Most eyes may currently be on the Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals in the Fall Classic, but a travel day made time for MLB's best defenders to be showcased on Tuesday night, as the Gold Glove awards were handed out. 

And they came with an added wrinkle: For the first time ever, sabermetrics and advanced statistics factored into the vote for this year's winners. 

The St. Louis Cardinals’ hitters need to shake the rust, and fast.

The big-money free-agent signings grab all the headlines.

As both the Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals have demonstrated, however, the teams that contend for World Series titles build from within.

A well-timed splash for a Carlos Beltran or a Mike Napoli is certainly part of the blueprint. It's the ability to consistently pluck top talent from down on the farm, though, that makes a club a perennial contender.

Sasquatch hunters would lose their minds if they happened across Fenway Park. The men of the 2013 Boston Red Sox own some of the gnarliest beards in baseball, and it's about time we settle the argument of who has the best. 

I mean, seeing as how these players went through all of the trouble and weeks (hours when it comes to Jonny Gomes) to grow these things, we might as well judge them. 

From the scraggly to those who would make The Most Interesting Man in the World happy, we have you covered. 

If you weren't swept up in "Honkbal" fever during the 2013 World Baseball Classic, you're officially behind the curve. Team Netherlands made a surprise run through the early rounds of the tournament to the semifinals in San Francisco and proved they can become an international baseball power.

Maybe their success shouldn't have been such a surprise. The Kingdom of the Netherlands encompasses the Netherlands, Curacao, Aruba and other islands of the Netherlands Antilles, and some of baseball's best young talent calls those places home.

Allen Craig was one of the most prolific hitters for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2013.  His production at the plate, specifically with runners in scoring position, was a key component in the successful season for the team.  An injury in early September sidelined the first baseman, forcing the Cardinals to rely on young power hitter Matt Adams.

Keep it locked here as we bring you live coverage of the 2013 World Series!

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The 2013 World Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Boston Red Sox has started off with two excellent games—each team has stolen a victory—and the rest of the series should prove to be just as intense.

Here are the keys for each team to bring home the championship hardware for their respective city.

All stats via MLB.com.

The Boston Red Sox stormed out of the gates in Game 1, taking advantage of some mistakes to grab an early World Series lead. The St. Louis Cardinals fought back to win Game 2 at Fenway Park, which sends the Fall Classic to St. Louis all square at one.

It doesn't come as a surprise that the two evenly matched teams are deadlocked after two games. In fact, it wouldn't be a shock to see them tied after six games as well. They were the best teams in their respective leagues this season and are now battling for the ultimate prize.

Contrary to what it may seem, the Seattle Mariners are a mess at first base. 

Justin Smoak was supposed to be Seattle's first baseman of the future, but has been wildly inconsistent, even getting demoted to Triple-A for stints in each of the past two seasons. The relegations have helped, but he hasn't made great strides in his offensive game.