Perhaps I should take a moment to acknowledge the San Francisco Giants on their World Series championship.  It certainly is long time coming.  They join a group of teams in the last decade who finally attained the top honors after a long drought.  They join the Angels, the White Sox, the Cardinals, and the Red Sox.

The Giants’ championship is further testament that any team entering spring training has a legitimate chance at a World Series championship.  I don’t think prior to this season I fully believed it.  Even in 1991, when the Twins and Braves faced each other in the World Series after both coming in last the previous season.  Would I go as far to say the Royals and the Pirates have a chance in 2011?  Probably not.  But with the Giant’s triumph, I think everyone else has a fair shot.

No one could have predicted that the Giants with a lineup including Pat Burrell, Cody Ross, Andres Torres, Fredy Sanchez, Juan Uribe, Edgar Renteria, and Aubrey Huff could defeat both the Phillies and the Rangers.  No one could have fathomed that Tim Lincecum with his struggles in the second half would dominate in such big games.

The Giants got the big hits and big outs in all the right moments, and though considered the underdogs in their series versus the Phillies and Rangers, outplayed and outpitched their opponents, and brought San Francisco their first championship ever.

San Francisco has certainly had better teams, including the team that lost in seven games to the Angels in 2002.  This motley crew of throwaways found the needed spark and came through time after time.  The Giants’ championship gives hope to every team as they prepare for a new season.

With a couple top line starters and the right combination of inspired hitters, anything is possible.  I’m certainly satisfied by a baseball season that ends unexpectedly, with the favorites surprised and disappointed.

Who will be next year’s champion?  The Cubs might finally get their due.

I predicted in the preseason that the Yankees would face the Phillies in the World Series, and I wasn’t so far off.  Both teams are on the verge of elimination (Yankees down 2-3 and Phillies down 1-3).  It looks to be one of those years where teams who want to win a championship more are poised to reach the World Series.  If the Rangers win, it will be another year where a team with no post season success finally gets their opportunity after a long drought (Angels, St. Louis, Boston, Chicago White Sox).  The Giants were in the WS within the last ten years when they lost a golden opportunity against the Angels.  I’m glad to see these upstarts knock out the favorites.

Finally the New York Yankees managed to buy a championship. There is no doubt they have been trying for a long time (since 2000). The management realized at last that it’s not offense that wins championships, but good starting pitching, and the signings of C.C. Sabathia and A.J. Burnett was enough to return a championship to the city of New York. There is no guarantee that spending lots of money will bring a championship; many teams have tried besides New York, including the Mets, White Sox, Red Sox, and Dodgers. The Yankees learned their lesson and bulked up on pitching, and oh yeah, they signed a little unknown like Mark Texiera, and managed to supplement the existing parts with enough All-Stars to get past the Phillies. The odds are in a team’s favor that if they keep spending money on All-Star caliber players, they will win the World Series again.

You can argue it any way you want. Throwing money at the problem finally worked. It hasn’t always been the formula for success. The Yankees should be back in the playoffs again next year, probably with another big signing. No teams are going to be able to compete against their bankroll. Having C.C. to throw in three out of seven games per series is a luxury few previous Yankee teams have had in the past, and will make it very hard to upset them next year. There are few pitchers with the ability to throw as many innings as C.C. and have a lineup similar to the Yankees behind them.

The more I watch this World Series, you begin to see how quality starting pitching has almost vanished in playoff contenders. As I’ve said before, beyond C.C. and Cliff Lee, the starting staff of both teams is quite average, and it’s the offenses that generate the majority of victories. Even with Lidge’s failings, the Phillies managed to outlast the rest of the league, and the top starting pitching teams didn’t even make the playoffs. It is beginning to appear that we are going to see the Yankees, Red Sox, Phillies and Angels back in the playoffs next year. The question is who can take the remaining four spots.

Should we congratulate the Yankees? Of course, we should. They finally put the money where it mattered and got themselves a championship. How can we fault them in a system with no caps from not spending as much as possible to win? You won, and we’ll see you next year, to see if you can do it again. No one is stopping you, now that you’ve seen what it takes.

As I watch the second game of the World Series, I have to concede that the Phillies and Yankees are the best the league has to offer.  Though I would have liked to have seen the Dodgers advance, and have a Yankees-Dodgers or an Angels-Dodgers series, I think this series should be interesting enough.

Both teams pride themselves on their offense.  It’s amazing how having a fearsome lineup from 1-8 becomes essential for advancing in the playoffs.  Good starting pitching can get you there, but without a great offense, World Series berths are unlikely.

It’s sad when you look at the meat of the Yankees starting rotation–Sabathia and Burnett were off-season acquisitions, and Petitte is at the end of his prime.  It shows how essential these signings are.

Outside of Cliff Lee, the Phillies throw out a random mix of mediocre starting pitching every night, but seem to survive and prosper nonetheless.  Beyond Sabathia and Lee, the Yankees and Phillies’ fate depends on how  well the other starters pitch (Blanton, Pedro, Happ, Petitte).  It is almost a crap shoot.  Either team can win.  I’d be surprised if we don’t see many runs scored in the non-Sabathia/Lee starts.

But the defending champions vs. the team of the century is as good a matchup as we could hope for.