Baseball is at its best when everything is on the line. In October, every at bat feels like it means something. That couldn’t be truer than for the World Series matchup of St. Louis and Boston.
Why is that you ask? Because both of these teams have pitching staffs that look unhittable.
That was the big story through the Championships Series in my opinion.
Between Adam Wainwright, Michael Wacha, Clay Buchholz and Jon Lester, offence will be at a premium.
It feels like every starter in this series is capable of tossing seven innings of quality stuff, despite the fact they’ll be going against some stacked lineups.
The Red Sox have an odd conundrum when it comes to putting up runs. Through the ALCS, they had one heck of a time hitting the Tigers staff, but when they did, they came up with some of the biggest clutch hits in years. Shane Victorino’s and David Ortiz’s grand slams will be talked about for years to come in Beantown.
St. Louis has a solid homegrown lineup with 19 of 25 guys being brought up through the Cards’ system. It’s the definition of how to build a team without having to break the bank in free agency and a perfect model for the rest of the league on how to build towards success.
So who is my pick to win? I have to go to with the Red Sox. Home-field advantage means something and you can’t ignore the team’s intangibles – their amazing camaraderie and ability to get those amazing clutch hits.
Let’s just hope these games don’t go four hours as the Sox are prone to draw out games longer than any other team. It’s a shame when Boston kids can’t even watch these late-inning heroics because they’re happening at midnight EDT.
Pick: Red Sox in six.