Alex Wood shouldered apprehension as he walked to the visitors bullpen on Oct. 28, 2017. He had not slept much the night before. The opponent, the stage and the setting all contributed to his anxiety.



“I was nervous as shit,” Wood said. “I can admit that, three years later.”



The opponent was the Houston Astros, the champions of the American League. The stage was Game 4 of the World Series, with Wood’s Los Angeles Dodgers trailing, 2-1, two defeats away from winter. And the setting only sounds more sinister with hindsight: Minute Maid Park.



The Astros offered enough of a challenge. Their offense led the sport in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. The quartet of right-handed hitters at the top of their lineup mauled left-handed pitchers like Wood. At home, they were particularly merciless. Like other members of the Dodgers, Wood harbored a suspicion about why that was. The Astros were considered...