The World Series, or often referred to as the “Fall Classic”, is a Major League Baseball series that is annually played between the champions of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The first-ever World Series game was showcased in 1903 between the Boston Americans and the Pittsburgh Pirates with the Americans proving victorious. Over the last century, the World Series has played a huge part in America’s culture, playing beyond the game itself. It has continued to provide us with an endless highlight reel of magical moments and unforgettable memories. The winner of the World Series wins the coveted Commissioner’s Trophy. The trophy was first introduced in 1967 when the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Boston Red Sox.
One hundred-eight years later the game continues with the matchup between the AL champion Texas Rangers and the NL champion St. Louis Cardinals.
The Rangers got here the “easy way” when they won their AL West division by 10 games over the Los Angeles Angels. The Rangers then went on to beat the Tampa Bay Rays in the ALDS (American League Division Series), and the Detroit Tigers in the ALCS (American League Championship Series) to move on to the World Series. This is the second consecutive year that the Rangers have been in the World Series after they lost last year to the San Francisco Giants. Their top players this season included Josh Hamilton, Out-fielder; Mike Napoli, Catcher; Nelson Cruz, Out-fielder; C.J. Wilson, Pitcher and Adrian Beltre, 3rd basemen. The Rangers manager Ron Washington is in his 4th year as the head of the Rangers, and is managing in his 2nd World Series.
The Cardinals, however, got here the hard way. On August 25, the Cardinals were 10.5 games behind the division-leading Atlanta Braves. At that time, there was only one month remaining in seasonal-play and teams are either starting to look forward to next year, or getting ready for the playoffs. “We just kept winning and winning,” said Cardinals Manager Tony LaRussa in an interview with the New York Times. “In about the second week of September we were back in this and we started to go at it a little more aggressively.” On September 28, the Cardinals and the Braves were tied, which meant whomever won their game that day would make the playoffs. The Cardinals won, while the Braves lost. It was a huge collapse by the Braves, and an insane comeback by the Cardinals. The Cardinals made the playoffs as a wild card team and shocked the NL regular season champions Philadelphia Phillies in the NLDS (National League Division Series), and then beat the Milwaukee Brewers in the NLCS (National League Championship Series) to advance to their 18th World Series. Key Cardinal players include: Albert Pujols, 1st basemen; Lance Berkman, Out-fielder; Matt Holiday, Out-fielder and Chris Carpenter, Pitcher. This year is LaRussa’s 15th year as Cardinals manager, and he’s looking for his second World Series title as the Cardinals manager after previously winning the title in 2006.
The World Series is played in what’s called a best-of-seven playoff, also known by the name seven-game series. This means the two teams will play however many games needed until one team gets to four wins, then that team is crowned champion.
As I’m writing this, both teams are tied at 3-3. Which means whoever wins the next game will win the World Series title. If the Rangers win it will be their first-ever World Series title, and the Cardinals will be looking for their 11th title.
