Data- driven-World Series clubs do value human element

only with heat maps and hot and cold zones but all of the way down to swings and misses on any type of count, any time of situation, whether it’s weather, ballparks, the umpires, who’s behind the plate.

“But there is no quantifying how important it is to have the right guys in the clubhouse. I’ve always believed that.

“Front offices are now realizing that even more and more now.”

There’s a reason the San Francisco Giants won three World Series titles in five years when never once did they have the most talent.

It’s why the Cubs were so desperate to re- sign catcher David Ross after he hit .184 with 15 RBI in 2015 and see him help them to their their first World Series title in 108 years.

And why the Dodgers were infatuated with landing Utley two years ago when he was hitting .217 with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Or why the Astros regarded 40- year- old DH Carlos Beltran as the final piece of a process transforming a 111- loss team four years ago to American League champions.

“We believe in people,” Astros manager A. J. Hinch says. “We believe in scouting. We also are forward- thinking in gathering and using information.

“But it’s the players’ job to develop the chemistry, and when you have it, you want to hold on to it as much as possible.

“We do understand and appreciate the human element.”

It remains a game at its core, and Tuesday night, Game 1 starter Clayton Kershaw will take the ball in a World Series for the first time. The concept moved him to tears in the aftermath of the pennant clincher.

“When you’re a little kid,” Kershaw says, “you want to go play in the World Series. That’s all you ever dream about. I want to win a World Series. And I want to win it with these guys. That would mean everything to me.”

It is, after all, why they play the game.