World Series Preview

Texas Rangers vs. St Louis Cardinals.... really? Who even plays for Texas?

The Texas Rangers are in the World Series for a second straight year... and if they aren't the definition of "behind the scenes," then I really don't know what is. They made an improbable run at the Series in 2010 when they beat Tampa in the ALDS then won three straight games at Yankee Stadium to beat the Yankees in 6, only to be thwarted by the powerhouse that was the San Francisco Giants (haha.) Well, anyway, they are back and better than ever! Well, that is sort of a joke too. They lost their ace to free agency in Cliff Lee during the 2010-2011 offseason as well as Jeff Francoeur, nobody expected Josh Hamilton to have another MVP type season and although their bullpen looked promising, everyone was young and they weren't expected to make another run at the Series. But oh boy, did they prove us wrong.

As i mentioned earlier, they did so very quietly. Coming off his AL MVP Josh Hamilton was injured to start the season, and, although they aren't MVP numbers, he bat .298 with 31 doubles, 25 HRs and 94 RBI's... in only 120 games.The Rangers also actually had 5 people with over 85 RBI's, 2 with over 30 HR's and as a team they scored the third most runs in the majors this season and finishing with a league best team batting average of .283... who knew?

Also, after going 1 for 15 in the ALDS, Nelson Cruz had the best playoff series in the history of baseball. 8 for 22, 6 HR's, 2 doubles (all his hits for extra bases.) 13 RBI's Two straight games with extra inning home runs, including the first ever playoff walk off grand slam. (Well, officially. In 1999 Robin Ventura hit the "Grand Slam Single" he hit the ball over the fence in the bottom of the 15th with the bases loaded, but never rounded second because he was mobbed by his teammates, extra cool fact: Octavio Dotel was the winner in that game, he will win a game in the 2011 World Series.) Anyway, Cruz set multiple records for a playoff series and hopefully, for the Rangers, he will continue his tear.

While everyone, including myself, was in awe by what was happening to in the Wild Card situation (I will talk about the Cardinals later, and the Rays really let us down) the Rangers cruised through the AL West going 19-6 in September... a record that was narrowly better than the team with the second best record in September at 18-7, and you guessed it (hopefully,) it was the Cardinals.

Let me walk you through what it has been like for the Cardinals since September 1st.

September 1st: St. Louis is 10.5 games out of the playoffs. Fans are thinking: Too bad we are out of the playoffs, but wow I better get to a game, Pujols may not be playing for us next year!
September 7th: 20 games left, 8.5 games out. Fans are thinking: "I don't want to cheer for Milwuakee in the playoffs... maybe the Braves?"
September 23rd: 5 games left. 3 games out. Fans are thinking: "How did we lose to the Mets and the Cubs?!?! We were so close to one of the greatest comebacks in history!
September 28th: 0 games left. Cards win 8-0.. Braves lose in extras, 5th straight loss, Cardinals win the Wild Card! Fans are thinking: "...what?"
October 7th: Game 5 vs. Phillies. Halladay vs. Carpenter. Halladay: 8 IP, 6 H, 1ER, 1BB, 7K's. Carpenter: 9 IP, 3H, 0ER, 0BB, 3K's. Cardinals win 1-0! Clinch NLCS vs. division rival Milwuakee.
October 16th: Game 6, Cardinals up 3-2 in series. David Freese hits 3rd HR of series, Cardinals beat Brewers 12-6. CARDINALS WIN THE PENNANT!!
Sidenote, feel free to comment: Is Shaun Marcum a bum?


If you have been following along with my posts you will have read a previous post about how Albert Pujols is the best player in the Major Leagues. Well, if you can believe it, I was right! And I have stats to prove it. How does a playoff .419 batting average sound? I would also take 7 doubles, 2 HR's and 10 RBI's... I guess. He did all this, and didn't even win the NLCS MVP? Well, believe it or not, the Cardinals do have other offensive weapons, and no, I'm not talking about Matt Holliday or Lance Berkman, I'm talking about David Freese! Who? You may ask. I did too, but now I am expert on him, so haha, read up suckers! Anyway, Freese batted .545 with 3 HR's, 3 doubles, 9 RBI's and 7 runs scored. Pretty damn good.

So who is going to win? They are both high-powered offenses... so who has the pitching edge? As we are all going to see in this series, pitching is not going to matter much. Obviously there will be that one game where there is a total of 8 hits and the final score is 2-1 (the Rangers will win that one) but the games will be decided by offenses and the bullpen. Very cool stat alert!  In the NLCS the Cardinals' bullpen retired more outs (86) than the starters (73). Pretty weird.

PREDICTIONS:
Cardinals in 6.
I want it to go 7 games, who doesn't? But the reality is that the Cards will win. They are too hot. Chris Carpenter is lights out, Octavio Dotel (former Blue Jay) and the rest of the Cardinals bullpen are just too good. Josh Hamilton is awesome, C.J. Wilson is awesome, but the Cardinals are too hot.

World Series MVP: Albert Pujols
If you haven't noticed by now, I love Albert Pujols. He is awesome to watch and is just a level above everyone else. Anyway, he loves the playoffs and he is on fire just like the rest of his team. He will have at least one of those "Albert Pujols Ridiculous Games." He may not continue to hit over .400, but he will hit over .300 and will win World Series MVP.

I guess I wont the Cardinals to win because it may be Pujols' last time in a Cardinals uniform (he will be traded to the Jays for Jose Molina, most likely) and Lance Berkman will never hit 15 Home Runs again, this is their year, and they are not going to let this chance slip away.