Major League Baseball: 2017 Season
- Thread starter JohnBM01
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- JMarine25
Only one could win. The Houston Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers battled hard in a wicked World Series that went the seven game distance. And to announce...
"Here is your winner, and NEEEEEEW World Series Champions... the Houston Astros!"
That Sports Illustrated from 2014 was right, and I was the biggest Debbie Downer and non-believer. But in the end... the Houston Astros win their first-ever World Series. And as a native Houstonian- who had to put up with teams failing or falling short or that Houston teams can never win a championship or never make it to the biggest games, this makes me absolutely proud. Houston is a sports city where futility was commonplace. You know- Texans never making it to the Super Bowl, Rockets haven't won a title since the Clutch City years in the mid-1990s, Astros suffering three straight 100 loss seasons... this is an absolutely amazing breath of fresh air. The Hell Houston been through with Hurricane Harvey eariier this year and something like this is just Heaven. I continually have said- "I want the Astros to win it all. ...but I don't think it will happen this year." Even if I sounded like I didn't believe in my Houston Astros, they did it. And I'm damned proud.
The Houston Astros won their first-ever championship since coming into Major League Baseball as the Colt .45s in 1962. They would become the Houston Astros and have a handful of great years and horrible years. 100+ wins for the first time in 1998. The Killer B's doing work for the Houston Astros. Never making the World Series until 2005. Then making the World Series, get swept by the Chicago White Sox. Then began the downward spiral. Even coming down to winning 55 games, then 53, then 51. Going from National League to American League. Missing out on the playoffs in 2016 despite having a great season. Then having a much more baller season in 2017 than in 2016. All the while, I respected the Red Sox, Yankees, and Dodgers all the way to this point. I actually had the Astros winning it all, but I knew the Dodgers were going to crush our hopes like almost every other Houston sports team trying to become champions. In the end... WE DID IT! We really did Earn History. #EarnIt was our mantra all season long, and then #EarnHistory was our mantra in the playoffs. We basically had to earn it considering being up against it against the likes of our playoff opponents. I didn't watch most of the action because I fear I'd jinx the Astros' success.
As for the Los Angeles Dodgers, they just wouldn't go away. I respect the heck out of the Dodgers. It wasn't like the Astros were playing some last-place, "who cares" team in the World Series. These were two 100-win teams and got those 100 wins for a reason. The Dodgers are bad (you-know-what). They'll be back. This World Series was a 12-round heavyweight fight, and the Dodgers did not lower their guard landing punch after punch. They really have nothing to be ashamed of. The Astros had just enough to pull it out and win it all.
It's all over now. The final game played, the final out recorded. All that was left was for one team to take it all and carry the weight and honor of being champions. Plenty of time to gloat until the next season starts. So you damn right I'm happy right about now that a sports burden was lifted and that a stigma was finally dissolved. The view from the top of the mountain is a beautiful one. My only regret? Maybe we should have won it all in 2005 so we could have been TWO-TIME World Series champions!
So uh... we're the champs. And all 29 teams want what we got once Spring Training 2018 rolls around. Well... get at us, dawg! We're ready for 2018!
[UPDATE] Forgot to mention "...but not this year" in my post.
"Here is your winner, and NEEEEEEW World Series Champions... the Houston Astros!"
That Sports Illustrated from 2014 was right, and I was the biggest Debbie Downer and non-believer. But in the end... the Houston Astros win their first-ever World Series. And as a native Houstonian- who had to put up with teams failing or falling short or that Houston teams can never win a championship or never make it to the biggest games, this makes me absolutely proud. Houston is a sports city where futility was commonplace. You know- Texans never making it to the Super Bowl, Rockets haven't won a title since the Clutch City years in the mid-1990s, Astros suffering three straight 100 loss seasons... this is an absolutely amazing breath of fresh air. The Hell Houston been through with Hurricane Harvey eariier this year and something like this is just Heaven. I continually have said- "I want the Astros to win it all. ...but I don't think it will happen this year." Even if I sounded like I didn't believe in my Houston Astros, they did it. And I'm damned proud.
