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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Here are some of the best from Week One and some to watch in Week Two: TOP PERFORMERS Anthony Allen, RB, Saskatchewan (176 YDS, 2 TD, 30 touches vs. Hamilton) - Powerfully-built back burst onto the scene in his CFL debut, after a couple of years in the NFL, playing 21 games with the Baltimore Ravens.LAWRENCE, Kan. -- On an afternoon in which three Georgetown players fouled out and his team sent No. 18 Kansas to the free throw line 46 times, Hoyas coach John Thompson III reached an obvious conclusion. His team just wasnt physical enough. "I thought we were the farthest thing from it to be honest with you," Thompson said without a trace of sarcasm. "We slapped and fouled, but we werent physical." The Jayhawks took advantage of the Hoyas foul trouble, overwhelming them in the second half with a variety of highlight-reel slams in an 86-64 victory Saturday. "If you look at the game, we didnt make enough of the physical plays," Thompson said. "When I say that I mean a good box out. When I say that I mean if its a loose ball we have to be the one to aggressively go after it and come up with the 50-50 balls." Tarik Black came off the bench to score 17 points and Joel Embiid also had 17 for the Jayhawks (8-3), while Markel Starks paced Georgetown with 19 and DVauntes Smith-Rivera added 12. The Hoyas (7-3) tried to use the kind of muscle that has suited them so well in the rough-and-tumble Big East, but all they did was get into debilitating foul trouble. Bruising big man Josh Smith, who had been averaging 14.1 points, scored just five before fouling out. Moses Ayegba and Nate Lubick also fouled out as Kansas asserted its dominance in the post. "They did a good job of getting us in foul trouble and we got deep into the bench," said Thompson, whose team was playing its first true road game. "Do we have a lack of depth? I dont know. I dont think necessarily the guys that were in foul trouble played particularly well." Andrew Wiggins added 12 points and Naadir Tharpe had 10 for the Jayhawks, who proved once more why the Phog is such an intimidating venue. Kansas pushed its non-conference home winning streak to 67 games by beating the Hoyas in their first visit to Allen Fieldhouse. "This venue is storied," Thompson said. "With that being said it wasnt the venue or the fans, it was the guys down on the other bench that I thought played at a high level today." The game was so rough that Jayhawkss forward Perry Ellis left early in the second half after taking an elbow to the back of his head.dddddddddddd Ellis tried to stay in the game but missed a free throw so badly that he took himself out. He never returned from the locker room. "If he had a concussion, its very, very slight," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "He did bruise the nerve in his neck. ... Its something hell be able to come back from in a short time." Just as every other team has done this season, Georgetown tried to combat the Jayhawks length and athleticism by employing a zone defence in the first half. The only problem was the Hoyas were so mired in foul trouble that they didnt have anybody to occupy the inside. "We didnt do what we needed to do to win the game," Lubick said. "We didnt make the type of plays with our frontcourt that you need to make to come and win a game here." Kansas built its 44-34 lead thanks in part to a 14-3 run fueled by its defence. Georgetown at one point went more than 10 1/2 minutes without a field goal. Ayegba and Lubick had three fouls each by halftime, and three other Hoyas who spent time guarding the paint had picked up two fouls. That included Smith, who picked up his third in the opening minute of the second half and had to spend long stretches on the bench. Georgetown tried to get back into the game midway through the second half, trimming its deficit to 59-47 on Jabil Trawicks basket. But frustration boiled over for the Hoyas when Trawick clobbered Wiggins on the way to the basket, and the teams nearly came to blows. Wiggins responded by knocking down a 3-pointer in Trawicks face, and in a matter of minutes, the Jayhawks had built a comfortable lead. Embiid put an exclamation mark on it when he followed up a miss by Wiggins with a thunderous jam that left the entire goal shaking. It set off a festive celebration of the Jayhawks first game at the Phog in 29 days. "The last couple practices before this game, I told the guys it would be a fun game to come back home," Tharp said. "I knew it was going to be exciting. I knew it was going to be turned up in there. It was just a good game." ' ' '