More like the size of the Kermit Lynch newsletter, that tells the tale of the Texas Rangers Post-Season History. And yet, another chapter was writ last night.
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| Man, you have got to shave that thing. No, wait, keep it. |
But considering everything that happened Saturday night, Pujols three home runs, all of them monster shots, over twelve-hundred feet in total; a shellshocked, weary bullpen; and the fact that Derek Holland had not performed up to expectations in the Post-Season, at all; Holland's performance last night, to this viewer, was the best.
Essentially, the twenty-five year old boy from Ohio was told last night, "There is no bullpen tonight, except for Feliz. The team that scored sixteen runs on us the night before, you are going to have to neutralize them, and you are going to have to give us seven innings, at least. And that guy, Albert, who crushed us last night, I want you to pitch him inside, and challenge him. You are going to pitch to Pujols. Do not walk him unless I tell you to. And, by the way, Derek, if you have not noticed, this is the World Serious, and the entire Texas Rangers' season is on the line. Now go get 'em."
And he got 'em. Eight and one third IP, two hits, seven Ks, and two walks. Only three balls were hit out of the infield the entire time Holland was on the mound. Those were Berkman's double and a single, and a lazy fly ball by Molina.
Ranger fans knew after this season that Holland could do this. He tied the Rays' James Shields for the most CG Shutouts, four, in the American League this year. (Lee, with the Phillies now, led the Majors, with six.) But he struggled with his command, could not get his fastball (94-96 mph) over for strikes, walked batters, and generally, kind of stunk throughout the playoffs. And, of course, most serious baseball fans and all Giants and Rangers fans remember Holland's embarrassing performance last year, in relief, against the Giants in game two of the World Serious, in which, Holland, absolutely could not throw a strike, walking three straight batters before being yanked, and helping turn a one run Ranger deficit in the eighth inning in to a nine nil loss.
Honestly, yesterday, before the game, I thought this series was over for the Rangers. I still have my doubts. But, natch, I feel much better today.
There is, of course, much displeasure today in the St Louis media and clubhouse re Kapel's strike zone last night. Kapel was the first base Umpire Saturday, who botched Napoli's tag on Holliday, which would have completed the double play and changed the complexion of that inning (the Cardinals scored four times) and, perhaps, the game, had he got it right. Kapel is from St Louis and lives there, so, the Conspiracy Theorists were in full force. I thought Kapel called a fair game last night, and he did call the Kinsler steal in game two exactly right, on a call that often times Umpires get wrong. Basically, he knows he messed up in game three, admitted it, and it is time to move on. He was not pitching when Pujols and Molina combined for ten RBIs Saturday night.
Still, seeing Holliday scream from the dugout last night, "That was not a strike!", and the two other Cardinals who got up in Kapel's grille on called third strikes, does not endear me to this ballclub. Plus, Pujols, himself, taunted the Baseball Gods Saturday evening by saying, "That's the way baseball go" after his historic night. "That's the way the baseball go" is a Ron Washington "Wash-ism", if you will, something Wash says all the time, and Pujols had better watch it, because you do not want to piss off the Baseball Gods. (This also after Pujols' costly error in the ninth inning of game two contributed to the Cardinals' shocking loss and Pujols refused to talk to the media after the game.) Then there were Berkman's idiotic comments in the past off-season, explaining why, he, a free agent, a Texan, and former long-time Astro, chose to go to St Louis over the Rangers, who were interested in signing him, saying, essentially, that since the Rangers could not sign Lee, that they were a one-trick pony, and that spending so much money on Adrian Beltre was a colossal blunder, still chaps my hide. Berkman has apologized for his comments. I am sure he popped off, stupidly, and feels bad about it now, but it still upsets me because it exposes the same old crappy National League bias, and reflects the still too prevalent "It's too hot/The Rangers suck/Fill-in the-blank" meme. (And, yes, I know, I know, there is no better way to blast this meme to smitherenes than to see Berkman called out looking for the final out of this series.)
