World Series Preview: 5 Reasons This Will Be the Best Fall Classic in Years

Starting in late May, when the Boston Red Sox recovered from their early season struggles to tie the New York Yankees for first in the AL East, the conclusion to the 2011 Major League Baseball season seemed inevitable: the Sox and Yanks would finish 1-2 in the East, one claiming the division crown, the other the wild card, and they'd then meet in the ALCS for the right to play the Philadelphia Phillies and their 4-headed pitching juggernaut in the World Series.

Then a few funny things happened on the way to the Great Northeast Corridor Hype Series of 2011. The Sox started chugging beers and eating chicken in the clubhouse and didn't make it out of September, and both the Yankees and Phills got bounced in the Division Series. Now we've got something resembling Bud Selig's worst nightmare: a Fall Classic played entirely in the central time zone (one that doesn't feature the Cubs, to boot). Still, for baseball fans both casual and rabid, the Texas-St. Louis matchup actually has the makings of a fascinating World Series: two of the biggest stars in the game, some "complex" managers, and games that could really get out of hand fast. Read on for 5 Reasons This Will Be the Best World Series in Years...

No Jeter, no A-Rod, no Roy Halladay, and definitely no Josh Beckett (although he may be sitting next to you at the bar). Nope, none of the famous Yankees, Sox, or Phillies, just the best player of this generation, and one of the most compelling sports stories of all time.

Here's a quick way to describe Albert Pujols: he's had the best start to a career of any baseball player, ever. It's a sport that's been around for 150 years, and there's a very good chance we're watching the best player of all time. Not bad, right? He's also shown up in the postseason, hitting for a 1.044 OPS and 15 home runs in 288 October plate appearances.

And here's a quick way to describe Josh Hamilton: he used to be a crack addict, now he's the reigning league MVP. Six years ago he was arrested on his birthday for drinking Crown and going for a triple crown (broken windshield, broken rearview mirror, broken bat over knee). Now he's playing in his second consecutive World Series. You know those 10 dozen "Every day is a gift!" tweets you get every hour? This dude is living that shit.

Along with slick shortstops and centerfielders, catchers are the most badass players on the baseball diamond, and St. Louis has the best in the business, Yadier Molina. Although he just finished his finest year at the plate and hit the NLCS-winning home run against the Mets in '06, the three-time All-Star and Gold Glover is known first for his work behind the dish. Keep an eye on him when the Rangers have runners on base, particularly base-stealing threats Ian Kinsler and Elvis Andrus. Molina has a cannon and a quick release; it's worth the price of admission just to watch him throw behind the runner on first a couple times a game.

After the Cardinals' Chris Carpenter, neither team has anybody resembling an ace in their starting rotations. Couple that with some of the firepower in each squad's lineup (Pujols, Matt Holliday, and Lance Berkman for St. Louis; Hamilton, Adrian Beltre, and Nelson Cruz for Texas), and we could be looking at some high-scoring games, especially early. Cards' manager Tony La Russa basically invented the practice of using one pticher to face one hitter. That shit can drive you crazy when the games matter less and you can't buy beer after the 7th inning, but when you're posted at home with a stocked fridge and it's the last baseball you'll watch until April, it's kinda fun. Particularly when T-La Russ has to start mixing and matching in the 3rd inning.

The Rangers Nelson Cruz just set the record for home runs in a playoff series when he hit 7 (in 6 games) in the ALCS against Detroit. Funny thing is, Cruz bats 7th in the Texas order. The Rangers feature five players who hit 25 or more homers (including Hamilton, who hit 25 despite missing a month of the season, and catcher Mike Napoli who hit 30 in an astonishingly low 432 plate appearances). The Cardinals counter with that Pujols guy and Matt Holliday and Lance Berkman, each sporting .525+ slugging percentages this season. They're gonna need some bigger ballparks to keep this from looking like a home run derby; since it's probably too late to move the fences back, they should bring a couple extra cases of balls instead.

Let's see if Fox has time for these storylines. One chain smokes Winstons and was nearly fired after he tested postive for cocaine (sidebar: most unprescient column, ever?); the other once fell asleep at the wheel of his car in the middle of an intersection. Ron Washington (the smoking one, above) was also recently fictionalized in Moneyball, and Tony La Russa (sleepy) has some of the most bizarre politics (Tea Party and animal rights) this side of Metta World Peace. They both like to make a lot of questionable decisions on the field, too. Sounds kind of like...us!

"Cards in 7. Considering both starting pitching staffs have been off their rockers this postseason, I'm willing to bet the team that wins Game 1 will win the series. I'd take Chris Carpenter over C.J. Wilson any day of the week, therefore the advantage goes to the Cards." —Tony Markovich

"Cardinals in 7. Even though the Rangers were in the World Series last season, the Cards are the team with the Cinderella story and power of the squirrel on their side. Seriously, if these guys win it all, they should probably change their name to the St. Louis Squirrels. #justsayin" —Jose Martinez

"Rangers in 6. Texas' potent offense began to come alive at the end of the ALCS with 27 runs scored in the last three games. Also, unlike the Cardinals, they have a legit and proven closer in Neftali Feliz (sorry, Jason Motte). The second time around will be the charm for Nolan Ryan's squad. Still SMH at having to see George W. Bush's mug front and center at every Texas home game, though." —Ralph Warner

"I have to go with the Rangers because they had the better record during the regular season so they have home-field adva...Oh, wait, that's right. They don't have home-field advantage because the National League won the All-Star Game. Stupid rule. Ah, well. I'm taking the Rangers anyway—and I'm taking them to win convincingly. I like making bold predictions and I'm kinda getting tired of baseball taking up all of football's time on SportsCenter, so let's go with the Rangers in a clean sweep." —Chris Yuscavage

"Before I start, I've got to recap my predictions from our Division Series preview: Rays in 3, Yankees in 3, Brewers in 5 (ding!), Phillies in 3. The other guys didn't fare much better (it has been a weird playoffs), but DAMN! that's some putrid prognosticating. Anyway. Two very good lineups, two good bullpens (might call the Rangers very good), two middling starting rotations. The difference as I see it is Chris Carpenter. The Redbirds have an ace, the Rangers don't, and the way this series and the previous series shook out, he gets to go three times if it goes 7. Cards in 7. Although I'll be spraying ginger ale all over the office if my homeboy Josh Hamilton gets a ring." —Jack Erwin