Baseball

Heading into each respective League Championship Series, the Detroit Tigers felt like the team that most needed to capture a World Championship in 2013.

There's one pitch that might be powerful enough to keep the Boston Red Sox from winning the World Series.

That pitch is Michael Wacha's changeup. 'Tis a thing of great power and beauty, and it will soon be on display in the World Series.

The year still looms there, like the cheese that stands alone.

1984.

It used to be 1968. That was the year that all Tigers fans would reference, sometimes happily, sometimes wistfully, sometimes pessimistically.

It seemed like we waited eons after the Tigers' 1968 World Series triumph for that feeling to come again. But it was only 16 years, which in retrospect is nothing, really.

The improbable is four victories away from reality. After a dreadful 2012 season, the Boston Red Sox rebounded to win 97 regular-season games, captured the ALDS over Tampa Bay and ousted Detroit in the ALCS. Now, they'll meet an equally excellent St.

The 2013 World Series features one of the top managerial matchups in baseball with Boston’s John Farrell and Cardinals’ manager Mike Matheny.

The St. Louis Cardinals have lost four of Adam Wainwright's last five starts with eight or more days of rest, which is important to consider when making your MLB picks Wednesday, as they take on the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.

Sports bettors will find that the Cardinals are plus-110 road underdogs in the pro baseball odds, with the betting total sitting at seven in the market.

While the St. Louis Cardinals and Boston Red Sox are still preparing for the first pitch of the 2013 World Series, the Bleacher Report crew of MLB lead writers is busy trying to piece together strengths and weaknesses for both teams. 

Major League Baseball's Fall Classic has a way of bringing out the best in some players, but the worst in others.  St. Louis Cardinals' starters Joe Kelly and Lance Lynn and Boston Red Sox's starter Jake Peavy and shortstop Steven Drew, are four players who will collapse in this year's World Series.  Each one of these players is making their first World Series appearance in their current roles.

Joe Kelly 

With Major League Baseball's 8-team and now 10-team playoff format, it's actually become somewhat rare to see teams with the best regular season records reach the World Series. Fans of the 97-win St. Louis Cardinals and Boston Red Sox certainly aren't complaining.

It seems like the Cincinnati Reds can’t stay out of offseason headlines as they watch their division foes St. Louis Cardinals play for a world championship once again.