Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak will not submit his final 25-man roster for the World Series until Wednesday’s 9 a.m. CT deadline. All indications, however, are that Allen Craig’s name will be listed on it this time.

Students of the game know that the Senators won the World Series in 1924, featuring a roster headlined by fearsome right-hander Walter (Big Train) Johnson and managed by boy wonder Bucky Harris. Frederic J. Frommer ably covers all this — and much, much more — in the definitive “You Gotta Have Heart: A History of Washington Baseball from 1859 to the 2012 National League East Champions.”

In the next couple of days, leading up to the first pitch of the 2013 World Series, it will be hard for Red Sox ownership and front office not to appreciate how rewarding this season’s product has been.
It started with the entire organization trying to erase the bitter taste of the worst baseball summer Boston had seen in over 40 years.

The Cardinals had Adam Wainwright on standby, ready to pitch the elimination game if the National League Championship Series had extended a day longer. Now, they’ll deploy him to kick off the World Series.

Shelby Miller, along with reserve pitcher Tyler Lyons, simulated two game “innings” during the session. It was welcome work for Miller, who has thrown only once since making his final regular-season start on Sept. 25. The Cardinals have been keeping him available for a multiple-innings relief stint in the bullpen.

The Cardinals have not finalized their roster breakdown for the World Series, but general manager John Mozeliak suggested that it will remain as it was for the first two rounds of the postseason. If that’s the case, the Cards will carry 13 position players and 12 pitchers.

Stephen Drew, who is 3-for-35 with 12 strikeouts and one walk in the postseason, continues to see his name in the Red Sox’s lineup because of his defense. He’s happy to contribute in some way.

After what would have been a three-year deal with the Red Sox was reduced to a one-year incentives-laden pact upon discovery of a degenerative hip condition last offseason, Mike Napoli will re-enter free agency this year on the heels of a healthy and productive season.

In the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing, the Red Sox saw their efforts to help people cope and restore a sense of normalcy bring them closer together as people and as a team. They’ll surely never completely understand, but players frequently mention the bombing as a defining moment for a team now heading to the World Series.

Starting next week, the Tigers, who fell short of a second straight trip to the World Series, have some decisions to make on how much they can keep together, and how much they need or want to change.

The Tigers seemed to match up perfectly with the Red Sox in so many areas, but ultimately, this 2013 American League Championship Series was defined by the bullpen — and that’s the one area where Detroit came up short.

The two teams that will face off in the World Series, which begins Wednesday night at Fenway Park mirror each other in certain ways.
If there is a city that has the same level of passion for baseball as Boston, it is St. Louis. And both organizations have provided joy to their fan bases in recent years.

Center fielder Ender Inciarte, a former Rule 5 Draft pick now in the D-backs organization, went 3-for-4 with a double, two RBIs and three runs while Mark Minicozzi drove in three runs, including two on a double in Zulia’s four-run fourth inning. Six Zulia pitchers combined to strike out seven and scattered only four hits. Caribes, meanwhile, got three shutout innings in relief from Orioles lefty T.J. McFarland, who allowed two hits. Caribes starter Richard Salazar allowed all six runs on six hits and two walks over 2 1/3 innings.

After six weeks of Spring Training, six months of a 162-game grind, and two grueling rounds of what has already been a splendid 2013 postseason, the 30 teams in Major League Baseball have been whittled down to two. And what World Series teams they are.

The Red Sox and Cardinals began baseball’s magical month owning deep treasure troves of postseason history, both recent and distant, and hoped to write more — which they have, with one last chapter yet to be written.

He watched it fly while he jogged out of the batter’s box. He began jumping up and down before he reached the bag. He had barely rounded first when it flew over the top of the Green Monster, a comfortable couple of rows in. And that’s when Shane Victorino began to let it all out.

With the Red Sox trailing by a run in the seventh inning of Game 6 of the American League Championship Series, Shane Victorino etched his name in Boston postseason lore, delivering a clutch grand slam over the Green Monster to send the Sox to the World Series with a 5-2 win over the Tigers on Saturday night at Fenway.