THIS DAY IN BÉISBOL November 5: Astros rookie Jeremy Peña named 2022 World Series MVP

The Houston Astros’ young stars Jordan Alvarez and Jeremy Peña gave out-of-this-world performances on this day in béisbol, November 5, 2022 to win Game 6 of the World Series against the Phillies.

Alvarez hit a 3-run homer in the 6th that scored Peña and veteran Jose Altuve, giving Houston its second championship in six years.

But it was Peña, with 10 hits in the 6 games against Philadelphia for a .400 average, who was named World Series MVP. The 24-year-old Dominican rookie, son of former infielder Geronimo Peña, also won the ALCS MVP award after going 6-for-18 (.333) with 2 home runs and 2 doubles in a 4-0 sweep of the Yankees.

Only eight other players have been MVPs twice in the same postseason, including Marlins pitcher Livan Hernandez in 1997. Hernandez, signed out of Cuba, was also a rookie.

Yordan, 25, of Cuba had 1 HR and 6 RBI in the World Series. Astros starter Framber Valdez, who went 2-0, was the winning pitcher in the Game 6 clincher.

Also on this day: David Ortiz, coming off an achilles heel injury that limited him to just 90 games in 2011, the slugging DH signed a two-year, $26 million deal with the Boston Red Sox in 2012. Big Papi would play four more years, averaging nearly 40 HR a season and more than 100 RBI in that span until his retirement at age 40.

Flickr user thatlostdog–, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons; LatinoBaseball.com illustration