Win has a ring to it
Luhnow’s grand plan comes to fruition with club’s first title
LOS ANGELES — Six years ago, Jeff Luhnow pitched Astros owner Jim Crane his vision to build a team primed to contend not only for a few years but for an extended period of time.
It would be painful, and the Astros would have to be patient and disciplined while enduring as drastic a tear-down and rebuild the sport has witnessed. But when the time was right, and enough elite prospects procured through the draft had matriculated from their farm system, they would compete for championships annually.
Through the years of losing and high draft picks emerged the roster that delivered Houston its first World Series championship. Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium, the Astros capped their franchise’s 56th season with a 5-1 victory in Game 7 of the Fall Classic. The vision of Luhnow, their sixth-year general manager, was realized.
Astros first baseman Yuli Gurriel put his hands on his head in disbelief after fielding the throw from second baseman Jose Atuve on a grounder from Corey Seager for the final out.
“This team loves playing in Houston,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said, “and we’re going to love bringing this World Series trophy back to Houston.”
Minutes after the game, Rob Manfred presented The Commissioner’s Trophy to Crane, accompanied on stage by Astros president Reid Ryan, Luhnow, Hinch as well as the entire team.
“This one’s for Houston,” Crane said.
George Springer garnered World Series MVP honors after a historically great Fall Classic. The All-Star outfielder matched Reggie Jackson’s and Chase Utley’s record with five home runs in a World Series. He became the first player to homer in four consecutive games in the same World Series.
Springer also set World Series records for extra-base hits with eight and total bases with 29, a stark contrast to his 0-for4, four-strikeout performance in Game 1 after which Hinch fielded questions about whether he would consider dropping him from the leadoff spot. The Astros aren’t playing baseball in November without Springer.
“This is a dream come true,” Springer said. “We’re coming home a champion, Houston.”
Starters ineffective
Springer accounted for the first and last of the Astros’ three hits against Dodgers starter Yu Darvish, who just as he did in Game 3 recorded only five outs before he was pulled. After his double down the left-field line to begin the game sparked a tworun first, his 438-foot laser to leftcenter field punctuated a 5-0 lead for the Astros.
Nearly half of the Astros’ dugout emptied onto the dirt track along the baseline when Springer’s home run cleared the fence. Darvish had grooved a full-count, two-out fastball over the plate. His two terrible World Series starts sunk the Dodgers’ chances.
For the first time in World Series history, neither starter completed three innings. A wild Lance McCullers Jr. was pulled after only 21⁄3 innings. Hinch pieced together the final 20 outs by using a mishmash of pitchers, but he relied on Game 4 starter Charlie Morton for the final 12.
Together, the Astros’ staff stymied the dangerous and balanced lineup of the Dodgers, who were a woeful 1-for-13 when batting with runners in scoring position.
The Astros have played 9,023 games since their franchise’s inception in 1962. None featured higher stakes than Wednesday’s. Never during the Killer Bs era had they won even a World Series game, let alone four. Fans endured nine seasons between playoff appearances before 2015 and three consecutive 100-loss seasons from 2011-13.
While the World Series has required a seventh game four times in the last seven years, this matchup was unique. For the majority of the season, both teams were their league’s best. Not since 1970 had two 100-win teams met in a Fall Classic. Not since 1931, when the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Athletics, had two 100-win teams met in a World Series Game 7.
The drama had only built over the first six games and 57 innings of an all-time great series. Clayton Kershaw owned Game 1. A late flurry of home runs gave the Astros Game 2. The teams splits Games 3 and 4 before the Astros won a mind-blowing Game 5 that ranks among the best World Series games ever played. The Dodgers quieted the Astros’ bats to force Game 7.
“We’re playing in one of the most epic World Series in history,” Hinch said before Game 7, “and I think our players have appreciation for that.”
Hinch didn’t plan to address his team before Wednesday’s game for that reason. After the Game 6 loss, he was pleased with the vibe among his players, which he described as “the right amount of disappointment yet optimism toward Game 7.”
By the time Darvish threw the game’s first pitch, Hinch had ruminated for hours on the countless scenarios of how he could piece together 27 outs. He revealed little of his plans behind his starter but didn’t rule out any of his 12 pitchers appearing.
In McCullers, the Astros had something of a wild card. A 24-year-old righthander whose fastball reaches the mid-to-upper 90s and whose curveball is among the best in the game, his talent is unquestioned. But in his Game 3 start, he had lost his command in a three-walk inning. It was uncertain which version would show up five days later.
‘We stuck to our plan’
The Astros got the erratic McCullers in Game 7, so much so he set a record for any postseason game by hitting four batters. His shoddy fastball command prompted Hinch to pull the AllStar starter after only 49 pitches.
Only because of his swingand-miss curveball and mistakes by the Dodgers did McCullers not allow any runs. After stranding the bases loaded in a 25-pitch first, he survived the second because the Dodgers’ Logan Forsythe strayed too far from second base on a Chris Taylor line drive out to shortstop Carlos Correa, who easily turned two.
Brad Peacock was first out of the Astros’ bullpen. He finished the third, completed the fourth recorded the first out of the fifth, an inning finished by Francisco Liriano and Chris Devenski. Morton, in his first relief appearance since 2008, allowed the Dodgers’ first run in the sixth on two singles and a walk. The Astros had nine outs to go.
Morton started the seventh and retired the Dodgers’ Nos. 3, 4 and 5 hitters in order. He was perfect again in the eighth, so Hinch let him bat in the ninth. The game — and the final out to clinch the Astros’ first title — was Morton’s.
“We had some rough years, but we stuck to our plan,” said Luhnow, who thanked ownership for their support. “We knew we had a plan that could get us here, and we got it.”