After the first game of the World Series (which I did not watch, along with all 12 NLCS/ALCS games minus the last three innings to Game 1 of the ALCS but only because the Tigers had a no-hitter going), I was ready to throw in the towel. I was ready to give up on a baseball season that had so much promise going in to it's final month for fans like me that love to root for the underdog teams (Orioles, Royals, Pirates, Athletics, etc.), especially with the Yankees not making the playoffs. The underdogs all fell short and baseball's two superpowers this season, the Red Sox and Cardinals, were the last teams standing. I was ready to half-heartedly congratulate whoever won and get ready for next season, with plenty of football and basketball in between (especially with a huge Redskins victory over the Bears last week). But the wildly unpredictable finishes to Games 3 and 4 of the World Series have sucked me back in to the sport I love so much and, combined with the most depressing Redskins loss I've seen in a long time, thrust me back into baseball for a few more days.
I had planned to blog about the upcoming NBA season tonight. To make predictions and to get exciting for opening night here in just two short days. However, there are still a few more baseball games to be played, and from the way this series has gone so far, I'm betting we'll see three of them. After rookie Kolten Wong got picked off with one of the best postseason hitters in baseball history (Carlos Beltran) standing in the batter's box with two outs in the bottom of the 9th inning, the Red Sox escaped Game 4 and tied up the series at two games apiece, with one more game left to be played in St. Louis. Originally I picked the Cardinals in 6, but with the way things are going I am no longer sticking to that prediction (I'll stay close to it though). With Game 3 ending on a wild obstruction call awarding Allen Craig and the Cardinals the victory and Game 4 ending on a pickoff, we have no idea what to expect from Game 5. What we do know is this: it will tomorrow night in St. Louis at 6:30 PM (local time) and that Adam Wainwright will start at home for the Cardinals against Jon Lester of the Red Sox. We know that in Game 1 Lester tossed 7 2/3 shutout innings against a powerful Cardinals offense and that Wainwright had possibly his worst career postseason start (although he did last longer and give up fewer runs than he did in Game 5 of last year's NLDS against the Nationals). We know that Wainwright will be pitching with a chip on his shoulder to bounce back after putting the Cards in an early hole in Game 1, and we know that Lester has dominated this Cardinals offense so far in the World Series. I see a pitching duel for the ages, possibly with both throwing near-complete games and possibly a 1-0, 2-0, or 2-1 game. I'm going with Wainwright and the Cards in Game 5 and then the Sox in Game 6.
So that leaves a Game 7 in Fenway.
A Game 7 in Fenway Park on October 31st, All Hallow's Eve - a night where anything can happen, a night that can be the only night of the 365-day calendar year in which there are MLB, NBA, and NFL games all played on the same night. A night that can go down into history as one of the best endings to a World Series in baseball history. I'm not going to make any specific predictions - I don't think anything can be predicted this series - but what I will say is that deep down I feel like the Red Sox will pull it out, but that's not what I will predict. Cardinals win the game 3-0 on the third-ever postseason no-hitter and the first to ever clinch a World Series, by Joe Kelly.
Because hey, the way this World Series is going, why the heck not?
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