The 2021 World Series matchup is the worst possible World Series matchup for 2021. The two teams, the Houston Astros and Atlanta Braves, are the two most problematic teams in Major League Baseball. In a league with multiple problematic teams and players, the baseball gods have decided to bestow upon us the two clubs with the least appeal to the general public.

I am not saying the Astros and Braves don’t deserve to be in the Fall Classic. Professional sports is never about who deserves what. This is about integrity, racism, national politics, identity, the history of the game and how it relates to the 2021 World Series.

Cheating

The 2017 and 2018 Houston Astros cheated. The 2017 Houston Astros won the World Series. The 2019 Houston Astros most likely cheated in the World Series. I am not writing opinions. Management was fined. People lost their jobs. Millions of people learned how to steal signs by banging on a trash can against the Washington Nationals. Everything I’m referring to was proven and heard on national television

Also, but not proven, it appears the 2021 Houston Astros may also be cheating.

I am acknowledging the elephant in the room at the top. If you’re not able to get past this fact, that the Astros cheated and are possibly cheating, you’re probably not thrilled about their third appearance in a World Series in five years.

At this point, if the Astros are cheating, can you blame them? Sure, management was fined and people lost their jobs when they got caught for what was proven in 2017 and 2018 and heard in 2019, but the participating players were given immunity by Major League Baseball for their cooperation so why would they stop cheating?

The cheating isn’t the biggest reason this is the worst possible World Series matchup, but it’s going to take up the most oxygen.

Racism Part 1

Did you forget the 2021 Major League Baseball All Star game was supposed to be at Truist Park, home of the Atlanta Braves? It wasn’t. It was relocated to Coors Field, home of the Colorado Rockies, because of Georgia’s new-for-2021 restrictive voting law that’s akin to voter suppression. And Georgia Republican Govenor Brian Kemp wants you to remember this in his celebratory Tweets about the Atlanta Braves.

Racism Part 2

Did something in that Kemp Tweet remind you of something? Did you forget the Tomahawk Chop? The Atlanta Braves fan still do this! This is bigger than the cheating because it has nothing to do with the game! The Astros are trying to take advantage of the actual sport. The Braves fans are not helping their team by racist chanting! Racism is not a competitive advantage! In fact, teams that were slow to integrate their squads in the 50s and 60s tended to have really long droughts with no World Series appearances (I write this as a Cubs fan. The goat curse was not real. Racism is real. Racism helped keep alive a 108 ‘curse.’)

Identity

The Atlanta Braves play at Truist Park. Truist Park is in Cumberland, Georgia. Cumberland is not Atlanta. The Atlanta Braves do not play in Atlanta. In 2012 when the club was discussing a potential move out of Atlanta to Cumberland, Braves executive vice president Mike Plant said, “I’m not saying it’s a bad place, but it doesn’t match up with where the majority of our fans come from.”

The Atlanta Braves now play in Cumberland. They should be the Cumberland Braves. They are claiming a false identity.

Identity Politics

Unrelated to the Braves, this week, the start of the World Series featuring a team from Texas, Texas’ Republican Governor Greg Abbott signed an anti-trans youth sports bill into law.

History

Baseball is about nostalgia more than any other American sport. It’s our National Pastime and this series could not have occured 10 years ago. The Astros were moved from the National League to the American League in 2013. The Atlanta Braves were last in the World Series in 1999. This matchup could have not happened in 1999. There is no storied history between these clubs. They have met a few times in the playoffs, but only in the NL Division Series rounds, not even for the NL Pennant.

There is no novelty of a streak being broken. There is no excitement of a new-ish club doing something for the first time. There is no city/state rivalry. There is no historical reason to be excited for this World Series.

This is the worst possible World Series matchup for 2021 for both current and historical reasons. Nothing against the Braves’ Joc Pederson’s pearls or the Astros’ Yuli Gurriel’s winning the batting championship at age 37, there are just way more reasons to not watch this series than any other of the modern era.

I won’t be watching and I have a feeling this will be the lowest rated World Series in decades. At least 2022 spring training is only 110 days away.

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