WORLD SERIES



So it all comes down to the Midwest.

Yes, both the Yankees and the Mets had the best records in their respective leagues this season and whilst New York were hoping for another Subway Series to roast the rest of America with, the two finalists this season are the Detroit Tigers and the St Louis Cardinals. I can't deny there is still a bitter disappointment in the Game Seven loss of the Mets to the Cards in the NLCS, but our season's over. At least I don't have to stay up all night listening to Mets games for another week, losing sleep for baseball.

The Cardinals and Tigers have a history. They've played each other twice previously in the World Series.

"Back in 1968, the last World Series before playoffs, the Cardinals' Bob Gibson pitched a five-hit shutout and struck out a Series record 17 to beat the Tigers and 31-game winner Denny McLain 4-0 in the opener at the old Busch Stadium.

In the only other Series matchup between the clubs, the Cardinals' Dizzy Dean pitched an eight-hitter to defeat Alvin Crowder 8-3 in 1934's first game at Detroit's Navin Field, as Tiger Stadium was then known"

Will it be an exciting Series? The last two have been sweeps, by American League teams over National League teams (one of whom were these very Cardinals against the Red Sox,) but there are no "Sox" in this series for the first time in two years so perhaps the tables can finally be turned.

This will be one of just a few World Series matchups that have occurred at least three times and haven’t involved the Yankees:

Giants-Athletics, 4 Meetings
Cubs-Tigers, 4 Meetings
Cardinals-Red Sox, 3 Meetings
Cardinals-Tigers, 3 Meetings

So what's it going to be this year? The Tigers, as we all know, made one of the most complete and quickest turn-arounds after portraying baseball's worst team for several seasons but seizing this season early in a choke hold as one of baseball's best teams led by one of baseball's spiciest and most talented managers. That the Tigers fell into a deep funk towards season's end and ended up losing the AL Central which was supposed to be theirs, that they opened the postseason as massive underdogs against the Yankees, lost Game One and then swept their way three straight from them and four more from the Oakland A's only proves that this series is a series of improbables because they will face:

The Cardinals, a team managed by the biggest micromanager in the game's history. They too held a massive lead, also in the Central, albeit National League and they too squeaked into the postseason by a hair, barely winning their division after losing their final game of the season. They won only 83 games out of 162 and yet somehow managed to beat the Padres in a series no one thought they could win and then topped it by beating the NL-best Mets in another series no one thought they would win.

The heavyweights and local scribes weigh in on predicting the outcome. Of 9 writers selected, 6 picked the Tigers to win it all, none in a sweep.

You can't figure much on matchups - Detroit's great starting rotation against the weak-hitting Cardinals, auld mates facing each other as managers, the DH, the bullpens and Albert Pujols versus Detroit. If you can predict one thing, predict the unpredictable for if this postseason wherein the two least likely candidates survived, has taught us anything, it is that there is no way of knowing what's down the road.

So I've played out the World Series with dice, inning by brutal inning wherein the first roll equals the number of subsequent rolls for a chance to roll a "6" which will logically, equal one run. Here's how it played out:

Game One @ Detroit: In this matchup of two rookie pitchers, one of whom has the worst record ever of any starting Game One pitcher in the World Series, the Cards jump to a 2-0 lead by the second inning before a two-run homer ties it in the 3rd. The Tigers lead 5-4 before the Cards tie it in the 9th and then the Tigers come back again in the bottom of the 9th to win a thrilling opening game, 6-5.

(Sports Amnesia is predicting that the reality is that the Tigers have had over a week's layoff and are rusty, the Cardinals, with no time to really consider the pressure of the World Series and still contemplating their thrilling NLCS Game 7, take the opener...)

Game Two @ Detroit: Sees two former New York goats, Kenny Rogers and Jeff Weaver as the starting pitchers having the last laugh. Powered by a suddenly explosive Alberto Pujols, the Cards rally to win, 8-5 and tie the series.

(Sports Amnesia is predicting that having lost homefield advantage, the Tigers simply "must" win this home game. Kenny Rogers hasn't surrendered an earned run in the post season and the Tigers will even the series at one apiece moving to St Louis...)

Game Three @ St Louis: Once again, Nate Robertson (1-1, 5.91 ERA postseason; 13-13 regular season) opens up for the Tigers on the road, the same scene he faced while starting Game 1 for the Tigers in the previous two rounds. He faces the reigning Cy Young winner, Chris Carpenter. Robertson's luck continues as the Tigers unexpectedly batter Carpenter in another unexpectly high scoring game. Tigers win, 9-6.

(Sports Amnesia predicts Robertson's road luck continues and the Tigers regain homefield advantage to go up 2 games to 1...)

Game Four @ St Louis: Jeremy Bonderman (1-0, 3.08 ERA postseason; 14-8, 4.08 regular season) pitched two strong outings so far this postseason to clinch the Tigers' last two series, but both outings came in Detroit and this isn't a series clinching game. His mound opponent is the NLCS MVP, Jeff Suppan 1-1, 1.86 ERA postseason. Having lost their brief homefield advantage and facing and early do or die situation, the Cardinals take the early lead for the 4th consecutive game but end up losing 7-3 behind a pair of Craig Munroe homers.

(Sports Amnesia predicts the Cardinals take a massive advantage here as Suppan is unbeatable to tie the seris at 2 games apiece...)

Game Five @ St Louis: And now, faced with having to put all their "Cards" on the table, does La Russa go with his Game One rookie starter or Jeff Weaver on three days' rest? For the first time all series, the Tigers take the early lead, 2-0 and build it to 4-1 by the 3rd inning. The Card lose again, 7-3 and the Tigers are World Champions.

(Sports Amnesia predicts that with virtually no good starting pitching prospects for the Cardinals in this game, they lose to face elimination...)

And the answer is: Kenny Rogers wins his 3rd postseason game of 2006 to take it all for Detroit.

Thus, the prediction is Tigers in Six as Kenny Rogers wraps up an unexpected MVP performance.

But let's not forget, Sports Amnesia predicted a Dodgers-A's World Series and look how that ended tits up.