The Stars at Night are Big And Bright

It's all over now, right? I mean, Texas has been an absolute beast playing at home this season and they've just stolen home field advantage after splitting in St. Louis. True, Josh Hamilton has a hernia that is going to require off-season surgery. That didn't seem to slow him up in game 2 when he drove in a the game tying run in the top of the 9th.

Look, I love the story of the 2011 St. Louis Cardinals as much as the next guy. The problem is, the Cinderella story is going to be all over within the next 3 games, 4 at best. The Texas Rangers went 52-29 at home this season. That is a .642 winning percentage for those keeping score at home.

The drama comes in here: The Cardinals had an identical home and road record, 45-36, or .556 winning percentage. That is damn good. Though the Rangers finished the season with 6 more wins overall, the Cardinals have been the hottest team in baseball since September 1st (that is still playing.)

The fact that Josh Hamilton is injured does not change my opinion of this Rangers team. They are stacked. They have the pitching advantage and offensively they have an advantage over the Cards in all 5 categories that win post-season games: hits - 1599 to 1513, runs scored - 855 to 762, home runs - 210 to 162, team batting average - .283 to .273 and finally OPS - .800 to .766.

Though the Cardinals had a better team ERA during the regular season 3.74 to 3.79 (Texas finishing JUST behind the Cards) - the Rangers pitching staff had more quality starts, 99 to 86 and gave up one less earned run 607 to 608.

Statistics on paper are one thing that can be a measure of how far a team can go. I believe heavily in the natural eyeball test. Texas just looks to be more dominant than the Cardinals. With the series shifting to Texas, and on the heels of a dramatic win, the Rangers have all of the momentum right now. Aside from the fact that I have already predicted the Rangers winning the series, I think its time to make my prediction for the World Series MVP: Adrian (the Red Sox should have resigned me) Beltre.