'He's in our hearts': Family and friends still seek answers one year after Nathan Wise’s disappearance
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
Freddie Freeman swinging onto baseball's biggest stage for the first time, Jose Altuve & Co. back for more. Luis Garcia, Framber Valdez and a fresh set of Houston arms facing Ozzie Albies, Austin Riley and these eager, young Atlanta bats.
And the endless quest for Mr. Dusty Baker.
Braves-Astros, a lot to savor in this World Series - even a family faceoff. Atlanta manager Brian Snitker's son, Troy, is a Houston hitting coach.
“It's like the Snitkers are going to have a World Series trophy in their house here,” dad said Saturday night. “I don't know who is going to own it, but we're going to have one. So that's a pretty cool thing, too.”
A matchup six decades in the making, pairing former National League rivals who've played more than 700 times, including five postseason series. Think of The Hammer and The Toy Cannon teeing up home run derby at the Astrodome, or Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz vs. Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio on a June evening on TBS.
Because of scheduling and COVID-19, the Astros and Braves haven't seen each other since 2017. They'll now meet for Game 1 on Tuesday night in Houston.
The Astros opened as a 3-2 favourite, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.
But before we begin, let's just say it: There are many baseball fans who might not be thrilled to see either team here in late October.
Altuve and Astros teammates Carlos Correa, Alex Bregman and Yuli Gurriel will forever wear the label of cheaters after being part of a team that devised an illegal, sign-stealing scheme on its way to the 2017 championship.
At Minute Maid Park, they're cheered. At every other ballpark, they're heckled - and worse - as the game's worst villains.
“Ever since the news came out, the bad news that we've had to deal with about what happened in 2017, I think we've all wanted to prove what kind of class of players that we are and team that we are,” AL Championship Series MVP Yordan Alvarez said.
“I wasn't here with the team in 2017, but I've gotten booed just as equal as anybody else. So I think we all have the same mentality that we really want to win a World Series to demonstrate that we are just a great team,” he said.
The Astros are in the World Series for the third time in five years and got there minus ace Justin Verlander, who missed the season while recovering from Tommy John surgery.
The Braves overcame a season-ending knee injury to dynamic star Ronald Acuna Jr. in July and surged after being stuck at 52-55 in early August. Boosted by NL Championship Series MVP Eddie Rosario, Atlanta is making its first appearance in the Fall Classic since 1999.
Yet while the roster and stadium have changed, the sights and sounds in Atlanta still remain. Throughout the NLCS, fans at Truist Park emphatically chopped and chanted during big moments for the Braves.
In an era of social reckoning that saw the Cleveland Indians change their name to the Guardians and Washington's NFL team get rid of a name considered racist, the scene in Atlanta is sure to draw increased attention.
On the field - and the bench - a lot of eyes will be on Baker.
He won the World Series as a player with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1981 and has taken five teams to the playoffs as a manager but never won the crown.
Baker took this job in 2020 in the wake of Houston's cheating scandal - “there's a few things I still hadn't accomplished” - and at 72, with a lifetime of credentials, gets another chance.
“Last year I felt like a substitute teacher, really. I was an outsider,” Baker said. “But this year, they made me feel like I was one of them and they were definitely always one of me. That's what it's all about. Everybody talks teamwork, they talk about a team, but it's a feeling that you get for each other.”
Baker's history in this matchup runs especially deep. Playing with Braves great Hank Aaron in 1968, he got first major league hit at the Astrodome in a loss to Jimmy Wynn and Houston.
Over the years, these teams met a lot, starting when the 1962 expansion Houston Colt .45s took on the Milwaukee Braves. There were the days of catcher Joe Torre trying to throw out young Joe Morgan, the Niekro brothers pitching against each other and fireballing Nolan Ryan facing Dale Murphy.
The .45s became the Astros in 1965 and from 1997-2005, the clubs played five times in the NL Division Series, with Atlanta winning three of the matchups. Houston moved from NL Central to the AL West in 2013.
Snitker certainly followed all of them. The 66-year-old Atlanta manager has spent four decades in the Braves' organization as a player, coach and skipper.
He tuned in Friday night when the Astros and son Troy beat Boston in the clinching Game 6 of the ALCS.
“That was neat. Proud of him. Got to FaceTime with him. Watched the celebration,” he said, hours before the Braves finished off the Dodgers in Game 6 of the NLCS.
“I told him the first time, it's not this easy, you know, it's really hard to get there, as we're seeing. But it's been a great experience for him and I'm happy for him. I said, I hope I can join you,” he said.
Hours later, he and the Braves were on their way.
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
Amazon's paid subscription service provides free delivery for online shopping across Canada except for remote locations, the company said in an email. While customers in Iqaluit qualify for the offer, all other communities in Nunavut are excluded.
The fire burning near Fort McMurray grew from 25 hectares to 5,500 hectares over the weekend.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin began a Cabinet shakeup on Sunday, proposing the replacement of Sergei Shoigu as defence minister as he begins his fifth term in office.
Police are searching for a male suspect after a man was “slashed in neck” on Sunday morning in downtown Toronto and died.
There were some scary moments for several people on a northern Ontario highway caught on video Thursday after a chain reaction following a truck fire.
Health Canada announced various product recalls this week, including electric adapters, armchairs, cannabis edibles and vehicle components.
English, history, entertainment, math and geography: high school trivia teams could be quizzed on any of it when they compete at the Reach for the Top Nationals in Ottawa in June.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.
A small Ajax dessert shop that recently received a glowing review from celebrity food critic Keith Lee is being forced to move after a zoning complaint was made following the social media influencer’s visit last month.
The Canada Science and Technology Museum is inviting visitors to explore their poop. A new exhibition opens at the Ottawa museum on Friday called, 'Oh Crap! Rethinking human waste.'
The Regina Police Service says it is the first in Saskatchewan and possibly Canada to implement new technology in its detention facility that will offer real-time monitoring of detainees’ vital health metrics.
Just as she had feared, a restaurant owner from eastern Quebec who visited Montreal had her SUV stolen, but says it was all thanks to the kindness of strangers on the internet — not the police — that she got it back.