2010 MLB - Playoffs and hot stove!

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

Sorry to butt in on the losing ballclubs' manager change options...

 

Assuming that the Rangers don't melt down and win one of the next three games...I have tickets to Games 3 and 5 of The Series.

[embiggen]

I have no dog in this race, I just want the Yankees to lose so I don't have to listen to all the crap about how they're "the best team" and what not...it's really annoying up here, not just to me, but anyone that's a Mets fan.

[cryptique]

Sorry to butt in on the losing ballclubs' manager change options...

 

Assuming that the Rangers don't melt down and win one of the next three games...I have tickets to Games 3 and 5 of The Series.

Hope you get to see those games, Crow (i.e., Death to the Yankees!).

[gogo]

Being interviewed after his win the other night, Tim Lincecum referred to his catcher a couple of times as "Bengie" instead of "Buster". Would be great to see who gets in whose head with that match-up.

[Moss]

I liked Lincecum mouthing "you stay there" to the guy on third base after the double play left him stranded.

[dagwave]

Lincecum's a punk. seriously, who says that????

 

Also, does Jorge Posada has an incentive clause in his contract based on trips to the mound during the post-season/

[The High Heat]

Dallas Braden had a less than perfect surgery and sues his doctor.

[ih8music]

Dallas Braden had a less than perfect surgery and sues his doctor.

I'm no surgeon, but severing a nerve to remove a cyst sounds like a little more than just a "less than perfect" outcome. If my livelihood was jeopardized by a mistake like that, I'd also be inclined to sue.

 

For the doctor's sake, I hope he explained that this was a possible complication of the surgery and Braden knew the risks going into the procedure.

[Sir Stewart]

Congrats Texas! And cheers to Crow - you're going to the World Series!

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

Congrats Texas! And cheers to Crow - you're going to the World Series!

 

Yes I am!!_

[calvino]

The trophy presentation was pretty cool.

[Duck-Billed Catechist]

I'm no surgeon, but severing a nerve to remove a cyst sounds like a little more than just a "less than perfect" outcome. If my livelihood was jeopardized by a mistake like that, I'd also be inclined to sue.

 

For the doctor's sake, I hope he explained that this was a possible complication of the surgery and Braden knew the risks going into the procedure.

He's alluding to Braden's perfect game.

[bjorn_skurj]

Yes I am!!_

I was thinking of you when they clinched last night. Congrats and best wishes, especially if it's against the Phillies!

[Reni]

Dan! Giants! Woohoo! I was so happy to see a fork stuck in the Phillies.

 

EVONNE!!! MAUDIE!! You're going to the WORLD SERIES!! :yay :yay

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

I don't know if fans from other parts of the country can appreciate what we are experiencing in the DFW area.

 

I was 12 years old the spring that The Washington Senators moved to Texas and took up residence in an old minor league ballpark next to Six Flags Over Texas. Legendary Ted Williams managing, Frank Howardplaying first base...and they totally sucked. But it was major league baseball and it was in Arlington.

They played a lot of bad baseball in '72 and '73. In the course of trying to get people out to the ball park,in 1973 they rushed a High School Phenom to the bigs and ruined his career (David Clyde.

Before the 1974 season, they began many of their attempts at mortgaging the future and traded Bill Madlock to the Cubs for Fergie Jenkins. Not a total fiasco and the Rangers chased the A's for the AL West lead and finished a strong second.

They brought Jeff Burroughs (the first major homerun hitter for the team and the first to have his heart broken by the wind in that park), Mike Hargrove and Jim Sundberg to the big club giving us hope for the future.

 

In 1977 they had a player assault a coach; brought in a load of veteran reclaimation projects and a couple of youngsters and once again chased the American League title. Billy Hunter was a tough, hard nosed coach who had a that team and the 1978 team poised for championship runs only fall short in the end. Word has it the club rebelled against Hunter's tough, Earl Weaver inspired managerial style and basically quit on them in 1978.

