The Cards ('11 champ) have 11 WS rings and they have that x-factor that the Yankees have. A new team is born every single time the postseason calls. SF ('10 champ) isn't that way and they often lay an egg in postseason and have to be in a serious momentum swing which they are if Timmy and Barry are on board. NYY ('09 champ) are always a threat, no matter who is benched. Detroit to me is the unknown factor here and some betting sites put them as the favorite. They don't have a recent championship so they could arguably be the most hungry and that in itself can push them over the edge and get it done.
NLCS will be more interesting since both are kind of underdogs. If the ACLS goes the distance though, all of America will be watching and mostly hoping the Yankees lose. More than seeing SF win, I like seeing the Yankees lose big ones and there's nothing more amazing in American sports than watching Boston lose the curse and beat NYY in the ACLS en route to first ring in many decades. The closest "big bowel movement relief" we had that were big for California was the Giants finally winning one as an SF/California team two years ago, and the Angels getting the monkey off their back as both having the best talent in all of baseball (Ryan, Carew, Jackson, etc) yet never winning the WS and always being second dog to the Dodgers.
The one thing both SF and the Angels had in common until both won their first ring (other than both being the very definition of the word choke) was getting superior talent from around the world and as soon as they donned those California team uniforms, they lost their mojo. If SF moves on from now, I hope Zito can redeem himself into the hero of the Bay Area he was a decade ago. And on a similar note, I hope Lincecum returns to '08-'11 form in the NLCS. He had a few great innings in NLDS but that could have been a fluke.
