Too many baseball fans hate on the Astros instead of focusing on the positive stories from the 2022 World Series.

After several tough battles with the Philadelphia Phillies, the Houston Astros won their second World Series. Houston celebrated, other baseball lovers moved on, but a sizable chunk of Major League Baseball fans began a familiar chorus of complaints, accusations, and references to the sign stealing scandal of 2017.

No baseball fan can deny that the Astros cheated to win the 2017 World Series. But, after 5 years and two different cheating scandals since, the hate has gotten old.

Instead of focusing on a single team’s cheating scandal from years ago, take a moment to appreciate the many moments that made this year’s World Series special.

First, the Philadelphia Phillies. Not only did the Phillies make the playoffs with their first wild card in franchise history, they won their first National League pennant since 2009 and took two games from a team that swept the Yankees. For an underdog team, that’s an incredible achievement.

Then there’s 73-year-old Dusty Baker, the current Astros manager. Prior to the 2022 season, Baker already had the 9th-most wins as a manager but not one World Series victory. Now, he’s the oldest manager to win a championship in any of the four major American sports. After nearly 30 seasons managing baseball teams, Baker can finally retire in peace.

But the greatest story of the 2022 World Series is Trey Mancini. Three years ago, Mancini was diagnosed with stage III colon cancer and had to miss the entire 2020 season. By 2021, he was cancer-free and back in play, and a year later, he became a World Series champion.

If the World Series should be about anybody, it should be about the first-baseman who went from cancer patient to World Series champion.

Baseball is more than a team sport, it’s a sport of individual stories. Don’t let team controversies take away from the individual stories of the 2022 World Series.