World Series Set

If, at the beginning of the playoffs, you had told me that the World Series would feature the Chicago White Sox and Houston Astros, I'd have routinely at you. Well, I suppose I wouldn't have laughed that hard; I thought it a possibility that Chicago would make it, even though I was rooting for the Red Sox. In fact, I really had no AL prediction, come to think of it. The Yankees were flawed, the Red Sox had no pitching, and Anaheim, well they just didn't excite me this year.

As for the NL, I was uber confident that St. Louis would make it. They had the same high powered offense that got them to the Fall Classic last year, and now they had Chris Carpenter and Mark Mulder. While Carpenter was on the team last year, he missed the NLCS with an injury.

More importantly, if you look back to the beginning of Spring Training, I don't think anyone would have picked either team to even make the playoffs. Houston had just lost playoff hero Carlos Beltran (to the Mets, where he fell way short of expectations, unfortunately) and Jeff Kent. Jeff Bagwell was just about ready to have a fork stuck in him. And, Lance Berkman would miss half the season after tearing his ACL. There was no way this team's offense could back its great pitching.

Well, Morgan Ensberg had a career year, Berkman came back strong and Willy Tavares had a good year as their rookie centerfielder. Chris Burke also had a strong debut with the bat. Like last season, they seemed dead in June. Each time, Phil Garner did something to magically kick start his team. Still, I'm amazed at the offense they put up against a very, very good Cardinal staff. I'm sure Walt Jocketty will fortify that bullpen this winter, though he'll need to get another outfielder or two with Walker retiring and Sanders and Edmonds getting up there in age.

Speaking of managers, Ozzie Guillen in Chicago is a master. He's a great player's manager. Having worked in a clubhouse, I can see how he really pulled those guys together. I can say from experience that a close knit group is very underrated when it comes to success. Oh, and his rotation wasn't too bad, either.