I really didn’t have a horse in this World Series. My team of course was eliminated from post season contention by the Cardinals and that would make me not that willing to cheer for the Cardinals to win. I have liked the Rangers team for a number of years now and think they have a really great group of players and managers. So, I was cheering for the Rangers to win.
That said though, I enjoyed watching the series, all of it. Both teams and all the players. It was one of the better World Series I’ve seen in a long time. It was filled with everything a baseball fan could want. Pitching duels, home runs, huge comebacks, walk offs, outstanding defense, great management, players giving it their all. It was really something to see and if you missed it, well you missed some really, really great baseball. Read more... (435 words, 1 image, estimated 1:44 mins reading time)
The World Series had had 1 theme running through the whole thing – injury. Some players started the Series with injury while others have gotten injured as it has gone on. Either way it could have an impact on the game 7 tonight.
Carpenter will pitch tonight for the Cards on 3 days rest. Carpenter, as everyone knows, has been battling a somewhat gimpy elbow for some time and just trying to play through it. His last, and only other ever, start on short rest was in the NLDS and it did not go well, not well at all. If Carpenter comes out and doesn’t have his top stuff and tries to overthrow to make up for it, he could see a short night and this could impact the Cards immensely. Read more... (422 words, 1 image, estimated 1:41 mins reading time)
In baseball this phrase seems to come up a lot. One strike away from getting out of a rough inning. One strike away from winning or losing. One strike away from the World Series championship. The Rangers faced this phrase not once in game 6, but twice.
As I’ve watched this World Series, I have realized two things. One, anything can happen in baseball and I mean anything to change a game. Two, I am not as impressed as I once was with Neftali Feliz. The first one is just an unpredictable thing. Someone can get injured, commit an error, or a squirrel can run across home plate. Those kinds of things just come out of nowhere and can change a game. But Feliz, now that’s something that just shouldn’t be happening. Read more... (428 words, 1 image, estimated 1:43 mins reading time)
I don’t generally like to throw those words around because it’s such a big statement. To me, the best ever means of all time, for all time, nothing surpasses. The best ever is being used quite a lot today after last night’s World Series game.
I don’t know if last night’s game 6 was the best ever. That’s just too big of a statement and would require that I know and research all the World Series games ever played and all the game 6 games ever played. I’m not going to do that. So I’m not going to make that statement. I will say that it is one of the best games I’ve ever personally watched or seen. It ranks right up there at the top for some of the best baseball I’ve ever been able to witness. And to think, it was one of the lowest rated and least watched of all time. That is truly, truly sad. Read more... (625 words, 1 image, estimated 2:30 mins reading time)
It took me a little bit to get over my bitterness that the Braves once again failed to deliver on a baseball season and were not in the post season. I thought for a brief second about not watching the World Series. I’m glad I changed my mind.
The series has had everything a baseball fan, a real baseball fan could want. Pitching duels that have just been mesmerizing to watch. Hitters playing small ball and hitting the long ball when it matters. Outstanding base running and fielding plays that would make anybody’s top plays of the day. Bullpens that have been beyond great. Managerial chess matches that may just be unparalleled in baseball lore. There’s something for everyone and plenty of it. Read more... (331 words, 1 image, estimated 1:19 mins reading time)
The team I originally picked the win the World Series at the start of the post season is still in the mix. However, the other team, I did not expect to be there. My pick though to win it all still remains the same, the Rangers. And I’m going with 6 games to win it all.
For fans who like the long ball and lots of hits and runs, this is their series. For those who enjoy pitching duels, there may be some early on, maybe. Overall though I think this is going to be a power series. It’s going to be about the hits and runs. Both of these teams have hitters, big hitters. Both of these teams can put up a lot of runs on an opponent. We could be looking at record numbers. Read more... (416 words, 1 image, estimated 1:40 mins reading time)
The Yankees are out and my pick was wrong. I thought it would be a tough series but I thought that the Yankees with their “marquee” players and what I thought was decent pitching would pull it out. But no. They played pitcher by committee. They left multiple men on base……and multiple men on THIRD base. Their starting pitcher by committee gave up back to back home runs. Their leadoff batter, Jeter, and their supposed “big hitter” A-Rod, were not good for most of the game and most of the series for that matter. Money can’t buy championships. And if you can’t get your “hitters” to move the runners around to score…well, your hitters are just not as great as they appear. Tigers move on to face the Rangers. Yankees and their fans wonder what it takes to get back to the World Series. Read more... (427 words, 1 image, estimated 1:42 mins reading time)
It looks like MLB is marching ever forward to an expanded playoffs for 2012. It looks like 2 more wild card teams will be added to the mix to make it 10 out of 30 MLB teams making it to the postseason.
There are still a lot of details to be worked out such as would there be a single play-in game or a three game series in the first round and how to fit it into the schedule. The details would have to be worked out in the new CBA that will go into effect after December 2011. The players would have to agree to the extra games and the working out of an already squeezed schedule. Read more... (308 words, 1 image, estimated 1:14 mins reading time)
A very belated congratulations to the San Francisco Giants for winning the 2010 World Series in an easy five games. They looked like they were playing a way different Rangers team that beat the Tampa Bay Rays and Yankees. I don’t know if that’s because of the Giants pitching or the Rangers hit a cold spell, probably a little of both. What I do know is the Giants had the best pitching 1-12 in baseball this year. They were also the best team in baseball the last two months of the season. Those are the two months that really count. Read more... (307 words, estimated 1:14 mins reading time)
I am reminded of an old adage, changed to fit this circumstance, if the Giants win the World Series and no one is watching, does it really count? It stands to reason that perhaps the only people who care live in San Francisco or Dallas and even in Dallas, most people were probably watching the Texans Colts game. So very few people were watching comparatively and it’s major league baseballs fault. Read more... (321 words, 1 image, estimated 1:17 mins reading time)
