The 2007 World Series

As of this writing, the American League Championship Series is undecided. The Cleveland Indians currently own a 3 games to 1 lead in the series over the Red Sox. Both teams will send the ace of their staff to the mound in Game 5. Josh Beckett has been very good down the stretch, even better in the playoffs and he'll need to be at his best to extend this series. The Indians will counter with left hander CC Sabbathia. Sabbathia was very good against the Yankees and he couldn't get through 5 innings in the AL CS opener.
I don't see Cleveland getting the job done in 5th game, but I think Carmona seals the deal in Game 6 for the Tribe. Now with that being said...

The Colorado Rockies vs the Cleveland Indians
With about 4 weeks to go in the season, the Rockies were on the outside of the playoff picture, looking in. Then they went on a run, winning 21 of 22 games down the stretch to force a one game playoff with the San Diego Padres. The game was tied after 9 innings and went into extra innings, with the Rockies eventually winning the game in the 13th off of future HOF relief pitcher Trevor Hoffman. Colorado marched right through the Phillies and stomped on the weak-hitting Diamondbacks, going 7-0 to sweep both teams on their way to their first World Series appearance in team history,

Now let's look at how the probable match ups should play out.

Hitting-
The Colorado Rockies are led by MVP candidate Matt Holliday. Holliday led the Rockies in nearly every offensive category, hitting .340, with 36 homers and 137 RBIs. He is surrounded by a decent supporting cast, in Todd Helton (.320, 17, 91), Garrett Adkins (.301, 25, 111) and Troy Tulowitzki and Brad Hawpe both hit over .290 with 20+ hrs each and are capable run producers. NLCS playoff hero Kaz Matsui and Willie Taveras are the table-setters for the Rockies and they'll need to be on base often to keep the Rockies World Series hopes alive.

The Indians rely heavily on catcher Victor Martinez ( .301, 25 hrs, 114 RBIs) and DH Travis Hafner (.266, 24, 100) as the big bats in the lineup. Johnny Perralta and Casey Blake have some pop in their bats, Grady Sizemore and veteran Kenny Lofton are the table-setters for the Tribe. With only one .300 hitter in Martinez, the Indians will need timely hitting in the 1-6 spots of the batting order and they should fare well against the Rockies pitching staff. Like Colorado's table setters, Sizemore and Lofton are more than capable of taking an extra/ or stealing a base. Cleveland is an above average hitting team that can be shut down quite easily against upper echelon starting pitchers.

Advantage- Colorado. The Rockies clearly match up best with the Indians in the offense category. However, should the Red Sox win the ALCS, there would be no advantage and I'd lean slightly towards the Red Sox.

Pitching-
Jeff Francis is the ace of the staff and when Aaron Cook has all his pitches working, he can very tough to hit. All of the Rockies' starters have earned run averages over 4.00, but they pitched very well in the playoffs. The key closer/setup man in the bullpen is solid, the middle and long relievers leave something to be desired.

Cleveland has 2 Cy Young award candidates on the staff in Sabbathia and Carmona. Paul Byrd is having another respectable year, but he's really just a rung or two better than a journeyman pitcher. The bullpen is solid, as the Tribe have 3 interchangeable arms to set-up closer Joe Borowski. Borowski can implode at times, but he's been very good in the series against the Red Sox.

Advantage- Cleveland It's a significant advantage, if Sabbathia and Carmona can pitch the way they a capable. If the Indian's starters can get 7 innings and the lead, the Rockies will have problems against a very good, young bullpen.
Should Boston win, I also give the Sox a significant advantage over Colorado here.

Defense-
Colorado's starting infield committed but 30 errors this season. No that isn't a typo, 30 errors! They have above average arms in the outfield and Willy Taveras covers a lot of ground in center. The Rockies don't make very many mistakes in the field, but if one were to occur that could be costly...look for Brad Hawpe for the miscue... 6 errors in the outfield.

Cleveland- Perralta committed 19 errors by himself. His range is mediocre, at best and the Indians are a notch or 3 below Colorado in the defensive department. The Indian's outfield all have above average arms and may cover more ground that the Rockies.

Advantage- Colorado... significant.
Should Boston win, I still give Colorado the edge, but it's a slight edge vs the Sox.

Intangibles-
The Rockies just keep getting the job done because they play fundamentally sound. They rolled over a Phillies team that backed into the playoffs and steamrolled by a slumping Diamondbacks squad. They will need their starting pitchers and middle relievers to be on top of their games, but one has to wonder if sweeping their playoff opponents is going to work against them in the long run. Does this unusually long break bother their pitching staff? They can't afford to not have pin-point control vs either AL team or they'll find themselves in a hole quickly.

Cleveland- looked good against the Yanks, but that series could've easily gone 5 games if not for the bizarre bug swarm in Game 2. Boston hasn't done much of anything since Game 1, making one wonder if the Tribe is that good or is Boston that bad?
The Indians have the better pitchers and seem to have a bench advantage. Thanks to the All-Star victory by the AL, they get home field advantage and the Tribe was very tough at home.
Advantage Cleveland

Boston gets the same advantage should they overcome a 3-1 deficit.

The home field advantage looms a huge plus for the AL representative. Colorado was all but dead with 4 weeks to go in the season, yet here they are, a young team that plays fundamentally well, but is significantly weak in the pitching category. The Rockies have nothing to lose coming into this series and will be underestimated and that makes them a dangerous under dog. The unknown in this series is the long layoff and how the Rockies pitcher respond to it.

I look for Cleveland (who should be a -150 favorite in Vegas) to win the Series in 5 games.
Should the Red Sox make it to the show, I see Boston being a -200 favorite and winning in 4 or 5.

Go Colorado!!!