2012 World Series: 5 Keys to the Championship

The 2012 edition of the Fall Classic represents a true contrast in styles.

On one side, you have the big name, hard hitting, flame throwing Detroit Tigers, who pulled it together just in time during the regular season to make the playoffs.

But once they got in, they showed why they were considered by many to be a favorite to be in this position all along. Brushing aside a disheartening Game 4 loss in the divisional series to the Oakland A's, the Tigers put the ball in their ace and reigning MVP Justin Verlander's hands.

The result was a 6-0 shutout that brought them to the American League Championship Series.

There, Detroit served notice that they are definitely serious about bringing the first World Series title to Motown since 1984. In sweeping the New York Yankees convincingly, they thrust themselves into a true favorite role, regardless of who would come out of the National League.

As it turned out, that other team would be the San Francisco Giants.

Unlike the Tigers, they aren't a team of stars and big names. What they are, is quite simply, a very good baseball team.

Emphasis on team.

They can beat you with their two-hitter (NLCS MVP Marco Scutaro) having the best 10 days of his life. They can also beat you with their number five pitcher (Barry Zito) throwing his best postseason start ever.

They don't have the star power, but they have the collective ability to be here.

In 2010, they surprised everyone outside of the Bay Area in winning their first championship since moving to California, and the first for the franchise in 56 years. This year's team was not a surprise in that they are making a return trip, but in the manner in which they advanced.

For the first time since Major League Baseball expanded the postseason, a team that faced six elimination games won them all to reach the World Series. No other team accomplished what the Giants did, surviving a 2-0 deficit against the Reds and a 3-1 deficit to the Cardinals. 

Now, they are playing like a team that simply refuses to lose when their collective backs are against the wall. Ironically, that 'will' helped them dispose of their last opponent, who earned their title in 2011 in much the same fashion.

So now, we have the superstar Tigers against the scrappy Giants for baseball's biggest prize. 

Here are the five keys to this series.

#5: Can Detroit's Other Starters Keep It Going?

From the jump, let's just state the obvious: Detroit's starting pitchers will be hard pressed to duplicate their collective performance against the Yankees.

In four games, Tiger starters allowed only two earned runs in the 27 1/3 innings, posting a remarkable 0.66 ERA.

But here's the underlying point to that: Even if the Tigers allowed three times as many runs, it would still be a remarkable feat (1.98 ERA is hardly worth scoffing at). While Justin Verlander takes center stage, the big key will be the starts of the other three pitchers. 

Remember, Max Scherzer and Anibal Sanchez came from the National League, so the Giants lineup won't be all that unfamiliar to them.

Sanchez has a 1-1 record with a 4.38 ERA against the Giants this year, though to be fair, he has looked like the high-end starter Detroit hoped for when they dealt for him near the trade deadline.

Scherzer has a 1-3 career record against the Giants with a 5.12 ERA. While much of that has to be discarded because he pitched against them last in 2009, he does have history with a trio of the Giants most unsung players: Gregor Blanco, Angel Pagan and Marco Scutaro.

Combined, they are 7-for-17 against the hard-throwing Scherzer.

For me though, the biggest wild card is Doug Fister.

First and foremost, he will get the ball in Game 2, so he is the likeliest beyond Verlander to get a second start. But two, he has next to no history against the Giants. The only active player he has faced is Marco Scutaro. And Scutaro is just 1-for-11 against Fister.

He is the harbinger for this series in my opinion. 

Detroit has a big edge in the first game. With all due respect to what Barry Zito did in Game 5 of the NLCS, don't hold your breath for a repeat performance. And while the specter of Verlander getting the ball in Game 1 conjures images of Cliff Lee's shelling that set the tone in 2010, Verlander is much more dominant than Lee.

So Game 2 has significant meaning one way or another for both teams. 

#4: Buster, What It Is Right Now?

Without question, the best player for the San Francisco Giants is NL MVP favorite Buster Posey.

The catcher has been without question the catalyst for the Giants after the suspension of outfielder Melky Cabrera for performance enhancing drugs. 

Also without question has been the lack of performance from Posey at the plate in the 2012 postseason. Thus far, he is hitting a robust .178 this postseason. To his credit, his biggest hit was, well a very big hit.

That would be the Game 5 grand slam in Cincinnati that proved to be the difference in a 6-4 Giants win.

However, against a staff like Detroit's, all hands must be on deck.

There are no Lance Lynns or Mike Leakes in this bunch (no disrespect to either intended). So while it is great to get role player production, the stars must align for the Giants to win their second title in three years.

That means Posey has to be more like a snapdragon for San Francisco.

#3: A Stage Fit for a Prince

Prince Fielder has been kind of lost in the shuffle in the postseason thus far.

Most of us knew he would get many opportunities to hit because teams might pitch selectively to Miguel Cabrera. But because Detroit's pitching has been so fantastic, the Detroit lineup has not had the consistent pressure put upon it to score many runs.

I have a feeling that might change in this series.

Don't expect to see shootouts like the Toronto-Philadelphia series in 1993 (who can forget the 15-14 'classic' in Game 4?), but unlike others, I don't think runs will be at a premium over this series.

So, that means Fielder will have to deliver in situations where the Giants don't deal with Cabrera. It has not been all that bad for Fielder thus far, though. Against Oakland, he struggled, but did hit a towering blast in Game 4 that seemed to signify the end of Oakland's run.

