It's 1972 vs. 1958.
It's also, unless I'm seeing something terribly wrong and homerish, a clear advantage for your Texas Rangers over the San Francisco Giants. Right?
The Rangers, born in '72, have never been to the World Series. The Giants have been here three times since moving from New York but have never won it. Something's gotta give when these unheralded teams face off Wednesday night in Game 1, and I - along with the oddsmakers - believe it will be SF that crumbles.
Why?
These aren't the Giants of Barry Bonds, or even Barry Zito. They are basically a bunch of Zach Galifianakises' who pitch well but led the NL West for only 37 days (the Rangers led the AL West for over 100) and are led offensively by Cody Ross, a guy they signed off the junk pile on August 22 and who would have a difficult time making Texas' 25-man roster. The Giants - 80-24 when they score 4+ runs - beat the Philadelphia Phillies' Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hammels in the NLCS by winning tight, low-scoring games.
That strategy simply won't fly against the Rangers, by far baseball's best post-season offense.
To punctuate their World Series berths, the Rangers struck out Yankees' star Alex Rodriguez looking and the Giants struck out Phillies' star Ryan Howard looking.
The similarities end there.
The Giants have won six one-run games in the playoffs and scored 5+ runs only once. The Rangers - fueled by an offense that has produced 17 homers and 16 stolen bases - have won their seven playoff games by four, six, four, five, eight, seven and five runs. The Rangers have Cliff Lee, one of baseball's best all-time playoff pitchers, and Josh Hamilton, the likely AL Most Valuable Player.
The Rangers, who beat the team with the best record in the American League (Tampa Bay Rays) and the defending champion (Yankees) to earn a trip to the Fall Classic, should handle the Giants reasonably easy.
Pinch yourself. The Rangers are not only in the World Series, they're favored to win it.
Brooklyn Bridge. Golden Gate Bridge. World Series championship.
