PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Ruben Amaro Jr. had one of the best views in the house of a Boston Red Sox team on the brink of something special.Amaro just wished he could have stuck around another season as first base coach to watch the Red Sox play in the World Series.As he prepares to moonlight as an actor on the 1980-something sitcom “The Goldbergs Jake Lamb Jersey ,” Amaro is keeping a close eye on his old ballclub.“It’s tough to watch and I’m absolutely rooting for them,” Amaro said Thursday. “I’d love to be a part of it. I still feel like a part of that family. You get close to the players, the people in the front office, the staff. I still email and text them regularly. No animosity toward the organization at all. Things have to change sometimes. It’s just unfortunate I’m not a part of it.”Amaro was caught up in an organizational shake up after manager John Farrell was fired and several coaches were let go at the end of 2017. The Red Sox moved on with manager Alex Cora and they are halfway to a World Series championship. The Red Sox lead 2-0 with Game 3 Friday in Los Angeles. The Dodgers need a win to avoid an 0-3 deficit that no World Series team has ever recovered from.Amaro said the difference between last season’s 93-win team and this season has been the acquisition of J.D. Martinez, who blossomed into an MVP candidate who helped Boston win a franchise-record 108 games.“The one thing we did lack last year was a J.D. Martinez-type,” Amaro said. “Alex has done a really nice job and they’ve responded real well to him so you have to give some kudos to him, too.”Amaro spent this season coaching the New York Mets in his third season on the field after a lengthy career in Philadelphia. Amaro rose from team batboy in 1980-83 to playing for the Phillies for five seasons in the 1990s. He spent 10 seasons as assistant general manager and became GM once Pat Gillick retired after the Phillies won the 2008 World Series. Amaro was in charge when the Phillies won the 2009 NL pennant, three division titles and most wins in franchise history (102) in 2011. He was fired in 2015.He’s considered a front office comeback.“I itch at times to get that opportunity again. Don’t know if it will ever happen,” he said. “I do have some interest in doing that. But now that I’m back on the field, you get that other itch to consider the possibility of doing some managing.”The Baltimore Orioles and Texas Rangers are the only teams with managerial vacancies, a role coaching with the Red Sox got him closer to chasing.“The important element of that was to get a much better understanding on the ground level of analytics and the role it plays in baseball,” Amaro said. “There’s a lot of good people over there in that area that I got a chance to be around and be able to utilize their information for my job.”Amaro may be rooting for the Red Sox over LA — but he’s ready for his close up in Hollywood.It’s a familiar role: Amaro will again play his father, who spent 58 years in the game, most of them with the Phillies, on “The Goldbergs.” Show creator Adam F. Goldberg attended William Penn Charter High School where Amaro Jr. was a star athlete, and 30 years later has been incorporated into the semi-autobiographical ABC show. Amaro was the captain of 1987 national champion Stanford baseball team while Goldberg was at Penn Charter. But stretching creative license, they are friends and attend school at the same time on the show. Amaro plays his father for the second time in Wednesday’s episode, “Fiddler.”Amaro Sr. died at 81 in 2017 after a long battle with cancer.“Being able to pay homage is pretty special. My dad battled cancer for about 30 years and toward the end of his life he struggled with it,” Amaro said. “It was neat for me to play … well, not to get too sappy about it, but it made me pretty emotional.”He’s more prepared for a second act in the front office — just like he was on “The Goldbergs.”“It was a little easier the second time around. My first time I only had one line and it took 20 takes to get it,” he said http://www.diamondbacksfanproshop.com/authentic-robbie-ray-jersey , laughing. Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty ImagesThe 2018 Major League Baseball playoffs have seen many close, drama-filled games as the World Series approaches. Both League Championship Series hold the possibility of either team going to the World Series, and are sure to bring more exciting baseball.In the American League Championship Series, you have a matchup between two powerhouse teams鈥攖he Boston Red Sox and the Houston Astros. Houston鈥攖he defending World Series champions鈥攚on 103 games and the AL West. The Red Sox had the most wins inMLB this season, claiming the AL East with 108 victories.While the Astros swept the Cleveland Indians in the Division Series, the Sox had an exciting Division Series against their arch rival鈥攖he New York Yankees鈥攖hat they won 3-1. If the Red Sox win on Thursday, they will advance to the World Series.Meanwhile, the National League Championship Series has seen a back-and-forth contest between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Brewers