In their 56th season in existence, the Houston Astros have won their first World Series championship.
Throughout the postseason, bolstered by a city that was heavily damaged by Hurricane Harvey in late August, the Astros proved that a franchise that builds from within and makes wise trades still can win a World Series within the current economic environment of baseball.
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The 2017 World Series was a historic, hard-fought series, and either the Astros or the Los Angeles Dodgers could have taken home the Commissioner's Trophy.
Every time the Astros had a scoring opportunity, they seemed to take advantage of it. Coming into the World Series, their bullpen was in disarray, but somehow manager A.J. Hinch -- going against current analytics -- used the relievers he felt could do the job. George Springer, who had five home runs, earned the World Series MVP Award. Justin Verlander, who was acquired from the Tigers on Aug. 31, pitched brilliantly for the Astros, especially in the American League Championship Series, where he was named the series MVP.
In 2017, the Dodgers had the most wins since they moved to Los Angeles six decades earlier. Most nights during the regular season, Los Angeles provided thrilling victories with a different hero practically every game. The Dodgers either won or lost as a team, never blaming a teammate for a poor performance.
They breezed through the National League Division Series against the D-backs and the NLCS against the defending-champion Cubs. Then, competing in the World Series for the first time since 1988, the Dodgers battled valiantly, and they almost won it all.

Many times during the regular season, some so-called fans said if the Dodgers didn't win a World Series championship in 2017, they would call this season another failure. But I beg to differ. This version of the Dodgers gave us everything that we want from a baseball team. They never gave up on winning a game. No matter which role a player was asked to step in by manager Dave Roberts, he did it to the best of his ability without complaint.
The front office attempted to obtain the players needed to win a championship, but unfortunately for the Dodgers, half of the new players didn't perform up to the club's expectations. Getting Tony Watson from the Pirates and Tony Cingrani from the Reds was beneficial to the Dodgers, and they performed well in the World Series.

However, obtaining Yu Darvish from the Rangers did not end up being a good move. At the time of the headline-catching trade, Darvish had just had his poorest performance of his MLB career. Despite having a great Dodgers debut against the Mets, Darvish mostly struggled with L.A. He pitched well during the NLDS and the NLCS, but unfortunately for the Dodgers, in the World Series, he was a disaster. In two Fall Classic starts, Darvish lasted only a combined 3 1/3 innings with a 21.60 ERA.
In the middle of August, the Dodgers acquired Curtis Granderson from the Mets, because the front office desired his World Series experience. However, Granderson was never able to make consistent contact after joining Los Angeles, and he didn't earn a spot on the World Series roster. If the Dodgers had won the World Series, Joc Pederson -- the player the Dodgers wanted Granderson to replace -- likely would have won the World Series MVP Award.

Since the Dodgers have a young nucleus and a productive Minor League system, their chances of returning to the World Series soon are good. However, we won't see another team like the 2017 Dodgers in most of our lifetimes. They were special!