World Series 2023: Diamondbacks meet Rangers in matchup no one expected

The 119th World Series begins on Friday night as Arizona and Texas meet for baseball's biggest prize in a matchup that would have seemed all but impossible six weeks ago

If you wanted to place a bet in early September that the Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks would be the contestants in World Series, you could have gotten fantastic odds. On 8 September, Arizona's chance to reach the postseason - not even the World Series, just the playoffs - was 46.2%, according to FanGraphs. Texas's chance was a lowly 38.6%. The D-Backs had cooled considerably after a hot start and looked to be circling the drain in the National League wildcard race. The Rangers, in a matter of days, would lose prized trade deadline acquisition Max Scherzer to the injured list with a strained shoulder, and he would not return until October. Both clubs were Fall Classic afterthoughts, expected to miss the postseason or exit early.

How drastically things have changed. The Rangers and Diamondbacks will indeed play for baseball's ultimate prize after their parallel tracks took wild turns for the better in October. Both teams swept their wildcard series two games to none, then beat 100-win juggernauts in a three-game division series sweeps. Both went down three games to two in their respective league championship series, and both won their final two games on the road, to punch their World Series tickets. The Rangers dispatched their in-state rival Houston Astros; the Diamondbacks shocked the Philadelphia Phillies. And so when the World Series begins on Friday night in Arlington, Texas, the teams with a chance to win it will be a pair of underdogs who won 84 and 90 regular-season games, respectively.