(91-71) (115-47)
The World Series is here for the 20th time, with a long awaited matchup between the upstart El Paso Don Juan's in the American League against the juggernauts of the National League, the Baltimore Crab Cakes. Based off of records alone, this feels like a matchup of David vs. Goliath, as the 24-win difference* is tied for the largest in any World Series in league history. However, El Paso should not be overlooked, as they have been giant killers in the last couple of rounds, taking out perennial AL favorites in Toronto and Seattle in 5 games and 7 games, respectively. Combined with their 4-game series win in the first round, El Paso has played 16 out of a possible 17 games thus far. So while they're happy to be here, will the fatigue of playing so many games prevent them from toppling one more foe? Baltimore on the other hand has been one of the favorites all season and should be more rested having only needed 10 games out of a possible 12 to get to the World Series. They're looking for their 2nd title in a 3-season span and want to start cementing a possible dynasty. Let's break down the matchup.
El Paso is led by justinuv who was a mid-season replacement in Season 15 and after taking over a team in complete disarray and turned them around in a hurry. El Paso has won the division 3 of the past 5 seasons, and is having their best playoff success this year. Their strength is their pitching staff, finishing 4th in ERA with all stars in closer Walt Ratliff and SP Brutus Munro. Their other top two starters Shane Blevins and Bart Ward are no slouches either. They helped shutout Seattle in games 6 and 7 of the ALCS to clinch the first pennant in franchise history. Offensively, they are more middle of the road finishing 16th in runs scored this season. Their offense revolves around MVP candidate Jair Rodrigo (0.274/0.344/0.526) who finished 2nd in the entire league in HRs at 49, but they also have some solid hitters in Alex Rupp and OBP machine Gil Arnold. It has been a struggle so far these playoffs for most of the offense not named Rodrigo. A player to watch is CF Fred Argo, known more for his defense but he has a 0.348 OBP in these playoffs and could be a good table setter for Rodrigo.
Baltimore is led by aoscott2 who took over rebuilding team and has turned them into a powerhouse. It would take me too long to list every one of their star players, but let's talk about a few of them. They are led by arguably the best hitter in the league in CF Charley Campbell (0.314/0.384/0.664) who led the league in HRs (55) and RBIs (146), was an all star, and won the gold glove and silver slugger at CF this season. LF Robin Boucher and RF Henderson Long are also tremendous and MVP candidates along with Campbell making up the best outfield in the league, and leading the #1 offense in baseball this season. Baltimore also has three Cy Young candidates in SP trio Cozy Kennedy, Yasmani Ordonez, and Mac Rollins who helped lead Baltimore to the 2nd best ERA in the league.
For El Paso to win this series, their big 3 of SPs needs to shut down the Baltimore offense and they need to scrap together enough runs to win. In Baltimore that will be easier said than done given the homer friendly confines, but back home where it's more pitcher friendly they may be able to take advantage. Good luck to both teams in World Series 20!
*By the way in case you're curious, that other team that was 24 wins better than its opponent in the World Series ended up losing in 5 games (Season 7, Houston over Seattle).
