The World Series is almost upon us. Its ironic that two of the oldest and most iconic teams have been taken to the Fall Classic by two men who are there for the first time in their careers and both of whom are relatively light in Major League managerial experience. St. Louis Cardinals skipper Mike Matheny is in his second year with St. Louis after succeeding Tony LaRussa after the Cardinals won the 2011 World Series. This was Mathenys first managerial job, period. John Farrell managed the Toronto Blue Jays for two years before getting "traded" to the Boston Red Sox this past off-season and this is only his third year managing in the Bigs. Only four rookie managers have ever won a World Series, while six more won in their first full-season at the helm of a team. The last rookie to turn the trick was former Blue Jays catcher Bob Brenly in 2001 when the Arizona Diamondbacks won their first and only World Series in that classic match-up with the New York Yankees. The other are "the Major," Ralph Houk, who led the 1961 Yankees to a Series win over the Cincinatti Reds, Eddie Dyer, who was at the helm of the 1946 Cardinals when they beat the Red Sox in seven games and Bucky Harris, who lead the 1924 Washington Senators to their one and only World Series title. Harris was only 27-years-old when he took over as player manager that season and won two more pennants over his 29 years as an MLB skipper and led the Yankees to a title in 1947. Of those four, Harris was the only one to make it into the Hall of Fame at Cooperstown. The group of six who won in their first full season as a skipper includes four Hall of Famers and one that in my mind should be. In 1920, Tris Speaker led the Cleveland Indians to their first World Series crown as a player-manager. Rogers Hornsby did the same for St. Louis in 1926, also as a player-manager. Legendary slugger Bill Terry, the last National Leaguer to hit .400, won as a player-manager with the New York Giants. Frankie Frisch also won as a player-manager with St. Louis in 1934. These four men refute the old argument that great players have a tough time becoming coaches or managers. The other two on that list are Dallas Green of the 1980 Phillies, who was really more regarded over the years as a general manager. The final name is that of Tom Kelly, who won two World Series with the Twins in 1987 and 1991. Why he isnt in the Hall of Fame is beyond me. This is the fourth meeting between the Cardinals and Red Sox in the World Series. In 1946 and again in 1967 (the Red Sox Impossible Dream Season,) St. Louis won in 7. But all of that was erased from memory by Red Sox fans when the BoSox ended their 86 year-long World Series drought by sweeping the Cardinals in 2004. This is the Cardinals fourth World Series appearance in 10 seasons (they own a 2-1 record in the previous three) and the Red Soxs third in the same decade (they won their previous two.) So essentially, this is for the bragging rights for best team since the start of the new millennium. Bob Elliot of the Toronto Sun has word that the Blue Jays are on the lookout for a catching upgrade are aiming for either Chris Iannetta or Hank Conger of the Los Angeles Angels in a trade. Clearly, since theyre not going to get into a bidding war for the likes of free agent-to-be Brian McCann, it shouldnt be any surprise that the Blue Jays would go back to the Mike Scioscia school of Catcher-nomics. Over the past six or seven years, the Blue Jays have employed, or at least briefly owned, four other Angels catchers who learned at the knee of Scoscia. Benji and Jose Molina were with the Angels when they beat the Giants in the 2002 World Series. Mike Napoli was acquired in the Vernon Wells trade and then was swapped four days later to the Texas Rangers for reliever Frank Francisco and cash and Jeff Mathis, who the Jays traded to Miami as part of that massive trade with the Marlins. 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The second-ranked Jayhawks will play the Miners of Texas-El Paso at Imperial Arena in the Bahamas. The game can be seen live on TSN2 starting at 7pm et/4pm pt.PHILADELPHIA -- Rain gave a pair of depleted bullpens a little boost. Tuesday nights game between the Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies was postponed by inclement weather, allowing both managers to rest their weary closers an extra day. A makeup date wasnt announced. Its expected the game will be played when the Braves return to Philadelphia on June 27-29. David Hale, the Braves scheduled starter, will be skipped. Julio Teheran (1-1) faces Phillies ace Cliff Lee (2-1) on Wednesday night. Alex Wood (2-1) goes against A.J. Burnett (0-1) in the series finale Thursday afternoon. Hale will be available in the bullpen the next two games and is scheduled to start Sunday. "This lets us recharge that bullpen a little bit," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. Gonzalez wouldnt say whether closer Craig Kimbrel would have been available Tuesday. Kimbrel, who experienced shoulder discomfort after recording his fifth save on Saturday, is day to day and David Carpenter got the save in Atlantas 9-6 comeback win Monday night. "Kimbrel played catch today. Nothing major," Gonzalez said. "Hopefully tomorrow he wakes up a little better, progresses." The Phillies wasted a five-run rally in the eighth inning of the series opener when Jaake Diekman allowed a grand slam to Dan Uggla in the ninth inning.dddddddddddd Diekman was trying for his first career save filling in for Jonathan Papelbon, who pitched the three previous games. Papelbon is ready to go and the overused bullpen could benefit from the night off. Philadelphias relievers have the third-highest ERA in the majors at 5.53. It hasnt helped that starters have pitched more than six innings just twice in 13 games. "The game starts with pitching and defence," Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said. "I think overall our pitchers have to establish the strike zone and work ahead in the counts. I think that is a big part in why were playing the slowest games and longest games in baseball. Every time I look at the clock and leave, its almost midnight. I cant believe it, but it is what it is." The Phillies are averaging 3 hours, 17 minutes for their games. Only two other teams are longer. "Our pitchers are throwing a lot of pitches, so on the starting-pitching side of things theyve been limited on the time that they can be out there," Sandberg said. "And then weve had to use our bullpen and then with some of our bullpen guys it has been the same thing with the amount of pitches coming out of the pen." ' ' '