That's a wrap on the 2021 MLB season. Here are some thoughts on the World Series:
1. For the second time in the last three World Series, a team that began the season poorly ended up being the last team standing. The 2019 Washington Nationals couldn't get out of their own way until a third of the season had been played, yet didn't blow up the roster. By the end, they were the champions. Same thing for the Atlanta Braves, who didn't get over .500 to stay until the first week of August.
There's a lesson buried in there somewhere: teams shouldn't concede the season too soon.
That's true now, and it will be even more true if the owners get their wish of expanding the playoff formula from the current 10 teams to a proposed 12.
2. Much was made of the Astros qualifying for their fifth straight ALCS, which is certainly an impressive achievement. It's not easy to be among the Final Four teams left standing every season for half a decade.
But the Astros have also won just once in that span, and that title (2017), as we know, is compromised by their sign-stealing scandal.
The Astros' inability to win it all is comparable to the Los Angeles Dodgers, whom they beat in the 2017 Series. The Dodgers have been to five of the last six National League Championship Series -- and six of the last nine -- but, like the Astros, have won it all just once. And as with the Astros, that one title comes with something of an asterisk: it took place in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
Simply reaching the LCS year after year is an achievement in itself and shouldn't be dismissed out of hand. But winning just once in five (or, in the Dodgers' case, six) times is a reminder that, even teams who build sustainable winners aren't guaranteed championships.
Blame it on the relative randomness of the postseason if you wish. But there's a big difference between being consistent and dynastic.
3. It's hard to not feel sorry for Dusty Baker.
Baker had the unenviable task of taking over the Astros post-scandal and led them, in two seasons, to Game 7 of the ALCS and Game 6 of the World Series, while still falling short of that elusive World Series win as a manager.
Baker was unaffiliated with the sign-stealing and doesn't have that for which to answer.
Many in the game -- and fans, too -- were conflicted in their rooting interest: wanting Baker to get a ring, while not wishing Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, Carlos Correa et al to find redemption.
Can't have it all.
Still, Baker remains a much-admired figure in the game -- and only partly because he attended the legendary Monterey Pop Festival in 1967.
4. Brian Snitker's win, meanwhile, is a lesson in loyalty.
In stark contrast to the parade of young managers being hired -- some with no managerial experience -- Snitker is the very epitome of a baseball lifer, someone who had devoted his life to the game, and to the Braves in particular. His time with the organization dates back an incredible 45 years.
Essentially, he was the Braves' equivalent of Joe Morgan -- but with almost twice as much time spent in the organization.
5. This World Series will be remembered as, fairly or unfairly, as the Series in which starting pitching died.
Of the 12 starts -- two in each game for six games -- only four lasted as long as five innings. That translates into 66 percent of the starts lasting fewer than five figures.
We've seen this coming. Every year since 2015 (25% were less than five innings), that number has subsequently gone up every year since except 2019, when the Nationals bucked the trend with Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and others.
There's no denying the existence of the trend, just as there's little argument that it's made the game less interesting.
We don't need a return to Bob Gibson in 1967 (three complete games in the Series) or even Jack Morris in 1991 (23 innings over three starts). But it would be nice to return to a time when starting pitching was more important than, say, a bulk reliever.
6. When the Braves lost their best player -- Ronald Acuna Jr. -- for the season, Atlanta GM Alex Anthopoulos didn't attempt to replace him with one player, since that would have been impossible.
Instead, Anthopoulos collected four players -- Adam Duvall, Joc Pederson, Eddie Rosario and World Series MVP Jorge Soler -- and had them all contribute.
Let that be a lesson to other executives, some of whom seem caught up in trying to win the deadline by landing the biggest name available on the trade market. As the Braves demonstrate, it's often more about depth and having several options instead of relying on one "savior.''
7. After a year in which the World Series was played in a neutral site -- understandably, of course, due to the pandemic -- it was great to have the Series back in front of two passionate fan bases, both of whom contributed to the excitement.
Hopefully, that will silence suggestions made by some -- notably, Scott Boras -- to hold the Series in a neutral site like the Super Bowl. Championships are best enjoyed when played in front of fans who have a strong rooting interest, and not corporate crowds who are on hand because it's the place to be, or to entertain clients.
8. Once again, MLB demonstrated it has parity no other sport can match.
The Braves are the 15th different franchise to win a title this century. No team has repeated since the 2000 Yankees.
And of the 30 franchises in the sport, only 10 have not reached a World Series in that span.