Culmination of Covidhit season
BASEBALL
NEW YORK: A Major League Baseball (MLB) season that once appeared doomed by Covid19 approaches the finish line today, as a World Series showdown between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Los Angeles Dodgers gets under way in Arlington, Texas.
Only about a quarter of the 48,000capacity Globe Life Park will be open to ticket holders due to the pandemic. The ballpark is the first neutral site since 1944 to host the bestofseven Fall Classic.
Covid19 put Opening Day on hold for months and threatened to derail the truncated season when it finally opened in July, as positive tests among players and personnel forced numerous postponements and put Commissioner Rob Manfred on the defensive over the league’s safety provisions.
The Rays, who overcame a 46 start to the regular season, clinched their first pennant in more than a decade in a sevengame saga against the Houston Astros, and will look to rely on the firepower of slugger Randy Arozarena, who led his team in scoring with 14 runs in the playoffs, including seven home runs, a rookie postseason record.
‘‘I’m very happy with this team and this organisation and the group of guys that I have,’’ Arozarena said after claiming his American League Championship Series MVP prize.
Tampa, which went 4020 in the regular season, will look to seize its firstever World Series title against the Dodgers, who boast six championship titles and have now claimed three National League pennants in the last four years.
The battletested Los Angeles team survived three elimination games to clinch the National League Championship Series over the Atlanta Braves courtesy of shortstop MVP Corey Seager’s 13 postseason runs and the defensive heroics of Mookie Betts in the right field.
The manager of the 4317 Dodgers, Dave Roberts, said the World Series berth was ‘‘really satisfying.’’
‘‘As far as our guys, we had our backs against the wall,’’ he said after his team’s NLCS Game 7 victory.
‘‘We stuck together and found a way to win three in a row. Huge series.’’ — Reuters