The 107th World Series in baseball history began last night here in St. Louis, as you might have heard already. And we know that some of you have been following the Cardinals since spring training began in Jupiter, Fla., back in February. But for you out-of-towners who haven’t been paying much attention before now, and watched last night’s 3-2 Cards’ victory without really knowing what was going on, fear not.

St. Louis, above all else, is a baseball town. The enthusiasm of the city is one of the things that has made the St. Louis Cardinals’ run through the playoffs and into the World Series so exciting. For Washington University students from different parts of the world, it has been easy to jump on the bandwagon as this team fought its way into the playoffs and past the competition. Here is a position-by-position breakdown of everything World Series.

The World Series begins tonight, featuring the San Francisco Giants and the Texas Rangers. Both teams were expected to lose in the league championship series, but the Rangers’ high-powered offense and shutdown pitching dominated the world champion New York Yankees while the Giants continued to play stressful ball but defeated the Philadelphia Phillies to keep the City of Brotherly Love out of the Fall Classic for the first time in three years.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5paCSuRtsM httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xf5qfVlxM8 Sports reporters Kurt Rohrbeck and Daniel Kurzner talk about who will win the 2009 World Series in a discussion moderated by Steven Simon.

This year the defending champion, the NL Philadelphia Phillies will take on the AL New York Yankees in a World Series match-up of power. Both teams play classic American League style baseball; both have some speed and pitching, but will ultimately rely on home runs to secure their victory. Each team led their league in homeruns, total-bases, and runs scored in the 2009 season. However, compared to the Yankees the Phillies produced 100 RBIs and 100 runs less. The Yankees also have a higher on-base-percentage(.362 to the Phillies, .334).

ALCS MVP CC Sabathia posted a 1.13 ERA over two starts in the last series, and he will enjoy seven days rest before Wednesday’s start. Cliff Lee lines up against Sabathia in Game 1, but while Lee has had a strong postseason, he is not as used as Sabathia is to the sandbox that we call Yankee Stadium. Add the fact that Sabathia is on fire right now, and the Yanks have the advantage.

The Phillies have arguably the best lineup, top to bottom, in Major League Baseball. But just as important as how good they are is how clutch they are: they can never be ruled out of any game. They took the lead in the ninth inning in three out of their seven wins this postseason and have clutch hitters up and down the lineup.