I woke up this morning to watch the last 4 innings of last nights game 7 of the 2019 World Series. What happened this Fall makes me appreciate the Fall of 2016 even more. It’s not nostalgia. I enjoyed it then. The last 12 months of sports championships has reaffirmed my faith in the unpredictability of sports.

As a Chicago Cubs fan and a fan of baseball I think the game itself is in a good spot for those that already love the game. The younger generation? I think that story is still being written. I will give the MLB At Bat app credit. For a reasonable price I can watch any game the next day in basically nine minutes.

I can’t believe the Washington Nationals actually won the World Series. I’m glad they did for a variety of reasons. The most obvious being the fact that Bryce Harper thought it better to leave the curly W’s for the City of Brotherly Love. Truth be told, I can’t blame him but I am happy he didn’t come to Chicago. It was poetic justice when the Nationals took 5 games in 4 days from Harper and the Phillies during the final week of the regular season. I think you could make the case that Harper was the reason the Nationals won the World Series.

+2100 to start

+5500 on June 17th

200 to 1 before game 1 of World Series

Numbers courtesy of FanDuel

I don’t think you need to be a gambler to know that those are big numbers. As a fan of baseball in the Spring I figured they’d be a long shot. Watching the Cubs take 2 of 3 from them in May I did not view them as a World Series team. Heck, even watching them play again at the end of August when the Nationals swept the Cubs I never thought they had a chance to win it all. I still figured it would be the Braves or the Dodgers winning the NL Pennant. Even Tony Kornheiser on PTI earlier this month didn’t give them a shot to win it all. Citing bullpen inconsistency.

Shows how much we really know.

Another reason why people shouldn’t bet.

Unless you have the money, right? Or if you were like me in College and needed a little bit of extra cash to get by and you have a sure thing. Let the mind guide you. As a kid from the Midwest I still don’t like LA sports franchisees. For no real reason mind you. However, I do hold a soft spot in my heart for The Zen Master and Lakers of the early aughts.

Congratulations to the Washington Nationals. You got into the playoffs and seized the opportunity. More importantly you made the Fall Classic fun. It is just sports after all.

St. Louis and Toronto in the Spring. D.C. in the Fall. I wonder where a championship will go in the Winter.

Happy Halloween.

Ken