The next couple of years witnessed the trading of spectacular pitching prospects for scrubs (Ron Darling and Walt Terrell for Lee Mazzili. WTF?);one month Phenoms (Dave Hostetler), epic collapses (1983). In 1985, Bobby Valentine replaced Doug Rader and set the table for improvement and heartbreak. What looked like the basis for a pitching rotation for years (Edwin Correa, Jose Guzman and Bobby Witt)fizzled in a haze of

 

In the next ten years we saw Ruben Sierran Juan Gonzalez make their debuts; saw the ageless Julio Franco brought in at the supposed twilight of his career; Raphael Palmiero make his Texas appearance (became a really good hitter and first baseman before he was tainted by steroids)saw Sammy Sosa; and Wilson Alvarez traded away for Harold F'ing Baines; saw the appearance of the Ryan Express; had Jose Canseco bring his circus to Arlington (the pitch bouncing off his head for a homer, taklin Kevin Kennedy into letting him relief pitch in a runaway game and blew out his elbow.

 

Things began to really change in the early 90's. An ownership group fronted by George W. Bush brought in Johnny Oates as manager, secured the construction of a wonderful new ballpark and brought playoff baseball to DFW. Playoff appearances became almost expected with the coaching tenure of the late Johnny Oates and the genius general management of Doug Melvin. Juan Gonzalez crushed the ball and played the roll of the petulant manchild. Rusty Greer prowled the outfield, hit like a charm and sacrificed his body for the game. Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez thrilled with his defense and lazer like arm. Will Clark brought his hard assed attitude and clubhouse leadership to town. This club had good pitching an awsome offense and the misfortune of facing the Yankees in the first three playoff appearances. Tom Hicks brought his carpet bagging ways to the Ranger ownership and the poor decisions came by the truckload. The Rangers couldn't score runs against the Yankees in the playoff, so what did they do? They let Juan Gonzalez hit the road and brought in the finely chiseled (but imminenty average) Gabe Kapler. The Yankees whipped their ass so what did they do? Bring in a very average Yankee Free Agent Chad Curtis. Need a bat? Bring up a young Ruben Mateo who never managed to be better than ok.

 

Failing miserably in 2000 after several years of success,Tom Hicks has a brainstorm and decides to hire a very disinteresed and semi-retired John Hart as General Manager. Hicks then proceeds to sign a young Alex Rodriguez to the worst contract in the history of professional sports (he was so fucked by Agent Scott Boras in this deal that I think even Boras felt guilty). Poor decision after poor decision followed and Hicks proceeded to lead the Rangers into the unenviable position as one of the worst franchises in baseball (Thank GOD for the Pittsburgh Pirates...).

 

Hicks makes TWO excellent decisions in his tenure: Hiring Jon Daniels as General Manager and Bringing in Nolan Ryan as the President of Baseball Operations. If truth be told, Jon Daniels' hiring looked like Hicks trying to catch a little Theo Epstein type lightening in a bottle, and he did have some very rocky moments (trading Adrain Gonzalez and Chris Young to San Diego for Adam Eaton and Akinori Otsuka; trading Jon Danks to Chicago for Brandon McCarthy). But several of his deals brought Josh Hamilton, Neftali Feliz, Elvis Andrus, Tommy Hunter, David Murphy and Cliff Leeto the club.

 

Hicks finally divested himself of the club (after having the club taken into foreclosure, having MLB foot the bills for a while and making Ranger fans endure the spectacle of an auction for club ownership.) With Chuck Greenberg buying the club and keeping Nolan Ryan as a partner and President of the Club, maybe the worm has really turned.

 

Either way...I have my tickets for Games 3 and 5.

[The High Heat]

I don't know if fans from other parts of the country can appreciate what we are experiencing in the DFW area.

 

I was 12 years old the spring that The Washington Senators moved to Texas and took up residence in an old minor league ballpark next to Six Flags Over Texas. Legendary Ted Williams managing, Frank Howardplaying first base...and they totally sucked. But it was major league baseball and it was in Arlington.

They played a lot of bad baseball in '72 and '73. In the course of trying to get people out to the ball park,in 1973 they rushed a High School Phenom to the bigs and ruined his career (David Clyde.

Before the 1974 season, they began many of their attempts at mortgaging the future and traded Bill Madlock to the Cubs for Fergie Jenkins. Not a total fiasco and the Rangers chased the A's for the AL West lead and finished a strong second.

They brought Jeff Burroughs (the first major homerun hitter for the team and the first to have his heart broken by the wind in that park), Mike Hargrove and Jim Sundberg to the big club giving us hope for the future.

