The 2012 ALCS is over in what was a very uncompetitive and perhaps even unentertaining series. The Detroit Tigers defeated the New York Yankees on Thursday night to complete a four game sweep and they will move on to face the winner of the 2012 NLCS. The schedule for the 2012 World Series is as follows with the St. Louis Cardinals the most probable Tiger opponent:
Game 1: Detroit @ NL Champion (Wednesday, October 24th)
Game 2: Detroit @ NL Champion (Thursday, October 25th)
Game 3: NL Champion @ Detroit (Saturday, October 27th)
Game 4: NL Champion @ Detroit (Sunday, October 28th)
Game 5*: NL Champion @ Detroit (Monday, October 29th)
Game 6*: Detroit @ NL Champion (Wednesday, October 31st)
Game 7*: Detroit @ NL Champion (Thursday, November 1st)
*if necessary
Television coverage will be provided by FOX while game times have not yet been determined.
The Tigers will enter the World Series having not played a game in almost a week and for many that might bring up the old "rust vs. rest" debate. The "rust" side holds that teams that sit idle for too long play below standard for a bit when their schedule resumes before they finally get back to playing their best. The "rest" side holds that teams play better after days off, following the chance to reset their energy levels to 100% and following the chance to deal with minor injuries.
Rest is particularly important in baseball, more so than for a lot of other team sports. Firstly, when we're talking about short term layoffs the problem of "rust" doesn't really apply to starting pitchers, the most important player for a team in any single game. He's a player that's used to working after several days off and Justin Verlander, a strong candidate to start Game 1 for Detroit, shouldn't be rusty pitching on what will be eight days rest.
Secondly rest is important in postseason baseball because a well-rested team will be able to send their aces out early in a series and that could set them up for multiple starts within the series. Verlander, with his microscopic post-season ERA, might be able to start not just game one of the World Series but games four and seven as well. If the Cardinals, the team the Tigers will likely face, had a long NLCS their best starters could play a more limited role within the World Series than Detroit's best and that could give the Tigers a major edge.
However if the Cards won their series against the San Francisco Giants in five, St. Louis would have nearly as much rest as Detroit heading into the 2012 Fall Classic. That would effectively make both rotations primed and ready to go when the World Series starts next week. With the Cardinals the more experienced team when it comes to postseason success and with the NL team the home team this year, you have to think that Tiger fans will want nothing more than resilience from San Francisco and a seven game NLCS. But if the NLCS concludes on Friday, then I think that St. Louis would be the true favorite to win the World Series, even if sportsbooks have been making Detroit the betting favorite for the last little while.