The Houston Astros won their first-ever championship since coming into Major League Baseball as the Colt .45s in 1962. They would become the Houston Astros and have a handful of great years and horrible years. 100+ wins for the first time in 1998. The Killer B's doing work for the Houston Astros. Never making the World Series until 2005. Then making the World Series, get swept by the Chicago White Sox. Then began the downward spiral. Even coming down to winning 55 games, then 53, then 51. Going from National League to American League. Missing out on the playoffs in 2016 despite having a great season. Then having a much more baller season in 2017 than in 2016. All the while, I respected the Red Sox, Yankees, and Dodgers all the way to this point. I actually had the Astros winning it all, but I knew the Dodgers were going to crush our hopes like almost every other Houston sports team trying to become champions. In the end... WE DID IT! We really did Earn History. #EarnIt was our mantra all season long, and then #EarnHistory was our mantra in the playoffs. We basically had to earn it considering being up against it against the likes of our playoff opponents. I didn't watch most of the action because I fear I'd jinx the Astros' success.
As for the Los Angeles Dodgers, they just wouldn't go away. I respect the heck out of the Dodgers. It wasn't like the Astros were playing some last-place, "who cares" team in the World Series. These were two 100-win teams and got those 100 wins for a reason. The Dodgers are bad (you-know-what). They'll be back. This World Series was a 12-round heavyweight fight, and the Dodgers did not lower their guard landing punch after punch. They really have nothing to be ashamed of. The Astros had just enough to pull it out and win it all.
It's all over now. The final game played, the final out recorded. All that was left was for one team to take it all and carry the weight and honor of being champions. Plenty of time to gloat until the next season starts. So you damn right I'm happy right about now that a sports burden was lifted and that a stigma was finally dissolved. The view from the top of the mountain is a beautiful one. My only regret? Maybe we should have won it all in 2005 so we could have been TWO-TIME World Series champions!
So uh... we're the champs. And all 29 teams want what we got once Spring Training 2018 rolls around. Well... get at us, dawg!
We're ready for 2018![UPDATE] Forgot to mention "...but not this year" in my post.
- 1,684
- Houston, TX
- The_TetsuKobura
Carlos Correa proposing to his girlfriend was the best way to end the 2017 Baseball season.
- 6,259
- Tecumseh, MI
- I_Fail_At_FPS
I'm just happy that Verlander finally has a WS ring.
- 26,910
- Houston, Texas, USA
- JMarine25
Now for many more musings...
I am neutral, but you all know I'm a Houston Astros fan. I remained tight-lipped about the Astros for fear of jinxing them. We have a history of sports teams not being good enough to be champions of any given sport. I feared the Astros were heading down that path. Like, "how are we going to blow this one?" I thought we'd take down Boston in that series. I had my fears about the Yankees finding some kind of magic to subdue my Astros. Didn't happen. While I thought we can take down the Los Angeles Dodgers, I thought the Dodgers would find their own magic to defeat my Astros. I mean, so much was pointing towards the Dodgers taking it all- home field advantage being one of them. Not to mention the fact I've recalled many a Houston vs. Los Angeles sporting match where Houston teams would lose to Los Angeles teams in postseason play. In the end, the Houston Astros really had to earn it because it wasn't going to come easy against teams like the Yankees or the Dodgers. In the end, I am absolutely proud of my Astros for Earning History. If I had the channel their games are televised on (nowadays AT&T Sportsnet), I would have watched more of their games. The Houston Astros won the first Major League Baseball championship for the state of Texas. The Texas Rangers came close when they took on the San Francisco Giants a few years ago, but failed. One thing I didn't know is that the Texas Rangers came into the league in 1961.
