Although the Yankees aren’t in it, it’d be foolish to miss
out on this year’s Fall Classic. Sure, our rival Boston Red Sox may be vying
for their third championship in ten years, but so are the St. Louis Cardinals.
It’s a rare matchup of truly the two best teams(record-wise) from this summer.
St. Louis boasts another club full of homegrown talent, while Boston is riding
off of underestimated returns from some of the most overlooked free-agent
signings of the offseason. Both lineups are stacked top to bottom, but the
Cardinals get the edge in my view thanks to the Ruthian postseason efforts of
Carlos Beltran. The pitching rotations are pretty even as well, with Adam
Wainwright and 22-year old Michael Wacha proving to be just as good of a 1-2
punch as Boston’s long established duo of Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz. With
Wainwright’s and Wacha’s recent dominance of the Dodgers, I’d have to say St.
Louis wins out in the battle of the aces, however. The only aspect of the teams
where the Red Sox have the upper hand has to be the bullpen. Craig Breslow, Junichi
Tazawa, and Koji Uehara have been unhittable, while the Redbirds constantly
mix-and-match between Carlos Martinez, Edward Mujica, John Axford, and Trevor
Rosenthal to narrowly close out ball games. We are in for a terrific World
Series that despite taking place in Fenway Park, will feature intense pitching
duels a la the ALCS, with one or two hits being the difference in each game.
That’s why I truly have no idea what to expect. But if I had to pick one team
to be crowned 2013 World Series Champion, it would have to be the Boston Red
Sox. It pains me to say it, but home field advantage [which Mariano Rivera
helped secure for the American League] will be a deciding factor. I think the
series will at least extend to 6 games, and possibly 7, but to me it makes no difference
as in each game I see Boston winning. It’d be a storybook ending to a magical
Red Sox season, and a predictable end to a disastrous 2013 campaign for the New
York Yankees.
PREDICTION – Red Sox win World Series in 7 games.
Just a nit pick here but how can you talk about Carlos Beltran in the post season and not talk about David Ortiz? Ask Mariano Rivera who he would rather face in the post season...
ReplyDeleteThis postseason, Ortiz has that one big Grand Slam and not much else. Beltran is consistently having big games and coming up in the clutch. But, I understand your argument, and certainly Ortiz has his share of huge October moments.
DeleteBrian Danuff...are you Brian I remember from another time, long ago?
ReplyDeleteThe Brian, who joined with me,.. in ' The Blockbuster Brotherhood of New York '?...
It is you. I recognize the cap! Brian, this is good news. Good to see you / and read your work again.
Talk soon.
This is the Brian Danuff from Yankees Fans Unite if that is where you know him from Pat.
DeleteIndeed Pat! Glad to see you make the short trip over from YFU to the Greedy Pinstripes! Me and Matt B are here now to continue our Yankee fandom expressed in writing! Haha
DeleteSo who is new on the Yankee radar ? Someone new every hour, it seems.
ReplyDeleteNext...the Dutch rockers 'Golden Earring ', with ' Radar Love '? Nah.
The 360 degree electromagnetic pulses are now reaching Korea. What's next, Samoli pirates ?
I suspect that if they find an left handed Eskimo, with nasty stuff, that he will be all
over the back pages tomorrow morning...." Antarctic native, on Yankees radar !"...Sending scouts!
I, patrick, possess a lethal side arm fastball, from stick ball. Count me in, also.
Every single free agent out there is going to be liked to that Yankees since they announced they are spending money this offseason. It's going to be ridiculous.
Delete