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Now, if you’re a baseball fan, or have more than 5 brain cells, you should be rooting for the Braves to close out the series. Everyone remembers the Astros stolen championship in 2017, as after they won the World Series that year, it was discovered that they had been cheating the whole year by stealing other teams signs using video feeds and trash cans, yes you read that right, trash cans. They would have a video recording from center field that showed the opposing teams signs and would go back to the dugout. The players in the dugout would then bang a trash can a specific number of times so that the batter would know what was coming. Even after the banging became ineffective, they continued to relay recordings to the dugout. They stole a World Series title, and haven’t shaken the shadow of it since. On top of that, this is the Braves first World Series appearance since 1999, while the Astros have been a part of it 3 out of the last 5 years. And when you add on everything the Braves went through this season, from losing Ronald Acuna Jr. and Mike Soroka due to injury, Marcell Ozuna being arrested, Travis d’Arnaud missing most of the season from injury, and many other setbacks, they were still able to make the World Series, and are one win away from eliminating the Astros. It should be a very exciting finish, and we can only hope that the Braves get the job done.
How did the playoffs reach here? In case you’ve missed it, here’s the backstory. The World Series started off with a bang. On the third pitch of game 1, Jorge Soler launched a home run, becoming the first player in MLB history to hit a home run in the first at bat of a World Series. This boosted the Braves to a 6-2 win. The Astros came back the next two and won game 2 by a score of 7-2. Back in Atlanta, the Braves took games 3 and 4, by scores of 2-0 and 3-2, putting them 1 game away from winning it all. In the last game in Atlanta for the season, the Astros fought off elimination, winning 9-5 and making the series 3-2 in the Braves favor.
How was the regular season? Here’s the recap as well.
The 2021 MLB regular season has come to an end, and we are now in the middle of the postseason. 10 teams from 6 divisions, 5 teams for each league all battling it out in the fall classic. Here’s a breakdown of how this years playoffs are setup:
American League:
1 Seed- Tampa Bay Rays
2 Seed- Houston Astros
3 Seed- Chicago White Sox
4 Seed- Boston Red Sox
5 Seed- New York Yankees
National League:
1 Seed- San Francisco Giants
2 Seed- Milwaukee Brewers
3 Seed- Atlanta Braves
4 Seed- Los Angeles Dodgers
5 Seed- St. Louis Cardinals
The top three teams on each side had a first round bye, as they all won their respective divisions, going straight to the divisional round. The wildcard matchups for each side were Yankees at Red Sox for the AL, and Cardinals at Dodgers for the NL. On Tuesday, October 5, the Red Sox defeated the Yankees at home, 6-2. The day after, on October 6, the Dodgers defeated the Cardinals 3-1, courtesy of a walk-off 2 run home run by Chris Taylor. The Red Sox moved on to face the Rays, with Tampa Bay having home field advantage, and the Dodgers faced the Giants, with San Francisco having home field advantage. Along with those two series, the White Sox played the Astros, Houston having the home field advantage, and the Braves took on the Brewers, with Milwaukee having home field advantage. Now, as I’m sure many people were expecting, the Pittsburgh Pirates did not make the playoffs. For the people in Pittsburgh, while they were expecting it, it’s still gotta be a little disappointing to see the team struggle this much. However they have a lot of young talent, so maybe there will be another Pirates playoff appearance within the next 50 years… maybe.
The divisional round started on Thursday, October 7, with all the American League teams playing. The divisional round is a best of 5 series, so the team who wins 3 games first wins their series. The White Sox and Astros played game 1 in Houston, with the Astros winning 6-1. The Astros took game 2 as well, winning 9-4. In game 3, the White Sox fought off elimination, beating the Astros 12-6. In game 4 the Astros eliminated the White Sox, sending them to the ALCS.
The Red Sox played the Rays in Tampa, and the Rays took care of the Sox 5-0. In game 2, the Red Sox evened up their series winning 14-6. Game 3 saw the Red Sox beating the Rays 6-4 on a walk off homer by Christian Vazquez. The Red Sox then moved on to the ALCS, beating the Rays 6-5 in game 4 on a walk-off sacrifice fly hit by Kiké Hernandez, and eliminating the Rays from the Playoffs.
The National League side started with the Braves playing at the Brewers, and the Brewers won game 1 by a score of 2-1. In game 2 the Braves won 3-0., sending them back to Atlanta with the series tied. In game 3, the Braves beat the Brewers 3-0, and in game 4 the Braves eliminated the Brewers, winning 5-4 on an 8th inning home run by Freddie Freeman, sending them to their second straight NLCS appearance.
The Dodgers played at the Giants, and the Giants won game 1, 4-0. The Dodgers took game 2, winning 9-2. In game 3, the Giants beat the Dodgers 1-0, but in game 4, the Giants could not finish off the Dodgers, as the Dodgers won and forced game 5. The two teams with the best records in baseball, two division rivals, battled it out in a winner take all game 5 in San Francisco, and on Thursday, October 14, the Dodgers came out on top sending home the Giants.
The championship series is a best of 7 series, so the first team to win 4 games moves on to the World Series. Game 1 of the ALCS ended with the Astros winning 6-5. However in game 2 the Red Sox hit 2 grand slams, as they won 9-5 evening up the series. In Game 3 of the ALCS, the Red Sox dominated at Fenway, hitting ANOTHER grand slam boosting them to a 12-3 win. In game 4, the Astros took care of business, winning 9-2 and evening the series again. The Astros took game 5 by a score of 9-2, and took a 3-2 series lead putting them one game away from the World Series. And in game 6, the Astros eliminated the Red Sox, winning 5-0 and punching their ticket to the World Series. Yordan Alvarez, the designated hitter for the Astros, was awarded ALCS MVP.
In the NLCS, the Braves won game 1, 3-2, on a walk-off single by Austin Riley. Then on the very next day they won 5-4 on another walk-off single, this one hit by Eddie Rosario, giving them a 2-0 series lead as the series moved over to Los Angeles. Game 3 of the NLCS saw the Braves leading 5-2 in the 8th inning, but the bullpen could not finish the job and the Dodgers stormed back to win 6-5, making the series 2-1 in the Braves favor. In game 4, the Braves won 9-2 backed by a huge performance by Eddie Rosario, as he went 4-5 with 2 homeruns, a triple, and a single, just missing a double for the cycle. This put the Braves in the exact same situation as last year. They played the Dodgers last year in the NLCS and went up 3-1, but the Dodgers came all the way back to win the series. But this year in game 6, the Braves beat the Dodgers and advanced to the World Series. Eddie Rosario, the left fielder for the Braves, won NLCS MVP. The stage was set. Braves vs Astros in a best of 7 series.
I like how you posted about something that you like to watch and do. I also enjoyed hearing about your opinion, which I also share.
I agree and I think the Braves really deserved the win because they lost some of their players two injury and got cheated in the past.
I really like the way you started the first paragraph with the line ,”Now, if you’re a baseball fan, or have more than 5 brain cells, you should be rooting for the Braves to close out the series. “.It made me giggle a bit.
I think that it was very well written and you explained background information and games so anyone could understand, even someone who knows nothing about sports. Very well written.