The Astros finished off the Cardinals last night, so we have our World Series match-up for this year. For the second year in a row, it's a good one. (The Red Sox-Cubs match-up we almost had in 2003 would have been great, except that unfortunate events intervened and the world ended up with Yankees-Marlins.) The teams are fairly even and while I could go position by position to try to handicap the teams, they are close enough together that noise would dominate any such analysis. I'm going to say Astros in 6 (losing a Backe start and one other start), but the main prediction in which I'm confident is that this series should either go 6 or 7 (and that it will be a good series).
This is the first trip to the Series for the Astros and for their long-timers Biggio and Bagwell. (The Astros almost made it last year and in 1986.) ESPN's Rob Neyer nicely summarizes their postseason history here. (Note: You need to have ESPN Insider to get the full article. One can sign up for a free month if you want to read the article and don't have that.)
The White Sox haven't appeared in the World Series since 1959 and haven't won since 1917---before the Black Sox scandal and before the Red Sox penultimate Series win in 1918. (Baseball fans always loved talking about the Cubs' and Red Sox' droughts even when that of the White Sox was slightly longer. Those South Siders just don't get a fair shake sometimes. :) ) Rob Neyer also summarizes the history of the White Sox.
I'll post my postseason award picks later. I need to get a chance to pour through all the stats to figure out some close calls.
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