World Series was contested enough. This was extremely impressive once you take into account the massive talent disparity between the ‘Stros and the Phillies. Houston carried the second highest valued bullpen in the MLB, according to Wins Above Replacement (WAR), while the Phillies only had the ninth best according to the same metric. A similar disparity appeared when comparing the two teams’ hitting. The Astros ranked as the sixth best hitting team according to weighted Runs Created Plus (wRC+), whereas the Phillies were only the tenth best team. wRC+ is widely used as a universal hitting metric, where 100 is league average. Nonetheless, the ‘Stros were heavily favored by Vegas, as they opened the series as -145 favorites — essentially meaning you would have to pay $145 to win $100. Regardless of speculation, the Phillies stayed close throughout the series. Philadelphia even stole game one — an away game at Houston — after coming back from a 5-0 deficit and winning in extra innings, 6-5. However, it felt as if after that game, it was all Astros.
The ‘Stros came out firing after game one, winning four of five to cement themselves as champions. The games did not feel particularly close either, with the exception of game five in Philadelphia, which required some late inning heroics from Astros center fielder Chas McCormick to cement a 3-2 Astros’ series lead. The highlight of the beatdown on the Phillies was a combined no-hitter in game four — a game in Philadelphia where the Phillies could not record a single hit. This was the first combined no-hitter in World Series history.
Fans’ reactions were to be expected: bitter, but relenting. The mood amongst all MLB fans — withholding Astros and Phillies fans — was unlike most other World Series. It felt as if the Astros had vindicated themselves, yet it still felt odd to see such a hated team overcome all doubters and win a World Series, free of controversy.
The Phillies, led by franchise outfielder Bryce Harper, fell in a heartbreaking manner. It was truly a Cinderella story for the National League’s sixth seed. They were a team that, under last year’s playoff system would not have even been in the postseason, survived three rounds of baseball in which they were favored to lose. Philadelphia was the last team to qualify for the playoffs, which undoubtedly helped the MLB’s decision to add to the playoff pool, along with their offense coming alive at the right time. However, their defense and bullpen, two aspects of baseball that the Phillies have notoriously lacked, proved to be final blows to Philadelphia’s hopes. Now they move on to 2023 with newfound confidence and a largely retained core.
As for Houston, a potential dynasty continues. The Astros have been in every American League Championship Series since 2017 and continue to replenish lost talent and retain their core. Despite the outside noise, it has truly been fun to watch a formerly perennial bottom dweller ascend to an MLB giant.
With the series ending, baseball now shifts towards free agency. Bring on the chaos of the hot stove.
Jacob Ramos is an Opinion Intern for the fall 2022 quarter. He can be reached at jacobtr@uci.edu.
