Berg & Bisq: 2011 World Series Outlook

COACHING:

STL - Tony La Russa, Dave Duncan, Mark McGwire

TEX- Ron Washington, Mike Maddux, Scott Coolbaugh

La Russa has been pushing the right buttons all season long. People forget St. Louis hasn't had their ace right-hander Adam Wainwright too. What he and his coaching staff have done throughout this postseason is truly magical.

Advantage: St. Louis Cardinals

STARTING PITCHING:

STL - Chris Carpenter, Edwin Jackson, Kyle Loshe, Jaime Garcia

TEX - C.J. Wilson, Derek Holland, Colby Lewis, Matt Harrison

Poor starting pitching from Texas has been survived by the best offense in baseball. The Cardinals have been without the aforementioned Wainwright but the leader of their staff, Chris Carpenter has been tough as nails. The Rangers rely on their bullpen, while the Cardinals try to get goose eggs any way they can. Pujols and Holliday will be anxious to hit against the Rangers lefty dominant staff. I like the Cardinals' front men over the struggling Rangers rotation.

Advantage: St. Louis Cardinals

BULLPEN:

STL - Jason Motte, Fernando Salas, Octavio Dotel, Arthur Rhodes

TEX - Neftali Feliz, Alexi Ogando, Mike Adams, Darren Oliver

Texas has the best bullpen in baseball. Mike Adams, statistically the best reliever over the past few years doesn't even take the mound unless the game goes to extra innings. Feliz and Ogando are untouchable with some of the most electric stuff in the game. St. Louis has a makeshift bullpen that doesn't come close to matching up with their counterparts.

Advantage: Texas Rangers

OFFENSE:

STL - Rafael Furcal, Allen Craig, Jon Jay, Albert Pujols, Lance Berkman, Matt Holliday, David Freese, Yadier Molina

TEX - Ian Kinsler, Elvis Andrus, Josh Hamilton, Michael Young, Adrian Beltre, Mike Napoli, Nelson Cruz, David Murphy

Both teams have strong bats in the middle of the order. Texas' depth from one to nine though is hard to beat. This series is definitely loaded with offense and should make for some exciting baseball.

Advantage: Texas Rangers

DEFENSE: Push

FINAL PREDICTION - WINNER & MVP:

Texas can out-slug any team in baseball with their power and depth. Not to mention, they play 7 innings, rather than the conventional 9 because they have two dominant power arms lurking in the bullpen. If Texas has a lead and they can get the ball to Ogando and Feliz for the 8th and 9th, it's over folks. Texas' only weakness this postseason has been their starting pitching, specifically their ace, C.J. Wilson. I think Texas is the overall better team playing with some added motivation after last year's World Series loss to San Francisco. If they can win on the road and get some quality innings from their starting rotation this series could be over quickly.

St. Louis has been playing elimination games since September and have definitely proven their worth. They've had to go through it all, facing dominant pitching in the Phillies and dealing with a high-powered offense in the Brewers. St. Louis is surely the underdog but are definitely no slouch. They have a potent offense of their own with Pujols, Holliday, Berkman, and Freese in the middle. The Cardinals also have ol' Mo and the all important home field advantage on their side. They are playing with a chip on their shoulder going into what is going to be an exciting World Series.

When it's all said it done, I don't think St. Louis will have a "happy flight;" they won't need a flight. They'll win Game 6 at home in Busch Stadium with Joe Buck making the proud call for his hometown redbirds.

"It's not about the best players, it's about the right ones."

2011 WORLD SERIES CHAMPION:

St. Louis Cardinals

1 STL, 2 TEX, 3 STL, 4 STL, 5 TEX, 6 STL