Giants, Rangers Begin 2010 World Series

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Giants, Rangers Begin 2010 World Series

A couple of surprise teams will face off in the 2010 World Series which gets underway on Wednesday night. The San Francisco Giants eliminated the Philadelphia Phillies to reach the championship round while the Texas Rangers manhandled the New York Yankees in the American League Championships. The Rangers are favored to win the series, and many experts consider them a dynasty in the making. The Giants, meanwhile, will counter with a very deep and talented pitching staff. San Francisco will start reigning Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum in Game 1 while Texas will counter with the dominating Cliff Lee.

The Rangers had a great offense all season, but the team really took off when it acquired lefthander Cliff Lee from Seattle in early July. Lee helped solidify the Rangers’ pitching staff and gave them a definitive ‘ace’ to compliment their powerful offense. They earned the status of presumptive favorite to win the World Championship with their destruction of the New York Yankees in the ALCS. The Rangers advanced in six games, but their four wins were overwhelming—Texas beat New York by a combined margin of 31-6 in their four victories. Josh Hamilton won the MVP of the ALCS and has become one of the most feared offensive weapons in the sport.

San Francisco was a sizable underdog to the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLCS, but used their pitching depth to win the series in six games. The Giants aren’t as dominant offensively as Texas, but during the playoffs to date have demonstrated a remarkable balance throughout the batting order—11 players scored the 19 total runs for San Francisco during the series against Philadelphia. Catcher Buster Posey is the likely National League Rookie of the Year and is developing into a top notch offensive threat, but if the Giants are to win they’ll need to maintain the same type of balance they enjoyed in the NLCS.

Neither of these teams has been in the championship mix in a long time. The Giants haven’t won a World Series in 56 years—the last time they did was 1954 when Willie Mays was in his prime. The Rangers have never won a World Series dating back to their previous incarnation as the Washington Senators. They’re the fourth team in the past six years to play in their first ever World Series, but the previous three didn’t do very well—Houston, Colorado and Tampa Bay all lost in five games or less.

The Rangers should fare better than the Astros, Rockies or Rays. They’re known for their offense, but have a competent starting staff behind Lee and a very solid bullpen. At the plate, they’ve definitely got the edge over San Francisco but the Giants have been able to get big hits when they needed them throughout the playoffs. This matchup could be much more even than most sports media types are suggesting, and the Giants will be worth a look as underdogs to win the series as well as in the individual game matchups.