The Houston Astros won their second World Series in franchise history on Nov 5, 2022. Along with the Astros, the 2022 Major League Baseball Playoffs have been a roller coaster to say the least. Teams nobody thought would have a chance of winning are beating World Series bound teams, players are hitting walk-offs, and fans are going crazy for their favorite teams.

The MLB Playoffs started on Oct. 7 and ended on Nov. 5. This season, the playoffs were expanded from 10 to 12 teams in order to have more competition, meaning the Philadelphia Phillies and Tampa Bay Rays were able to sneak in. Some teams including the Houston Astros, New York Yankees, and Los Angeles Dodgers were expected to make the playoffs and did so. On the other hand, the Cleveland Guardians and Seattle Mariners were teams that shocked baseball fans. The other teams to make the playoffs were the Atlanta Braves, New York Mets, San Diego Padres, St. Louis Cardinals, Toronto Blue Jays, and Tampa Bay Rays.

Junior Ian Busch stated that what makes the playoffs so exciting was, “the best teams in baseball competing against each other.”

To start off, there were some major upsets at the beginning of the playoffs, one of those being the San Diego Padres beating the New York Mets. The Mets had 12 more wins than the Padres, but they couldn’t pull it off. Many fans speculated that the Padres wouldn’t make it far into the playoffs because their star player, Fernando Tatis Jr. got suspended for performance enhancing drugs. Despite Tatis, the Padres managed to make it all the way to the National League Championship Series.

On the other side of the bracket in the American League, the Cleveland Guardians beat the Rays after their outfielder, Oscar Gonzalez, hit a walk-off homerun in the 15th inning. They went on to play the Yankees but came up just short. The Seattle Mariners were another team that shocked the baseball community when they beat the Toronto Blue Jays, despite getting swept by the Astros a series later. Astros outfielder, Yordan Alverez, joined the walk-off party with his 3-run homerun to win the game for the Astros against the Mariners.

With all the walk-offs and upsets, the biggest story came from the Phillies. The Phillies were the last seed in the National League side of the playoffs and were faced with trying to beat the St. Louis Cardinals. They did so with help of Jean Segura’s go-ahead hit in the 9th inning to complete a comeback. Then, they faced their division rival the Atlanta Braves and were considered major underdogs in this series. Despite all odds, the Phillies beat the Braves and went on to beat the Padres to go to the 2022 World Series. They won games not many fans thought they could and had players breakout at just the right time.

Junior Colby Adams stated, “The most entertaining part of the playoffs was when Bryce Harper hit the homerun in the NLCS to send the Phillies to the World Series.”

Despite setting up the perfect “Cinderella story,” the Phillies were not able to get it done in the World Series. The Houston Astros came up on top for their second franchise World Series victory. With the Astros winning, their manager Dusty Baker won his first World Series as a coach and became the oldest manager to win the World Series at 73 years old.

Along with winning the World Series, the Astros shortstop, Jeremy Pena, achieved something that no other position player has ever done before. Pena won World Series Most Valuable Players as a rookie. He made his debut on Opening Day of the 2022 regular season, as he replaced Carlos Correa, the Astros former star shortstop. Jeremy Pena fit right in and helped the Astros win it all.

Senior Ty Graff stated, “The atmosphere and the total adrenaline of the World Series games just make it a moment where all baseball fans come together.”

The 2022 MLB season is officially over, but the 2023 regular season is right around the corner beginning on March 30. That means every team has a fresh start and more dramatic moments await. Even if fans’ favorite teams weren’t in it this year, it was still an exciting and dramatic postseason. With all the walk-offs, upsets, and crazy moments, this year’s playoffs were truly one to remember.