By John Garces/sports editor
The Fall Classic is here again, and for the first time in ages, this year’s edition features some new blood going up against a recent champion.
This year, baseball’s biggest prize will be determined by a young, upstart franchise and one of baseball’s most storied.
The National League’s representative, the Colorado Rockies, weren’t even a .500 club in the middle of September but have reeled off 21 wins in their last 22 games, including sweeps of the Philadelphia Phillies and Arizona Diamondbacks in the playoffs.
The Rockies, making their first World Series appearance in the club’s brief 13-year history, will have to deal with an eight-day layoff before the start of the series.
While they are one of the hottest clubs in baseball history, the Rockies’ opposition resides in one of the most fabled baseball locales of all-time: Boston, Mass.
The American League champions, the Boston Red Sox, won it all three years ago, breaking a 94-year drought without a title. That year, they became the only professional sports team to come back from a 3-0 deficit to win the American League pennant.
This year, the Red Sox nearly repeated that feat, besting the Cleveland Indians in seven games to win the American League, after falling behind three-games-to-one. They also defeated the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, sweeping them in the first round.
The Sox, who will have home-field advantage in the series, appear to have every edge over the Rockies on paper, but what can’t be accounted for is the magical finish the Rockies seem to be authoring to their season.
How Colorado reacts to adversity will be a big key, as they’ve yet to taste defeat in the postseason.
With the edge in every statistical category, though, it will be tough for the Rockies to stay competitive.
In the end, the Red Sox, baseball’s best and deepest team all year, will celebrate their second championship in four years.
Prediction: Red Sox in five.
