After a pair of National League playoff series that brought new meaning to the words drama and torture, the San Francisco Giants now prepare to square off against the Texas Rangers in the 2010 Major League Baseball World Series. The Giants will have home field advantage this year thanks to the National League's 3-1 victory over the American League in the 2010 All Star Game.
This year's World Series features a variety of intriguing storylines and great matchups. The basic matchup will be the Giants pitching versus the Rangers hitting. The Giants were first in the majors in pitching with a team ERA of 3.36. The Rangers on the other hand led the majors with a .276 batting average and were fifth with 787 runs scored. Thus, likely the most publicized matchups will be Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez, and Madison Bumgarner versus Josh Hamilton, Vladimir Guerrero, Nelson Cruz and Michael Young.
And yet, there are numerous other intriguing matchups and storylines, with some getting press and others not so much. Game one will feature Cliff Lee battling against either Tim Lincecum or Matt Cain. Rangers catcher Bengie Molina becomes the sixth player in MLB history to have played for both World Series participants in the same year, and guaranteeing himself a World Series ring no matter what. A smaller storyline I've followed has been the crazy success of Giants left-handed relief pitcher Javier Lopez who dominated Chase Utley and Ryan Howard, and will now likely get several cracks at Josh Hamilton.
Given the numerous interesting stories to cover we'll be here for the entire World Series providing you with as many updates as you can handle. We'll have previews and recaps of each game, injury updates, matchup previews, and all sorts of details. This first thread will cover Games 1 and 2 at AT&T Park. We'll then have a second thread for Games 3-5 at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. If this series goes to six or seven games, we'll have a final thread for Games 6 and 7 if necessary. Check back throughout the World Series for updates.