WORLD SERIES: TORONTO (111-51) vs. ATLANTA (94-68) 
<<<<< Kirk Gibson, anyone? After suffering a devestating fracture and missing Games 1-6, Atlanta's Troy Glaus came back and torched the Phillies for two homers in Game 7 OFFENCE: With Troy Glaus back in the lineup, the Braves have a devestating combo of speed and power. Furcal and Lofton steal 200 bases between them, while Glaus, Rios and Jones are bona fide sluggers. But Toronto just has too much. With wizards like Roberts, Stewart, Boone and Green they come close to matching Atlanta's speed. But with Green's power, to go along with Garciaparra, Delgado and MVP candidate Tony Batista, Toronto takes the cake. ADVANTAGE: BLUE JAYS
With a .301 average, 38 homers and 131 rbi's, Tony Batista may be an AL MVP Candidate, but that will be of little solace to the Blue Jays if he doesn't produce in the World Series >>>>> PITCHING: Both of these teams have two of the best pitching staffs in the game, so seperating them is difficult. When it comes to the rotation, Atlanta's is better and deeper. Deadline acquisition Pedro Martinez was phenomenal in Game 7 of the NLCS. Combined with Maddux, Toscanni and Cloude and Millwood, they have a rotation that stretched five deep. On the other hand, while you'd be hard pressed to find three better pitchers than Toronto's trio of Ankiel, Yarnall and Carpenter, there isn't the depth here like there is in Atlanta. The bullpen however is a different story. Toronto has perhaps the finest bullpen in the game, while Atlanta's gets a little shaky once you get past Percival and Rocker. ADVANTAGE: EVEN |
OUTLOOK: The Braves showed a lot of heart in the NLCS. Coming back from a 3-1 defecit is hard enough, but doing it without your cleanup hitter is near impossible. But the Creature believes that Toronto has just too much talent to lose. They looked like a well-oiled machine in the ALCS when they eliminated Seattle (in just like I predicted, five games). You don't win 111 games for nothing and the Blue Jays look destined to keep the World Series trophy in Canada for another season. BLUE JAYS IN SIX |
