Let’s be honest: not everyone has four spare hours in a day to sit around watching a bunch of men shake sticks at the air. Not to worry, though, we’ve got your back on this one. And since knowing a thing or two about a thing or two at the water cooler might help out this week, here are three World Series facts that should make you sound like you’ve had your fair share of peanuts and Cracker Jack.
1. First thing’s first, this year’s World Series is being played between The Boston Red Sox and The St. Louis Cardinals. And yes, we know what you’re thinking; it is impossible to pick a favourite when an inanimate article of clothing takes on a five-inch bird of the same colour. Boston is representing the American League while St. Louis is playing on behalf of the National League. Boston is in the East, St. Louis in the Wes – err – Midwest. Boston is famous for its Tea Party, The Kennedys, its accents, Harvard, chow-dare, and Mark Wahlberg. St. Louis on the other hand, has a really big arch.
2. Last night the Red Sox beat the Cardinals in St. Louis, 4-2. This tied the seven game series at 2-2 with Game 5 being played tonight in St. Louis. Tonight’s game features the same pitching matchup as Game 1 in which Boston’s Jon Lester was nothing short of spectacular while Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright had his balls knocked all over Fenway in an 8-1 Boston win. This is the last game St. Louis will host before the series heads back to Boston for game 6 and, if necessary, game 7.
3. You pay for the best. The 2013 World Series marks the first time since 1999 that the two teams with the best records in baseball are meeting in the World Series. Both the Red Sox and the Cardinals finished the regular season with a 97-65 record and neither team has yet to be pushed to a deciding game in the playoffs. That said, according to usatoday.com, Boston and St. Louis have the 4th and 11th highest payrolls in the MLB respectively with Boston shelling out an astounding 150 million a year just to win 60% of its games. That math doesn’t seem right to us either but we still haven’t seen Moneyball so…
Well, there it is, the who, the where, and the why. So feel free to go throw your newfound knowledge around the office. Just make sure you don’t get called for obstruction. There’s been too much of that happening already this series.