World Series Preview

Tigers Miguel Cabrera and Giants Buster Posey led their teams to the World Series

Wow so the Giants came all the way back from a 3-1 series deficit to make sure that I went 0-2 in my Championship Series predictions. Either way, I still will voice my opinion on the World Series, so take it with a grain of salt.

A few keys to this series:

Melky Cabrera
After ripping my heart out for testing positive for Performance Enhancing Drugs back in August, I have remained silent about my favorite baseball player not named Derek Jeter. That is until right now. The San Francisco Giants have to send Melky some sort care package for earning them home field advantage in the World Series.

For those of you who do not remember, Melky dominated this season's All-Star game, taking home the Most Valuable Player award, and leading the National League to victory. The side that wins the All-Star game then gets awarded home field advantage, ergo, the Giants need to show some sort of appreciation for Melky's "taking one for the team."

Justin Verlander
Since the Tigers manhandled the Yankees in just four games and the Giants/Cardinals series went the full seven, the Tigers had six days of rest before Game 1 of the World Series. This means that Tigers ace Justin Verlander will be more than ready for this series.

Don't be surprised if you see Verlander more than twice if this series goes the full seven games. He definitely will start Games 1 and 5 (if necessary) and will probably be in the bullpen in Game 7.

Closers are Overrated
With the recent struggles of former "lights out" Tigers closer Jose Valverde, manager Jim Leyland has resorted to a "closer by committee" outlook. This means that Leyland will go with the hot hand at any situation. That being said, Phil Coke pitched very well against the Yankees late in games, and will definitely be called upon for big outs.

The Giants on the other hand had three guys close numerous games out for them this year in Sergio Romo, Santiago Casilla, and Jeremy Affeldt. This was due to the fact that Brian Wilson, their closer of the past few seasons, has been hurt for the majority of the year. Whichever team can get the toughest of outs late in games, will jump out in this series.

Starting Pitchers
These two teams have the hottest pitching staffs in the league right now, and it's only right that they are in the World Series. The Tigers pitching staff has posted a combined 1.74 ERA this postseason and Doug Fister, Max Scherzer and Anibal Sanchez have all done a wonderful job complimenting Verlander in the rotation.

The Giants are 6-0 in elimination games this postseason and the "never say die" attitude starts in the early innings with guys like Matt Cain, Ryan Vogelsong, and Barry Zito. On top of those guys that have each showed up big in win or go home starts, they have two-time Cy Young winner TIm Lincecum and young star Madison Bumgarner, who each can step in and help.

Buster Posey vs. Miguel Cabrera
These two could potentially be the league's two MVP's of their respective leagues and they need to step up in order to help their team to victory. This means, driving in runs, hitting home runs, and coming up big in the clutch. These will be the two guys that are expected to come through in those situations.

My Prediction: Tigers in 7 They way the Tigers dominated the Yankees is hard to erase from my memory and as pesky as the Giants have been in elimination games, I think the Tigers have a staff strong enough to put them away. Also, outside of Posey and Pablo Sandoval, the Giants lineup is pretty mediocre, as the Tigers are stacked.