2019 World Series
The 2019 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2019 season. The 115th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the American League champion Houston Astros and the National League champion Washington Nationals. The series was played from October 22 to October 30.[2] Washington upset the favored Astros, four games to three, to secure its first title in franchise history[3] and first in the capital city since the 1924 series. Washington pitcher Stephen Strasburg was named the World Series Most Valuable Player (MVP) after earning two wins in the series.[4][5]
For other uses, see 2019 World Series (disambiguation).2019 World Series
October 22–30
Minute Maid Park (Houston)
Nationals Park (Washington)
Stephen Strasburg (Washington)
Alan Porter (Games 1–2),[note 1] Doug Eddings, Gary Cederstrom (crew chief), James Hoye, Lance Barksdale, Sam Holbrook, Jim Wolf (Games 3–7)[note 1][1]
Fox (United States – English)
Fox Deportes (United States – Spanish)
MLB International (International – English)
Joe Buck, John Smoltz, Ken Rosenthal and Tom Verducci (Fox)
Rolando Nichols, Edgar Gonzalez and Carlos Álvarez (Fox Deportes)
Matt Vasgersian and Buck Martinez (MLB International)
Dan Shulman, Chris Singleton and Buster Olney (ESPN)
Beto Ferreiro and Orlando Hernández (Unanimo Deportes)
Charlie Slowes and Dave Jageler (WJFK)
Robert Ford and Steve Sparks (KBME)
Houston Astros over New York Yankees (4–2)
Washington Nationals over St. Louis Cardinals (4–0)
The Astros had home-field advantage because they had the better regular-season record. It was the third World Series in which home-field advantage was decided by the regular-season records of the American and National league champions, a practice that started in the 2017 season. It was the first World Series in which the Houston Astros had home-field advantage. The series was played in a 2–3–2 format, with the Astros hosting Games 1, 2, 6, and 7; and the Nationals hosting Games 3, 4, and 5.
For the first time in any of the major North American sports leagues, the visiting team won all the games of a seven-game championship series,[6] surpassing the previous high of five.[7] The road team outscored the home team 49–14 in the seven games played. Washington won despite scoring only three runs at home. It was the sixth straight World Series in which the championship was clinched by the visiting team.
With the Nationals being from the National League East, this marked the sixth World Series in a row to have been won by teams from separate divisions in Major League Baseball.[note 2]
For the third straight year, MLB sold presenting sponsorships to all of postseason series. As with the 2017 and 2018 World Series, this World Series was sponsored by YouTube TV and was officially known as the 2019 World Series presented by YouTube TV.[8]
Broadcasting[edit]
Television[edit]
The World Series was televised by Fox for the 20th straight year.[102] Joe Buck called the games as play-by-play announcer along with John Smoltz as color commentator and Ken Rosenthal and Tom Verducci as field reporters. Kevin Burkhardt hosted the network's pregame shows, joined by analysts Frank Thomas, Alex Rodriguez and David Ortiz. Fox Deportes aired the series in Spanish, with Rolando Nichols calling the play-by-play, Edgar Gonzalez as color commentator, and Carlos Álvarez as field reporter.[103]
MLB International fed the series to broadcasters outside the United States, with Matt Vasgersian providing play-by-play and Buck Martinez as color commentator.[104]
Aftermath[edit]
Astros[edit]
Speculation about sign stealing by the Astros had been rampant for a number of years. After being knocked out by the Nationals in the National League Division Series, several Dodgers (the team the Astros beat in the 2017 World Series) reached out to Washington Nationals second baseman Brian Dozier, who had been with Los Angeles the previous year, to warn him that Houston was elaborately stealing signs. Many American League clubs also reached out to Washington to say the same as well.[121]
Shortly after the 2019 World Series concluded, on November 12, 2019, journalists Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich published a story in The Athletic detailing for the first time specific allegations that the Astros had engaged in illicit electronic sign stealing. MLB launched an investigation and found evidence that the Astros did engage in illegal electronic sign stealing in 2017 and 2018, but found no evidence that they used the scheme in 2019.
After losing the 2019 World Series, the Astros have continued to be a top team, coming within one win of making the World Series in the shortened 2020 season and returning to the World Series in 2021, which they lost to the Atlanta Braves, and in 2022, when they defeated the Philadelphia Phillies. They were beaten by their in-state rival Texas Rangers in the 2023 ALCS, in which the visiting team won all seven games.
Nationals[edit]
The Nationals, however, quickly lost many players from their championship team and fell to the bottom of the league. The Nationals let all-star third baseman Anthony Rendon leave in free agency to the Los Angeles Angels in the offseason (the Angels also signed 2019 Nationals part-time catcher Kurt Suzuki). The COVID-19 pandemic kept the Nationals from properly celebrating their 2019 championship the following season, as spectators were not allowed in the stands during the shortened season. They raised their championship banner in front of an empty Nationals Park on the first day of the 2020 season, and received their championship rings in the clubhouse rather than on the field in front of the fans.[122] The Nationals finished tied for last in the NL East in 2020. Postseason hero Howie Kendrick retired at the end of the season.
Struggling at the trade deadline in 2021, the Nationals engaged in a large-scale selloff of top players who had led them to the championship.[123] The Nationals became the first team to trade three players who were All-Stars before the end of the season, which included starting pitcher Max Scherzer, outfielder Kyle Schwarber, and shortstop Trea Turner. They also traded off important pieces from their World Series team, such as catcher Yan Gomes and reliever Daniel Hudson.[124] By the end of 2021, only a handful of players from the 2019 championship team were still with the club.
The Nationals rotation that many saw as the team's strength during their World Series run was not as effective going forward. Scherzer, although still dominant, struggled with lower body injuries until he was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers at the 2021 trade deadline.[125] Scherzer won his second World Series ring with the Texas Rangers in 2023. Patrick Corbin led the National League is losses and earned runs given up in 2021 and 2022. Anibal Sanchez struggled mighty during the 2020 season so much that he spent the 2021 season out of baseball entirely, only to return to Washington in 2022. Lastly, Stephen Strasburg, Washington's MVP of the 2019 World Series, was rewarded with a lucrative seven-year contract with the Nationals after the World Series.[126] Unfortunately, Strasburg suffered many injuries, and he only made a combined eight starts from 2020 to 2023. He threw just 528 pitches in the majors the rest of his career before retiring in 2024.[127]
By 2022, the Lerner family were reporting exploring a sale of the Nationals.[128] Later that year at the trade deadline, the team traded superstar Juan Soto, after he rejected a reported 14-year extension,[129] to San Diego for young players and prospects.[130]