In the ALCS, he hit .235 and only drove in one run. 

Let's just say, he is going to have to increase that production to give Detroit a better chance to win. Delmon Young is a professional hitter, but again, stars shine on these stages. Fielder won't have to hit .450 or anything, but he has got to shoulder his load.

If he doesn't, the Tigers offense will stall more often than not.

#2: Which Teams' Role Players Will Deliver?

The thing about both of these teams is that they each have quality players that do the little things consistently enough to win.

Role players in baseball have the chance to step out of anonymity and immortalize themselves over a game, a series or in some cases (Bernie Carbo, anyone?) an at-bat.

The World Series has featured great players making their names like Reggie Jackson. It has just as frequently made names of guys like Gene Tenace, Bucky Dent, Pat Borders, Scott Brosius and David Eckstein.

This series has just as good a chance of doing that as anointing the greatness of a superstar.

So, which players have that opportunity?

I have singled out six, three on each team.

For Detroit, they are Omar Infante, Andy Dirks and Phil Coke. Infante and Dirks are the kinds of players that you love when they're on your team. But unlike an A.J. Pierzynski, instead of loathing them, you wish they were on your team as an opponent.

Players like that can do enough in a short span to deliver wins. 

As for Coke, well he's the Detroit closer now. Which means, there's a chance he may have to close three or even all four games. History has shown that closers who save at least two games and appear in others tend to win World Series hardware (i.e. John Wetteland and Mariano Rivera). 

For the Giants, those three are Angel Pagan, Brandon Belt and Gregor Blanco.

If we've learned anything, it's that the Giants win comfortably. If they are doing that, Sergio Romo is not saving many games. So, they are going to have to get production from other guys.

Marco Scutaro won the NLCS MVP, so he is not likely to win the World Series MVP. While that doesn't mean he might not contribute, at this point I can't call him a role player.

He has thrust himself into the conversation now.

That means you have to look elsewhere in the lineup.

Pagan is the trigger man for this offense. When he's hitting, the Giants are hitting. In their seven wins, Pagan is hitting 6-of-30 (.200 batting average) but has added four walks and five RBIs.

In their five losses, he's hitting 4-for-24 with no walks and no RBIs. 

Belt is intriguing because he has the capacity to be a streaky hitter. Right now, he's going good. In the NLCS, he hit .304 with a home run and a couple of RBIs.

With the Tigers' pitchers being right-hand dominant, Belt may very well get some good pitches to hit. 

And then there's Blanco.

He is hitting .222 overall this postseason and just .182 for the NLCS. But he did walk six times, scoring six runs in the seven games. He has success against the former National League pitchers (4-for-7 against Sanchez and 3-for-5 against Scherzer) and could be the key guy in the bottom of the order for San Francisco hitting out of the seven hole.

Ultimately, the team that gets the most production from their trio will be the team with the best chance of winning.

#1: Will Justin Verlander Be Cliff Lee 2.0 in the World Series?

Two years ago, the sentiment was that the Texas Rangers had two things going for them: A better lineup from one to eight and the best pitcher in the World Series, Cliff Lee.

To be honest, it didn't seem like a bad analysis.

Lee was one of the best pitchers in the game and had just pitched Texas past Tampa Bay and the Yankees to reach the World Series.

But in the Fall Classic, Lee was not nearly the same dominant ace, going 0-2 with a 6.94 ERA in two starts, as the Rangers were stunned in five by the Giants.

Flash forward, and we have an eerily similar situation.

The Tigers have, on paper, a more imposing lineup, featuring the best hitter in the game, a more than capable wingman and enough professional hitters to compensate for any strategy or limited success those two have.

They also have the best pitcher in baseball right now in Justin Verlander.

The question then becomes, will Verlander pitch like that on the game's biggest stage? He has dominated these playoffs so far. Three starts, three wins. 25 strikeouts in 24 1/3 innings, including 22 in 16 innings against Oakland.

In a series that could go the distance, Verlander very well may wind up pitching in three games. 

So, ultimately, the question is, will the Giants get to the best their opposition has to offer? Or will the World Series be a culmination of Justin Verlander's greatness?

It appears as though there isn't much in the way of middle ground.

Prediction

The other obvious keys are the production of Miguel Cabrera, with his opportunities to hit, as well as the Detroit bullpen.

I think with Phil Coke in the ninth, the Tigers are much better off than with Jose Valverde, but that's obvious to much of the mentally functioning world, so I didn't put that on the list.

Okay, what is not so obvious is exactly who is going to win this series.

The Tigers are rolling. The only time they have looked vulnerable this postseason has been when Valverde pitched. If you get past that, it took a lights-out performance from Brett Anderson for the A's to avert a sweep.

Beyond that, Detroit has been the most impressive team this postseason.

San Francisco is the Jason Voorhees of baseball right now.

Every time you leave them for dead, they rise and seem to find a stronger weapon to behead you with. Much like the 2011 Cardinals, they have a mojo that sees them respond to elimination games. And while they are a great collection of players who scrap and fight and scratch and claw, I don't think it will be quite enough this time.

As I said before, the Tigers are the favorite.

They have the two best players in the series on their team. They will have the advantage or be even in three of the four pitching matchups. It will be tight and there will be dramatics, but I just think this is Detroit's year.

On every Friday the 13th, Jason does eventually 'die' (well except that awful Jason X).

Tigers in six.