Like many of you, I'm sure, I just couldn't sleep. Fell asleep fine, woke up about 2:15am and tossed and turned for a couple of hours before deciding to just get up. Are the Astros playing tonight? Oh, yes they are. Must be an Arizona Fall League game. No, wait, it's the daggum World Series.
*FiveThirtyEight gives the Dodgers a 55-45 edge on the World Series. But while the Dodgers have a 60-40 edge for Game 1 and 52-48 in Game 2, they actually favor the Astros in Games 3-5.
*FanGraphs gives the Astros a 52.6-47.4 nod in their World Series simulations.
*Check out new AC contributor Nory's account of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico.
*Friend of Astros County's Steven Goldman: Everyone and no one is a winner in the World Series. Goldman:
The postseason is a churn that produces random finalists like a washing machine spits out mismatched socks. It sounds lame, but, hey, Yankees, Red Sox, Indians, Twins, Astros, Cubs, Rockies, Diamondbacks, Nationals, Dodgers, stand up! You're all already winners! It happens that this year the selection process may have produced the two best teams in each league, but quite often it doesn't, and regardless it would be better to just stop there.
*Tonight's Game 1 temperature may be the hottest ever recorded in World Series history. Mike Petriello talks about the heat and the impact it has on runs scored.
*Ticket prices for Games 3-5 are stupid.
*FiveThirtyEight: This World Series just might actually feature the two best teams in baseball.
*A.J. Hinch and Dave Roberts go back a ways to San Diego - and now are temporary rivals.
*Man, the Diamondbacks put A.J. Hinch in an unwinnable situation.
*The Astros are dealing with not having a DH in Games 1 & 2.
*Josh Reddick is prepared to hear some boos tonight. Reddick:
It's always tough when you come out for your first home game and get booed. That definitely wasn't a sign I was expecting. It hurts you a little bit, but you try to move on and play the game the right way. It just didn't work out.
Reddick was traded to the Dodgers - with Game 2 starter Rich Hill - from Oakland at the 2016 trade deadline. He hit .258/.307/.335 in the regular season and .308/.333/.308 in eight postseason games before falling to the Cubs in the NLCS.
*Yahoo's Tim Brown: Yasiel Puig's transformation into a championship player
*FanRag's Jon Bernhardt breaks down the favorites for World Series MVP. Bernhardt:
Springer's odds would be better if not for how stacked his own team is with offensive talent - and the fact that the Dodgers are probably going to win the Series.
*Two out of six USA Today baseball writers picked the Astros.
*All of CBS' baseball writers picked the Dodgers in either five or six.
*22 of ESPN's 35 baseball experts picked the Dodgers.
*Bovada lists the Dodgers as 1.5-run favorites tonight.
*It's going to go Keuchel, Verlander and then either McCullers/Morton or Morton/McCullers.
*Lance McCullers is back, baby.
*Jake Marisnick will not make the World Series roster.
*ESPN's Bradford Doolittle: The Dodgers' dream season could turn into a nightmare.
*Shoutout to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Jeff Gordon, for being the Cal Ripken Jr of hating Jeff Luhnow:
During a four-year span, they finished 56-106, 55-107, 52-111*, and 70-92 while general manager Jeff Luhnow traded veterans for prospects and "earned" great draft position. That sell-off allowed the franchise to operate with a tiny payroll and a large profit margin, but it also took a toll on the franchise's fan base.
*It was 51-111, idiot. Take that extra win and shove it up your tailpipe.
*OG Evan Drellich: Alex Cora must keep his conviction and honesty as the next Red Sox manager.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
