Rangers Celebrate ….

Alex Rodriguez stepped up to the plate, it was the bottom of the
9th, with 2 outs, A-Rod was the only thing that stood between the Rangers and a
visit to the World Series for the first time in franchise history.

The scene was set, A-Rod who couldn’t take the Rangers there got
a chilling reception, the commentators called it poetic justice, A-Rod grabbed
his crutch and adjusted his cup as if to say ‘Suck This’, Neftali Feliz
the Rangers closer looked in, dug deep and threw 3 fast balls all around the 100
mph mark, with 1 strike away from celebration, again Feliz looked in got his
sign and threw, what must have looked like a soft toss to A-Rod, who froze then
flipped his bat from one hand to the other and walked back to the dug out head
held down, while the Rangers went into overdrive on the celebrations….

….there was no doubt the Rangers were happy with the win, they
can celebrate as much as they want, they deserved it. It’s a wait and see game
for the Rangers now as they contemplate their very first World Series, for the
travel manager it’s headaches ahead, as he has to make arrangements for both San
Francisco and Philadelphia, until he knows where they will be headed.

The Phillies host the Giants this evening in the hope of forcing
a game 7  Sunday. Mr. Durable Roy Oswalt takes the mound for the Phillies,
while the Giants counter with Sanchez.

Go Phillies….

Phillies Lose Game 1 ….

Game
one of the NLCS was not even close to the hype dispersed by the media, it may
have started with all good intentions of being the overly anticipated duel of
the Cy Youngs, but it turned into another ordinary game between 2 NL teams, one
from the East and one from the West.

I could bitch and complain that the home plate umpire had a bad
call at a critical moment that extended the inning allowing the Giants to add a
couple of runs, but as I said previously umpires are part of the game and it
happens, in fact it was touch and go as to Halladay or Lincecum saying something
to the umpire, in the end Halladay spoke out, which seemed to ease the pain for
the Giants bull pen, but not the Phillies.

 The bottom line the Phillies didn’t monopolize on
situations that they should have, they had the chances from the first inning to
the last inning. I am sure that Giants fans are on cloud nine, standing Ross and
Lincecum on pedestals well above the heights they gave Bonds.

As a Phillie fan I see it differently, I see that game as a game
the Phillies lost, not one the Giants won. Halladay of all pitchers should never
have thrown the same pitch, in the same location to Ross in his 2nd at bat,
after he hit the first one for a home run. Ibanez should have caught that ball
at the wall in the 6th, and J-Roll should have at least made contact in the 9th,
not just swung through the pitches like a 5th grader in the playground. Another
place, another time, you’d almost have to call foul and wonder why MLB aren’t
investigating, oh wait, it’s not Chicago, and we’re all more civilized now,
above all that stuff.

The ALCS had an early game on Saturday, game 2 started with the
Yankees having a 1-0 game lead in the series, the Rangers like game 1 came out
swinging and running, after some very normal baseball action, it was the final
pitch of the game with the Rangers winning 7-2. No magical come back, no Texas
meltdown for the Yankees to jump on, it just happened. The ALCS goes to New York
for games 3, 4 and 5 with the series tied 1-1, any single win by the Rangers and
it will force a return to Arlington to decide the series.

All in all Saturday was some very average baseball action, no
edge of the seat will they won’t they stuff. You could almost tell that the
Yankees weren’t going to be able to do enough for a second comeback, it was like
game 1 drained them of their comeback energy and they needed more time to
recharge, had they had a day off Saturday to play Sunday, it may have all been different.
As for the Phillies game being just a 1 run game, at no time did I see anything
from the Phillies players that indicated they were going to get that run back,
it was almost as if they just gave up.

Today is game 2 the Phillies have Oswalt on the mound and the
Giants have Sanchez, I just hope the Phillies offence can actually play some
baseball today. Yankees and Rangers have a travel day and will be back at it
Monday.

Go Phillies….

A New Chapter in Rangers History Begins ….

Last
night was the decider for the final piece to the LCS puzzle. Tampa Bay Rays,
back home hosting the Texas Rangers for game 5 of the ALDS series. Some had
deemed this a replay of game 1, with the Rays hoping to right the wrongs in the
replay and the Rangers hoping that as with all replays the outcome never
changes.

Some might believe that the home field advantage had put the
outcome of this game in the Rays favor, but neither team had won at home this
post season, so the advantage had been cancelled out. It could be that the extra
seats made available by MLB at the Trop would be the deciding factor, if they
were all sold by game time.

The Rays ‘Ace’ David Price was on the mound for this crucial
game, and should be a consideration in the AL Cy Young, the biggest
advantage however was on the mound for the Texas Rangers….

….Cliff Lee. After his taste of post season with the Phillies
last year, Lee obviously thrives in the big game moments. It didn’t take long
last night, the first inning gave the Rangers a lead. Although the Rays would
tie it up in the 3rd, it was the 4th inning on that the Rangers dominated. The
score even ended as if it was a replica of game 1, Lee went the whole 9,
throwing 120 pitches with just 1 run and 6 hits, picking up 11 strike outs.

The Rangers are now in unfamiliar territory, as they write a new
chapter in the Texas Rangers history books. With the opening game at home this
Friday against the New York Yankees, you have to know Lee won’t be on the mound.
I am sure they aren’t thinking too much about this in Texas, for the die hard
fans the….

….celebrations are still in full flow, if not in body, in
mind.

The LCS teams all know who they are playing, where they are
playing and when they are playing. The only thing they don’t know for sure is
how many games they will play and if they’ll get to the big stage.

What’s with the major Yankee promotion on the MLBlogs opening
page? I seem to remember this last year too, does this have anything to do with
the location of MLB media.

Go Phillies….

A moment in time: It was this day 27 years ago the
first cellular communications was launched, in 1983 it was called Ameritech
Mobile Communications in Chicago, Illinois.