World Series Thoughts
I've been doing a lot of thinking about the World Series lately, specifically the Diamondbacks' chances of upsetting the Yanks. Although I was certain that the Yankees would win their fifth title in six seasons a few days ago, I'm not so sure now.
Bob Brenly's done the right thing by going with a three-man rotation for the series: simply put, Schilling and Johnson are workhorses. They can deal with working on three days rest because they'll have three and a half months off before they need to work again. With Schilling getting the start in game 1 and Johnson getting the nod in game 2, the rotation should look something like this:
Game 1: Schilling
Game 2: Johnson
Game 3: Anderson
Game 4: Schilling
Game 5: Johnson
Game 6: ??
Game 7: Schilling
Simply put, for the Yankees to win it all, they'll have to beat Schilling and/or Johnson twice. Based on Schilling's performance this postseason, I would call it highly unlikely that he would take a loss. The Yankees need to get to Arizona's bullpen, especially in Schilling's starts.
So say Arizona wins two of Schilling's starts. This basically leaves the balance in the hands of Randy Johnson, who up until this year, has had a shaky postseason history. He's turned it around recently, but the question remains as to which Randy Johnson will show up? He, like Schilling, needs to stay in the game as long as possible to keep Arizona's bullpen a nonfactor.
The other major question mark in this Series is the Yankees' offense. Save for their outburst in Game 5 vs. Seattle, they've had a bit of difficulty scoring runs in the postseason this year (as they did all season long). Schilling and Johnson need to make a big statement in the first two games and shut them down for the Diamondbacks.
The essense of the Series, for me, boils down to the Arizona pitching staff. If Schilling and Johnson are perfect, Arizona can dethrone the Yankees; near-perfect probably won't be enough. It pains me to say so, but my pick for the World Series is the Yankees in six.
October 25, 2001 - 09:31 AM