The World Series starts tonight in Boston, and even though that means I'm going to be hearing a lot of Joe Buck and Tim McCarver, I'm still excited about it. Hopefully the series will actually be a good one, because aside from the ALCS, we haven't had much drama this postseason have we?
In the divisional round, three of the four series ended in a sweep while Cleveland and New York were able to play an entire four games. The NLCS was over in four games, and it ended so long ago, I don't think many people outside of Colorado even remember the Rockies are in the World Series.
Not that I can blame them. No one thought the Rockies would get to the playoffs this season, let alone win the National League. This baseball season was a new experience for me, because aside from just watching the White Sox and Cubs all year, I had to cover nine teams at FanHouse. So I've seen a lot of baseball, and though I've always been familiar with Boston, I'll fully admit I knew hardly anything about the Rockies until October.
What the hell is a Ryan Spilborghs?
So who's going to win this thing? The Rockies have won 20 of their last 21 games, and looked unstoppable against Philadelphia and Arizona this postseason. Of course, who knows how all that time off is going to affect their momentum.
The Red Sox on the other hand are fresh off a comeback from a 3-1 deficit against the Indians, and we know they still have all their momentum.
The best way to do this is to break each team down into four categories, and compare the two.
Offense
Just because you hadn't heard of most of the Rockies before this postseason, doesn't mean they don't have anybody worth knowing about on the team. We'll start off with Matt Holliday, who could win the NL MVP award, leading this team all season long and in the playoffs as well. Holliday won the NL batting title with a .340 average, and also hit 36 home runs while driving in 137 runs. Still, even though Holliday is the one who gets most of the attention, he's not the only bat in Colorado's lineup that Red Sox pitchers should beware of. Todd Helton's a former batting champ, and though he's not as much of a power threat anymore, he's still one of baseball's best hitters. Troy Tulowitzki is probably going to be the rookie of the year in the NL, and along with Brad Hawpe and Garret Atkins, he helps make the heart of Colorado's lineup extremely dangerous.
Still, as good as the Rockies offense is, it's not Boston's. I don't have to break down the Red Sox offense, because you know all about it already. There's Big Papi, Manny, Kevin Youkilis, Mike Lowell, etc. The Red Sox can hit, and they do hit. Aside from Julio Lugo there isn't a hitter in their lineup a pitcher can breathe against, and even Lugo is entirely capable of putting a ball in the seats.
So even though the Rockies can put some runs on the board, I still don't think they compare to Boston's lineup. Holliday had a career year but Ortiz and Ramirez put up Holliday type numbers every season. And those two have been even more dangerous this postseason.
In 10 games, Papi and Manny have combined to hit .393 with seven homers and 20 RBI. Also, five of the nine regulars in Boston's lineup are hitting over .300 this postseason, led by Kevin Youkilis' .425 average.
Edge: Boston
Starting Pitching
If you want to go off of nothing but name recognition, it seems pretty obvious who the best starting rotation is in this World Series. Boston has two former World Series MVP's in their rotation in Josh Beckett and Curt Schilling. They've also got Daisuke Matsuzaka who cost them $51 million just to talk to. Dice-K hasn't really lived up to all the hype here in the States, but a win in the World Series should take care of that.
The Rockies, meanwhile, have a couple of guys whose names don't ring a lot of bells. Jeff Francis? Ubaldo Jimenez? Josh Fogg? Hey, I remember him! He used to suck with the White Sox! Finally, there's Aaron Cook. But much like their hitters, just because you haven't heard of these guys doesn't mean they suck. Jeff Francis won 17 games this season, and so far in October he's 2-0 with a 2.13 ERA. Jimenez doesn't have a decision, but he's allowed on two runs in 11.1 innings of work this postseason. Even Josh Fogg has been imitating a good Major League pitcher with a 2-0 record and an ERA of 1.13 this postseason.
The biggest question is Aaron Cook. Cook led Colorado's starters with a 4.12 ERA this season, but he was only 8-7. Most important, he hasn't pitched since August 10th when he lost to the Cubs at Coors Field. Most pitchers don't perform very well in their first start after a two month layoff, let alone while facing the pressure of being in a World Series.
The Red Sox have two of the postseason's best in Schilling and Beckett. In the first two rounds, Boston's aces have combined to go 5-0 with an ERA of 2.16 and 38 strikeouts. Of course, Beckett is responsible for most of those numbers. He's 3-0 this October with an ERA of 1.17 and 26 strikeouts in 23 innings.
