KENNETH BELGRAVE
Staff Writer
Major League Baseball’s 2013 World Series will feature the St. Louis Cardinals taking on the Boston Red Sox. The divisional series were decided through several games in which the Cardinals and Red Sox came out on top after facing the Los Angeles Dodgers and Detroit Tigers. Because of the American League victory over the National League in the All-Star game, the Red Sox will automatically take the home field advantage.
A quick review of the season will show that both teams were likely to end up in the World Series as they both held the best records in their respective divisions. Both teams held 97 wins and 65 loss records to tie for the best record in all of baseball with a .599 win percentage.
Although both teams were tied going into the postseason, ESPN power rankings have the Red Sox ranked number one due to the first place ranking in regular season run differential and their home field advantage. The Cardinals are ranked second.
This post-season began with two wild card playoff games featuring the Pittsburgh Pirates against the Cincinnati Reds in the National League and the Cleveland Indians taking on the Tampa Bay Rays. The Pirates would go on to beat the Reds, and the Rays did the same to the Indians. These outcomes set the post-season playoff ladder as follows: American League—Rays vs. Red Sox, Athletics vs. Tigers; National League—Cardinals vs. Pirates, Braves vs. Dodgers.
The National League Divisional Series saw the Cardinals defeating the Pirates three games to two in a best of five game series. The Dodgers would go on to beat the Braves three games to one in that series. At this point, many people thought the Dodgers were the favorite to go to the World Series because they held the best record from the All-Star break to the end of the regular season.
“They are an exceptionally well-rounded team. They score a lot of runs, pitch well and play great defense,” said sophomore baseball player Larry Green.
However, the Cardinals proved to be the better team as they advanced to the World Series with a four game to two National League Championship series win over the Dodgers.
In the American League Divisional Series, the Red Sox defeated the Rays three games to one and the Tigers beat the Athletics three games to two, advancing them both to the American League Championship Series. The Red Sox became the 2013 American League Champions in a four to two game series win over American League Cy Young award frontrunner Max Scherzer and the Tigers.
“It’s all in the Beards!” said sophomore baseball player Sean Greiser, in reference to the unshaven beards worn by the players in the Boston Red Sox clubhouse. The trend began in spring training with just two players and spread to the rest of the squad as a team building experience.
If the World Series is anything like the regular season, there should be no shortage of runs. Viewers should expect to see some spectacular pitching performances. The Cardinals have two starting pitchers, Adam Wainwright and Shelby Miller, in the running for the National League Cy Young award.
Meanwhile, the Red Sox lead the Major Leagues in numerous offensive categories, including runs scored, runs batted in and slugging percentage. These matchups should provide plenty of excitement for baseball fans tuning in.
“The Red Sox are the best, they are going to win this,” said senior Mikaela Whitaker.
Cardinal’s fans are not showing as much emotion, but they remain confident.
“Yeah, we got this,” said freshman and Cardinals fan Taylor Erby.
