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Being lopsided in one thing ain't gonna win a World Series - you have to really nearly have a complete package.
Stellar offense / slugging can't completely win a World Series - last year the Giants were huge in offense and they still lost.
Incredible pitching can't either - thats why I don't think the A's will win simply because their pitching cannot be completely relied on. A pitcher can have a bad day and give up that one hit that totally ends the game.
Harden, Mulder, Hudson, have all been playing great recently but Zito has been struggling. Think of Seattle which has a much better offense than the A's and pitching that is almost equal.
Yankees of course have good pitching and hitting - though the age of the starters can be a factor (Wells being 40 w/ back problems, and Clemens' stamina).
You can't win the world series with just offense if your pitching gives up good hits - same with having a stellar pitching but little offense production.
The Dodgers are a perfect example - best damn starters and bullpen - but they've lost i believe like 7 of their last 10 games and 8 of those they scored less than 2 points a game or somehting.
I'd say Giants have the best chance this year of getting the world series - they're pretty intent. Good offense with good hitters this yar and the pitching has been excellent. It will depend on the pitching deparment a lot too though - Ponson has to be pitching good as well as Schmidt and Rueter can't be injured.
Red Sox I don't think will be making it this year though - the ghosts anyone (lol). Sure they got Suppan and Williamson but today showed that Suppan can't totally be relied upon. He gave up 7 runs - sure the Red Sox scored 9 - but that was because of the other team's bad pitching also factored in. And the Sox bullpen gave up another 2 which made it 9-9 against the Angels.
Had the Angels been a team w/ better pitching tonight the Sox could've been limited to less than 5 runs and it would've been a pretty big factor in a playoff series where every win counts.
Giants are my best bet at winning series this year though - i just went up to San Fran this weekend to visit relatives and lol they're still pretty pissed that the Angels beat em - they still can't believe Game 6 of last year and they really think this'll finally be their year.
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