I was wrong. In my predictions piece, I had ranked the Atlanta Braves last, effectively congratulating the NL East division winner for getting into October by default. They beat the Milwaukee Brewers, a team better than them, convincingly. They beat the mighty Los Angeles Dodgers, the favourite to win the Commissioner’s Trophy. A quick note on the Dodgers, they had a payroll of $267 million—$64 million more than the New York Yankees—and if not for a literal pandemic during the 60-game 2019-2020 season, would not have had a championship since 1988. Take that as you will. After helping the Dodgers choke on their money and stars, they went on to beat the cheaters, the Houston Astros, thus becoming the darlings of the baseball world. History is written by the winners, but what about the losers?
The Dodgers, as already mentioned, choked. They won their first World Series since 1988 in 2020. In total, it took over $3.69 billion in salary and a change in ownership to win between 1988 and 2020. Here’s to the next $3.69 billion. The walk-off home run was cool against the Cardinals but not as cool as a ring. Nor as cool as $3.69 billion. The Giants were the Cinderella story of the baseball season. The clock struck twelve, and they ended up losing out to the Dodgers in a hotly contested NLDS. Next year is an even year and, if you are not aware, the Giants have recently been at their greatest when the year is an even number. Therefore, Giants fans can fantasize over another World Series title. Or, they can be realistic and admit that they got their shot and blew it. The Brewers offence decided to disappear, losing to the Braves in the NLDS. With respect to them, their analysis will disappear as well.
The Houston Astros did not cheat this time around. They decided to give it a fair go and as a result, demolished the Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox on their way to winning the AL. Wait, what happened to the Rays? Well, it turns out you can only keep using mostly average pitchers until eventually, they regress. They were upset by the Red Sox in the ALDS. Although I have a personal hatred for Boston, the Red Sox did give baseball fans a great remedy after a long and arduous season: They beat the New York Yankees in the wild card. The fan meltdown was spectacular. Yankees fans were furious throughout the season over the decision-making of General Manager Brian Cashman. They do have legitimate gripes, of course Mr. Cashman has only been spending $200 million every year on player salaries, putting the Yankees in first or second every year in the league. Yankees ace Gerrit Cole, who was using illegal substances to bolster himself from a very good pitcher to a great pitcher regressed after the MLB started clamping down on illegal substance use. The $239 million man then got heated and offended when veteran outfielder Brent Gardiner played a spider tack prank on him. In the words of David Ortiz: “Theeeeeeeeee… Yankees lose!”
I did not forget about you, Chicago. During the series with the Astros, South-Side turned into Salt-Side. White Sox reliever Ryan Tepera publicly accused the Astros of still employing their sign-stealing system in home games. That system involved a camera in the outfield recording the signs the catcher was giving to the pitcher. In response, someone would loudly bang a trash can to alert the batter of which pitch would be coming. Allegedly, some players were wearing buzzers under their uniforms and would be buzzed with the pitch that was coming. Thus, the Astros are infamously referred to as the “Trashtros.” Do Tepera’s allegations have any weight? In the four games that they played in the postseason, the Astros won three out of the four. They scored fifteen runs at home and sixteen runs away. Ten of the sixteen runs scored by the Astros were in game four in Chicago. The White Sox were eliminated in Game Four, losing ten to one. Yes, Chicago, blame everyone but yourselves.
Once again, congratulations to the Atlanta Braves. Without their young superstar Ronald Acuña Jr, they persevered and fought as hard as they could. I apologize for doubting you. I also apologize for how the entire world will forget what the Braves have done in about a week. Negotiations for the renewal of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) will officially begin after it expires at 11:59 p.m. EST on 1 December 2021. Baseball is known for long, arduous, and drawn-out CBA negotiations. With the owners and players’ union having just recently clashed while negotiating the 60-game 2019-2020 season, the CBA negotiation should be a war. Braves fans can bask in the glow of their title, but the baseball world is quickly moving on.