MLB Showdown Obsession

 Texas baseball had recently seen success, but for the longest time it had a less prestigious track record. The Astros in the 80s struggled to win the NL West and when they did they'd always get checked in the NLCS while the Rangers never sniffed the playoffs, and before that neither team stood much of a chance. In the 90s, both teams became contenders, but teams like the Yankees and Braves proved to be too overpowered for them. In the 2000s, the Astros finally clinched a pennant but failed in the World Series while the Rangers slipped back into obscurity. The Rangers themselves finally won pennants in 2010 and 2011, but both times were on the wrong end of the fall classic result. Finally in 2017, the Astros put Texas on top of the baseball world, but their cheating scandal put a huge asterisk on all their accomplishments. What Texas needed was a clean title to brag about. In 2023, the Astros were reigning champions, but nobody was accepting it as clean. The Rangers went into the s...

The Braves were one of the original 16 teams of the World Series era, just not in Atlanta. First they called Boston home and won a title in 1914. Eventually they moved to Milwaukee where they'd add a 2nd title in 1957. Currently, the franchise resides in Atlanta where in 1995 they won their 3rd title. The question for the Braves by then was could they win again in the same city? They didn't have many chances while in Boston (they had a dominating run of pennants in the 1800's though). They had a couple shots in Milwaukee but still fell short. And while they dominated baseball in the 1990's, they only achieved ultimate victory the one time. The key to success in the 90s that put them into that position to keep trying to win a 2nd title in Atlanta was how the Braves were rattling off an impressive streak of division titles. In 2021, they were in the midst of another (though not nearly as record setting) streak of owning the NL East. Manager Brian Snitker led them to an 88...