Something I usually do is sometimes snoop on Facebook or Twitter to see what winning and losing teams do. I tried to find it again on Twitter, but the San Francisco Giants trolled the Los Angeles Dodgers hard with a VERY funny 36-second video! The video was to "cheer up" Dodgers fans. Among the things mentioned were "Clayton Kershaw a great pitcher... only in the regular season." I was laughing pretty hard when I saw that video! And because I am not a troll, I actually went on the Los Angeles Dodgers' Facebook fan page and expressed my congratulations to the Dodgers on a fine 2017. I mentioned being an Astros fan but vastly respecting the Dodgers.
I was looking back at all of the posts from this season of Major League Baseball. All I do is talk about my Houston Astros, but even I can't believe how often I mentioned winning. It almost seemed like a broken record talking about all the games we won and any streaks and sweeps we've been on. Maybe the craziest game I recall was when the Astros were trailing 8-2 at one point and ended up WINNING 16-8 on the road (at Minnesota). We went into the All-Star Break with a 60-29 record. The Los Angeles Dodgers, however, had a better record at 61-29. The 2017 Houston Astros aren't exactly any of the 1920 New York Yankees teams, but I once heard of just how powerful the Astros have been this season. So you could almost imagine putting the 2017 Astros against one of the "Murderer's Row" Yankees teams of old in a video game or something. Perhaps I have been stupefied at just how good the Astros really were. According to Yahoo! Sports, we were 1st in batting average, 1st in runs scored, 11 in ERA, and 7th in WHIP. It is that feeling where you are powerful, but you don't even recognize HOW powerful you are. I also noted how many times I said "we're not going to win it all this year" or something similar. Also, let's not forget Hurricane Harvey's impact to Houston. It was surely surprising news that the Astros picked up Justin Verlander. People already thought the Astros threw away their chances of becoming champions since the Los Angeles Dodgers picked up Yu Darvish and stuff.
I'm obviously happy about my Astros this season. However, I looked at stories from most of the other teams from other GTPlanteers. I've seen the reports of the rough seasons by the likes of the Cincinnati Red, the New York Mets, the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Detroit Tigers, and the Toronto Blue Jays. I felt most sad about how the Reds have these good leads... then blow them thanks to the bullpen or some poor pitching. I've heard of the woes of the Detroit Tigers. Insane stuff.
As of the time of this post, the Houston Astros Champions Parade is still ongoing. I saw most of the parade and heard some of the players speaking to the crowd. This is all a surreal experience. This is even more surreal an experience to me as Formula 1 returning to the United States to race in my home state of Texas about 3-4 hours west of Houston.
All 30 Major League Baseball teams were all eligible and able to play for the postseason. Ten teams proven to be among the top percentile while 20 others failed. Ten became eight. Eight became four. Four became two. And the two best (or luckiest) became one. And in the end, the Houston Astros became the 2017 World Series Champions. Maybe the Sports Illustrated guy who predicted the Astros win it all in 2017 should get the Nobel Peace Prize and a statue erected in his honor. And from what I heard, here's another bold prediction- there is another SI prediction that Houston will repeat as MLB champs. I am CERTAINLY not buying that! But it would be cool if it did happen, though.
Well, that's it. If you want to talk about the 2017 season, please feel free to do so. What you thought about it? How did your favorite team(s) and player(s) do? What to look forward to for next season? Anything like that. GO!
I am neutral, but you all know I'm a Houston Astros fan. I remained tight-lipped about the Astros for fear of jinxing them. We have a history of sports teams not being good enough to be champions of any given sport. I feared the Astros were heading down that path. Like, "how are we going to blow this one?" I thought we'd take down Boston in that series. I had my fears about the Yankees finding some kind of magic to subdue my Astros. Didn't happen. While I thought we can take down the Los Angeles Dodgers, I thought the Dodgers would find their own magic to defeat my Astros. I mean, so much was pointing towards the Dodgers taking it all- home field advantage being one of them. Not to mention the fact I've recalled many a Houston vs. Los Angeles sporting match where Houston teams would lose to Los Angeles teams in postseason play. In the end, the Houston Astros really had to earn it because it wasn't going to come easy against teams like the Yankees or the Dodgers. In the end, I am absolutely proud of my Astros for Earning History. If I had the channel their games are televised on (nowadays AT&T Sportsnet), I would have watched more of their games. The Houston Astros won the first Major League Baseball championship for the state of Texas. The Texas Rangers came close when they took on the San Francisco Giants a few years ago, but failed. One thing I didn't know is that the Texas Rangers came into the league in 1961.