 

In 1977 they had a player assault a coach; brought in a load of veteran reclaimation projects and a couple of youngsters and once again chased the American League title. Billy Hunter was a tough, hard nosed coach who had a that team and the 1978 team poised for championship runs only fall short in the end. Word has it the club rebelled against Hunter's tough, Earl Weaver inspired managerial style and basically quit on them in 1978.

The next couple of years witnessed the trading of spectacular pitching prospects for scrubs (Ron Darling and Walt Terrell for Lee Mazzili. WTF?);one month Phenoms (Dave Hostetler), epic collapses (1983). In 1985, Bobby Valentine replaced Doug Rader and set the table for improvement and heartbreak. What looked like the basis for a pitching rotation for years (Edwin Correa, Jose Guzman and Bobby Witt)fizzled in a haze of

 

In the next ten years we saw Ruben Sierran Juan Gonzalez make their debuts; saw the ageless Julio Franco brought in at the supposed twilight of his career; Raphael Palmiero make his Texas appearance (became a really good hitter and first baseman before he was tainted by steroids)saw Sammy Sosa; and Wilson Alvarez traded away for Harold F'ing Baines; saw the appearance of the Ryan Express; had Jose Canseco bring his circus to Arlington (the pitch bouncing off his head for a homer, taklin Kevin Kennedy into letting him relief pitch in a runaway game and blew out his elbow.

 

Things began to really change in the early 90's. An ownership group fronted by George W. Bush brought in Johnny Oates as manager, secured the construction of a wonderful new ballpark and brought playoff baseball to DFW. Playoff appearances became almost expected with the coaching tenure of the late Johnny Oates and the genius general management of Doug Melvin. Juan Gonzalez crushed the ball and played the roll of the petulant manchild. Rusty Greer prowled the outfield, hit like a charm and sacrificed his body for the game. Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez thrilled with his defense and lazer like arm. Will Clark brought his hard assed attitude and clubhouse leadership to town. This club had good pitching an awsome offense and the misfortune of facing the Yankees in the first three playoff appearances. Tom Hicks brought his carpet bagging ways to the Ranger ownership and the poor decisions came by the truckload. The Rangers couldn't score runs against the Yankees in the playoff, so what did they do? They let Juan Gonzalez hit the road and brought in the finely chiseled (but imminenty average) Gabe Kapler. The Yankees whipped their ass so what did they do? Bring in a very average Yankee Free Agent Chad Curtis. Need a bat? Bring up a young Ruben Mateo who never managed to be better than ok.

 

Failing miserably in 2000 after several years of success,Tom Hicks has a brainstorm and decides to hire a very disinteresed and semi-retired John Hart as General Manager. Hicks then proceeds to sign a young Alex Rodriguez to the worst contract in the history of professional sports (he was so fucked by Agent Scott Boras in this deal that I think even Boras felt guilty). Poor decision after poor decision followed and Hicks proceeded to lead the Rangers into the unenviable position as one of the worst franchises in baseball (Thank GOD for the Pittsburgh Pirates...).

 

Hicks makes TWO excellent decisions in his tenure: Hiring Jon Daniels as General Manager and Bringing in Nolan Ryan as the President of Baseball Operations. If truth be told, Jon Daniels' hiring looked like Hicks trying to catch a little Theo Epstein type lightening in a bottle, and he did have some very rocky moments (trading Adrain Gonzalez and Chris Young to San Diego for Adam Eaton and Akinori Otsuka; trading Jon Danks to Chicago for Brandon McCarthy). But several of his deals brought Josh Hamilton, Neftali Feliz, Elvis Andrus, Tommy Hunter, David Murphy and Cliff Leeto the club.

 

Hicks finally divested himself of the club (after having the club taken into foreclosure, having MLB foot the bills for a while and making Ranger fans endure the spectacle of an auction for club ownership.) With Chuck Greenberg buying the club and keeping Nolan Ryan as a partner and President of the Club, maybe the worm has really turned.

 

Either way...I have my tickets for Games 3 and 5.

Freebird (the post)!

 

 

 

By the way, I want the Rangers to win. They got "The Mojo!"

[gogo]

But we've got the beards! I've got standing-room tickets to Game 1, but I'll be passing those off to some fans who are much more deserving than I am.

