The World Series is Running Wild

The World Series is finally here and the two teams left standing had to work extra hard to make the cut. You see, both of these teams are Wild Card teams that had to play for something at the end of the season in order to get the opportunity to play a loser out game to start the playoffs.

In the two wild card games Kansas City Royals had to mount a big rally against the Oakland A’s and the San Francisco Giants would shut out the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Royals then traveled to Los Angeles to take on the Angels the owners of the American League’s best record. The Angels were swept by the Mariners to end the season and would also be swept by the determined Royals. So the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim finished off an incredible season by dropping their final six games.

The Giants defeated the Washington Nationals. The Nationals had the National League’s best record but had trouble with the Giants when it mattered most. The talented Nationals went 0-2 at home but would take game three in the city by the bay. The Nats would falter in game 4 and the Giants were off to the NLCS.

In the other NLDS series the St. Louis Cardinals knocked off the Los Angeles Dodgers by doing the unthinkable. The Cards beat all-world lefty Clayton Kershaw twice to put themselves in position to go back to the World Series. Each victory taken from Kershaw by the Cardinals featured home runs and come from behind wins. The high payroll Dodgers were denied a chance to advance in the playoffs making people wonder if they have what it takes to get to the World Series. Only time will tell.

The Baltimore Orioles swept aside the Detroit Tigers. I saw Baltimore play this year and I thought they had the kind of team that would be difficult to beat. They could hit and hit the long ball and their pitching was pretty good. So, of course, Baltimore looked to be the team to beat in the ALCS.

The series featured the team that hit the most homers in the American League in Baltimore against the team that hit the least in Kansas City. The Royals led the league in stealing bases and their team speed had a way of causing problems for the defense.

Kansas City took care of the Orioles and hit some home runs along the way. On the National League side it was the Giants taking out the Cardinals and the stage was set for the World Series to begin with two Wild Card teams. Kansas City becomes the first teams in history to go 8-0 in the playoffs, a remarkable feat for sure. The Royals last appearance in the World Series came in 1985 when they defeated the St. Louis Cardinals. George Brett was in the lineup in those days and he was a hitting machine.

On the other side will be the San Francisco Giants who have most recently won the World Series in 2010 and 2012. The Giants have as much confidence in what they can do and Manager Bruce Bochy has a quality team to put out on the field on a day to day basis.

The biggest question is why these two teams? I can’t imagine there is an easy answer but to me it makes sense. Most teams that get big leads and win their division early have a tendency to take regulars out of the lineup to give them a rest. With the knowledge that they will be in the playoffs even if they lose the remainder of their games the pressure is off because no matter what they are in.

The wild card teams aren’t quite that fortunate and they need to win each day in order to get to the playoff games. They have to play at a high level each day and don’t have the luxury to take that important time off. The teams that clinched early have to figure out how to get that winning mentality back in that last week and if they can’t it can spell doom when the games matter most.

So the World Series is being played out by two wild card teams that happen to be running wild at just the right time. It certainly has the makings of a great World Series.