In the United States, October is known for a few things. If you’re a college student, football is likely your main priority. If you live outside of Florida, you may be excited to see the leaves change colors. Maybe Halloween is your favorite holiday! For Baseball fans, October is highly anticipated all year long. The Major League Baseball season begins in late March and runs through the fall with the post-season beginning in early October.
After a shortened season in 2020, the MLB was back to a full 162 game season in 2021. Between both the American League and the National League, ten teams claimed a spot in the playoffs. From the American League, we saw the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Chicago White Sox, Houston Astros and Tampa Bay Rays. Moving on from the National League were the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Atlanta Braves and Milwaukee Brewers. In a highly competitive Wild Card series, returning World Series champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers, beat the St. Louis Cardinals of the NL Central. In the American League, after battling neck and neck all season, the Tampa Bay Rays were defeated by the Boston Red Sox in a four-game series. The series between Tampa and Boston proved to be highly underwhelming for Tampa fans, given the impressive run the Rays made in the 2020 post season.
The Dodgers took their second series win in a matchup against the San Francisco Giants to give them a spot playing against the Atlanta Braves in the National League Championship Series. In the American League Championship Series, the Astros came out victorious over the Boston Red Sox. The seven-game World Series will be played between the Houston Astros and the Atlanta Braves starting on Tuesday, Oct. 26. The Braves haven’t seen a World Series since 1999, whereas the Astros have made two World Series appearances in the last five years. The matchup between Atlanta and Houston will be one of great competition being that the two teams win percentages only varied by a 10th of a point.
Both teams have fought hard to secure a spot in the championship, so it should be interesting to see how this series will play out. The Braves have fought from behind multiple times during this postseason including a walk-off win against Los Angeles in game two of the National League Championship series. In the final game of the NLCS, the Braves were able to hold the Dodgers to a 4-2 after a few innings where it looked like the Dodgers may come back, ultimately winning on a play by Dansby Swanson in the top of the ninth inning.
The 2021 World Series has been highly anticipated by many for months. For Braves fans, this is the first time they’ve experienced a World Series in over 20 years. So, will José Altuve and the Astros take the crown this year or will it be Freddie Freeman and the Braves be named the new Champions? Only time will tell.
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