2019 World Series

It was August, the midst of the kind of summer that tells intelligent travelers to stay away, home owners to stay indoors, and business travelers with no choice... that they are screwed.  So, there I was in Houston.  

Nobody who was there had been the one (or more) who planned the trip.  Those of us who were spineless  or stupid enough to not say "Heck no, I'm not going to Houston in August", were there, running around in a warehouse, sweating through our nice clothes, and not having a great time.  

Then, we'd go to the office, where the A/C was apparently stuck on Frostbite.  

But, with all that going on, one of the other IE's and myself decided that we would go to an Astros game that night.  Fortunately, the Astros do not play outdoors.

Cheap tickets.  Section 407.  Honestly, it was rather nice seating for a veritable nosebleed section.  Good visibility.

Oh, here's another great thing about it--it was a bobblehead night!!  My buddy and I got to take Josh Reddick bobbleheads home on our flights.  It is sitting in my office at home, waiting for Christmas, when I will likely give it to a guy at work who is from Texas, and is an Astros fan.

I went with great anticipation.  After all, Justin Verlander, the closest thing to Nolan Ryan of his generation, was pitching during another dominant season.  And, even better, he was facing the worst team in baseball--is former team, the Detroit Tiger.  

I went believing a no-hitter was a real possibility.

Guess what?  He threw a two hitter.

And lost.

It was a tremendous 9 innings of pitching.  99 pitches, if I remember right.  A player whose name I didn't even know (Chorizo or something... okay, I'll look it up... hold please...Chirinos.  That's it) had hit a home run, a double, and a single so far.  He was up to bat in the bottom of the ninth, down 2 to 1, and... he hit a double, got tagged out at third trying to extend it to a triple.  

Would have been pretty cool for him to be standing on third with a triple, having completed hitting in the cycle, and leaving the Astros with one more chance.  

But, it was crazy fun to have that be the last out.

On to the World Series, though.  This World Series, Astros vs Nationals, qualifies as a well-worth-watching World Series.  

Why is that, you ask?

Because neither the Dodgers nor the Yankees are infecting it.  And that is a beautiful thing.  No Yankees, no Dodgers.  Life is good.  

So, I'll be watching, except for when I'm not.  As it turns out, my schedule has 4 meetings and a dinner on 5 of the nights of the World Series.  Clearly I didn't do any good scheduling, but there it is.  I'll get to see an hour or more of each of those games, I suppose.  Time will tell.

The pitching match-ups will be tremendous.  Very looking forward to that.  

The other day I finished reading a very fun book--The Cardinal Way.  Understand, I'm an Indians fan, then a Reds fan... but there are teams that I have a high regard for--like the Oakland A's, the Saint Louis Cardinals, and the Houston Astros.  I learned in reading this fun book that the general manager of the Astros "grew up" with the Cardinals.  I won't go into it far, but you may already know (if you're slightly more of a fan than myself, who ought to have known about the GM, I suppose).  I was kind of hoping, while I was reading, that it would be the Jeff Luhnow World Series--Astros vs Cardinals.  

Ah, well.

There are so many players in this series who I really enjoy:

• George Springe - he of lead-off Home Run fame.  High energy, fun player.
• Jose Altuve - eventual Hall of Famer, 2nd baseman (which has been my favorite position most of my life), and a doubles hitter.  I love doubles.
• Michael Brantley - former Indian, though that is hard to remember since he was always on the DL.
• Carlos Correa - 2nd best shortstop in the AL (Lindor, duh!!)
• One more Astro--my favorite, Alex Bregman - Hoping he ends up with the WS MVP.  What a fun player.
• Pitchers Verlander, Cole, and Greinke.  That's a nuts line up.
• Then a whole bunch of Nationals players, who will go nameless.  
• Maybe I do already know who I'm cheering for... hmm...
• But, really, I think some of their players are fun to watch, too, and not just the guy who will turn 21 on the day of game 3.  Let's all hope he hits a HR, making him only the 3rd (or was it 4th?) dude to hit a HR in the World Series on his birthday.

Got your picks?  I've said Astros in 5, I've wondered Astros in 6.  I have a buddy who says Astros in 5, OR Nationals in 7.  If that isn't hedging one's bets, what is it??

Enjoy the World Series.  

M