St. Louis Cardinals: Who to root for in the World Series

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 17: Randy Arozarena #56 of the Tampa Bay Rays celebrates a two run home run against the Houston Astros with teammate Willy Adames #1 during the first inning in Game Seven of the American League Championship Series at PETCO Park on October 17, 2020 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 17: Randy Arozarena #56 of the Tampa Bay Rays celebrates a two run home run against the Houston Astros with teammate Willy Adames #1 during the first inning in Game Seven of the American League Championship Series at PETCO Park on October 17, 2020 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /
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There are multiple former St. Louis Cardinals players in the World Series. For Cardinals fans, the choice of who to root for is up in the air.

The 2020 MLB baseball season is almost over, there’s just one series left to go. Sadly, it’s not the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series, but there are plenty of former players left competing.

The World Series between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Los Angeles Dodgers gets started on Tuesday night as a clash between two completely different organizational philosophies. The Rays have the 28th ranked payroll in the MLB while the Dodgers have the 2nd ranked payroll. This truly is a battle of David vs Goliath, but the Rays won’t be afraid of the high-paid Dodgers.

For a Cardinal fan watching this, there are reasons to root for both teams. Let’s look at both sides.

Root for the Dodgers

Many times, the Dodgers have been the mortal enemies of the Cardinals in the playoffs. However, at the end of the day, they are still the National League team here. Just like rooting for the NL in the All-Star Game (hey, remember those?), it would make perfect sense to root on Cody Bellinger, Mookie Betts, and the rest of the Dodgers.

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The Dodgers have former-Cardinal Joe Kelly throwing darts out of their bullpen, and many fans will be rooting for his success. The Dodgers are an exciting team with a TON of high-end talent on both sides of the ball and surely will have plenty of Cardinals fans rooting for them.

Root for the Rays

On the other side, the lovable Rays were among the top teams in the AL during the shortened 2020 season. We all know how good Randy Arozarena has been for them to this point (ALCS MVP and now the record holder for the most postseason homers by a rookie) making them an easy team to root for.

The Rays have my heart because of Randy A as well as their other unlikely contributors. Ji-man Choi and Manuel Margot have been huge for them, and they have St. Louisan Pete Fairbanks, former-Cardinal Ryan Sheriff, and Bridgeton, MO native Josh Fleming on their pitching staff.

Already, the Rays have knocked off the titanous Yankees, so the Dodgers shouldn’t provide any scare factor.

No matter who you are rooting for, this series is going to feature some fantastic pitching. Starting Game 1 is Clayton Kershaw versus Tyler Glasnow which should make for an exciting matchup.

If you are a Cardinals fan that is turned off by baseball as a whole right now, that is understandable. I am as excited as anyone else for the prospect of the upcoming offseason and it’s even okay to root for a sweep in this series.

Next. Trade Debate: Righty Daniel Ponce de Leon. dark

Get ready, because anytime Randy Arozarena does anything, Twitter will explode with anger that the tyrant John Mozeliak would trade the man. At the absolute latest, free agency will begin on Halloween, so fear not, the offseason is near. In the meantime, try your best to enjoy the rest of baseball in 2020.