That was special. That was as good as sports get. Baseball is glorious, and Game 7 punctuated how wonderful baseball can be.

In the end, the Dodgers just couldn’t lose. They were outhit, outscored, out pitched, and out defended, but someone snuck past the Blue Jays in a classic Game 7, getting a one-out solo homer in the top of the ninth to tie it, and a two-out solo homer in the top of the eleventh to win it, and getting out of jam after jam after jam.

Some will argue this is what throwing money at players buys, that it’s bad for baseball, that it’s ruining baseball. But, a Blue Jay hit in the ninth, tenth, or eleventh, just one lousy hit when it really mattered, would have erased that narrative.

It’s hard to criticize a franchise that is trying to win, that expects to win, that invests in winning. It’s hard to criticize a team that, when it doesn’t win, doesn’t retreat and cut payroll and cry poverty, instead it doubles down on winning. If money was what mattered, where were the Mets? If money is what mattered, where were the Phillies?

This series was two great baseball teams from top to bottom, position by position, slugging it out, pitch by pitch, inning by inning. It was heart stopping, breathtaking, and just pure fun.

And when Aljandro Kirk grounded into the series-ending double play and the Dodgers danced in glory, it wasn’t money that won it. It was greatness. 

The Rangers had that at one time. Maybe one day they will get it back. In the meantime, bask in the greatness of a World Series that had it all. There are four months of darkness ahead. Let the warmth of the Series carry you through.

It was wonderful.