Whatever happens the next two days, it sure doesn't look like the winner of this World Series will have to worry about any kind of asterisk, as some were saying about a shortened season + expanded playoff.
I think both with the Lightning and with the Dodgers, you have two teams who had issues potentially related to pressure despite their talent level not have to go through a full normal grind with rival fans and travel etc. Here, there’s been a completely different dynamic, first in empty parks, and now in a neutral park, but with essentially the same sparse fan presence night after night.
Given the difference in sports is often momentum and is full of psychological factors, I don't see how that doesn’t factor into how people will look at it. I don’t think people will harp on it quite to the same degree as the Astros earned, because each team played the games that were in front of them - – except when they were sidelined for covid quarantines along the way. However, if either team gets another one in the next couple years, I definitely will wonder if they ever would’ve gotten over the hump and gotten the monkeys on their backs had seasons played out in standard ways.
