Native Iowan One Win From World Series Championship

The 2017 World Series has been just WOW and the man pulling the strings for the Houston Astros is Iowa native A.J. Hinch. Hinch has been managing the Astros since taking over for former Iowa Hawkeye baseball player Bo Porter in September of 2014. In his three full seasons as manager, the Astros are 86-76, 84-78, and 101-61 respectively.

Hinch was born in Waverly, Iowa on May 15, 1974, and lived in Nashua before moving to Oklahoma at the age of 8. He went on to star in baseball in Midwest City, Oklahoma where Gatorade named him their National High School Player of the Year in 1992. He was a member of the 1996 Bronze Medal U.S. Olympic baseball team before starting an 8-year major league playing career. His stops included the Kansas City Royals and Detroit Tigers.

Hinch has had quite a career in baseball, which also included other major league managing stops and a four-year stint as the San Diego Padres vice-president of scouting. Still, you know nothing's compared to the last few days. The first five games of the 2017 World Series have featured an 11-inning game with seven runs in the two extra frames. There's been a game with a five-run ninth inning. Then there was last night. Seven home runs, five by the Astros, in a 10-inning thriller. You could watch baseball for decades and never see anything like what happened last night. Do yourself a favor and watch these highlights.

WHAT A GAME. WHAT A SERIES. This was the special moment after the game last night when Hinch gave Alex Bregman a bear hug after the game-winning hit. One more win and they'll be celebrating the Houston Astros first-ever World Championship.

[via Wikipedia and MLB]