Bregman says Astros will have more chances at World Series
Team fell just short of second title in three years
HOUSTON — Albuquerque native Alex Bregman and the Houston Astros had a shot at a mini dynasty with a second title in three 100-plus-win seasons. Instead, they failed to get one win in two chances at home against the Washington Nationals and have an offseason as runner-ups to ponder what might have been.
“We will have more opportunities to win the World Series, play in the postseason,”
Bregman said following Wednesday night’s 6-2 Astros loss in Game 7 of the World Series in Houston. “This team was amazing with 107 wins. I think this team will bounce back from this and come ready to play next year.”
The franchise-record wins total helped Houston earn home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. But it didn’t help in a World Series in which they dropped all four games at home, the last one leaving
them to watch the Nationals celebrate on their home field.
It was an agonizing ending for a team favored to be champions all season.
Bregman, 25, had 41 homers and 112 RBIs — both career-highs — to power Houston’s offense and compete with Mike Trout for AL MVP honors. The Washington Post called him in a story published Wednesday the “presumptive” MVP. The award for both leagues will be announced on Nov. 14.
In the World Series, Bregman batted only 6-for-29 (.207), but three of his hits were home runs, and his eight RBIs tied Washington’s Anthony Rendon for most in the series. His fiveRBI outing in Game 4 was one off the World Series record.
In Game 7, he went hitless after relaying on social media that his maternal grandfather, Joe DeOliveira, had died earlier in the day.
“RIP Tonight is for you,” Bregman, 25, captioned a family photo with his grandfather that he posted on Instagram before the game.
Bregman also created a stir, meanwhile, in Game 6, when he carried his bat past first base after hitting a home run. Washington’s Juan Soto did the same later in the game.
It set off the debate about whether both violated baseball’s unwritten rules. In 2019, Bregman has been one of the faces of the “We Play Loud” marketing campaign by Major League Baseball that encourages fans to embrace the personalities of its players, with the younger ones leading the movement.
But Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg called Bregman’s antics “tired,” Houston manager A.J. Hinch said it shouldn’t have been done, and after Game 6 Bregman was found apologizing, saying he let his emotions get the best of him.
“It’s not how I was raised to play the game,” Bregman said. “I’m sorry for doing that.”
Houston is likely to lose one big piece from this year’s run in ace pitcher Gerrit Cole. But most of its core is returning — and Bregman is locked up through 2024 after signing a five-year, $100 million extension earlier this year.