2010 World Series: Triumph of the Underdogs

In less than 48 hours at AT&T Park (a.k.a The Park that Broke The 2010 Red Sox) in San Francisco, the 2010 Fall Classic begins. Let's look at how the teams match up, position by position, and, for the starting pitchers, game by game:

Position Players

Catcher: Giants - Buster Posey
Rangers - Bengie Molina

Advantage: Giants, with youth and raw talent giving Posey the slight edge.

First Base: Giants - Aubrey Huff
Rangers - Mitch Moreland

Advantage: Rangers but this is also very close. Moreland, the rookie, beats out Huff based on his performance in the post-season so far.

Second Base: Giants - Freddy Sanchez
Rangers - Ian Kinsler

Advantage: Rangers

Third Base: Giants - Pablo Sandoval
Rangers - Michael Young

Advantage: Rangers, no offense to "The Panda"

Shortstop: Giants - Juan Uribe
Rangers - Elvis Andrus

Advantage: Rangers. Uribe has more pop, but Andrus has been an on-base machine with the wheels to make a lot of trouble for the Giants on the basepaths.

Left Field: Giants - Pat Burrell
Rangers - Jeff Francoeur/David Murphy

Advantage: Giants, but only a slight edge. Murphy makes it a closer call than Francoeur.

Center Field: Giants - Andres Torres
Rangers- Josh Hamilton

Advantage: Rangers have the huge advantage here, but Torres has heated up of late.

Right Field: Giants - Cody Ross
Rangers - Nelson Cruz

Advantage: Rangers. Ross may have been the NLCS MVP, but Cruz has been the steadier producer throughout the season.

Bench: Giants - Travis Ishikawa, Mike Fontenot, Edgar Renteria, Aaron Rowand, Eli Whiteside, Nate Scheirholtz
Rangers - Jorge Cantu, Andres Blanco, Matt Treanor, Julio Borbon, either Jeff Francoeur or David Murphy

Advantage: Giants. National League teams' benches get more at-bats and with guys like Renteria and Rowand on the Giants' bench, it makes it ever-so-slightly stronger.


Bullpen (minus closer): Giants - Santiago Casilla, Ramon Ramirez, Javier Lopez, Jeremy Affeldt, Sergio Romo, Guillermo Mota
Rangers - Darren Oliver, Darren O'Day, Alexi Ogando, Derek Holland, Clay Rapada, Michael Kirkman


Advantage: Giants. The change-of-scenery honeymoon may be over for Ramon Ramirez, but another former Red Sox reliever, Javier Lopez, got himself back on the right track and has been dominant for the Giants in the playoffs so far. Other standouts: Jeremy Affeldt and Sergio Romo. The Rangers 'pen was great in the regular season, but the strike zone has eluded them a bit in October, particularly "the two Darrens"

Closer: Giants - Brian Wilson
Rangers - Neftali Feliz

Advantage: Giants. Fear the Beard.

Game 1 Starter: Giants - Tim Lincecum
Rangers- Cliff Lee

Advantage: Rangers. Post-season Cliff Lee gets the edge over anyone, even Tim Lincecum.

Games 2, 3, and 4 Starters: Giants - Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez, Madison Bumgarner
Rangers- C.J. Wilson, Colby Lewis, Tommy Hunter or Derek Holland

Advantage: Giants, if the Rangers use four starters and Rangers if Cliff Lee starts on short rest.

World Series prediction: Rangers in 7. The pitching staffs are close so the advantage goes to the team with the biggest sticks and wheels.

This, of course, is just a fan's point of view. The people who write about baseball for a living have their take on each position posted on mlb.com and I'm going over there right now to see how my predictions stacked up to theirs.


Edited to add: I didn't include DH because I'm not sure who the Giants will use for their DH in Texas. Whoever it is, the Rangers have the clear advantage with Vladimir Guerrero