PostCards: World Series Game 1 – St. Louis Cardinals vs. Boston Red Sox

After three days of no baseball games to watch on television, the 2013 World Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and Boston Red Sox is finally underway.
Oct 22, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Adam Wainwright (50) speaks to the media on the day before game one of the World Series against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. Image Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
Nationally, the game will be televised on FOX with Joe Buck on the call and fomer Cardinal catcher Tim McCarver providing commentary for the last World Series of his broadcasting career. KMOX has Mike Shannon and John Rooney on the call. Dan Shulman and Orel Hershiser will handle the World Series call for ESPN Radio.

In playoff history, St. Louis owns an 18-20 record in Game 1 history, including a 7-11 record in 18 previous World Series appearances. In 10 of 18 World Series, the winner of Game 1 has gone on to take home the trophy. This year, St. Louis took Game 1s in both the NLDS and NLDS.

The Cardinals do not have home field advantage for only the fifth time in their last six trips to the World Series. They have won four of the 10 in which they didn’t own home field advantage, including 1926, 1934, 1967, and 2006. The Cardinals are 56-56 (.500) overall in World Series games, including a 30-26 (.536) record at home. They are 6-1 in World Series games played at Busch III, the only loss coming during Game 2 against the Texas Rangers in 2011.

This is the 4th World Series meeting for the two clubs with the last meeting having come in June 2008 when St. Louis took 2‐of‐3 at Fenway Park. Over all, the Cardinals are 6‐3 all‐time in regular season play against Boston (2‐1 at STL & 4‐2 at BOS). Neither team has played against each other at Busch Stadium III.

Cardinals Lineup:
Matt Carpenter (2B)
Carlos Beltran (RF)
Matt Holliday (LF)
Allen Craig (DH)
Yadier Molina (C)
David Freese (3B)
Matt Adams (1B)
Shane Robinson (CF)
Pete Kozma (SS)
Pitcher: Adam Wainwright (RHP)

Red Sox Lineup:
Jacoby Ellsbury (CF)
Shane Victorino (RF)
Dustin Pedroia (2B)
David Ortiz (DH)
Mike Napoli (1B)
Jonny Gomes (LF)
Xander Bogaerts (3B)
Stephen Drew (SS)
David Ross (C)
Pitcher: Jon Lester (LHP)