Monthly Archives: November 2021

Final (Slow-cooker) Thoughts on the 2021 World Series

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Damn.

Picked Milwaukee over Atlanta. I was wrong. Strike one.

Chose the defending champion Dodgers over Atlanta. Wrong again. Strike two.

Went with Houston over Atlanta. Wrong once more. Strike three.

Full credit to Atlanta. They only won 88 regular season games and defeated teams that collected 95, 106 and 95 victories respectively.

Again…damn.

The just-concluded postseason reminded us that the aforementioned postseason is a reset. All teams start with zero wins and losses. Whatever happened in the regular season becomes irrelevant once the first pitch is thrown. Atlanta was supposed to lose based on pervious performances. That’s not what happened.

Considering some of the adversity they encountered, their championship is impressive.

Their best pitcher (Mike Soroka) was injured for the entire season. They also lost one of their best hitters (Ronald Acuna Jr.). That’s two excuses if they didn’t make the playoffs. But they retooled, adapted and got on a hot streak at the best time. They deserve this title.

I am very happy for Soroka and Freddie Freeman. I am also thrilled for the former Blue Jay personnel: AA, George Poulis and Sal Fasano.

Speaking of AA…

Not surprisingly, the anti-Shapiro crowd – always looking for a crumb to jump on – was dunking on the Jays’ front office. Many were probably popping open champagne bottles after Jorge Soler’s three-run bomb in the sixth game.

Badly tried to avoid Twitter and Facebook because I knew the comments would trigger me. The stuff I did see made my blood pressure go up.

I could remind everyone to let the story play out. However, I will just say this instead:

1) Alex chose to leave. 2) The Blue Jays appear to be on the cusp of something incredible. 3) Alex is the first Canadian General Manager to win a World Series title. That’s an incredible achievement! Let’s celebrate instead of ruining the moment with a petty grudge.

Just a thought.

ER