Reasons To Love The 2010 World Series

After literally thousands of games in the 2010 baseball season, we are down to the final four, five, six, or seven. The Rangers and Giants are set to open up the World Series in San Francisco on Wednesday. Here are some reasons, in no particular order, to love the latest installment of the Fall Classic:

• The Rangers have never won the World Series in their 50-year history. The Giants haven't won a World Series since moving to San Francisco back in 1959. One of these teams is guaranteed to end a half-century long drought. This is the definition of a series with fresh teams.
• Bengie Molina might be guaranteed a World Series ring no matter what. He certainly will get one if the Rangers win, but he actually appeared in four more games for the Giants this year than he did for the Rangers! If San Francisco wins the World Series, it is not out of the question that they could vote that Molina gets a ring, given how many games he played as their starting catcher this year, and that he was fixture behind the plate and in the heart of their order for the previous four seasons before this one.
• There is only one former Mariner on both teams combined, and that is Cliff Lee, who while lovable and amazing, wasn't around long enough for me to forever remember him in a Mariners uniform. There won't be any awkwardly painful moments like when Scott Podsednik hit a walk-off home run for the White Sox back in 2005, or the vicarious emotions that might have come with a Phillies team that had Mike Sweeney and Raul Ibanez on it. Part of the fan in me wants Sweeney and Ibanez to win rings, but a bigger part of the fan in me wants to be able to relax and enjoy the World Series with emotional attachment to baseball, but not to any individuals. This series is about as clean of a chance as a Mariners fan will get.
• The weather should be pretty good. San Francisco may be a little chilly and foggy, but Arlington will be more than fine. There won't be any threats of snow delays in the World Series for the first time in too long.
• The Giants, and their black and orange team colors, will play on Halloween (game four is that night). Personally, I hope they really play it up by wearing their obsessively bright orange tops, even though they will be on the road.
• National Geographic could do a feature on this series, given the panda garb that Giants fans wear, and the antlers that have become popular in Texas.

The baseball games will probably be good too. The Rangers will likely head into the series as the clear-cut favorites, thanks to how good they looked against the Yankees. However, both the Yankees and Phillies looked dominant in their respective division series, and neither made it back to the World Series. Texas probably will not look as good as they looked against New York. Plus, the Giants have a much stronger pitching staff than the Yankees, especially in the starting rotation.

Well, after such a thorough analysis of the series, all that is left is to sit back and enjoy it. Play ball!