Who’ll win the World Series, St. Louis Cardinals or Texas Rangers?
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Writers from around the Tribune Co. discuss the upcoming World Series between American League champion Texas Rangers and National League champion St. Louis Cardinals. Please check back throughout the day for more responses and join the discussion by voting in the poll and leaving a comment of your own.
Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times
Remember how, during the summer, everyone was talking about this being the Year of the Pitcher? Well that certainly hasn’t carried over into the fall.
St. Louis won the NLCS by batting .310 and averaging more than seven runs a game. Texas won the ALCS by batting .286 and scoring 39 times in six games.
Expect more fireworks in the World Series, which could favor the Rangers, who have a deeper lineup and a deeper bullpen. The Cardinals, however, have the home-field advantage, and that could prove big because without the designated hitter the Rangers will have to sit one of those big bats during the games in St. Louis.
The real difference though? The Rangers learned a lot in their World Series loss last fall, and that confidence will make the difference this year. Rangers win in six.
Peter Schmuck, Baltimore Sun
In the absence of a truly dominant team, the best policy is to go with the wild card, if there is one. The logic is pretty simple, though it isn’t necessarily logical. The wild-card team invariably has had to battle right to the end of the season to get into the playoffs, so it comes into the postseason with a sharper edge. The Cardinals are a good example, because they got hot at the end and have stayed hot, in spite of some tired pitchers.
This year, it’s even easier to pick the wild card, because the Cardinals have the home-field advantage. That’s probably not right, but that’s the baseball world we live in, so the Cardinals are going to win the World Series in six games.
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Left photo: Texas shortstop Elvis Andrus, left, celebrates with relief pitcher Neftali Feliz after the Rangers defeated the Detroit Tigers in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series. Credit: Matthew Emmons / U.S. Presswire
Right photo: St. Louis relief pitcher Octavio Dotel celebrates with fans following the Cardinals’ victory over the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 6 of the National League Championship Series. Credit: David Banks / EPA