The Houston Astros won. If you just wanted the quick answer for a trivia night or a friendly argument, there it is. On November 1, 2017, the Houston Astros defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 5–1 in a winner-take-all Game 7 at Dodger Stadium. It was the first championship in the franchise's history. But honestly, if you're asking about world series 2017 who won, you probably know that the answer is way more complicated than a simple scoreline.
Baseball fans don't just remember the final out. They remember the trash cans. They remember the sign-stealing scandal that broke two years later and turned a feel-good "Earn It" story into one of the most polarizing moments in American sports history.
The Night Houston Took the Crown
The actual game? It started with a bang. George Springer, who basically turned into a superhero during that series, led off Game 7 with a double. By the second inning, the Astros were up 5–0. Yu Darvish, the Dodgers' starter, just didn't have it. He struggled to find his rhythm, and the Houston lineup smelled blood. It’s wild to think about now, but the Dodgers left 13 runners on base that night. 13! You can’t win a championship like that.
Charlie Morton came out of the bullpen and threw four incredible innings of relief to shut the door. When Corey Seager hit a grounder to Jose Altuve for the final out, the city of Houston went absolutely nuclear. Remember, this was just months after Hurricane Harvey devastated the region. The "Houston Strong" patch wasn't just marketing; it was a genuine rallying cry for a city that was literally underwater. For a moment, it was perfect.
Why George Springer Was the Difference
Springer was the undisputed MVP of the series. He tied a record with five home runs. He had 29 total bases. Every time the Dodgers felt like they were gaining momentum, Springer would launch a ball into the stratosphere and suck the oxygen out of the stadium. It was one of the most dominant individual performances in Fall Classic history. He wasn't alone, obviously. You had Altuve, Carlos Correa, and Alex Bregman—this young, terrifyingly talented core that looked like it was going to rule the MLB for a decade.
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The Elephant in the Room: The Scandal
We have to talk about it. You can't discuss world series 2017 who won without mentioning the 2019 revelation that the Astros used a center-field camera to decode opposing catchers' signs. They would relay those signs to hitters by banging on a trash can. Bang-bang meant a breaking ball was coming.
The MLB investigation confirmed it happened during the 2017 regular season and postseason. This turned the 2017 title into a permanent "Yes, but..." situation. For Dodgers fans, it’s a wound that won't heal. They look at Clayton Kershaw’s Game 5 struggles—where he blew two leads—and wonder if it was because the Houston hitters knew what was coming. The data suggests the sign-stealing was mostly happening at Minute Maid Park (Houston’s home field), but the psychological impact on the sport was massive.
Commissioner Rob Manfred called the trophy a "piece of metal" during the fallout, which, predictably, made everyone even angrier. The Astros kept their rings. They kept the trophy. But they lost the moral high ground in the eyes of almost every other fan base.
A Series of Instant Classics
Scandal aside, the actual games were some of the most stressful baseball ever played. Game 5 is frequently cited as one of the greatest games in history. It lasted over five hours. It ended 13–12. There were seven home runs. It felt like a video game where the "difficulty" setting was broken.
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- Game 2: Houston wins in 11 innings after a wild back-and-forth home run derby.
- Game 5: The 13–12 marathon that shifted the entire momentum.
- Game 7: Houston's early lead holds up for a 5–1 victory.
The Dodgers were an absolute powerhouse that year. They won 104 games in the regular season. Justin Turner and Yasiel Puig were at the top of their game. Kenley Jansen was an elite closer. On paper, Los Angeles had every right to win that series. But baseball is weird. Sometimes a team just catches a heater at the right time.
The Pitching Matchups That Defined the Series
Clayton Kershaw. Justin Verlander. Zack Greinke (who wasn't there yet, but the lineage was starting). Dallas Keuchel. These are some of the best arms of a generation. Verlander, who Houston traded for at the last possible second in August, was the final piece of the puzzle. His arrival signaled to the league that Houston wasn't just "happy to be there" anymore.
What Most People Get Wrong About 2017
There’s a common misconception that the Astros were a bad team that cheated to win. That's just not true. They were incredibly talented. Even without the sign-stealing, that roster was loaded with All-Stars and future Hall of Famers. The tragedy of the scandal is that they probably didn't need to do it. They were already that good.
Another thing? People forget how close the Dodgers came. If Dave Roberts handles the bullpen slightly differently in Game 2, or if the Dodgers drive in just two of those 13 stranded runners in Game 7, the history books look completely different.
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How the 2017 World Series Changed Baseball
The fallout from this series changed how the game is played and managed. Now, you see pitchers using PitchCom—the electronic device on their wrist or glove—to communicate pitches. That exists because of 2017. MLB had to modernize because the "old school" way of finger signals was too easy to hack with modern technology.
It also changed how teams rebuild. The Astros' "Process" involved losing 100+ games for several years to stack high draft picks. It worked, but it was ugly. Now, the league has implemented lottery systems to discourage that kind of blatant tanking.
Actionable Takeaways for Baseball Fans
If you're looking back at this era of baseball, here is how to objectively evaluate what happened:
- Watch the Game 5 highlights: Even if you hate the Astros, the pure chaos of that game is a masterclass in why baseball is the best (and worst) sport for your heart health.
- Read the "Astroball" book vs. the "Winning Fixes Everything" book: Ben Reiter’s Astroball captures the genius of their rebuild, while Evan Drellich’s Winning Fixes Everything exposes the toxic culture that led to the cheating. Reading both gives you the full picture.
- Check the stats: Look at the home/road splits for Houston in 2017. Interestingly, they were often better on the road, which adds a layer of confusion to how much the home-field sign-stealing actually helped.
- Respect the Dodgers' longevity: Since 2017, the Dodgers have remained the gold standard of the NL. Their 2020 win helped exercise some of those demons, but 2017 remains the "one that got away."
The 2017 World Series will always be a Rorschach test for baseball fans. Some see a gritty city overcoming a natural disaster to win a hard-fought title. Others see a tainted season that deserves an asterisk. Regardless of how you feel, the record books will always say the Houston Astros are the ones who won.
For those researching the era, the best next step is to look into the 2018 and 2019 seasons to see how the league's response to sign-stealing evolved before the story finally broke in the 2019-2020 offseason. Analyzing the shift from the "Wild West" of video replay rooms to the current era of PitchCom provides the necessary context for why 2017 was a turning point for the integrity of the professional game.