24 hours and counting till game one of the World Series kicks off with a pitching showdown no Yankees fan should miss. Not only for the fact that they are such talented athletes, but for all the fun wallowing you can do as you remember that they used to be Yankees!!!!! Try to think of it this way: with Contreras on the mound, just squint really hard and try to pretend that those are Yankee pinstripes on his uniform…

I suppose our disappointment over the ALDS can be somewhat assuaged by the fact that the teams that made it to the Fall Classic truly are talented and have show a lot of heart thus far. While it would have been great to watch the Yanks in the series, it will be exciting to watch Houston and Chicago pull out every trick they have to try to lock this year’s title up.

Both the Astros and the Sox are polar opposites of the Yankees, displaying awe-inspiring pitching and not much when stepping up to the plate. Chicago put up a mediocre .262 overall team average, barely giving them an edge over Houston, whose team average was a whopping .256. In other words, if you scored a seat in the outfield tomorrow, don’t bother bringing your glove. These teams rely on squeeze bunts, steals, and singles to manufacturer their runs. These teams are not going to be relying on power hitters or sluggers, because they simply don’t need to! Its when they are in the field that these guys win games. Outstanding pitching backed by solid defense…maybe Steinbrenner will be taking notes this week? Someone should email him.

Prediction for game 1: Houston 3, Chicago 1 (Clemens can out-pitch Contreras, and the Astros are on a roll)