Another Cub Legend Passes

Phil Cavarretta, the 1945 National League MVP who led the Chicago Cubs to their last World Series appearance, died Saturday in Georgia. He was 94.

Cavarretta died in Lilburn, Ga., of complications from a stroke, according to his grandson, Jeffrey Brown, of Lubbock, Texas.

A first baseman and outfielder, Cavarretta broke into the major leagues in 1934 and spent the first 20 of his 22 seasons with the Cubs before moving across town to play 77 games for the White Sox.

The three-time All-Star led the NL with a .355 batting average and a .449 on-base percentage in 1945, when the Cubs lost to the Detroit Tigers in the World Series. Cavarretta was one of the last living members of that team. The Cubs have not won a pennant since and their last World Series championship came in 1908.  Cavarretta was also one of the last living players who had taken to the field against Babe Ruth.  Cavarretta played against him when Ruth was a Boston Brave in 1935.

Cavarretta finished with a .293 batting average, 95 home runs and 920 RBIs in more than 2,000 big league games.

Philip Joseph Cavarretta was born on July 19, 1916 in Chicago. While attending Lane Tech High School on the North Side, he was a local sensation as both a pitcher and hitter. Among his feats at Lane, were a no-hitter and 8 one-hitters; he also pitched his American Legion team to a national championship in 1933.

Prior to graduation at age 17, Phil signed with the Cubs; upon graduation he was assigned to the Cubs' minor league team at Peoria, making a splash in his very first professional game on May 17, 1934 -- homering in his first at-bat and hitting for the cycle. In September, the Cubs called him up and on September 16th, he made his major league debut against the Dodgers in Brooklyn, only 18 years old.

Cavarretta is survived by his wife, Loraine, four daughters and one son, among others.

2010 World Series Preview

It's a World Series nobody predicted.  While a few "experts" mentioned the Giants as a potential World Series team at the start of the season, the Texas Rangers are the surprise team, and now they are the favorite at baseball's biggest stage.

The Rangers have advanced this far by defeating the Tampa Bay Rays and the New York Yankees. The Giants have advanced this far by defeating the Atlanta Braves and the Philadelphia Phillies.

Texas won all three of their road games in round 1, and took two of three in New York in round two. The Giants won both of their road games in round 1, and took two of three in Philly in round two. Going by those trends, one may think Texas has the upper hand here being on the road, but San Francisco’s home field advantage is one of the better ones in baseball.

Thanks to the NL finally winning an All-Star game, the Giants have home field advantage for the series and they might be the one NL team that benefits from it the most. They are 52-34 SU at home this season and since 2000, the Giants are 11-1 against the Texas Rangers. 9 of those 11 wins all came in San Fran, and while most of that doesn’t mean a whole lot given how different these teams are now, the Giants did sweep them three straight last year.

Texas will be counting on their during the season trade acquisitions to give them the upper hand in this series. Cliff Lee has been dominant once again in the post-season and he will be the game 1 starter. He still has yet to lose in post-season play and Texas is hoping that string continues. The other addition that could prove to be what puts Texas over the top is C Benji Molina. Molina played most of this season with the Giants and caught for all of the pitchers he and his team will be up against. You know that he has got one of the best scouting reports around on the Giants staff given that he was a part of it for so long, and if he and his teammates can capitalize on that, Texas bats could be bombing away all series.

Both teams have solid pitching and the managers cancel each other out.  This should be a close series with the Rangers winning in 6.