The World Series begins tonight in St Louis as the National League Champion St Louis Cardinals face the Texas Rangers who won the American League title.
Two months ago, maybe even two weeks ago, no one saw this matchup coming.
Primarily, that’s because the Cardinals in late August were more than 10 games back of the National League Wildcard spot, but St Louis got hot & Atlanta stumbled allowed the Cardinals to bypass the Braves and claim a playoff berth.
As remarkable as that achievement was, St Louis apparently was just warming up, as they proceeded to stun the odds-on favorite Philadelphia Phillies in the opening round and then eliminate divisional rival Milwaukee in 6 games to advance to the World Series.
The Cardinals, located in a traditional baseball city, will seek their 11th Championship when they host the Rangers tonight in the opener of the best of 7.
From a Texas standpoint, they’re back in the Series one year after losing to the San Francisco Giants last year and are looking again for their first ever World Series Championship.
Those are the storylines prior to Game 1- the Cinderella run of the Cardinals or the Rangers almost 40 year quest for a World Series title.
I’m Fred Wallace