The 2022 World Series is finally upon us. The Houston Astros and the Philadelphia Phillies will face off in Game 1 of the Fall Classic at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas, on Friday.
The two teams went through drastically different seasons in 2022. Like all playoff series in the World Series, the team who finished with the better record in the regular season gets home-field advantage.
"Minute Maid Park is ready for the 2022 World Series between the @astros and @phillies" - @ Mark Berman
The home field advantage means that the team in question will get to host the most important games of the series. As the Astros finished the season with a better record, they will host the first pair of games in the World Series, as well as Games 6 and 7, if they are necessary.
The Houston Astros are members of the AL West division. Originally, it was thought that the LA Angels, featuring Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani, would capture the division. However, after the Angels suffered a franchise-worst 13-game losing slide in June, the Astros began to run away with the division.
It was quite a different story for the Phillies. Having not made the MLB postseason since 2011, they were not expected to go far. Moreover, two of the most overhyped teams in the MLB, the Atlanta Braves and the New York Mets, share the NL East with the Phillies.
However, the Phillies rallied and, after a couple of strong winning streaks in August, made the Wild Card. The Phillies never looked back after clinching the Wild Card as the team steamrolled the St. Louis Cardinals, Braves and San Diego Padres en route to grasping their first WS berth since 2009.
"According to @TicketIQ as of Monday morning, the average secondary market list price for Phillies World Series home games is $3,228, which is more than double that average price for games in Houston ($1,584)." - @ Maury Brown
Houston Astros will have home-field advantage in the 2022 World Series.
The Astros were the best team in the American League this season. After finishing with a record of 106-56, compared with the Phillies record of 87-75, they will play host to the opening games of the 2022 WS.
Having home-field advantage does not automatically mean the team will win, it just gives them a boost and an opportunity to start the series at home.