All aboard the World Series train! The Houston Astros defeated the Yankees in the ALCS to win the American League pennant. They’ll travel to Los Angeles to face the Dodgers in the World Series which begins on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium. This is the Astros second World Series appearance in their franchise history. They got swept by the White Sox in the 2005 fall classic.
The Dodgers have played the Astros just once in the postseason. The two clubs played each other in the strike shortened 1981 NLDS in which the Dodgers beat them 3-2. The Dodgers had to come from behind after trailing 0-2 to win three in a row to advance. The Dodgers and Astros also played each other in the 1980 NL West tiebreaker after the two teams finished the regular season tied for first place. Houston won that game 7-1 behind Joe Niekro’s complete game win.
This will be a battle of 100-win behemoths. The Astros won 101 games during the regular season and the Dodgers won 104 games. The Dodgers and Astros have not played each other since 2015. If you remember the Dodgers and Astros used to be divisional rivals when the Astros were in the National League west division from 1969-1993. The Astros won two NL West division titles during that span but failed to advance to the World Series until their 2005 pennant winning club.
The Astros actually have a really good team. Their offense is very powerful. The Astros scored 896 runs and hit 238 home runs in the regular season compared to the Dodger’s 770 runs. The Dodgers hit 221 home runs.
The Astros are led by their all-star second baseman Jose Altuve. The keystone slugger is only 5’5 one of the smallest players in baseball. Don’t let his short stature fool you; he’s one of the best hitters in baseball. The Astros also have acrobatic center fielder George Springer, powerful shortstop Carlos Correa, and veteran Brian McCann among others. Old friend Josh Reddick is with the Astros too and batted .314 in the regular season over 540 plate appearances with 82 runs driven in.
Their pitching staff was one of the best in the American League led by bearded ace Dallas Keuchel. The left hander won the AL Cy Young award in 2015. They have Lance McCullers and midseason acquisition Justin Verlander who won the ALCS MVP award. Charlie Morton and Brad Peacock rounded out their solid rotation. The bullpen has closer Ken Giles and all-star setup man Chris Devenski. Houston is led by third year manager A.J. Hinch.
Game 1 should be a marquee pitching match-up between Clayton Kershaw and Dallas Keuchel. The gross ass Yankees will reportedly be on their couches or the golf course for the remainder of the postseason. That is of course very sad news…..LOL ok it’s not.
It should be a fun series. In the meantime check out some old Dodgers/Astros playoff match-ups. The first is not a postseason match-up technically, but it is the 1980 NL West tiebreaker. It’s not fun to watch since the Dodgers lost 7-1, but I figured I would include it since it’s so rare. The other one is the Dodger’s 1981 NLDS game 5 victory over Nolan Ryan and the Astros. The World Series awaits!
