The World Series 2010 will begin in six days. Yet the World Series 2010 schedule now seems unlikely to start in Philadelphia, as expected. What’s more, the Yankees face long odds to be the visiting team, as Yankees-Phillies rematch plans have been all but shattered. All of a sudden, after all the experts and networks expected a Yankees-Phillies showdown, they are scrambling to figure out how to hype a Giants-Rangers battle. But will the World Series 2010 suffer from having far less marketable teams take part?
Technically, the Giants and Rangers are not locked in yet. The Rangers blew their first chance to clinch the ALCS over the Yankees, and may still be vulnerable at home. Meanwhile, the Giants need one more win over the Phillies’ Big Three starters to secure their spot.
Yet the World Series schedule is now roundly expected to have the Giants and Rangers, just days after they were counted out of the NLCS and ALCS. For the Giants, they have made the Phillies look overmatched and limp, and they have Tim Lincecum set to close things out at home tonight. As for the Rangers, even if they lose Game 6, Cliff Lee is waiting to bail them out in a Game 7.
Within two days, the most unlikely championship matchups might be set up, which will leave FOX and East Coast-biased pundits disappointed. The Giants and Rangers are far from traditional power teams, as much of the East and Midwest is just now getting to know them. In fact, between the two of them, they have only one championship in the last 56 years.
Certainly, such a pairing would be hyped as a hard-luck series, as one team would finally break a long drought. But beyond that, a Rangers-Giants World Series would need more storylines to fill in the sudden gap of hype.
The pitching staffs would help, as there could be a Lee-Lincecum Game 1 duel to hype up, as they did with Roy Halladay and Lincecum in the NLCS. In addition, Josh Hamilton, Vladimir Guerrero, Brian Wilson, Cody Ross and Buster Posey stand to be the most publicized figures. Rangers’ owner Nolan Ryan is sure to get a lot of face time, while Barry Bonds could even show for a game or two in San Francisco.
Perhaps the greatest attention would come from the Rangers’ offense battling the Giants’ pitching. Texas has torched the Yankees’ rotation throughout the ALCS, while San Francisco has shut down the Phillies’ bats. Since the World Series would start in the Bay Area, the Texas bats stand to be tested right away.
But before the Giants and Rangers focus on each other, they have to finish off their battered opponents first. Meanwhile, the media will hype up this potential matchup for them – especially since they are playing catch-up with the possibility.
Sources
USA TODAY- “Halftime: Reasons to love a Giants-Rangers World Series”
