2007 World Series Preview 

by Shane M. Dayton

The Rockies have made a run of epic proportions.  They’ve won an incredible 21 of 22 games, including a complete sweep of their play-off foes, to land right in the World Series.  Meanwhile, the Red Sox have staged a pretty impressive come back of their own, getting down 3-1 to the Indians, but fighting back three in a row to get back to the big dance.  This has been an intense set of games leading to the series, and the Rockies are a Cinderella team with a flair that is rarely seen.....

World Series Odds - CLEV vs. COL In-Game Betting                                  

It’s always hard to bet against a team on a streak like that, but they are facing the best team in baseball.  So who’s going to come out ahead?  That’s hard to say, but here are the match ups that everyone will be watching as this series unfolds:

The lack of a DH problem.  This is a problem for the Boston Red Sox.  When they play at Denver, they play with National League rules.  That means David Ortiz can’t be a DH.  So play him at first, right?  Well Youkilis has been on fire for the Red Sox, and you can’t really take him out of the line up.  He can be moved somewhere else, but the end result is that at least defensively, the Red Sox will be badly weakened at Coors.  Will this open up another potential Bill Buckley moment?

Who has the best pitching staff?  At first glance you’d think Boston.  There’s no arguing with Beckett, but both Schilling and Dice-K have been like roller coasters—very up and down.  They’re either very, very good, or absolutely terrible.  Colorado’s pitching staff was well below average the first half of the season, but led the NL in ERA during their improbable run.  So….which pitching staff is showing up for each team?  This question more than any other might determine who wins the series.

Who can score the last run?  Both of these teams can score runs in bunches.  There’s no question that either of these teams can win a 6, 8, or even 10 run game.  So now the major question: who can keep going to score last?  These world series games may very well come down to the ninth inning and relief pitching every single time.

The Lay-off.  The biggest problem facing the Rockies was the one week wait to see who they would play.  The last thing a team on fire wants is to have to wait.  After waiting a week, often times the team that was charging strong comes out slow and sluggish.  Just look at Detroit getting beat by an inferior St. Louis team.  This time the Red Sox are the more talented team, and the Rockies are hurt by the lay-off.  Any early stumbles could doom them.

This should be a very good World Series.  It will really go back and forth.  If I had to make a prediction, I would guess the Red Sox in 7, but it really is anyone’s game, and I’d be stunned if this Series didn’t go the full length.