A World Series without the Houston Astros…are you sure about that

This Friday, baseball commences the latest edition of the Fall Classic. After 7 months of a grueling regular season and one month of manic playoff baseball, we arrive at the World Series. For MLB, they got the dream matchup of the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers. The presumptive MVPs from each league face off, along with the two largest media markets and two rabid fanbases who long for another of their “rightful” championships. Subplots o’ plenty, and perhaps, the promise of actual, decent ratings…might even draw more than the University of Texas/Vanderbilt football tilt…maybe.

Yet, amid the joy of Manfred getting his dream matchup, there is the shadow of another team in this World Series. One that long since departed the playoff stage. Many in the national media, and likely in MLB offices, are glad to see the Houston Astros out of the pennant/title consideration. The Astros “monster” is finally dead and the World Series is free from their presence.

Or is it?

Consider the New York Yankees. After a bad 2023 season (by their standards), the squad improved by 12 wins and claimed the AL East and #1 seed. Aaron Judge likely wrapped up his second MVP in three years. Juan Soto proved the best trade acquisition of the past off-season, and the Yankees used a combination of high-priced free agents and home-grown talent to claim their 41st pennant.

Yet, all during their 7-2 playoff run to the World Series, they couldn’t help escaping recent history. In particular, most noted how they escaped playing their most dangerous playoff foe: the Astros. Any article during this Yankees’ run to the AL Pennant had to mention that pesky 0-3 NYY record in the ALCS vs. HOU. Even ESPN, which hardly carries water for Houston, couldn’t help but put that little dig in their in a post-ALCS analysis of the Yankees.

In one respect, those digs rank as uncharitable. The Yankees can only play who’s on the schedule, and Houston couldn’t make their 2024 ALCS appointment with the Yankees (true, the Yankees did miss their chances in ‘20, ‘21 and ‘23). Also, the Yankees can claim recent dominance over Houston. They’re 10-1 in their last 11 games against Houston, and have a 7-game win streak against Houston at MMP. This being Houston’s weakest team in years, if the Astros and Yankees did manage to dance in the ALCS, the Yankees, with home-field and one of their strongest overall teams in years, might have slain their Star-H Demon. Yet, they didn’t, and no matter the elation of the Yankees as they go for title #28, they won’t completely escape the shadow of Houston until they can slay them in a playoff series.

Yet, those “uncharitable” digs might have gotten under some people’s skin in the Bronx. Enter Brian Cashman, who disputed the established fact that the Yankees hadn’t played in the World Series in 15 years. No, he noted, the Yankees were cheated out of their rightful World Series berth in 2017. Ah yes, the past is never really the past, especially for him. We need not rehash all of those details, but what does it say that after the strong season the Yankees put forth, how they mashed and pitched their way to the 2024 Series, and the leadership is stuck in 2017. Maybe those digs ARE warranted, at least for some.

Then we have the other participant of the World Series, the LA Dodgers. That both reside in different leagues means they don’t see a lot of each other. While the Dodgers have the most wins in MLB since 2017, that they only have one World Series title, and that the bastardized 2020 season, is a sore point. This is further exacerbated by their belief that Houston cheated them out of the 2017 title. At this point, we all know the details, and this article does not intend to rehash the terabytes of information already out there on that subject.

Yet, that does not mean that others won’t resurrect the zombie of 2017. Enter Clayton Kershaw. As part of an interview with The Athletic’s Jayson Stark, when asked about some of the best 1-2 combos of hitters he faced, Kershaw went to the tag-team of Altuve and Bregman. Fair enough, but then he had to add the whole “they cheated” angle. It added nothing, but forced us to once again return to 2017.

Perhaps for Kershaw, who’s starting down the barrel of the end of a stellar career, there are more factors at play. We’ll set aside that he really had a strong 2017 World Series (He pitched a Game 1 gem and did well with 4 scoreless innings in Game 7…Game 5, not great, but no one from either staff pitched well in that softball game)…and the fact that Springer hit leadoff…Yet, looking at his post-season resume since 2017…well, for a pitcher with three Cy Youngs and a MVP, his post-season stats rate, at best, not great. Strong in the 2020 World Series, but outside of that..Sandy Koufax is still the GOAT of Dodgers’ pitchers.

Much of the Dodgers’ recent post-season struggles reside with their starting pitching woes. At the center of those struggles: Kershaw. In particular, his last two postseason starts in the 2022 and 2023 NLDS yielded 5.1 total innings, 9 earned runs and 2 losses (his last start. 0.1 innings, 6 earned runs…a stellar 162.00 ERA). The Dodgers left him off the 2024 roster (injury), and they rode their Kershaw-less pitching staff to a World Series berth. Can’t make Kershaw feel all that good, and thus, a chance to vent off some anger, conveniently invoking the 2017 Astros…a lament that really doesn’t hold much weight. Oh, and all this detracts from the primary thesis of the Stark article: the hitting prowess of Ohtani and Betts. Not exactly a team player, Kershaw, focusing on the bitter past vs. the bright future.

Thus, when two of baseball’s marquee franchises prepare to add another chapter to their World Series rivalry, the Astros still remain in the near shadows. Baseball, as much as it tries, just can’t quit the Houston Astros. Would anyone be surprised if during the victory parades in early November if the winning team takes a shot or two at Houston? As disappointing as it was for Houston fans to see the season end so early, it is amusing that MLB and the two surviving World Series teams can’t let the Astros leave the stage just yet.