World Series. Yes, yes, YES!!!

It only seemed fitting. Finally, FINALLY, Justin Verlander got his World Series championship ring. Or will soon.

The city of Houston, after being swamped and flooded by Hurricane Harvey, has a world title to celebrate. This is reminiscent of the New Orleans Saints winning the Super Bowl in the wake of the devastating damage Hurricane Katrina wreaked over a decade ago.

Both Houston and New Orleans hadn't won squat in any major sport in a very long time. In the case of the latter, try never. Maybe Mother Nature -- or the sports gods -- were on their side when it mattered most.

It ranks right up there with the Chicago Cubs breaking their century plus jinx just last year. Or the Bosox not long before that. Cleveland doesn't count. Despite the long drought of the Indians, the Cavaliers won an NBA championship a year and a half ago. One parade will have to do for a while.

Over the years, Los Angeles has won plenty of stuff. True, it's been about 30 years for the Dodgers. But the Lakers, before they got terrible in recent times, captured titles, as did the Kings of the NHL.

And I, for one, have long been sick and tired of the Magic Johnson aura. It's like he falls into a rose garden every place he goes. While a college hoopster at Michigan State, he won a national title, but he had several really good teammates. His main competition was Larry Bird at Indiana State, who was basically forced to be a one-man show.

Then Ervin landed with the Lakers, only to join the likes of Kareem, James, and other All-Stars.

It could be argued he's been blessed in an even greater way. Merely surviving. That's because after being a serial adulterer, he contracted the HIV virus. The vast majority of those afflicted don't live nearly as long as Johnson, because it will morph into full-blown AIDS, from which there is no cure. Only those that can afford a super-expensive drug cocktail can ward it off for so long. Magic had serious dough.

Then he bought a piece of the Dodgers. Did I mention serious dough? Just when most thought ace pitcher Justin Verlander would close out the Series in Game 6 - it didn't happen. He pitched terrific, but got no run support. It appeared Magic's magic might strike again.

Enter the Houston Astros. They're every bit as talented as the Dodgers from top to bottom and, hurray, they won Game 7. Take that Ervin.

One thing yours truly could never understand about this match-up, though. Few doubt LA pitcher Clayton Kershaw is among the best in the game. His record speaks for itself.

But the Astros, like many other teams of late, have chucked the old school ways and turned to cyber-metrics -- see stat geek warfare -- to fine tune everything that CAN be tuned. High speed cameras capture spin rates on breaking balls. Also the slightest differential in a pitcher's arm movement during delivery. The same goes for hitters, their stances, and swings. Tweak, tweak, tweak.

Yet they seemed to have missed the obvious. The aforementioned Kershaw has always had a weakness. The first pitch to a batter is going to be a fastball right down the middle for a strike. Yet Houston hitters watched it go by -- time, after time, after time. You'd think the stats geeks would have noticed that. This was the pitch to hit. Thereafter would come a steady diet of of curve balls breaking a couple feet, and hard sliders that started out looking like strikes, but diving OUT of the strike zone. Whiff, whiff, whiff.

The late Ted Williams probably said it best. In any given at bat, a hitter is probably only going to see one really good pitch. Don't take it. Don't foul it off. Don't miss it. Hit it -- and hit it hard somewhere. Seems like a simple enough philosophy and Kershaw over the Series was plenty predictable in that regard.

Nonetheless, see ya LA. You just got beat on your home field in Game 7 of the World Series and had to watch the Stros whooping it up. Followed by the usual champagne orgy in the locker room.

And good for you, Houston, and especially Justin Verlander.

He finally reached the proverbial mountaintop.

Betcha Kate has an extra-special little something waiting for him after he gets cleaned up and hooks up with his significant other.

All things considered, I'd say Justin Verlander had himself a pretty decent day.

Hats off to Houston and their Astros. The 2017 World Series champions.

It couldn't have happened in a more fitting way......