THOMA COLUMN | Baseball will have a toxic champion

Nov. 1—Atlanta or Houston?

It matters little; the 2021 World Series pits two unlikeable franchises, operations that in different ways personify the most toxic elements of pro sports, in general, and baseball, in particular.

There are likeable players on each team. I am particularly glad to see Eddie Rosario thriving in this postseason. For all his flaws as a player, Rosario's elan makes him eminently rootable.

But as collective entities, both the Astros and the Braves repel me. That one of these distasteful entities is going to be the sport's champion going into what figures to be a nasty offseason of wrangling over the soon-to-expire labor agreement is probably fitting.

Given the storm clouds…