[u2roolz]

But we've got the beards!

 

Yep, you do. I realized while watching the playoffs that Brian Wilson is from the next town over from me in Londonderry, NH. Small world.

 

Congratulations to the Rangers and their fans. How does it feel to beat the Yankees? You had the team to do it this year and you succeeded.

Congratulations to the Giants and their fans.

 

It's been a fun post season with no hometown team at stake.

 

I'm sure Brian Cashman has the hammer next to his piggy bank to pry away Cliff Lee from the Rangers in the offseason.

 

I'm also a bit upset that the Rays didn't get far. It's sad that the ownership is going to trim the payroll by about $20 million which means a possible buh bye to Carlos Pena, Carl Crawford and Rafael Soriano amongst others. It is possible good news though for Yankees and Red Sox fans.

 

Edit: Not to get too caught up in some really pre-hot stove talk, but in the paper today they made a great case for Zach Greinke for being a suitable runner up prize to whoever doesn't get Cliff Lee.

 

Oh, and at some point this past week John Farrell (Red Sox pitching coach) became the manager of the Blue Jays.

[bleedorange]

I don't go as far back as Crow, but my earliest memory of the Rangers was a game on July 26, 1985 at Arlington Stadium. I was 7 years old. The Rangers were playing the Yankees and Ron Guidry was the starting pitcher for New York.

 

I remember the Rangers coming back to win the game with a wild inning where they scored a bunch of runs. It turns out it was 8-4 New York going into the bottom of the eighth and the Rangers scored five runs on five singles, two walks, and two wild pitches (thanks, baseball-reference.com).

 

Every summer, my family would take a trip to Arlington to go to Six Flags and to a Rangers game. I was always more excited about the Rangers game.

 

The feeling that overcame me when Feliz struck out A-Rod (it actually started an inning before when Lewis struck out Jeter to end the eighth) is indescribable. Despite the optimism I'm always able to muster each April, I never thought I would see this day.

[ih8music]

I was raised in the Bay Area and grew up a Giants fan -- spent many a cold summer night at the 'stick, still have a few Criox de Candlesticks laying around the house.

 

I've drifted away from MLB over the years as I've drifted around the country, but it sure is nice to see the team doing so well. I gladly admit to being a bandwagon fan this postseason -- it's been a great ride so far.

 

On paper it doesn't really look all that close - Rangers should take this. But, pitching wins championships -- and right now, despite how good the Rangers looked over the Yankees, I'd have to give that edge to SF's amazing staff.

 

Should be a fun series to watch... Fox/MLB might hate the matchup, but it's REALLY nice to see some new blood in the WS for a change.

[Moss]

Lincecum's a punk. seriously, who says that????

 

 

 

I don't know anything about Lincecum other than he smokes pot and throws like a mother for being only 160 lbs., I just thought it was funny. I admire the passion.

 

Congrats to Texas! Looking forward to this series more than the last few years.

[borracho]

my first major league game was in '88 when rick schu of the orioles hit a grand slam vs the rangers at old arlington stadium. i'd just really started following the rangers since okc had been their triple-a team for a few years at that point. always made it a point to get down to arlington at least once a year to see the big league team. been a long time coming to finally see them make it to the world series, and i've got a ticket to game 4.

[tugmoose]

Early video of Lincecum.

[The High Heat]

Yes, but the divisional series will be extended to seven games. So there will be no real difference in the calendar.

Correction: The DS will not be extended next season. It is being considered for 2012, as well as other playoff scenarios such as adding more wild cards (please no!).

[u2roolz]

Correction: The DS will not be extended next season. It is being considered for 2012, as well as other playoff scenarios such as adding more wild cards (please no!).

 

If they really wanted to be smart asses, then they should make a team that made it to the playoffs one year not eligible the next if they failed to advance to the LCS: Twins, Rays, Reds, Braves.

 

Point being: how is someone like the Twins going to do any better with a 7 game playoff for a DS? It stretches most teams built on a powerful 3 main rotation, but I really don't think it would help any team that would lose three straight.

 

Adding other wild cards would never happen. Although, if it did it would have to mimic the NFL format where the top 2 seeds get a bye until the next round (assuming it expands to 6 teams which would mean one wild card from each division, not necessarily best winning pct.)