The Atlanta Braves Reclaim the Commissioner's Trophy after 26 years
By Matthew Neach & Chris Bergeron, Sports Reporters
The Atlanta Braves are World Champions once again! The Braves defeated the Houston Astros after an exciting six-game-spanning series. The Braves were the clear underdogs to come out on top, with the least amount of wins out of any playoff team.
Superstar outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. tore his ACL in July, and the Braves were subsequently dismissed in the running for the championship, falling out of favor behind the Dodgers and Giants; both teams won more than 100 games in the regular season, as opposed to the Braves’ 88 wins.
Still, the Braves had the advantage with one of the best infielders in the league, MVP candidate third baseman Austin Riley, shortstop Dansby Swanson, second baseman Ozzie Albies, and 2020 NL MVP Freddie Freeman on first base. Their infield accomplished history this year—they were the second ever team to have every single player in their infield hit at least 25 home runs during the regular season.
The Braves had to rebuild their outfield after the loss of Acuña Jr, and Marcell “The Big Bear” Ozuna, who was suspended for domestic violence.The Braves were active, acquiring Joc Pederson from the Chicago Cubs, Adam Duvall from the Miami Marlins, Jorge Soler from the Kansas City Royals, and Eddie Rosario from the Cleveland Guardians. These moves proved vital for the Braves’ success; Rosario would go on to win the NLCS MVP, and Soler would claim the World Series MVP title.
Although the Astros lost the series, they still deserve credit. A year ago, the team’s reputation was marred after being exposed for cheating in the 2017 season and World Series. The Astros have been met with nonstop boos by fans and hit by pitches from numerous pitchers. They’ve had to endure an extreme amount of admittedly-deserved criticism, especially after suffering a team-wide slump in 2020 (presumably because they stopped cheating). To make it back to the World Series and prove everyone wrong was an extraordinary feat. They fought hard throughout the series, but their star players Carlos Correa and Yordan Álvarez struggled the entire series. Astros ace Framber Valdez, who had an amazing run as pitcher during the ALCS, delivered two horrible outings, giving up five runs in each game.
A motto that many fans have brought up during the World Series was “America vs. the Astros”. Baseball fans will never forget the Astros’ cheating scandal, and with a Braves win, fans of all teams across the country are ecstatic, relieved, even though it wasn’t their own team to win the championship. It's a strange thing to see, but it shows truly how hated the Astros are in the baseball world, and how far they still have to come to move out of the negative spotlight.