Wednesday’s thrilling climax may have made up for the dreary start, but this year’s World Series offered no refuge from the broader problems facing
baseball at the dawn of a new decade
In the ninth inning of the
Washington Nationals’ Game 7 win over the Houston Astros on Wednesday night, Fox color commentator John Smoltz quipped that the 2019 World Series was “the series of the unexpected”. For the first time in any major North
American sport, the visiting team won all seven games of a best-of-seven playoff series. Wednesday’s series finale marked the Nationals’ record fifth comeback win in a potential elimination game in the postseason. It was thrilling stuff on paper, yet Major League Baseball has battled a host of bad press and unwanted storylines throughout the series.
Related: Nationals erupt late in Game 7 thriller to stun Astros for first World Series crown