"To feel so desperately that you're right. Yet to fail all the same. Dread it. Run from it. Destiny still arrives"
Likewise, the biggest villain in baseball won its third AL pennant in five years.
Houston has unquestionably been the most hated franchise in baseball since news of its cheating in 2017 became public. They were able to dodge the boobirds and haters in the mostly fan-less 2020 pandemic season, but faced many jeers along the way this year.... and it didn't matter. The big orange villain from Texas cruised to 95 wins (an incredible 101 pythagorean wins!!!) and through its AL competition in the playoffs.
It's odd -- in five seasons, Houston has either gone to the World Series or ALCS every single year. It's an extremely impressive run and Dusty Baker deserves all the credit in the world for what he's been able to do during his two years at the helm. Also the cheating factor is going to have many dismissing this squad's greatness (and their run may be over if Correa leaves this offseason), but this five year stretch is arguably the best five year run of any franchise since the turn of the century... but the lack of finishing in the World Series is a HUGE counter to that argument (even though I'd take their run/teams over the Giants 2010-14 squads).
Speaking of villains, here's prime Beltran...... who also fell short in the postseason for the Astros during his hey-day. Now onto the 2021 Houston Astros:
