Despite the quiz question being put to bed before a ball was pitched or a bat swung in anger in the World Series, the Arizona Diamondbacks & Texas Rangers, both located WEST of the Mississippi, squared off to decide who would be hanging the golden pennant in their stadium come opening day next March.
With both teams entering the postseason as Wildcards & knocking out much bigger organisations on the way to the Fall Classic it was perhaps unsurprising that this World Series received the worst tv ratings numbers ever.
The Rangers came through a disappointing end of the regular season, stuttering when it mattered losing out to the Astros on the final day for the AL South divisional title. That slump seemed to galvanise them as the swept the 4th seed Rays 2-0 in the Wildcard round, then swept the top seed & 100+ regular season game winners the Orioles 3-0 in the Divisional series & then avenged the AL South divisional title loss ousting the Astros in 7 in the Championship series, a quirk of which being that all games in the series won by the visiting team giving them 8 road wins entering the World Series.
The Diamondbacks entered the postseason as the 6th seed in the NL, ending 16 game behind the Dodgers in the NL West. Like the Rangers, they too swept their opponents in both the Wildcard round & Divisional series, the Brewers & Dodgers respectively, then overcame last years NL champions the Phillies in 7, winning the last 2 games in Philadelphia to come back from a 3-2 series deficit at a point where unlike the ALCS all games had been won by the home team.
For those that tuned in saw what soon become a quite one-sided World Series, no doubt also contributing towards the low rating numbers.
In game 1 the Rangers raced out to 2-0 lead in the 1st inning however the D-backs took the lead in the 3rd, 3-2, but the Rangers tied it up on a bases loaded walk.
Arizona lead again adding 1 run in both the 4th & 5th inning, 5-3, which was how it stayed til the bottom of the 9th. A Seager 2 run HR in the bottom of the 9th tied it at 5-5 taking the game into extras for the first time in this years postseason. After wrecking havoc against the Astros, Garcia continued his fine postseason form ending it in the 11th with a walkoff solo HR to give the Rangers game 1, 6-5.
From an offensive led ending in game 1 to a defensive led game 2, at least for the Diamondbacks with their starting pitcher Kelly, who went 7 innings for 3 hits & only 1 run keeping the Rangers bats quiet in Arlington. A quiet start all round included a Diamondback solo HR in the 4th & one from the Rangers in the 5th leaving the game close at 2-1 to the Diamondbacks going into the 7th inning. The Arizona offense then began teeing off, adding a further 7 runs in the last 3 innings against the Rangers bullpen all off single base hits leading to a comprehensive 9-1 victory to level the series 1-1 before it headed to Arizona for games 3, 4 & 5.
The Rangers road postseason juggernaut kept rolling in Arizona as they put the Diamondbacks to the sword for their 9th straight away win this postseason, even as their starting pitcher Scherzer & game 1 winner Garcia both left the game early with injuries. Seager repeated his game 1 feat with another 2 run HR to help the Rangers to a 3-0 lead in the 3rd inning with the D-backs only score coming in the 8th inning, allowing the Rangers to close out a 3-1 win & extend their away win run & lead the series 2-1, with a further 2 games in Arizona to come.
The Rangers pretty much secured their 10th postseason road win as soon as it started, picking up 5 runs in the 2nd inning of game 4, including another Seager HR as part of a team cycle & plus another 5 runs in the 3rd inning to go up 10-0. The D-backs got on the board the next inning but were matched by another Rangers run in the 8th inning to leave it 11-1 heading into the bottom of the 8th. The Diamondbacks put up some resistance adding 4 runs in the 8th mainly due to Gurriel Jr’s 3 run HR & followed by a 2 run single in the 9th inning to bring the final score back to 11-7, but it was too little too late, leaving the Rangers just one game away from their first World Series title.
The last game in Arizona got off to a quiet offensive start with little action until the 7th inning when the Rangers got on the board 1-0 through an RBI single. It stayed cagey & close until the top of the 9th when the Rangers batted in a 2 run single & a 2 run HR to add enough insurance runs to close out the game & keep the Commissioners Trophy in Texas for another year, after the Astros success in 2022. Unsurprisingly Seager was awarded the MVP honours for his 3 HRs in the Fall Classic & in doing so became the only player to win the MVP for a National League & American League organisation.
Next March we go again for another 162 game regular season & the divisional winners from 2023 are already a top the shortest odds tables to win it all, but a lot will depend on to which organisation 2 way superstar Shohei Ohtani hitches his wagon.
NEIL DEWHURST
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