The World Series starts tonight and if there was only two things I could say about that, they would be: 1) This should be a great matchup and 2) It’s about time.
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Seriously, does Major League Baseball not realize that Game 4 will take place on Halloween, almost ensuring that baseball will be played into November once again? It’s even more concerning that the league is considering expanding the post-season. If they do, could we please get rid of a few out of the 162 regular season games? It’s seriously too much.
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But enough with the future, let’s talk about the present. Game 1 is tonight and we have one hell of a pitching matchup: Tim Lincecum faces Cliff Lee. The Dude has had his share of stellar matchups already this post-season, facing Roy Halladay twice and also two-hit the Braves in the division round. Lee won his first three post-season starts and has struck out a total of 34 Rays and Yankees in the process. Whenever these two get on the mound, hitters are going to have a rough day at the plate.
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Game 1 won’t be the only gem either, both teams boast good young rotations with guys who are ready to become stars. Matt Cain, C.J. Wilson, Jonathan Sanchez and Colby Lewis. With big games on the biggest stage, they could become household names and they all have the talent to do so.
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But it’s not as if this will be a cakewalk for the hurlers, these lineups have some pop in them. Texas’ Josh Hamilton is an MVP candidate and capable of going deep at any time while the Giants have Cody Ross, who has been spectacular this post-season.
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The only place I can see a major advantage is on defence. The Rangers may be nothing spectacular, but D can be a huge Achilles heel for the Giants. Their defence, especially in the infield, has been suspect and has a very good chance of leading to their downfall. In fact, it’s the reason I’ll be betting against them.
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Pick: Rangers in Six.
Is that Posey guy gonna be any good? Actually, I would enjoy hearing about Brandon Crawford, Michael Main, & Tommy Joseph. Crawford—I liked him during his days at UCLA and thought he & Grant Green would have a similar path to the bigs. Seems that Green is on a much more accelerated track and is expected to have a better bat. Main—a 1st round pick that seemed to be in over his head a little bit. Should I still have hope that he can be a #3 or #4 in the major leagues? Joseph—He is a guy that was one of the exciting catchers of the 2009 draft along with Wil Myers & Max Stassi & Luke Bailey. Will Joseph be a guy that can stay at catcher long term and will his bat carry him to the majors?
Looking forward to a great Series with great pitching. Perhaps, continued clutch performances by Cody Ross and/or Josh Hamilton? As much as I adore the NFL (my reason for breathing), I’ll take a well-played, hard-fought baseball game any day over a mediocre football game.