Answering questions about the Giants-Royals World Series

The World Series opens Tuesday in Kansas City with two wild card teams, the Royals and Giants, playing for the title.

Wasn't the new one-game wild card format supposed to make it tougher for a second-place team to make it to the World Series?

The Royals, who have won eight consecutive games in this postseason, are playing in their first World Series since 1985, the year they beat the Cardinals. The Giants are in their third World Series in five seasons after beating the Rangers in 2010 and the Tigers in 2012.

This is the first all-wild card World Series since the Angels-Giants in 2002. Of course, the Angels and Giants didn't have to play the one-game playoff between wild card teams. They each went right into the Division Series.

It's also the first World Series where each team has fewer than 90 regular season wins. The Royals had 89, the Giants 88.

Here are answers to random questions you might be asking before Tuesday's first pitch in Kansas City:

Who is the Giants' latest hero, Travis Ishikawa - the guy who hit the walk-off home run in Game 5 to give them their third NL pennant in five seasons?

Ishikawa started the season with Pittsburgh as a first baseman and was supposed to platoon with Gaby Sanchez. When the Pirates acquired Ike Davis, Ishikawa asked for his release and signed with the Giants. He played more games in the minors (71) than he did with the Giants (62) and got called up after injuries to Michael Morse and Brandon Belt. Ishikawa, who played briefly with the 2013 Orioles, getting two hits in six games, was so frustrated with his play in the minors this season that he called a friend and told him he was thinking of quitting baseball. This story is the Giants' version of Steve Pearce.

How close did the Royals and Giants come to not making the postseason?

It is fair to say that neither team looked like a World Series contender in September. The Royals were 48-50 on July 21. They went 10-10 in their last 20 games and lost two series to Detroit. The Giants lost three of their last five series, including two to the Dodgers. The Giants, who had to play their wild card game in Pittsburgh, were also swept by San Diego.

Isn't Kauffman Stadium where umpire Don Denkinger's famous blown call happened at first base in Game 6 of the Royals-Cardinals World Series in 1985?

Indeed. There's a sense of irony that the World Series opens in Kansas City, given this is the first season of instant replay. The Denkinger call is likely to be a big story when the series opens. The Cardinals were leading 1-0 in the bottom of the ninth of Game 6 when Denkinger called the Royals' Jorge Orta safe at first base where replays showed that he was clearly out. The Royals rallied to win Game 6 2-1 and cruised 11-0 in Game 7 for the title.

There have been other historic moments at Kauffman Stadium, right?

Royals Hall of Famer George Brett hit an inside-the-park home run in his final at-bat of 1976 at "The K," as the locals call it, to win the American League batting title by .001 (.333) over teammate Hal McRae. Kauffman has been the site of Paul Molitor's 3,000th hit (a triple) and no-hitters by Nolan Ryan, Bret Saberhagen and Jim Colborn. The first World Series played there was in 1980 when the Royals met the Phillies. In 1996, the Orioles' Cal Ripken Jr. played in his 2,216th consecutive game there, breaking the world record held by Japan's Sachio Kinugasa.

What's the most historic thing that happened at AT&T Park, the Giants' home ballpark?

Barry Bonds' chase of Henry Aaron's career home run record ended amid steroids controversy in San Francisco when he hit home run No. 756 off the Nationals' Mike Bacsik on Aug. 7, 2007. The Giants, though, hope for a World Series history at home. They won in five games in 2010 at Texas and in five games in 2012 at Detroit. Edgar Renteria was their World Series MVP in 2010, Pablo Sandoval in 2012.

What is McCovey Cove?

It's a San Francisco baseball tradition. That's the water behind right field at AT&T. This year, eight opposing hitters, including the Nationals' Bryce Harper in the Division Series and five Giants, hit home runs into McCovey Cove without touching the Arcade or Portwalk. It is named after Giants Hall of Fame first baseman Willie McCovey. Since the ballpark opened in 2000, the Giants have hit 68 home runs into McCovey Cove, opponents have hit 36.

Kauffman Stadium has its own version of water in outfield, right?

The water fountains in right field are a well-kept secret. The show of spraying water amid changing colored lights is on display before the game and in between innings. When play starts, only the waterfalls are going. The display is known as the Water Spectacular and the fountain is 322 feet long.

What's the scouting report on the Royals and Giants?

Both teams have incredible defenses with the Royals having the edge. Both teams have strong bullpens. The Royals bullpen is stronger with the seventh-, eighth- and ninth-inning guys, but the Giants have a deeper bullpen and tend to use more pitchers. The Giants have more experience and power, the Royals more speed and youth.

What is each team's biggest question mark?

The rotations. James Shields, the Royals' top pitcher, hasn't looked good in the postseason, and their No. 2 guy, Yordano Ventura, might be getting worn out. That leaves a lot of expectations for Jason Vargas and former Oriole Jeremy Guthrie. The Giants' ace, Madison Bumgarner, has more potential than Shields. The Giants' Jake Peavy, strong in September, and Tim Hudson, strong against the Nationals, are aging six-inning pitchers. Ryan Vogelsong has excellent command, but he doesn't strike fear into a lineup.

What's the prediction?

The prediction here is that the Giants will win in six games and their catcher, Buster Posey, will be the MVP.