2019 World Series

On one side, we have the up and coming, talent laden Houston Astros, who won the World Series in 2017, bestowed with a pitching staff that strikes fear in the best of major league lineups. A staff with 2-20 game winners (including playoffs) in Cole and Verlander. They got through the feisty young Rays, and then new-faced Bronx Bombers, to meet up with the Nationals, a franchise that has never been to, or won, a World Series. The town of DC, to note, did win a WS in 1924 when it was the Washington Senators - before they moved to Minnesota to become the MN Twins.  

Stay In The Fight - that was the Nationals motto for the year. A team that started the season slow; they were 19-31 in late May, and just above .500 at the All Star Break. Not too many people picked them to be the WS winners come October. Before the season started, the Nats were 16-1 odds to win the WS. The Astros, on the other hand, were given the highest odds to win at 6-1. The Nationals were 5-0 in elimination games this postseason.
  
Washington had to beat a talented Dodgers team, who attended the last 2 WS contests (2017, 2018) only to lose the series both times. Then they had to beat the St Louis Cardinals, who won the WS in 2006 and 2011. Both good teams. This Nats team came back from behind in multiple games, and multiple series. And they did the same thing in the World Series against the Astros, winning each of their games on the road in Houston. This was also the only sports series, where the championship is a series, that each team won on the road in the 7 games, each game of the series EVER in NHL, NBA, or MLB series.

The Nationals also were a team that reminded us that “this game is supposed to be fun, dammit!” -Bull Durham. They hugged in the dugout. Group hugs. They smiled. They danced. They did interesting celebrations. They wore funny glasses. The game is supposed to be fun. Well, winning is fun, that is for sure. 

We wake up today and see the Vegas odds (Ceasars Sportsbook) to win the 2020 WS have the Astros at the top at 4-1, followed by the Dodgers at 5-1, Yankees 5-1, Braves 10-1, and Red Sox 10-1. The usual ones. The usual suspects. The Nationals are at 14-1 as of today. 

Here’s to getting to know the wife and kids again for the boys of summer. Stay fit guys. Enjoy.  

-Christopher Lindquist