Now it's tradition.
CONTEXT
The Texas Rangers and the San Francisco Giants will face each other in the 2010 World Series, which begins on Wednesday. The Rangers have advanced this far by defeating the Tampa Bay Rays and the New York Yankees. The Giants have advanced this far by defeating the Atlanta Braves and the Philadelphia Phillies. Both the Rangers and Giants managed to defeat their opponents by outplaying them in a short series.
KEY PLAYERS
Texas:
Roster
San Francisco:
Roster
Both the Rangers and Giants are filled to the brim with possible difference-makers. The 50 listed above will likely be the most important.
KEY QUESTIONS
Can the San Francisco Giants outscore the Texas Rangers?
They can.
Can the Texas Rangers outscore the San Francisco Giants?
They can.
Will one of the San Francisco Giants and Texas Rangers outscore the other four times?
Most certainly yes!
X FACTOR
The Giants will play a maximum of four games at home, while the Rangers will play a maximum of three games at home. The home crowds may or may not help. I imagine there are also intangibles somewhere.
CONCLUSION
Both the Giants and Rangers are good teams. The Rangers are probably better by a tiny bit. If you re-played the World Series a million times, maybe 50-55% of the time the Rangers would be crowned as champions. This World Series will be played once. One of these teams will win four games. The other probably won't. The outcome will mean everything, and nothing.