By Brandon Eastman and Marc Esquivel Posted October 21, 2011
Pitching-
“Pitching goes to the Cardinals. They have a strong bullpen and their closers have been doing their jobs all year.”
Offense-
“Offensively, I think the Texas Rangers have a slight edge. Although the Cardinals have Albert Pujols, I like the offensive power that the Rangers have.”
Defense-
“I’m going with the Rangers again because they got a taste of it last year, even they didn’t win it. I think this year they’re going to come out and play solid defense and try to finish off what they started last year.”
St. Louis Cardinals’ Tony La Russa joins Jason Motte (30) and catcher Yadier Molina on the mound against the Texas Rangers in Game 2 of the World Series at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri, on Thursday
Posted October 20, 2011. The Rangers scored twice in the ninth inning to pull out a 2-1 win to tie the series at one game apiece. (Steve Nagy/Belleville News-Democrat/MCT)
Coaching-
“I think there’s more experience with the Cardinals, but I still like the idea that the Rangers, being the team that hasn’t won it yet, are going to come out with the right motivation.”
Intangibles-
“I’d say that both sides are going to be amped up, but the Rangers definitely have a slight advantage in the fact that they’re going to want it a little bit more. They’re not going to be complacent; they’re going to be hungry. They know what they lost last year so they’re going to come out and get it this year.”
Winner-
“I would hope that the Rangers win it in six.”
Pitching-
“I don’t think there is an advantage. I think both teams have quality pitchers and both of them [the teams] have been able to shut down batters when they’ve needed to. I think both staffs are excellent staffs or they wouldn’t be where they’re at. I don’t think there is an advantage there.”
Offense-
“I think offensively, again, it’s real close, but I think
Posted Maybe, St. Louis has just a touch of an advantage there. I love the way Pujols [Albert] hits the ball, they have been able to score runs. They’ve been able to do some of the small things too; they’re good at going first to third. If you get a base hit to right field and somebody on first base, they’re really good at getting to third base with less than two outs. So, I kind of give a little bit of an edge to them, but Texas is just brutal too, they’ve got really good hitters.”
Defense-
“Defense, again, I think they’re almost identical. It’s hard to go through and really pick a weak area. In the Milwaukee-St. Louis series, at first base, both those guys were virtually the same. There haven’t really been that many errors, but I think they’re real evenly matched there.”
The Texas Rangers’ Ian Kinsler beats the tag by St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Rafael Furcal to set up the tying run in the ninth inning in Game 2 of the World Series at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri, on Thursday
Posted October 20, 2011. The Rangers scored twice in the ninth inning to pull out a 2-1 win to tie the series at one game apiece. (Derik Holtmann/Belleville News-Democrat/MCT)
Coaching-
“I like La Russa. Not that Ron Washington is a poor coach because he’s done a great job molding that group of guys and getting them to where they need to be and believe in themselves, but what La Russa did to bring that club back from seven or eight games out of the wild-card. Basically, he took over the entire operation. When you watch those games, it’s not his pitching coach that’s on the phone to the bullpen, it’s La Russa. He has become very much hands-on and it just seems like some awfully good decisions going through his head. I like Ron Washington too, but I think what La Russa has done in the last month or so has been phenomenal.
Intangibles-
“Again, very close, but I actually think the Rangers have the advantage with the intangibles. Ron Washington himself has had some issues, not so much this year, but he had the issue with the drugs last year. He’s got the issue with Josh Hamilton and the way that that whole situation has been turned around. He’s turned a squad that had some misfits and some issues into one that believes in itself.”
Winner-
“It really is close, but I’m going to go with St. Louis in seven, and mainly because they have home-field advantage.”
