The World Series is underway, and what a series it is! The Texas Rangers are leading the St. Louis Cardinals, 3–2, in a back-and-forth matchup that has sports fans on the edge of their seats. Recently, there isn’t much in the pro sports world that brings me to the edge of my seat — the NBA recently canceled another two weeks of its season due to labor negotiations, the excitement of the NFL playoffs and Super Bowl are still far away, and the NHL is just getting underway.

In my opinion, the brief seven-game World Series does not accurately represent the long 162-game regular season. In addition, only eight of the league’s 30 teams make the postseason to begin with, compared with 16 of the NBA’s 32 teams, 12 of the NFL’s 32 teams and 16 of the NHL’s 30 teams. In baseball, a team might not make the playoffs even though it has a stronger record than a playoff team from a different division. In short, the nature of baseball’s 162-game structure makes it so the World Series seems to be over in a flash after you have waited all season long for it.

Despite these problems, this year’s World Series has been electric! With the exception of game three, a 167 Cardinals win, each game has been close and contested until the end. Pitching, batting and defense on both sides have been solid. These two teams are fairly evenly matched, and the result is a World Series that does not fail to disappoint.

After three games in Arlington, the Series heads back to St. Louis tomorrow. Game six is Wednesday at Busch Stadium. The Cardinals’ backs are against the wall — trailing 3–2, they must win this game in front of their hometown fans or the Series is over, and they will have missed their shot at an 11th World Series title. As for the Rangers, they will be playing in a hostile environment and cannot let the crowd be a factor if they wish to take home the title.

As an impartial observer with no real connection to either team, I will be watching the game Wednesday hoping for a Rangers win — but that’s only because I want to see a game seven.