clinched the best record in the NL and won the Central division, while the Dodgers claimed theirsixth straight NL West title.The Brewers swept the Colorado Rockies in the Division Series, while the Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 3-1 to advance to the NLCS. The two teams are currently caught up in a tight battle for the NL spot in the World Series. The two teams split the first four games, and there have been three victories decided by just one run.While the teams continue to fight it out in the Championship Series, here's a look at the World Series schedule, format, odds, and a prediction for the matchup. World Series ScheduleGame 1: Tuesday, Oct. 23Game 2: Wednesday, Oct. 24Game 3: Friday, Oct. 26Game 4: Saturday, Oct. 27Game 5: Sunday, Oct. 28*Game 6: Tuesday, Oct. 30*Game 7: Wednesday, Oct. 31**If necessarySchedule information is courtesy of MLB.com. All games will be televised on Fox and the start times are still to be determined.World Series FormatThe World Series is a best-of-seven format in a 2-3-2 schedule.From 2003-2016 Jeff Mathis Jersey , home-field advantage in the World Series was decided by the champion of the league that won the All-Star Game.However, that all changed prior to the 2017 season, resulting in home-field advantage being determined by winning percentage. Home field (Games 1-2 and 6-7 if necessary) goes to the team that had the higher regular-season winning percentage, regardless of Wild Card or Division Series results.The Red Sox (108-54) would enjoy home field advantage over both the Brewers (96-67) and the Dodgers (92-71). Likewise, the Astros (103-59)鈥攊f they won the next three games to make it to the World Series鈥攚ould have home-field advantage over both NL teams.Courtesy of MLB News. World Series OddsHere are the most up-to-date World Series odds fromOddsSharkas of Thursday at 12 p.m. ET:Boston Red Sox:-105 (0.95:1 odds)LA Dodgers: +185 (1.85:1 odds)Milwaukee Brewers: +800 (8:1 odds)Houston Astros:+850 (8.5:1 odds)Predicted MatchupThe World Series prediction is the Boston Red Sox facing off against the Los Angeles Dodgers, with the Red Sox hosting games 1 and 2, as well as 6 and 7 if needed.The Red Sox have been a force to be reckoned with in 2018, with 108 regular-season wins and some incredible performances so far in the postseason. If you need further proof of how Boston performs in clutch situations, take a look at Andrew Benintendi's catch that stopped the Astros from potentially tying or winning the game in the bottom of the ninth in Wednesday's Game 4:MLB MLB.RedSox radio broadcaster Joe Castiglione got so excited during the final play, he literally fell out of his seat. Can you believe it? 馃槀 馃槀 馃槀 HdMe6upUpFNeedless to say, the Red Sox are a team of stars. On the offensive side, the trio of J.D. Martinez, Benintendi and Jackie Bradley Jr. have come out swinging, literally. Benintendi leads the team in runs in the postseason, Martinez has eight RBI and a home run, and Bradley has nine RBI and two home runs.Pitchers Ryan Brasier and Matt Barnes have played seven and six games, respectively, and neither has allowed an earned run in the postseason. Both pitchers have averaged more than seven strikeouts per nine innings, and have only walked four batters each. Chris Sale, while boasting an ERA of 3.48, leads the Boston bullpen in strikeouts in the postseason with 14.In the National League, you have a Los Angeles Dodgers team that boasts 10 home runs in the postseason http://www.bravesfanproshop.com/authentic-nick-markakis-jersey , but only 36 runs and 35 RBI, compared to Boston's 52 and 49, respectively. The Dodgers' Manny Machado has proved to be a beast in the playoffs, with nine RBI and three homeruns in the nine games he has played. Max Muncy joins him with two homers and six runs.L.A. has relied heavily on its pitchers in the postseason. The bullpen held the Braves to two scoreless games in the Division Series and has only allowed the Brewers more than four runs in one game, the opener that L.A. lost, 6-5. In the last two games against the Brewers, the Dodgers have held Milwaukee to one and two runs. In Game 3, Clayton Kershaw pitched through seven innings and gave up one earned run. In the three gamesin which Kershaw has started, his record is 2-1 and he has 14 strikeouts.Stats By STATS StatsBySTATSClayton Kershaw joins Jim Palmer (1971 Orioles), Don Drysdale (1963 Dodgers), and Bill Dinneen (1903 Americans) as the only players with 2+ walks (batting) and 9+ strikeouts (pitching) in a #postseason game all-time.#LADetermined lm0nlOAxljPitchers Pedro Baez, Kenley Jansen, and Dylan Floro have all played at least five games and have yet to allow a run in the postseason. Baez has averaged 13.5 strikeouts per nine innings in the postseason, while Jansen has averaged 11.8 and Floro 9.0.While the Red Sox have offensive power, the L.A. bullpen has been on a hot streak and boasts impressive stats in the postseason. The two teams will make a great matchup and provide for a World Series that is both fun to watch and competitive, as their games will feature some of the best pitching, fielding, and hitting in the game.