Pierre and Pudge Steal Game 1

Both of the Florida Marlins' brightest assets shined on Saturday night in the Bronx during the first game of the World Series. In the first at-bat of the game, Juan Pierre executed a perfect drag bunt to the right side of the infield that nobody was able to field. Pierre soon stole second base and scored seconds later from third on a sacrifice fly by Ivan Rodriguez.

After working their speed into the game plan, the Marlins soon capitalized on their other weapon: Pudge Rodriguez behind the plate. He was able to stop a rally by picking Nick Johnson off at third. Both of these assets will be important in the Marlins' series game plan.



>Speed

Despite possessing an incredible amount of speed, the Marlins are not about to steal on every pitch, as they did in the beginning of the season. Now that they have learned how to play within a realistic offense, Florida has been able to use its speed to push other teams' defensive limits. The Marlins will hit and run, fake steal attempts to open up holes on the left side for batters, and eventually get under the pitchers' skin.



>Defense

Defensively, the Marlins are definitely a superior team to the Yankees. Shortstop, third base, and leftfield are probably the only positions at which the Yankees are better equipped. Despite Alex Gonzalez not being Derek Jeter, the double play combination of Gonzalez and Luis Castillo is a dangerous tandem. Behind the plate, Ivan Rodriguez effectively stops the opposing team's running game with one of the most accurate and lethal arms in major league history. His fearlessness to call pitchouts and throw behind the runner at first, and even third, will be sure to keep the Yankees on their toes -and base paths.

Derek Lee is a wizard at first, capable of stretches that no man should physically be allowed to do. With the double play combination of Gonzalez and Castillo, and either Mike Lowell or Miguel Cabrera at third, the Marlins are not likely to give away any free outs in the infield. With Juan Pierre in centerfield, the Yankees will have to either hit it out or hit it a long way into the gap to escape his glove.



>Offense

The Marlins' offense is based on the notion of speed and "small ball." Despite hitting more homeruns than the Yankees in the playoffs so far, their offense revolves around the ability of Pierre and Castillo to be the table-setters and for Rodriguez, Cabrera, Lee and Lowell to drive them in.



>Starting Pitching

On the mound, Josh Beckett has emerged as the ace of this staff and has been incredible in the playoff run to date. The Marlins' staff pales in comparison to the Yankees' big names of Mussina, Clemens, Pettite, and Wells, but don't underestimate the Marlins. Brad Penny proved that he can bring the heat in Game 1 of the World Series, Mark Redman is a much younger Jamie Moyer, and Carl Pavano showed great promise the second half of the season.



>Bullpen

In terms of setupmen, the Marlins have a slight advantage, especially because manager Jack McKeon has decided to use rookie phenom Dontrelle Willis in a setup role for the series. Willis will either be used as a situational lefty to pitch against some of the Yankees' big left-handed bats, or for long relief as he was used in Game 1. The Marlins will also rely on setup men Chad Fox and former closer Braden Looper with Ugueth Urbina serving as the closer. Urbina is definitely a downgrade to Mariano Rivera of the Yankees, but he has shown that he is capable of getting the big outs in key spots. McKeon has infused this young team with energy despite his ripe old age of 72 years. This is his first World Series experience so he is definitely in some unfamiliar managerial territory.

History may be on the Marlins' side. Florida has never lost a postseason series and with its win over the Chicago Cubs, the Marlins' record is now 5-0 in playoff series. Despite losing Game 2 of the World Series, the Marlins head back home to Florida with a key split in the Bronx.