The Fall Classic has arrived.
It’s been a long road to here, but on it stands the Boston Red Sox and the St. Louis Cardinals ready to do battle in Game One on Wednesday.
Believe it or not, but at the beginning of the 2013 season not one single top MLB analyst predicted Red Sox vs Cardinals World Series (myself included). This is of course a rematch of the storied 2004 World Series, in which the Red Sox easily beat the Cardinals in a 4-game sweep.
This time around, both teams come in bringing quite a bit to the table, with Vegas giving the Sox the slight edge over the Cards. The Red Sox have home field advantage, thanks to the AL’s heroric efforts in the All Star Game, and the Series will begin in Fenway with John Lester on the mound for the Sox and Adam Wainwright a-go for the Cards.
Game 2 will pit John Lackey and Michael Wacha against each other, with the matchup favoring the younger Wacha who has an ERA of just 2.21.
The two squads haven’t played each other since 2008, so there’s really nothing concrete to help compare the squads. But here’s a nice fun fact, this is the first time that the best team’s from each League have met in the World Series since 1999.
This Series seems almost dead even, but some keys will help determine which team comes out on top. For the Cardinals the advantage of having Allen Craig back is huge, Craig will DH and put his very efficient bat to work to help put the Cards on the board early. For the Sox, look for them to continue their spunky hitting streak both at home and on the road. This is one team that knows how to come back from a deficit.
Prediction: Cardinals win 6. The Cardinals hold the pitching edge, the type of edge which will keep the red hot bats of Boston at bay. Also, when the Series moves back to St Louis the lack of a DH will have the Sox to choose between David Ortiz and Mike Napoli (the two best hitters) which will be a huge advantage.
Games start Weds October 23, 8:07 PM EST