Lightning rarely strikes twice and 86-year old curses are not broken everyday. For the Boston Red Sox to win the World Series, they must do both. They must beat the Cardinals in the World Series, which they have failed to do in two attempts, and break “The Curse of the Bambino.”
St. Louis has a clear advantage in this fall classic because of the old saying, “Offense wins games and defense wins championships.”
The make-up of their team has both phases covered. They have the most explosive offense in baseball with a deadly 3-4-5 hitter combination of Albert Pujols, Scott Rolen and Jim Edmonds. They also have one of the best defenses with Gold Gloves winners spread throughout the field. Edgar Renteria, Mike Matheny, Rolen and Edmonds are all winners of the award for their excellence with the leather.
Numbers are my case and I will let them speak for themselves. Derek Lowe and Tim Wakefield are two of the big reasons they beat the New York Yankees and look at the way they pitched compared to the rest of the season. Lowe pitched a gem in the decisive Game 7 and he has a 5.42 ERA for the seasons, while Wakefield had a 4.87 ERA for the year.
The Red Sox pitching has improved but without Keith Foulke in the bullpen, they would be mediocre at best. With a collective earned run average of 5.20, the Cardinals hitters might be feasting before Thanksgiving.
The St. Louis pitching is good, but not great. They have four pitchers that are not as good as Pedro Martinez and Curt Schilling, but keep the games close enough for the Cardinals hitters to come through with clutch hits. Jeff Suppan and Woody Williams have been especially good going a combined 4-0 in the postseason. The strength of the pitching staff is the bullpen. They will rarely relinquish a lead after the sixth inning. Ray King, Julian Tavarez and Cal Elrod set up things nicely for closer Jason Isringhausen.
Hitting for Boston has been its strength, but through the postseason only three hitters has even hit .300 or better and have had Johnny Damon and Trot Nixon slumping. The lineup has had major issues trying to find a number two hitter to set the table for Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz. Mark Bellhorn, Bill Mueller and Orlando Cabrera have all been there.
Pujols, Rolen and Edmonds combined for 122 homers, 358 RBI’s and hit .315 for the season. This is not to mention the late addition of Larry Walker and another solid year from journeyman Reggie Sanders. These guys have plenty of opportunities to produce with Renteria and Tony Womack getting on base and running. This team has produced numbers that are comparable to other greats in history. This lineup has hit 18 home runs in only 11 playoff games to assist getting back to the World Series for the first time since 1986.
The key factor for the series will be the three games played in St. Louis. David Ortiz will be playing first base instead of the usual DH and his defense or lack thereof will be the difference maker. His defense will cost them at least one game. The Cardinals will win the World Series in seven and Jim Edmonds will be the MVP.

Author