Two of the grand old ballclubs come together for the 2013 fall classic; the Boston Red Sox and the St. Louis Cardinals. St. Louis took the National League crown by beating the Los Angeles Dodgers by four games to two while Boston took the American League pennant in grand style, courtesy of a grand slam from Shane Victorino.

The St. Louis Cardinals is one of the best-run franchises in US sport, consistently atop the standings and making playoff runs while not being in one of the huge markets like New York or LA. There is no strict salary cap in baseball and while the Cardinals and their $115m opening day payroll are not at the level of the Oakland A’s ($61m), they were still a cool $102m short of the LA Dodgers and their whopping $217m this season. New York Yankees fans have had a relatively tough October. Their team didn’t make the playoffs and will now watch the Red Sox try and their $159m payroll to take their third World Series in ten years. And this while the Bronx Bombers went into the season with the highest wage bill in baseball ($229m).

The 2004 World Series was, famously, Boston’s first in 86 years and coincided with an extended period of sporting success for New England’s professional sports teams. While the Red Sox were putting to bed the Curse of the Bambino, the New England Patriots were putting together the Belehick/Brady dynasty including the 2002, 2004 and 2005 Super Bowls. On the hardwood the Boston Celtics won the NBA title in 2008 and in 2011 the Boston Bruins won ice hockey’s Stanley Cup for the first time in 29 years.

While Boston’s team have adapted the bearded look, perhaps a subconcious throwback to the “idiots” team that won the 2004 World Series, only one player remains from 2004: David Ortiz.

“Big Papi” is now somewhat of a Boston icon and, while now 37 years old and on the downside of his career, he’s still a dangerous hitter. Ortiz hit .309/.395/.564 with 30 home runs during the regular season and was also intentionally walked an MLB-leading 27 times.

Ortiz was the man who hit the home run which saw Boston policeman Steve Horgan with his hands in the air celebrating while Detroit Tigers center fielder Torii Hunter went head over heels over the bullpen wall in vain pursuit.

And in April after the Patriots Day Boston marathon bombing it was Ortiz who captured the resilient spirit of his adopted city, taking the microphone before a sellout crowd in the first game at Fenway Park since the attack and proclaiming “This is our fucking city”.

This year’s opponents are the same as 2004 series and, like Boston, St. Louis has just a single player from that series who will suit up tonight. MVP candidate and starting catcher Yadier Molina was a backup on the 2004 team to Mike Matheny (Matheny is now the team’s manager) and has developed into one of the best all-round players in the game. A brilliant defensive catcher with a rocket arm, the 30 year old Molina has developed his hitting over the years to the point where he now hits in the middle of the Cardinals lineup.

The Cardinals scored the most runs in the National League during the 2013 regular season, their 783 runs fully 10% better than Colorado’s 706 in second place. Boston scored the most runs in the American league, their 853 runs also impressively ahead of Detroit’s 796.

St. Louis’ pitchers are in top form and have conceded the fewest runs of any team in the 2013 playoffs. Their starting pitching was already good before the breakout of star first year starter Michael Wacha, while their bullpen is solid.

Boston’s starting pitching depth is not at the same level as the Cardinals but if it’s late in the game their trump card is 38 year old closer Koji Uehara. The Japanese veteran has been lights-out this season, allowing just 44 men to reach base in his 74.1 innings of work.

Playoff baseball is one of the Great things in sport. After a marathon season that lasts fully 162 games, a game, a series or even the championship itself can come down to a single at-bat; even a single pitch.

Those are glorious moments indeed.

2013 World Series Schedule:

• Game 1 – Oct 23 St. Louis @ Boston – Fenway Park – 8.07pm ET / 1.07am (24th) GMT
• Game 2 – Oct 24 St. Louis @ Boston – Fenway Park – 8.07pm ET / 1.07am (25th) GMT
• Game 3 – Oct 26 Boston @ St. Louis – Busch Stadium – 8.07pm ET / 1.07am (27th) GMT
• Game 4 – Oct 27 Boston @ St. Louis – Busch Stadium – 8.15pm ET / 1.15am (28th) GMT
• Game 5 (if necessary) – Oct 28 Boston @ St. Louis – Busch Stadium
• Game 6 (if necessary) – Oct 30 St. Louis @ Boston – Fenway Park
• Game 7 (if necessary) – Oct 31 St. Louis @ Boston – Fenway Park

The MLB World Series will be broadcast on BT Sport/ESPN with games starting around 1am GMT. Don’t have a BT Sport/ESPN subscription? It’s also available to stream via the entirely excellent MLB.tv for $3.99 (about €3) for the best-of-seven series. Late night radio fans can access the radio call on BBC 5Live Sports Extra.