World Series should be a dandy

This year’s major league baseball playoffs have already been exciting and a bit unpredictable, and I’m looking for the World Series to be more of the same.

We have the red-hot Colorado Rockies, whose status as playoff neophytes (they’ve played just one playoff series in their 14-year history) hasn’t stopped them from winning 21 of their last 22. They won the wild card with an extra-inning win over the San Diego Padres, swept Philadelphia in the division series, then swept West Division champion Arizona in the NLCS.

We have the Boston Red Sox, the team of choice for at least half the fans in our area, including me. The Red Sox, who went 86 years between World Series championships before winning in 2004, finished third in the AL East in 2006. The Sox overcame another obstacle this season when they held off the Yankees to win their first AL East title since 1995. New York had won the division every year since then.

Boston’s road to the 2007 World Series has been somewhat more “rocky” than that of the Rockies. The Red Sox clinched home field in the AL playoffs with a 96-66 record, winning the season series from the Tribe. As in 2004, they met the Los Angeles Angels in the division series round and, as in 2004, they won three straight games.

When Cleveland eliminated the wild-card Yankees, it set up an ALCS matchup between the two teams with the best records in baseball. Red Sox fans saw their team lose three straight games after winning the opener; however, as they did in 2004 – and also in 1986, the Sox climbed off the carpet and won three straight.

To me, the World Series looks to be the classic matchup of the irresistable force against the immovable object.

The Red Sox can be dominating, especially offensively. Their pitching, led by Josh Beckett, Curt Schilling and closer Jonathan Papelbon; is pretty impressive. This is a team, particularly the way they’re playing right now, with few weaknesses.

Nobody knows a whole lot about Colorado due to their low profile and lack of “prime time” playoff experience, but 21 wins in 22 game - all of them of the pressure-packed variety, is hard to ignore. Matt Holliday is a legitimate MVP candidate and Todd Helton is one of the least-known superstars. Canadian Jeff Francis is a good anchor to deceptively solid pitching.

The biggest thing the Rockies have going for them, as was the case with the 2004 Red Sox, is nobody expected them to be here. They have nothing to lose.