After correctly predicting that the St. Louis Cardinals would win last year's World Series in five games, sports simulation website WhatIfSports.com likes the Colorado Rockies to defeat the Boston Red Sox in seven games this season. In typical Rockies fashion, drama and momentum play a big role in the outcome. Ultimately, a team that has thrived in a hitter-friendly park by not allowing extra outs, wins with what got them to this point: stellar defense, a strong bullpen, heart, heart and more heart.
WhatIfSports used its award-winning SimLeague Baseball simulation engine to "play" the World Series 10,000 times. Colorado won just 52.80% of those series, with the most common occurence being a seven-game series win by the Rockies. What follows is an example World Series based on the results of those simulations, it includes boxscores, play-by-play and stats for each game in the series. More information from the 10,000 runs, including some interesting figures on percentage of team games won by each starting pitcher and likelihood of each team winning in four, five, six or seven games, can be found further below.
World Series Game 1
Colorado 2 @ Boston 11 - Boston gets on the board first with a strong outing from Josh Beckett and an even stronger outing from its offense. The Red Sox 3-4-5 hitters, David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez and Mike Lowell, combine to go 8-15 with two homeruns and eight RBI.
Boxscore with play-by-play >>
World Series Game 2
Colorado 8 @ Boston 4 - The gritty Rockies battle back after their first post-season loss of 2007 with a convincing victory of their own behind the arm of Ubaldo Jimenez and the bat of Brad Hawpe, who hit two homeruns.
Boxscore with play-by-play >>
World Series Game 3
Boston 3 @ Colorado 6 - In the first real, dramatic game of the World Series, Colorado scores three in the bottom of the eighth to get its second consecutive win and take the 2-1 lead. Manny Corpas records his second save in as many games without even allowing a baserunner.
Boxscore with play-by-play >>
World Series Game 4
Boston 4 @ Colorado 5 - Another close game means another Rockies' triumph. This time, it is four runs in the bottom of the fifth and some great relief work by Taylor Bucholz that carry the team.
Boxscore with play-by-play >>
World Series Game 5
Boston 10 @ Colorado 2 - The Red Sox remind everyone that they invented post-season momentum in 2004 as they rout Colorado and send the series back to Boston down just 3-2. Can they come back from a 3-1 deficit to win twice in one October?
Boxscore with play-by-play >>
World Series Game 6
Colorado 5 @ Boston 6 - Boston keeps the Rockies' champagne on ice and can go get some of its own after a ninth inning rally leads to a ten inning victory and an even series. The catchers are the heroes for the Red Sox as Varitek's single ties it up in the bottom of the ninth inning. He is replaced for a pinch-hitter and then Doug Mirabelli enters the game at the position in the tenth. In the bottom of that inning, he gets the bases loaded single to win the game.
Boxscore with play-by-play >>
World Series Game 7
Colorado 3 @ Boston 1 - Unheralded veterans Josh Fogg and Matt Herges team with youngster Ryan Speier to best the overly-hyped Daisuke Matsuzaka for the win in the decisive game of the World Series. Normally known for his amazing glove, Troy Tulowitzki's home run ices the victory and secures Colorado's spot in history as one of the most improbable champions ever - in any sport.
Boxscore with play-by-play >>
World Series MVP - Matt Holliday - .345 AVG, 1 HR, 7 RBI
Results from 10,000 World Series Simulations
Series Wins
| Team | Total Series Wins | in 4 Games | in 5 Games | in 6 Games | in 7 Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colorado | 52.80% | 7.48% | 11.68% | 15.89% | 17.76% |
| Boston | 47.20% | 5.61% | 10.28% | 14.49% | 16.82% |
Game-by-game Winning Percentages
| Team | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 | Game 6 | Game 7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colorado | 42.72% | 61.03% | 40.85% | 62.91% | 49.73% | 50.00% | 51.35% |
| Boston | 57.28% | 38.97% | 59.15% | 37.09% | 50.27% | 50.00% | 48.65% |
Winning Percentages when Pitcher Starts
| Colorado | Winning Percentage |
|---|---|
| Jeff Francis | 45.98% |
| Ubaldo Jimenez | 56.70% |
| Josh Fogg | 43.55% |
| Franklin Morales | 62.91% |
| Boston | Winning Percentage |
|---|---|
| Josh Beckett | 54.02% |
| Curt Schilling | 43.30% |
| Daisuke Matsuzaka | 56.45% |
| Tim Wakefield | 37.09% |
We hope that you enjoy our Beyond the Boxscore feature. As with all of our games, we are willing to listen to feedback and improve this page and content to make it as interesting and user-friendly as possible. With any comments, questions or topic suggestions, please contact Customer Support. Thanks!
Facebook
Become a fan of WhatIfSports on Facebook
Twitter
Follow WhatIfSports on Twitter