4 Teams Left, first to 8 wins gets a ring!
By: Dylan Pescatore
It’s the race to 8! 8 wins that is, as the Yankees, Astros, Dodgers, and defending champion Chicago Cubs will all be in this competition of whoever ends up with a World Series ring. The MLB has reached its version of the final four, and even if it may not be as constantly exciting as college athletes running up and down the floor, battling for every points, it definitely gets exciting as the games goes on and the need for wins gets bigger. Let’s start off with how these teams got to the places they are. The L.A. Dodgers have proven a lot through only 3 games, which is all that took them to sweep the Arizona Diamondbacks, who couldn’t overcome the starpower of the best team in the MLB, if you are going by regular season record. Their opponent, the Chicago Cubs had two halves of the season, one super good, one to forget, luckily things were in their favor and the NL Central wasn’t the toughest division in the MLB this year. The Cubs’ first half put them in a huge hole, the were 2 games below .500 and the Milwaukee Brewers were looking to bounce back from the last few depressing years and find some success in a division title.
The Cubs knew they had to turn it around in the second half, and they did, winning the division easily and guaranteeing them a spot in the NLDS, where once again the Washington Nationals failed to win a playoff series, and the Cubs moved on to the NLCS. On to the American League, where things definitely got more surprising, it was Saturday, October 7th, and Yankees fans woke up to see their team down 2-0 to a team who won 22 straight games at one point in the regular season, there chances were very slim to advance, but as we saw in the 2016 World Series, the Indians let their foot off the gas and blew the lead, losing 3 straight to the Yankees, who look very good right now, winning the ALDS even with Gary Sanchez and Aaron Judge not hitting their best at the moment. This team at the start of the year was predicted to be .500 or less, and with the amazing moves by GM Brian Cashman to acquire Todd Frazier, the king of the thumbs down, David Robertson, Tommy Kahnle, and Sonny Gray, this team is looking to overcome the odds once again and go to the World Series, a place the Yankees haven’t won in a while, to their standards at least. Last, but certainly not least, the Houston Astros have showed up ready to play this postseason, and after their iconic collapse in 2015 to the KC Royals, their bullpen looks very strong with Ken Giles, Chris Devenski, and Will Harris backing up two aces, Justin Verlander, and Dallas Keuchel, plus don’t forget the favorite to win MVP Jose Altuve, this team is stacked, but will their lack of experience hurt them?. This Postseason has been an exciting one, and now we will get to see which teams advance to the Fall Classic