Something I usually do is sometimes snoop on Facebook or Twitter to see what winning and losing teams do. I tried to find it again on Twitter, but the San Francisco Giants trolled the Los Angeles Dodgers hard with a VERY funny 36-second video! The video was to "cheer up" Dodgers fans. Among the things mentioned were "Clayton Kershaw a great pitcher... only in the regular season." I was laughing pretty hard when I saw that video! And because I am not a troll, I actually went on the Los Angeles Dodgers' Facebook fan page and expressed my congratulations to the Dodgers on a fine 2017. I mentioned being an Astros fan but vastly respecting the Dodgers.
I was looking back at all of the posts from this season of Major League Baseball. All I do is talk about my Houston Astros, but even I can't believe how often I mentioned winning. It almost seemed like a broken record talking about all the games we won and any streaks and sweeps we've been on. Maybe the craziest game I recall was when the Astros were trailing 8-2 at one point and ended up WINNING 16-8 on the road (at Minnesota). We went into the All-Star Break with a 60-29 record. The Los Angeles Dodgers, however, had a better record at 61-29. The 2017 Houston Astros aren't exactly any of the 1920 New York Yankees teams, but I once heard of just how powerful the Astros have been this season. So you could almost imagine putting the 2017 Astros against one of the "Murderer's Row" Yankees teams of old in a video game or something. Perhaps I have been stupefied at just how good the Astros really were. According to Yahoo! Sports, we were 1st in batting average, 1st in runs scored, 11 in ERA, and 7th in WHIP. It is that feeling where you are powerful, but you don't even recognize HOW powerful you are. I also noted how many times I said "we're not going to win it all this year" or something similar. Also, let's not forget Hurricane Harvey's impact to Houston. It was surely surprising news that the Astros picked up Justin Verlander. People already thought the Astros threw away their chances of becoming champions since the Los Angeles Dodgers picked up Yu Darvish and stuff.
I'm obviously happy about my Astros this season. However, I looked at stories from most of the other teams from other GTPlanteers. I've seen the reports of the rough seasons by the likes of the Cincinnati Red, the New York Mets, the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Detroit Tigers, and the Toronto Blue Jays. I felt most sad about how the Reds have these good leads... then blow them thanks to the bullpen or some poor pitching. I've heard of the woes of the Detroit Tigers. Insane stuff.
As of the time of this post, the Houston Astros Champions Parade is still ongoing. I saw most of the parade and heard some of the players speaking to the crowd. This is all a surreal experience. This is even more surreal an experience to me as Formula 1 returning to the United States to race in my home state of Texas about 3-4 hours west of Houston.
All 30 Major League Baseball teams were all eligible and able to play for the postseason. Ten teams proven to be among the top percentile while 20 others failed. Ten became eight. Eight became four. Four became two. And the two best (or luckiest) became one. And in the end, the Houston Astros became the 2017 World Series Champions. Maybe the Sports Illustrated guy who predicted the Astros win it all in 2017 should get the Nobel Peace Prize and a statue erected in his honor. And from what I heard, here's another bold prediction- there is another SI prediction that Houston will repeat as MLB champs. I am CERTAINLY not buying that! But it would be cool if it did happen, though.
Well, that's it. If you want to talk about the 2017 season, please feel free to do so. What you thought about it? How did your favorite team(s) and player(s) do? What to look forward to for next season? Anything like that. GO!
- 4,537
- Indiana
- DolphDrago
Pitching was terrible, but there is a young, promising bunch that just need some innings. And Homer needs to stay healthy for more than a couple of months a season. I still wish we had traded him instead of Cueto, though. 
- 3,975
- Null Island
- 6,259
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- I_Fail_At_FPS
Sad day for baseball.
