Well, my prediction of a Cardinals-Tigers World Series was only half right, so I will need to readjust my World Series prediction. I am going to call for the Tigers to win, and I base that on the fact of their superior starting pitching, and by that I really mean, I base it on Justin Verlander. He is pitching in another world right now, and I think that that gives Detroit the edge here. Let's call it a six game series.
Both League Championship Series were interesting to say the least, and both featured one of the teams inexplicably forgetting how to hit. Of the two teams that failed at the plate, the Yankees were the most mystifying. The headlines and the focus was, of course, on Alex Rodriguez, but how about Cano, Texieria, Swisher, and just about every other guy on the team except Raul Ibanez, just not showing up? Some times both teams and individual athletes can get "old" very quickly in professional sports, and for that Yankees, that aging process seemed to happen sometime between the end of the regular season and the beginning of the playoffs. Watching what they do in the off-season, including how they handle what to do with A-Rod, will be an interesting mini-drama. I only hope that ESPN will report on it for all of us out in the hinterlands.
As for the Cardinals, a funny thing happened between Games 4 and 5 of the NLCS: they turned into the Cardinals who were shutout back-to-back by the Pirates in late August. And they ran into a resurrected Barry Zito (and, by the way, I think I enjoyed watching that game Zito pitched over almost any other this post-season) and that legendary ex-Bucco, Ryan Vogelsong (do the indignities of being a Pirates fan ever stop?).
Should be a fun World Series with some great pitching what with Verlander-Fister-Scherzer matching up against Cain-Zito-Vogelsong. Somehow, though, I see the Tigers hurlers reigning (I mean, really, Ryan Vogelsong!?!?) and the Tigers claiming the title.
Enjoy!
