World Series: A Battle of Opposites

At 9 p.m. Eastern Time on October 25, Boston and Colorado go head to head at Boston’s Fenway Park.

It’s nothing short of a miracle that these two teams are pitted against each other for the Major League Baseball World Series.

The two teams could not be more different. Boston, with a team salary total of $143.12 million, has the 2nd highest payroll in the league. They have six players, including Manny Ramirez, J.D. Drew, Curt Schilling, and David Ortiz with salaries that exceed $10 million, along with two players with salaries that exceed $9 million.

The total team salary of Colorado, on the other hand, is $54.42 million, which is slightly more than 1/3 that of Boston’s. With the exception of Todd Helton, who makes $16.6 million, the other 24 players on the roster average around $1.4 million.

In terms of team history, these two teams differ dramatically. Boston has six World Series titles under its belt since their establishment in 1901. This is Colorado’s World Series debut since their establishment in 1993.

The number of World Series veterans differs greatly as well for the two teams. Eight of the Boston players, including Curt Schilling and Tim Wakefield, have played in the World Series before, whereas for Colorado, Willy Taveras, who was traded from Houston in 2005, is the only player who has played at that level.

Prediction: Boston wins!

In Las Vegas, most bets are on Boston.

The AP reported that an insider in a Las Vegas sports betting company said the dividend rate odds for Boston’s victory is 1 to 1.5, while it’s 1 to 1.7 for Colorado.

In other words, when one bets a dollar on Boston, 1.5 dollars are returned, while 1.7 dollars are returned for the same amount bet on Colorado, meaning that Boston’s chances of victory are significantly higher.

One sports betting company manager said, “Boston had an American League record 96-win season, and proved themselves to be almost unbeatable throughout the season. And with Josh Beckett healthy enough for the World Series, the odds are stacked against Colorado.”

creating@donga.com