The first wild-card World Series will be ... wild. From the crowd in Anaheim to the first trip to the Series for the Angels and for Barry Bonds, to the uncertain future of manager Dusty Baker to the anticipated confrontation between Bonds and Francisco Rodriguez, it will be great.

Here are five key questions:

1. Can San Francisco slow down Anaheim's offensive machine?
The Angels have scored 56 runs in nine postseason games, 6.2 per game. They are difficult to defend because they are so aggressive, and they play a style of game that so few teams play. Instead of striking out well over 1,000 times as they wait for walks and three-run home runs, the Angels struck out fewer times than any team, they take the extra base as often as any team and they make more productive outs -- advancing a runner with an out -- than any team.

	Adam Kennedy Second Base Anaheim Angels Profile
	2002 POSTSEASON STATISTICS AB HR RBI R SB AVG 22 4 8 9 2 .409

They are relentless from one through nine in the order. Adam Kennedy, their No. 9 hitter, batted over .300 from that spot this season; he also had a three-homer game in Game 5 of the ALCS. The Angels will do anything to get on base, led by leadoff man David Eckstein, who wears no padding, but is willing to stick any body part in front of pitches thrown in the 90s. To combat this, the Giants have versatile starting pitchers, including Kirk Rueter, who has allowed just six stolen bases in the last three years. He's so quick to the plate, teams rarely start a runner against him. Livan Hernandez has great hands, so it's not a good idea to try to bunt against him.

2. Who will be the DH for the Giants?
In this case, DH stands for Don't Have. The six-man bench they used in the first two playoff series combined for 19 home runs and 115 RBIs this season. That group includes one left-handed hitter, Tom Goodwin. It's possible that the Giants could add Damon Minor (10 home runs in 173 at-bats) to the roster, but he was left off for the Division and League Championship Series rosters because he had swung the bat so poorly the last month of the season, and now he hasn't swung at all in over two weeks. Goodwin, Shawon Dunston, Pedro Feliz, Ramon Martinez and Tsuyoshi Shinjo are possibilities, but none is a classic DH.

3. What team has a better bullpen?
It's close. The Giants pen had a 2.53 ERA the second half, nearly a half-run lower than that of the Braves, who led the league in bullpen ERA in 2002. Tim Worrell and Felix Rodriguez provide San Francisco two set-up men for Robb Nen, who was wobbly in the playoffs, but always got the big out when he had to. Three left-handers, led by Scott Eyre, should come in handy against Anaheim's left-handed hitters.

The Angels bullpen was brilliant in the first two rounds, led by closer Troy Percival and a bunch of set-up guys, including Brendan Donnelly, Ben Weber and Scott Schoeneweis, who is more than a situational left-hander. The key to the Angels pen is 20-year-old Francisco Rodriguez, who won his first four major-league games in the playoffs -- no one had ever gotten his first major-league win in the postseason. Rodriguez's slider and 95-mph heater has been nearly untouchable, giving the Angels another power arm in the late innings.

	Barry Bonds Left Field San Francisco Giants Profile
	2002 POSTSEASON STATISTICS AB HR RBI R BB AVG 28 4 10 10 14 .286

4. How will the Angels pitch Barry Bonds?
Very carefully. All teams have done it that way for two years and there's no reason to think the Angels will be any different. This year, Bonds had more intentional walks (68) than anyone on his team had walks, and he had more intentional walks than 24 teams. He had 63 more walks than anyone in the major leagues -- according to the Elias Sports Bureau, that's the second-largest gap (Babe Ruth had 69 more walks than George Burns in 1923) since walks became official in 1913. In 10 postseason games this year, Bonds walked 14 times.

Benito Santiago, the most important player for the Giants because he hits behind Bonds in the No. 5 slot, has gone 5-for-13 with two homers and eight RBIs in the postseason following walks to Bonds. The Angels likely will make Santiago beat them. In 13 interleague games against the Giants (none this year) the Angels walked Bonds 15 times, six intentionally. Bonds hit five homers. Bonds' first opponent will be left-hander Jarrod Washburn. Counting the postseason, Bonds, according to Elias, has hit 22 home runs this year against left-handers, most ever by a left-handed hitter off left-handed pitching.

5. How did the Giants get this far without a 15-game winner?
They're the fifth team in history to win 95 games without a 15-game winner. Of those five, only the 1979 Pirates won the World Series. They may not have a true ace, but their strength is that they threw a competent major-league starter in all 162 games. They used only six starting pitchers, all of them different. Jason Schmidt throws in the high 90s. Rueter gets in trouble when he throws 90 -- that's too hard for him. Hernandez is at his best when he throws a lot of fastballs and hits 90, but he's very crafty and changes speeds. Russ Ortiz comes at you hard all the time with great movement on all his pitches. On paper, this rotation doesn't always match up with others, but the Giants usually win.

Prediction: Giants in seven.

Tim Kurkjian is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine and a regular contributor to Baseball Tonight.