Last Updated on: 21st March 2014, 08:02 pm
So I thought it would be good for Steve and I to sit down and hammer out our steadfast belief of who would take this year’s World Series. We are both opinionated fellows and these debates can, on occasion, be fairly interesting.
This is not one of those occasions as we are both picking Tampa in 6. That does not leave much room for debate.
With that said, I won’t be shocked in the slightest if the Phillies win. This should be a very good series with lots of big homers. Neither team was expected to be here and it might be the most evenly matched World Series in a decade or so.
If the Phillies are going to win – they NEED to win tonight. Their big “Ace” in the hole is their Number 1 Pitcher Cole Hamels. He will pitch in Game 1 and, likely, Game 4. He will need to win both his starts for the Phillies to get this done.
FYI – Tampa will counter tonight with Scott Kazmir. This should be a good pitching battle tonight.
As an interesting aside. Tampa has home field advantage becuase, to many people’s dislike, the World Series home games were determined at the All Star Game back in July. In a weird situation, the game went to extra innings and in the top of the 15th, Rays starter Scott Kazmir came in to pitch and struck out the side to sit down the National League. In the bottom of the 15th, Phillies closer Brad Lidge came in and the American League managed to score a run to get the win. That game Scott Kazmir (of the Rays) and the American League the win and Brad Lidge (of the Phillies) the loss for the National League. It’s interesting that those two pitchers would be the two impacted in the World Series. It’s rarely the case.
The first pitch flies in minutes – so enjoy the game and the series.