Dear Crabby, Who Will Win the World Series?

Dear Crabby,

I know you’re a huge baseball fan—particularly The Detroit Tigers. Even though they aren’t competing in the World Series, I wondered if you had any predictions on which team will win: the Houston Astros or the Washington Nationals.

Thanks!
Ace Fireman

Dear Ace Fireman,

You are absolutely correct that I am a baseball fanatic. Ahhh. The crack of the bat. It’s one of my favorite springtime sounds. And I do love the Tigers. In fact, I wrote about who my favorite Tiger is a couple of years back. Here’s a hint: it’s not anyone on the current roster. The funny thing is even though the Tigers aren’t in the World Series, they also kind of are.

Dear Crabby Gives Advice

One of the starting pitchers for the Astros is a guy named Justin Verlander. Sound familiar? Or how about Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer and Aníbal Sánchez? If you’re not a baseball fan you might not realize that all three of these pitchers once played for, you guessed it, the Tigers. We traded Verlander to the Astros back in 2017 and wouldn’t you know it; they won the World Series that year. Not only did he help them win, but he was also named MVP and co-winner of the Babe Ruth Award! Verlander was with the Tigers for over a decade and no World Series. Now he has the chance to win his second in less than three years with his new team. We cut Sánchez loose in 2017 as well. And then there’s ‘Mad Max.’ He was with us for four years before we decided we didn’t need him in 2014. It was the classic tale of he wanted big money the Tigers didn’t want to give him. So, when he walked, they threw it all at first baseman Miguel Cabrera, aka ‘Miggy.’ How much money you ask? Try nearly $300 million over 10 years. For those of you who struggle with math, that’s not quite $30 million a year. A bargain! Unfortunately, he nor the Tigers have much to show for that deal. In fact, my beloved Tigers were the worst team in Major League Baseball this season. They lost 114 games! It was painful to watch. Who am I kidding? At some point, I stopped watching. Sadly, this seems to be a trend in all Detroit sports. We trade a player we deem worthless and the next thing you know that player is playing in the Super Bowl, NBA finals, the Stanley Cup finals, and the World Series. Honestly, I don’t who is to blame anymore.

So, your question was Astros or Nationals? As I mentioned earlier the Astros won the World Series in 2017, whereas this would be the first World Series win for the Nationals franchise. I suppose I could take the easy way out and just say I don’t care who wins as long as it’s a good series, but that seems like a weak answer. That being said my pick to win the 2019 World Series is… the Houston Astros! And I hope the Tigers management is watching to so see what they threw away and how they can fix it for next season.

Until then… Play Ball!
Dear Crabby