San Francisco Giants

The last time this writer rooted for an American League team to beat the New York Yankees in the ALCS so the San Francisco Giants didn't have to face them was in 2002 when the Anaheim Angels surprised the Yankees and then shocked a heavily favored San Francisco Giants club in seven games of the World Series.

Tim Lincecum: the Most Important Player in The World Series

For the Giants, that is certainly true. But of all the 50 players that will be participating in the 2010 World Series—which begins Wednesday at 7:57 p.m. in the San Francisco's AT&T Park—"The Freak" is still the most important.

Here are 10 of the reasons why:

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This is a position that the Texas Rangers are all too familiar with. It's a position they've been in through their first two postseason series, and they'll play the role one more time.

What is that role, you ask? It's being the underdog.

When the Rangers made it to the postseason, no one expected them to get past the Tampa Bay Rays let alone be the American League Champions. They weren't supposed to beat the Rays, and they sure weren't given a snowball's chance in hell against the defending champion New York Yankees.

After 162 regular season games and two rounds of playoffs, there are only two teams left standing: the San Francisco Giants and the Texas Rangers.

With these two unlikely league champions set to square off in Game 1 of the 2010 World Series on Wednesday night, there are certainly plenty of disappointed fans in New York and Philadelphia.

The Texas Rangers and San Francisco Giants will be competing in the 2010 World Series which commences on Wednesday night.  Okay, let me rephrase that.  The San Francisco Giants will do battle with the Texas Rangers in the 2010 World Series which gets underway on Wednesday in San Francisco.  Even reworded it has the same meaning and shock value too.  

It is not the World Series that most predicted, or the FOX network (and probably MLB) wanted, but a Texas Rangers vs. San Francisco Giants World Series has a lot of great story lines.

One is the fact that both teams would be looking for their first World Series title in their current city.

The Rangers have never been to the World Series before and neither has their predecessor, the second Washington Senators franchise.

With the bubbly still flowing onto the carpet in the visitors’ locker room and the Giants reveling in the franchise’s first National League pennant in eight years, I thought it would be interesting to press the rewind button and review how exactly general manager Brian Sabean (pictured) put Team Torture together.

Before the first pitch is thrown Wednesday night in Game 1 of the 2010 World Series, there will be plenty of talk about the lousy ratings this year's match-up will draw. It is likely there will be more talk about the ratings game than there will be about the baseball game.

While neither team boasts a huge payroll, or a dazzling history of postseason moments, there are still plenty of reasons to be excited for the 2010 Fall Classic.

The San Francisco Giants will play Game 1 of the World Series on Wednesday night against the Texas Rangers. It is still taking time for that to sink in.

They have seven games to prove the world wrong. This Giants team has the opportunity to do something no Giants team has done since 1954: win it all.

They can do something Willie McCovey could not do. Will Clark couldn't. Neither could Juan Marichal.

Gaylord Perry? Nope. We all know how the Bonds era ended.

It really is a mesmerizing ballclub, not because the wildest crowd in San Francisco swings orange towels to erupt in a crazed frenzy, and not because the Giants closer Brian Wilson wears a beard to initiate a catchy mantra that has fans chanting “FEAR THE BEARD,” but they are an amazing ballclub because the Giants comprise of all the components to produce an epic classic.