The question as to whether the Houston Astros are a dynasty was answered on Saturday when they defeated the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 6 of the World Series for Major League Baseball’s (MLB) top prize.
A packed Minute Maid Park could barely contain its excitement when manager Dusty Baker held the Commissioner’s Trophy, the one missing piece to what has been a storied, four-decade long career.
And just like that, a half-decade of six consecutive American League Championship Series (ALCS) appearances and four Fall Classic berths amid the thick pall of the sign-stealing scandal culminated in the franchise’s second overall title.
“JOB. FINISHED,” the team triumphantly declared on Twitter.
For the Astros – winners of 106 out of 162 regular season games and 11 postseason contests – Saturday night was about redemption.
The unbridled euphoria elicited by slugger Yordan Alvarez’s three-shot home run (HR) in the sixth inning and outfielder Kyle Tucker snagging Bryce Harper’s foul ball for the final out of the World Series felt like the biggest instances of relief imaginable.
The city for whom success in sports is as rare as Haley’s Comet has a champion to call its own again.
With groundball and quality star master Framber Valdez on the bump, the Astros were locked with Philadelphia in a pitcher’s duel with counterpart starter Zack Wheeler.
Valdez eventually surrendered a dinger to the Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber, but Alvarez fired back a missile toward centerfield to set the tone for the home team.
Hector Neris, Bryan Abreu and Ryan Pressly ensured that the Phillies offense didn’t wake up again after Schwarber’s solo shot, helping deliver the Astros to the Promised Land for the second time since Nov. 1, 2017.
The franchise’s latest World Series title was a fitting ending to the 2022 campaign for rookie shortstop Jeremy Peña, whose heroics in the previous six games earned him the best-of-seven championship round’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) award.
More than six months ago, questions arose as to whether he could follow in the footsteps of Carlos Correa after the latter left for the Minnesota Twins via free agency, but the 25-year-old from New England exceeded expectations.
“This is all we dream about," Peña said in a report on the team’s website.