This has to be one of the most highly anticipated World Series of the past 30 years (and don’t even kid yourself with “But the Yankees-Angels series isn’t over yet.” Please.) You’ve got the most storied franchise in sports going up against the defending World Champs. You have two rabid fan bases. You have the largest and 4th largest tv market in the country. You have the infamous (and in my opinion overblown) Philly inferiority complex vs. the New York ego, an ego which is about as Big as the Apple itself. You’ve got superstars such as Howard, Chase and Jimmy for one side and A-Rod, Jeter, and Rivera for the other. So let’s look back through the years at some World Series that you could compare this epic to. There are not many.

2004 Red Sox vs. Cardinals. Yes, this was highly anticipated Series, the only one in the 2000s that you could make a case for baseball-wise. The Red Sox looking for their first title since 1918 vs. a very storied St. Louis franchise with a great fan base. But the simple fact of the matter is that once they came back from 3-0 on the Yankees, the Red Sox could not possibly lose this series. The anticipation of that Yankees-Red Sox ALCS of 2004 was higher than any baseball playoff of this decade, no doubt, but I’m not sure about that World Series.

2001 Yankees vs. Diamondbacks. Yes, this was highly anticipated, but not through any fault of the D’Backs. In the wake of 9/11, everyone in America rooted for the Yankees, and everyone watched this Series. Yes, this one was probably a more highly anticipated Series than this years, but not because of the baseball.

1996 Braves vs. Yankees. Once again you had defending champs vs. Yankees. It was the first time the Yanks had been in the Series in 15 years. The only problem was, it was against the Braves, who have one of the most pathetic fan bases in all of sports. They were still fighting for a playoff spot on the final weekend of this past season at home, and the stadium was EMPTY. For a Series to be highly anticipated, the citizens of both cities have to be aware that they live in a city that has a baseball team.

1986 Red Sox vs. Mets. This is a similar Series to the one we have this year. Two rabid fan bases, two Atlantic seaboard cities. A city of history vs. a city that never sleeps. Once again, the Red Sox were trying to kill the curse of Babe Ruth. They had a young Roger Clemens, and a pitcher named Oil Can, a star 3rd baseman named Wade Boggs. The Mets had a young phenom named Doc Gooden who looked like he was going to be one of the greatest pitchers of all-time. They had a 24 year old right fielder with ungodly potential named Daryl Strawberry. They had Nails and Mookie. They won 108 games that year, and partied hard after every win. They talked trash, started fights, and chased skirts so much that when they won the Series, the New York News headline was, “The Bad Guys Won.” I think that, in the last 30 years, this was the most highly anticipated World Series. But I don’t think the one this year is far behind it.