With the World Series upon the sports world and therefore the baseball playoffs reaching an end, some interesting facts and statistics stick out.

First, the Colorado Rockies, a team Major League Baseball told not to even print playoff tickets, enters the World Series undefeated in playoff games this year. Sporting a 7-0 record against two of the best teams in the National League, they remain a scary opponent for their American League opponent.

Secondly, continuing to extol the white-hot Rockies, they have won with pitching, not hitting, a stark contrast to their usual ways. In the first three games against Arizona, they allowed a combined total of five runs and only nine overall for the four game series. If this quality of pitching holds up, Colorado will not lose, especially since Matt Holliday and Troy Tulowitzki will begin to heat up, as evidenced by Holliday’s eventual game-winning three run shot off Micah Owings.

Third, the old baseball adage that good pitching will beat good hitting remains true. Of the four teams playing in the League Championship Series, all finished in the top half on team ERA in the regular season. Of the initial eight in the playoffs, only the Yankees finished in the lower tier and even they struggled making the playoffs with arguably the best lineup in baseball.

Fourth, Arizona illustrates the need for at least one big bat in a line up to be a true playoff contender. The Yankees demonstrated that all hitting and no pitching results in failure. When the offense struggles, it needs to be able to rely on one superstar to find a way to score runs and scare opposing pitchers.

Fifth, experience on the mound is important in the playoffs. Indian star pitcher C.C. Sabathia possessed a regular season ERA of 3.21. Through two games, Sabathia owns a pathetic 10.61 ERA. Boston pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka sported a 4.40 ERA in the regular season and after two starts against the Angels and Indians in the ALDS and ALCS, it stands at 6.75.

Arizona starter and Cy Young candidate Brandon Webb pitched well in his first playoff start against the feeble Cubs, but then got hit hard against a better Colorado team and lost.

Continuing with experience on the mound, Josh Beckett remains a postseason stud. After his dramatic four-hit shutout of the Yankees in 2003 to win the fall classic, he continues his dominance in the postseason. In two playoff games this year, Beckett has allowed only two runs to cross the plate against him in fifteen innings, both resulting in wins.

Finally, this postseason finally catapulted some of the lesser-known and younger stars into the national spotlight. Chris Young, Fausto Carmono, Grady Sizemore and Troy Tulowitzki are all leaders for their teams and all twenty-five years old or less and making their first playoff appearances.

In hopefully what will be an exciting fall classic, the Rockies wait for their American League counterpart to emerge. In what has been so far a postseason of sweeps, ideally Colorado will win in seven games and show those who believe in sabermetrics that while numbers don’t lie, stats don’t win games.

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