Andrew Jones – editor in chief

It’s that time of year again, baseball has entered the most anticipated part of the season. The 2021 World Series between the Atlanta Braves and Houston Astros has commenced, and what a journey it was to this point. After a pandemic shortened 2020 season, it felt like we hadn’t had baseball in our lives for years. There was plenty of hype and excitement before this season, and those expectations were exceeded.

The record books were opened on many occasions as a new era of superstars cemented their names into baseball lore. One such player, Angels’ Shohei Ohtani, proved to be something we’ve never seen before. Dominating both as a hitter and pitcher, Ohtani had what is argued by many experts as the greatest season of all time. Young studs like Vladamir Guerrero Jr, Juan Soto, and Fernando Tatis Jr. showed everyone who will be dominating the sport as it enters a new era.

Nine no-hitters were thrown this year, more than any other season in baseball’s long history. There was never a dull moment, and down to the final strike of the regular season, fans sat on the edge of their seats in anticipation. You would be hard-pressed to find a division in which there wasn’t a tight race for first place.

This was on the best display in the NL West, where the Giants took the world by storm and surprisingly gave the Dodgers something to sweat about all year long. Down to the last weekend of play, the Giants held a slim edge over their rivals down south and won the division with a flawless 107 win campaign. The Braves and Phillies battled it out in the east as the Mets took one of the tougher second-half downfalls in recent memory.

In the American League, the White Sox had a comfortable lead just about all year, while the Astros in the west and the Rays in the east had to fight a little more to ensure their spots in the division series. It was truly a special season filled with so many down-to-the-wire chases for the postseason, with some darkhorse candidates staying strong in the hunt, while the likes of the Dodgers, Red Sox and Astros returned to no one’s surprise.

Now we have reached the postseason. Christmastime for baseball fans all around, and it has been yet another treat. The wild card games were exactly the nailbiters that we hoped for, with the Red Sox downing the roughed up Yankees at Fenway, and the 106-win Dodgers unsurprisingly sending the Cardinals on an early trip to Cancun. In the division series, the Astros easily defeated the White Sox in four games, while the Red Sox worked some devil magic and took down the league-best Rays in a rollercoaster of a series for both fanbases.

In the most sought-after postseason matchup of them all, the Dodgers and Giants battled it out to see who the true champion of the west was. After all, it was Los Angeles that was able to make it onto the next round, where they would face the Atlanta Braves for the second year in a row. Unlike last season, this time the Braves were able to “chop on” and advance past the big dog for a trip to their first World Series since 1999. Likewise, the Astros punched their ticket to their third world series in five years after downing the Red Sox.

While this matchup may seem one-sided, there’s plenty of intrigue to keep you watching. Both teams have fantastic depth out of their starting pitching, and bullpens that can shut down in the later innings. The offenses of these two powerhouses cannot be denied, and it should be a fun watch.