TheLounge
10-25-2006, 01:51 PM
Many people are surprised to see the Cardinals leading the Tigers 2-1 after Tuesday's 5-0 win. Many pundits had all but conceded the title to Detroit based on what the Tigers did during the regular season and playoffs, coupled with St. Louis limping into the postseason.
Don't count me as one of them. While the Tigers may have been the favorites after their sweep of the A's in the ALCS, the fact they got a week off between the ALCS and the World Series more than leveled the playing field.
Many people were saying Detroit was well rested and had a chance for everyone to get healthy. I take a different approach. I say the week off hurt the Tigers more than the Cardinals getting one day off before the start of the Series. Detroit was the hottest team in the playoffs before the World Series. The Tigers were riding a seven-game winning streak -- after losing to the Yankees in the first game, they won the next three before taking four straight from Oakland. But the week off killed their momentum.
St. Louis, meanwhile, has been playing tough series since the playoffs started. What's one more to them?
At the beginning of the series, I thought Detroit would win in six. Now, I'm not so sure they'll win at all. It's looking more and more like St. Louis in six. But I'm now predicting the series goes the full seven. The Cardinals have way more playoff and World Series experience than the Tigers. That will shine through in the end.
Don't count me as one of them. While the Tigers may have been the favorites after their sweep of the A's in the ALCS, the fact they got a week off between the ALCS and the World Series more than leveled the playing field.
Many people were saying Detroit was well rested and had a chance for everyone to get healthy. I take a different approach. I say the week off hurt the Tigers more than the Cardinals getting one day off before the start of the Series. Detroit was the hottest team in the playoffs before the World Series. The Tigers were riding a seven-game winning streak -- after losing to the Yankees in the first game, they won the next three before taking four straight from Oakland. But the week off killed their momentum.
St. Louis, meanwhile, has been playing tough series since the playoffs started. What's one more to them?
At the beginning of the series, I thought Detroit would win in six. Now, I'm not so sure they'll win at all. It's looking more and more like St. Louis in six. But I'm now predicting the series goes the full seven. The Cardinals have way more playoff and World Series experience than the Tigers. That will shine through in the end.