Sports

Face Off: Who will win the World Series this year?

The Texas Rangers have one of the top offenses in Major League Baseball.

With names like Josh Hamilton, Nelson Cruz and Mike Napoli anchoring the heart of the order, it comes as no surprise that the Rangers are back in the World
Series.

Over the 2011 postseason, the Rangers have a team batting average of .286 with a total of 17 extra base hits and seven home runs against right-handed pitching.

This is an important stat for the Rangers because the Cardinals are sending two righties to the mound in the first three games of the World Series.

The Cardinals are sending their ace Chris Carpenter to the mound for game one to take on the Rangers lineup that consist of six right-handed batters.

Carpenter has better stats against righties this postseason.

However, Carpenter has struggled in home starts with an ERA of 5.40, and opposing batters are hitting .333 against him.

In game two the Cardinals are sending left handed pitcher Jaime Garcia to the mound.

This seems to be another decision that is in the Rangers favor.

Garcia has not fared well against right-handed batters this post season giving up and ERA of 6.00 and right handed opponents batting .333 against him.

Garcia also isn’t a fan of pitching against American League teams.

During interleague play last June, Garcia had a 4.37 ERA with opponents batting .309 against him.

Lastly the Cardinals are sending Edwin Jackson to the mound for game three.

Jackson also has not pitched well against righties this postseason with an ERA of 9.95 and opposing right-handed batters hitting .400 against him.

The Cardinals’ starting pitching lacked in the NLCS vs. the Brewers.

In result the bullpen got a lot of innings thrown its way.

In fact, the bullpen threw more innings combined than that of the starters.

In my mind, there is no possible way that the Cardinals’ fatigued arms will be able to hold off the Rangers’ offensive surge.

Besides all the statistical advantages that the Rangers have, I feel that there is another large factor that will play into this World Series.

The Rangers lost to the San Francisco Giants last fall.

They know what it is like to be in the losing dugout, and they are going to do everything in their power to not be there again.

They have redemption on their mind, and the only thing that is standing in their way is the Cardinals.

Even though I think this series is going to be entertaining, I feel that Nolan Ryan and the Rangers are going to join Mark Cuban and the Mavericks as world
champions, leaving Jerry Jones and the Cowboys as the outcasts in Dallas.

My final prediction is the Texas Rangers in six games.

Predicting baseball is one of the hardest things to think about. Baseball is a funny game where anything can happen, especially in the playoffs; Just look at
the Cardinals incredible run so far.

This was a team that started out 10 and a half games behind the wild card lead in mid-August.

Slowly but surely they caught up to the ailing Braves, and took the National League wildcard.

Then they overcame a 2-1 series deficit against the Phillies, who were many people’s choice to win World Series this year.

The Cardinals defeated their divisional rivals in a hard fought NLCS.

St. Louis looks to earn their 11th World Series title in their franchise’s history.

As all baseball fans know, the key to winning baseball games, especially in the postseason, is good pitching and clutch hitting.

The St. Louis Cardinals have fully demonstrated that through their incredible postseason run.

They have one of the best hitters in the game, Albert Pujols.

Pujols has a .419 average this postseason, with two home runs and 10 RBIs.

Also, keep a lookout for Lance Berkman, who swung the bat pretty well in the Cardinals’ big upset over the heavily favored Phillies, and has begun to heat up
after putting up a .300 batting average against the Brewers, with two RBIs.

On the mound, Chris Carpenter pitched a remarkable game that put his team in the NLCS, defeating Phillies’ ace Roy Halladay, throwing a complete game, three-hit
shut out in a 1-0 series clinching win.

Even though he didn’t have the best of outings in his only NLCS appearance, he still has the capability of stepping up and winning big games for his team.

I expect he’ll be sensational in the World Series as he’ll be pitching on full rest.

The Cardinals’ bullpen has also seen an unpredictable turnaround.

The Cardinals lost 11 games when they had a ninth-inning lead in the regular season, but with the acquisitions of Octavio Dotel, Arthur Rhodes and Marc
Rzepczynski, the bullpen has come together.

New closer Jason Motte has also been critical, only allowing one hit and no runs in seven innings pitched.

The Cardinals’ bullpen also became the first bullpen to pitch more innings than the starting staff in a seven game postseason series win.

The Cardinals have overcome a lot in the past two and a half months, and now they are four wins away from their 11th World Series title.

They obviously have the will and determination to win, but they also have the firepower.

Even though it’s the World Series, it‘s just another day of do-or-die baseball for a team that has been living it since mid-August.

With all of this being said, I’d like the Cardinals to win in a hard-fought seven game series.