The Player or the Clothes?

We're just a few minutes away from Game One of the World Series and I'm excited. I am not a particular fan of either Los Angeles or Houston, but because the Yankees lost to Houston last Saturday I feel a significant relief--a World Series with the Yankees would have been unwatchable for me. These are not the same Yankees that I have come to hate, but they are still the Yankees, who I have hated for forty years. Another Dodgers/Yankees series, which would have been the eleventh in baseball history, would have been too much to take.

So we get two exciting young teams who haven't been to the Series recently--the Dodges in 29 years, the Astros in 12 (their only one, when they were in the National League). I'm rooting for the Astros. I lived in Houston for a couple of seasons when I was a kid. I was an "Astro Buddy" (tickets were cheap and plentiful) and my favorite player was Cesar Cedeno. Today my favorite Astro is Justin Verlander.

Jerry Seinfeld has an old routine where he points out that we don't really root for players, we root for the clothes. When a player leaves your team and goes to the enemy, we don't like him any more. Think of the Boston Red Sox fans and Roger Clemens, Wade Boggs, and Johnny Damon, who all went to the Yankees. Red Sox fans never liked them again. I can think of a great example in hockey--Red Wings fans hated Chris Chelios with a burning passion when he was with the Black Hawks, but he came to Detroit and was suddenly beloved. He even opened a restaurant in the Detroit area.

But I hold an exception with Verlander. He was traded seconds before the deadline from Detroit to Houston and has made a huge difference. He has not lost since he was traded and won two big games in the ALCS, burnishing his Hall of Fame credentials. He has gone 24 straight shutout innings in elimination games. He may well be the greatest pitcher in Detroit Tiger history. But even though he was with Houston, I'm still pulling for him. I'm glad he's getting a chance to finally win a World Series (he's been in two on the losing side). He hasn't had to pitch against Detroit yet--I'll deal with that when it happens--so he remains one of my favorite players/

Also, the reptilian part of my brain likes Verlander because he managed to land Kate Upton, bikini model. Because Verlander seems like such a regular guy (I have no idea if he is handsome or not) I can vicariously live through him. I like that Upton, who could probably have any guy in the world, chose a guy from a small market team. How did she escape the clutches of Derek Jeter?

As for who is going to win, I think it will be the Dodgers. Both teams have great offenses, but Houston's went to sleep in Yankee Stadium while the Dodgers have hit all comers. Houston managed to have the highest batting average, the most home runs, and the fewest strikeouts of any team in baseball this year, an amazing stat, but it looks like a good pitching staff can figure out how to stop them. However, the Astros can win the series if Verlander and Dallas Kuechel, their best two starters, can win all four of the games they will start, a distinct possibility.

But I like the Dodgers in six. They have home field advantage, and their bullpen is vastly superior to Houston's. That Astros manager A.J. Hinch chose not to use a relief pitcher in game seven--he used two starters--speaks volumes. The Dodgers' Kenley Jensen has pretty much been unhittable. If L.A. has a lead after six innings, they will win the game.

But Houston can win if they can keep the first four Dodgers in the lineup off the bases. They accounted for 95 percent of the Dodgers' runs in the post-season so far. I think the Astros have to get leads in the games and hope their starters can go deep.

It should be a fun series. When the post-season started I didn't know half of these guys. I knew about Jose Altuve, but getting to watch him is great. He's probably the most exciting player in the game. And it will be fun deciding who has the better beard--Kuechel or L.A.'s Justin Turner.

And, of course, there will be the obligatory shots of Kate Upton in the player's wives section. I will look forward to those.