Edge: Boston
Bullpen
Much like the rest of Colorado's roster, their bullpen is filled with guys most of us haven't heard of. Manny Corpas became the team's closer during the season after Brian Fuentes was demoted. Fuentes is now Corpas' set-up man, and combined with Jeremy Affeldt, Matt Herges, and Ryan Speier, they combine for an effective bullpen. The key, though, will be getting a lead, and then getting the ball to Corpas who's been phenomenal this October. Corpas has appeared in all seven Rockies wins, and has allowed only one run in 8.1 innings of work. In fact, amongst the names I just mentioned, Colorado's bullpen has pitched a combined 23 innings and have an ERA of 1.96.
Boston's bullpen hasn't been as effective as Colorado's, but they're still incredibly tough. It all starts with Jonathan Papelbon, whom I'm pretty sure is legally insane. Do you see the look on his face when the TV cameras zoom in on it as he looks at the plate? He looks demonic. As if the look isn't intimidating enough, then he blows a 98 MPH fastball right by you. Along with Mike Timlin and Hideki Okajima, the back end of Boston's bullpen hasn't allowed a single run this postseason in 17 innings. The problems start when you get to Manny Delcarmen and Eric Gagne. Those two have combined to go 0-1 with an ERA of 8.53 in 6.1 innings. And since Tim Wakefield has been left off the World Series roster, the Red Sox are probably hoping their starters go deep enough into the game where Terry Francona can avoid Gagne and Delcarmen all together.
Edge: Boston by a Papelbon riverdance
Defense
Both of these teams are phenomenal defensively. Watching Colorado's infield play defense is a joy. Between Atkins, Tulowitzki, Matsui, and Helton, I don't think it's possible for a ground ball to get through into the outfield.
Boston's infield is just as good with Mike Lowell, Lugo, Dustin Pedroia, and Youkilis at first base.
Where I think we'll see chinks in the armor is in the outfield. Not because the outfielders aren't good at what they do, but because they're all going to have to make adjustments. Fenway Park is an odd place to play defense for outfielders because of the park's layout and the Green Monster. It will be interesting to see how the Rockies outfielders adapt to the new surroundings.
On the other side, how will Boston's outfielders adjust to the vast expanse of Coors Field? I don't doubt that Coco Crisp will be fine, but what about Manny? Ramirez takes some heat for his defense, but he knows how to play left field at Fenway. Nobody plays the Monster as well as Manny does, but in Colorado he's going to have a lot more ground to cover. Covering large areas of ground is not Manny's strength.
Edge: Colorado
X-Factor
The biggest question in this series will be how Colorado responds to the nine day layoff. Some people will say that the time off doesn't effect a team, and though I agree to some extent, I just don't think it's the case in this World Series.
I really think the layoff is going to hurt Colorado. For a period of four weeks, the Rockies were a team of 25 guys pulling in the same direction, and it seemed like every player was just an extension of a whole.
It's really hard to get back into that kind of rhythm when you've been sitting on your ass for over a week.
The Red Sox meanwhile have all the momentum built up from their comeback against Cleveland, and probably think they could take over the world at this point.
Edge: Boston
Predictions
I should make it clear here that I'll be rooting for the Rockies in this series, as I think a lot of people will. Sure, the Red Sox don't really have the type of players on their roster that are easy to hate, but rooting for them is like rooting for the Yankees at this point. They've already had their World Series, and I'd like to see the string of a new team winning every year continue with Colorado. Unfortunately, I just don't see that happening.
Boston in five.
Panger - Red Sox in five. Why? Cuz the teams i root for never win.
Alorakid - Baseball is in desperate need of a feel-good story. Rick Ankiel was poised to be just that, but then the HGH monster reared its ugly head. The Milwaukee Brewers were looking pretty good for a while, but a lack of Ben Sheets and a decent bullpen down the stretch did them in. The AL Central, usually dependable for a good Cinderella story, fell a bit short as well. And so, we’re left with the Colorado Rockies, winners of 21 of their last 22, in their first-ever World Series, against the suddenly-hated-in-most-places-other-than-Boston Red Sox. I wish, I really do wish, that I could say the Rockies are gonna win this thing. That their scrappiness and gutsiness and Heltonness would be enough to slay the red dragon. But I can’t. Cause it wont. Yes, they’ve won 21 of their last 22, but none of those came against a team as good as Boston , and they’ve been sitting dormant for the past week while the Red Sox were overcoming a 3-1 ALCS deficit. Couple that with the fact that Josh Beckett is milking this October for all it’s worth like a man who knows his name is on the Mitchell Report (yeah, I said it), and you’ve got the makings of a rout. Sorry Rockies, but in the slightly altered words of Elton John, "your candle burned out a week before your legend ever did." - Boston in 5.
Silvio - Rockies in 4. "If it happens, I'll look like a genius!"
With the Minnesota Twins needing to make room for Francisco Liriano in their starting rotation as they try to make a run at another division title, it meant that somebody would have to go. That somebody was Livan Hernandez who the Twins had signed in the off-season to be the leader of a young pitching staff.
