On November 5, the Houston Astros won the 2022 World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies at their home stadium, Minute Maid Park, in Game Six.

Entering the playoffs, the Astros won the American League Western Division with a record of 106-56. The Phillies won a wild card spot as third in the National League Eastern Division with a record of 85-75. The Phillies were not expected to be a top contender in the playoffs, with the lowest record out of all playoff teams, but surprised fans by fighting their way to the World Series final.

The Phillies had a 2-1 lead in the series after winning Game One in the tenth inning and sweeping the Astros 7-0 in Game Three. The Astros went on to win the succeeding three games, including sweeping the Phillies 5-0 in Game Four. This won the Astros the World Series title as the series ended 4-2. This was Astros’ manager Dusty Baker’s first win with the team since joining in 2020.

The series was marked with many great plays by standout players from both teams.

In Game Three, the Phillies made history being the first team in the World Series to score five runs in the first five innings of the game. Phillies star hitter, Bryce Harper, led with the first run of the game in the first inning.

Chas McCormick, an outfielder for the Astros, cemented the Astros’ Game Five win with an astounding catch against the wall that could have otherwise taken the game into extra innings and given the Phillies a chance to win.

This is the Astros’ first World Series win since 2017, in which their title was tarnished with the team’s bombshell cheating scandal that was exposed in November of 2019.

The Astros were found guilty of using on-field cameras to record and decode signals from their opponents. Staff who decoded the signals would then communicate the plays to Astros players on the field by banging on trash cans or making other loud noises. Despite this scandal becoming public, the Astros’ 2017 World Series title was never taken away, leaving many baseball fans angry.

Emotions ran high among baseball fans while watching the series, many with leftover feelings since the Astros scandal in 2017.

“I’m very disappointed about the outcome of the World Series because I wish the Phillies won … they deserved it,” said Serra HS junior Joey O’Donnell. “I’m still upset about the Astros cheating in 2017 and I wish that Philly could’ve pulled through since they haven’t been [to the World Series final] in a long time.”

While debate remains as to whether the Astros should have been able to keep their 2017 title, their 2022 World Series win solidifies their strength as a team.