Red Sox and Cardinals players are not used to resting several days between games, especially when they've waited all season to get to where they are now.

But now that the wait is over, we can anticipate an exciting series ahead of us when the World Series starts tonight in Boston.

The matchup in this World Series is about as close as you could as for on paper. With both teams finishing with the same exact 97-65 record in the regular season before pushing through the rest of their respective leagues in the Divisional and Championship rounds, the momentum is on both sides.

The 2013 World Series undoubtedly brings back the memories of almost a decade ago when the 2004 Red Sox stormed back from a 3-0 hole in the ALCS to win the American League before plowing through the Cardinals en route to their first World Series title in far too long.

The Red Sox are well aware that people are going to keep mentioning their victory over the Cardinals in the 2004 World Series, but they also don't want people to put the expectations too high since the Red Sox were so dominant in that series. The Red Sox never trailed once in the four-game sweep.

"Obviously I'm aware of the history of the two teams," Red Sox star Jacoby Ellsbury said. "Once the first pitch happens, all that goes out the window."

On the other side, Cards manager Mike Matheny has a slightly different approach to it all. The Cardinals are looking to build from that experience and win this series to help forget about 2004.

"Some of us have some pretty bad memories of being here in 2004, and we're looking to kind of right that ship," he said.

Maybe the Cards will be able to right the ship, but the Red Sox will be looking to do the same after last year's disastrous ending. Regardless of which team wins the series, one thing is for sure: We are in for an exciting matchup.