102 and 110.
Those numbers represent the losses the Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks each had in the 2021 season. That’s right, only two short years ago, these two teams were at the bottom of the barrel of Major League Baseball.
Now, this is your 2023 World Series matchup. Texas and Arizona both crept into the playoffs on the final days of the season after tumultuous summer months. Both had gotten off to great starts, before facing huge struggles as the season went on. For a time, it looked like neither team might even make the playoffs.
However, this has been one of the craziest playoffs I’ve ever seen in MLB. The heavy favorites of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles, and Tampa Bay Rays were swept out of the playoffs in the first round. The League Championships, which both wrapped up this week, saw Texas up 2-0 before Houston came back to tie it up, leading to a Game 7 where the Rangers won in a rout 11-4. In the NL, the Philadelphia Phillies also jumped to a 2-0 lead, but after a back-and-forth battle, the Diamondbacks pulled out a thrilling 4-2 victory in Game 7.
While I’m not a fan of either of these teams, it is nice to see someone other than the Astros and the Dodgers in the World Series. The amount of parity in baseball is also great to see. It’s a reminder to any of the teams at the bottom of the standings that it could only be a few years until things turn around.
