Last week, an MLB analyst tried an interesting exercise: predicting the next ten World Series.
We know which teams are good, which ones are great, and which ones are elite World Series contenders but there is just no way to correctly predict the next 10 Fall Classics.
That’s part of the fun, though.
The analyst, Will Leitch, did make a glaring omission: he didn’t have the Houston Astros qualifying to any of the next 10 Series, as shocking as that may sound.
The Astros have made the last six American League Championship Series, winning four pennants and two World Series in the process.
It’s baffling to see them left out.
Another MLB analyst, Ben Verlander, openly mocked the decision to omit Houston.
“The Houston Astros have made 6 consecutive ALCS appearances and have been in 4 of the last 6 World Series’ and now they’re just gonna fall off the face of the earth for a decade?” he tweeted.
The Houston Astros have made 6 consecutive ALCS appearances and have been in 4 of the last 6 World Series’ and now they’re just gonna fall off the face of the earth for a decade? https://t.co/zwVZ5uHrDd
— Ben Verlander (@BenVerlander) January 11, 2023
Ben is also the brother of Justin Verlander, the star pitcher who spent the last five-and-a-half seasons in Houston helping the franchise establish itself as a top contender in MLB.
Justin signed with the New York Mets as a free agent, but left Houston after winning two of his three Cy Young awards and two Fall Classics (2017 and 2022).
Leitch has some of the usual suspects winning some series: the New York Yankees, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the New York Mets.
He even has a few surprises like the Baltimore Orioles and the Seattle Mariners.
No Astros, though.
That raises everybody’s attention, to say the least.
Stupid to diss the Astros, given their recent and continuing successes.