Post by Brian on Oct 30, 2021 23:00:32 GMT -8
As soon as the Atlanta Braves made the last out to defeat the Dodgers in the Championship Series, I started rooting for them in the World Series. I've always favored National League teams -- any team -- except the Giants. When they faced the Texas Rangers in 2010 and the Detroit Tigers in 2012, I tried to root for the American League teams but I never felt right. In 2014, the last time the Giants appeared in a World Series, I decided to be neutral while watching them battle the Kansas City Royals through seven games and it worked. Somehow that Giants World Championship was less traumatizing.
One of my pleasures watching the Fall Classic is choosing soon-to-be free agents for my team. How would Eddie Rosario look in a Dodger uniform? The heavy downside of Braves' home games is the racist tomahawk chop chant. I hated it in the 1980's, when the chant was led by Chief Noc-A-Homa, who emerged from a tepee in the outfield bleachers. Why anyone still thinks it's cute in 2021 is beyond me. The Fox Network loves to show the entire stadium audience chopping and chanting in unison. Coincidentally or not, I've seen very few Black faces among them, and the population of Atlanta is half African American.
I'm sorry to root against the Houston Asterisks, but only because Dusty Baker is their manager. The former Dodger great didn't win a World Series with the four clubs he managed previously going back to 1993. And Dusty only became manager of the Astros in 2020 because the electronic sign stealing scheme finally became public, two years after they cheated the Dodgers out of a World Series win -- we'll never know if they could have won fair and square. But there are still four players from 2017 in this World Series. They just happen to comprise one of the greatest infields in contemporary baseball history.
The Astros lost the 2019 World Series to the Washington Nationals. Since their infield might break up next year because of free agency, the last chance for the four cheaters to get legitimate championship rings as Astros may be slipping away. The Braves now lead the World Series three games to one, needing just one more victory.