World Series Preview, Season 5

Kansas City Shuffle (122-40, #1 AL Seed)
versus
Pawtucket Polythene (105-57, #2 NL Seed)

In a matchup that seemed inevitable heading into the season, the Polythene and Shuffle meet up in a rematch of last year's World Series. Last year, Pawtucket beat the Shuffle 4 games to 2, led by pitchers Henry Mackowiak and Christopher Ramirez.

The Shuffle cruised through AL regular season play, and was almost upset in the ALDS. After a convincing sweep of #2 seeded Charleston (100-62), Kansas City finds themselves clicking on all cylinders. DH Tomas Hernandez has mashed his way through the playoffs. In 9 games, he is batting .515 (17/33) with 1 homerun and 11 runs batted in. After a good, not great, regular season, Benito Rosario has taken to the closer's role this postseason. The 24 year old is 3 for 3 in save opportunities, and he has failed to allow a run.

Pawtucket's road to the World Series ended up being tougher than initially expected. With high hopes during the offseason, Pawtucket found themselves battling for a first round bye in the playoffs. Competition from Rochester and Texas eventually showed how tough the Polythene are. Pawtucket has played in 7 one-run games this postseason while winning 3 of them. However, two of those wins were series clinching. Rookie Julian Thomson has proven to be extremely valuable in this years playoffs. After struggling while being a September call-up last year, Thompson has scored 11 runs in 11 games while posting a .333 batting average (15/45). Charles Randall (3-0, 4.35 ERA) has been a pleasant surprise, filling in for the injured ace Mackowiak.

While usually relying on pitching, Pawtucket finds themselves in a odd position. Their bats have carried them through the playoffs. Kansas City has taken the same approach they have had in every season. Pitching that shuts down opponents and bats that makes them cry. There is no reason this series shouldn't go 7 games, with some stellar pitching and some high scoring affairs.