Even though it’s clear that the American League is superior to the National League again this year, it did seem as if a lot of the prognosticators across the country backed off a bit from predictions like the ones in 2006 that said that the Tigers would beat the Cardinals “in three games.” Is it possible that the media has learned from their mistake? Nah. Not at all. Prior to Game One, the storyline was “what will the layoff do to the Phillies?” Easy one…if they lose, the layoff hurt (Tigers ’06). If they win, the layoff helped (White Sox ’06). Another storyline that will surely be picked up on is the little hero that helps either the Rays or the Phillies win a game during the Series. Ryan Howard could hit four homers in the series, but if So Taguchi hits .375 with a game-winning sacrifice fly, guess who is getting the most attention? The World Series is built for the unlikely hero, and this week’s Top 7 looks at the biggest ones since 1987.

7. David Eckstein
It’s too bad that there isn’t a stat that tracks hyperbole. Eckstein’s career would rank first on the Baseball Reference list. Articles after his 2006 World Series MVP run did everything but claim that he could cure fatal illnesses by breathing on you. Eckstein had a very good series in ’06, but Scott Rolen should have been the MVP.

6. Pat Borders
In the aftermath of Borders winning the 1992 World Series MVP and bringing Canada a title, eight other teams gave him a shot trying to re-capture the magic. He changed teams twice in 1995, three times in 1996, and two more times in both 1999 and 2004.

5. Billy Hatcher
Those of us who can remember the Reds’ shocking sweep of the A’s in 1990 remember Hatcher tearing them apart single-handedly, but it’s surprising to review the record and see that he didn’t hit a single home run in the series. I guess it doesn’t really matter when you hit .750 (9 for 12) with an .800 OB% and a 1.250 SLG%, which are wiffle ball stats for the older brother who demands that he gets to play. It’s hard to think of a present-day equivalent to how big of an upset this World Series was, especially considering that it was a no-contest sweep. Perhaps the best example would be someone at the start of the season saying that the Rays would win the American League East and a 7-game series against the Red Sox to go to the World Series.

4. Mark Lemke
He was David Eckstein before David Eckstein. He hit .417 (10 for 24) with a double and three triples in the 1991 World Series for the Braves. He is also a good example of how your mind can remember things incorrectly. Conventional history remembers him as following that performance up with Series performances that were nearly as good, but he hit just over .230 in 67 World Series at-bats post’91 with four RBI. Still, the .708 SLG% back in 1991 looks like a typo since it more than doubles his career slugging.

3. Livan Hernandez
This is the best possible example of the media creating themselves a story, with Ray Lewis: Superbowl MVP coming in a close 2nd. Hernadez had already gotten the NLCS MVP with two wins (one in relief) and a 9-foot strike zone. In the World Series, he was 2-0, but his stats were: 5.27 ERA, 10 walks, seven strikeouts. Meanwhile, Moises Alou hit .321 with three homers and nine RBI in the seven-game series. He probably could have doubled all of those numbers and the “kid from Cuba” angle would have still reigned supreme. Nowadays, you cheer loudly when you find out that Hernandez is facing your favorite team.

2. Scott Brosius
In the past, Skip Bayless has actually said, with a straight face, that the Yankees would be better off with Brosius than with Alex Rodriguez. It is true that Brosius has one of the most famous Series home runs of the 2000s, and he has hit .314 with four homers in his World Series career, but to suggest that’s anything more than a fluke (he’s a .245 career postseason hitter) and that the Yanks would be better off with him a third base is completely insane.

1.Tom Lawless
If anyone can find a more unlikely World Series home run, I would love to hear about it. In the 1987 World Series against the Twins, Lawless, with one career bomb, crushed a three-run dong in Game 4. It was his only hit of the series, his second career home run (he ended his career with three), and was the equivalent of the Loch Ness Monster popping out of the Mississippi River and eating center fielder Dan Gladden. To top it off, he flipped his bat twelve feet in the air after hitting it and staring it down. It was just Tom being Tom.