Major League Facts About the Astros vs. Dodgers 2017 World Series
There are some interesting historical facts about the 2017 World Series pitting the Houston Astros against the Los Angeles. Here, we highlight some of those facts for you.
“National League” vs. National League World Series
The Houston Astros played in the National League West (1969-1993) and Central (1994-2012) Divisions for years against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Their first season in professional baseball came in 1962 as an expansion team with the National League. There have been some historically important moments between these two teams in the playoffs and otherwise.
The Astros beat the Dodgers in a one-off 163rd game of the year, with the winner advancing to the playoffs in 1980. In 1981, the Dodgers took the last three games of a five game series to advance to the National League Championship Series and eventually beat the New York Yankees in the World Series. The Astros have thrown two regular season no hitters against the Dodgers, in 1981 (Nolan Ryan’s fifth) and in 2015 (Mike Fiers).
Combined World Series Drought for Both Teams
The Chicago Cubs had to wait 108 years before winning their next World Series in 2016. The Boston Red Sox had to wait 86 years before winning their next World Series in 2004. Comparatively, it has been a combined 84 years for the Astros and the Dodgers. It has been 29 years for the Dodgers and in the 55 year history of the Astros the franchise has never won a World Series. The Astros last played in the 2005 World Series and lost to the Chicago White Sox.
Players With 20+ Home Runs
In a season of the home run, is it any surprise that the Astros and Dodgers are bringing a combined ten 20+ home run hitters to the plate. The Dodgers have six (Cody Bellinger, Yasiel Puig, Corey Seager, Justin Turner, Yasmani Grandal, and Chris Taylor) with Enrique Hernandez and Joc Pederson each hitting eleven. The number grows to seven if you include Curtis Granderson, though he spent the majority of the season with the New York Mets.
The Astros power four includes George Springer, Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa, and Marwin Gonzalez, but they also bring seven others to the plate with double digit home run power in Josh Reddick, Yuli Gurriel, Carlos Beltran, Brian McCann, Evan Gattis, Alex Bregman, and Jake Marisnick.
Two Ace Starting Pitchers Acquired During the Regular Season
Justin Verlander and Yu Darvish. Both pitchers were acquired for this moment. Both have performed in the playoffs as advertised. Verlander and Darvish have performed like aces in the 2017 playoffs each throwing three high performance games. The success of these two pitchers may determine the outcome of the 2017 World Series.
Two Teams With 100+ Wins In the World Series
The Dodgers won 104 games during the 2017 regular season. The Astros won 101 games during the 2017 regular season. Both teams won seven games to get to the 2017 World Series and one team will win four more games to be crowned World Series champions.
Per the USA Today:
This is the first World Series pitting a pair of 100-win teams since 1970, when the Baltimore Orioles (108-54) beat the 102-win Cincinnati Reds.
Per MLB.com, this is the eighth meeting between two 100+ win teams in the World Series. It is the Dodgers second 100+ win World Series appearance against another 100+ win team (1941 World Series loss to the New York Yankees).
Pitching and defense, however, should determine the winner in this Series. There is no doubt that the two best teams from the regular and post season are facing each other. Now sit back and enjoy the serious talent on the field play out in the 2017 Fall Classic.
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