World Series Prediction

Sup.

The next 2 days in sports are huge. Tomorrow night, the NBA season tips off with the main event being LeBron James' debut with the Miami Heat against the Boston Celtics. That game is on TNT and starts at 7:30. I know a lot of people in Pittsburgh don't pay attention to the NBA, because of the lack of the team here, but I see no better time to start watching than right now. Everybody knows about LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, and seeing them playing together is something that should interest you regardless. I have always been a mild fan of the NBA, I've played the fantasy game and can hold my own in a conversation (at least in Pittsburgh), but I've never truly gotten into it. That could easily change this season. I'm really excited to see some of these new rosters and new teams play, as well as see all the teams in the NBA shoot to beat the Heat.

After that, the MLB World Series gets rolling with the Giants hosting the Rangers. You can't ask for a much better pitching matchup to start it off, with Tim Lincecum and Cliff Lee sharing the rubber. Lee has been phenomenal on the road all year long, and Lincecum has been electric in the playoffs, and always pitches well at home. The advantage goes to Lee, just cause he has been more consistently dominant. It's definitely hard to pick against the Rangers with Lee on the hill, and I won't be doing it tomorrow. The Rangers have a definite advantage with the bats, and with Lee on the hill they are nearly impossible to beat. The Rangers will take game 1, but will eventually lose the series.

The Giants rotation as a whole is better than what the Rangers have. When you look at the 2-4 guys, it's Sanchez/Cain/Bumgarner vs. Wilson/Lewis/Hunter. While every single one of those guys is capable of dominating any offense in this league, the strength of the Giants is better than the Rangers. The postseason ERAs for 2-4 Giants pitchers are 2.93/0.00/3.55 respectively, and the Rangers are 2.03/1.45/6.14. And yes, that did say 0.00 for Matt Cain (in 13.2 innings). There isn't going to be a bad pitching matchup all series, just how playoff baseball should be. It's gonna come down to hitting. Not in volume, but in the timing of it. Whoever can get the big hits will win this series. The Giants played close baseball all year long, and they have as many timely hits as anybody in the league, as we saw with Juan Uribe's go-ahead home run on Saturday.

If your asking me who I am pulling for in this series, I would quickly answer the Giants. However, if the Rangers do end up winning, I will not be upset. The biggest reason I would be happy if the Rangers win would be about Cliff Lee. Not that I love the guy or anything, as a matter of fact I don't particularly care for him. However, there have been rumors that he is heading to the Yankees next year, which are completely believable considering he's the best pitcher on the market and the Yankees will be looking to spend again this year. If Lee wins a World Series with the Rangers, he has already said that he would be more likely to re-sign with them next year. That certainly makes sense, why would you want to walk away from a team that you just won a World Championship with?

I guess it's a win-win for me. Here's my game-by-game prediction:

Game 1: Rangers
Game 2: Giants
Game 3: Giants
Game 4: Rangers
Game 5: Rangers
Game 6: Giants
Game 7: Giants