Unlike the previously vanquished Tigers and Rays, I am not feeling much love for Tony LaRussa's Cardinals, as you might have noticed. I have met LaRussa before, a number of times, as a shopper in the stores I work at, and he is a real jerk. I also read an SI excerpt from that book, I cannot remember the name of it, about the Cubs and the Cards, which pretty much outlined, "Tony's Rules For Plunking Batters." Look, I get it, LaRussa is a win at all costs, Durocher kind of Manager, but having seen younger Managers, like Washington and Maddon in Tampa, to tell you the truth, I am oh so tired of that type of baseball. You can win without being a jerk. And LaRussa and Mike Scioscia should be clinking drinks in Maui right about now, reliving past glories. Do not get me wrong about one thing, though. LaRussa and Scioscia are excellent Managers (TLR much better than Scioscia, who seems to have lost the plot lately) but they are both assholes. It is possible, I am not totally sure, now that the Rangers have tasted success, that I would be happier with a loser nice-guy Joe Maddon than a winning TLR as the Manager of the club I support.
And speaking of nice guy Managers, Ron Washington has been taking a beating again, lately. That is what happens when you bump in to the hottest, best rotation in baseball in the World Serious, i.e. last year against the Giants. It is the same old tired-ass story. Wash is a "players-Manager" and cannot do the stratagery (sic, on purpose) necessary to Win the Whole Damn Thing. What a bunch of poop. It was supposed to be obvious to any one watching this World Serious that Wash would get hoodwinked by the genius, LaRussa, and that although Wash was great at pumping up his players, Wash would fail at the ticky-tack, crucial decisions that win World Titles.
Well, let us go back and watch the film, yes? Ogando v Craig twice? Both the right call, both times fantastic pitches, both times Craig fucking pulled it out. Credit to Craig. (Craig is 0-7 in his last at-bats since his first inning, game three home run.) The pinch-hitting choices Wash made in game one are fine to me (and Bruce Jenkins, although, then he used his column to bitch about the DH again, sigh, ... ) and starting Moreland last night, despite knowing that Mitch cannot hit a lick right now, was a v smart move. Moreland made a couple of key defensive plays on dig-outs thrown to him, and Young and Napoli had not played well at first base the previous two games.
What Bruce Jenkins pointed out in his most recent Three Dot Lounge column, and what I, myself, have pointed out before in this very blog, that, somehow, all these typewriter jockeys do not seem to get is that this is not Strat-o-Matic, or APBA. These are human beings (extremely egotistical, high paid human beings) that Managers like Wash have to deal with, every day, for nine months a year, living with these superstars. They are not cards you can shuffle around on a whim, or bits of computer data that understand what it is like to have a drug addiction or go through a brutal divorce.
I will close, describing, what I know will be my favorite Ranger moments ever, no matter what happens tonight (and I will finally make an idiotic prediction in just a moment), and that is Players-Manager, Ron Washington, slapping caps and cheeks and having an (absolutely essential) "Come to Jesus" moment with Derek "Dutch" Holland before the game last night. And then Wash's long (stalling- and Kapel came out and Wash did not give a tinker's damn) conversation with Holland at the mound in the ninth, Feliz coming in. The ovation Holland got from those fans in football crazed, now Ranger obsessed Texas is something I will never forget. (And Dutch's interview right after the game was super special, too.) That is what Ron Washington brings to the Rangers. Ron Washington helped make the Rangers the best baserunning ballclub in the Majors. (Hullo, win in game two.) It was Ron Washington who helped make the Rangers in to one of the defensive clubs in baseball. (Hullo, wins in games two and four.) And it was Ron Washington who gave Derek Holland the "Come to Jesus" he so sorely needed. Ron Washington. When Eric Chavez, of the A's, won his second Gold Glove, he gave it to Ron Washington, for all the hard work Wash poured in to making Chavez a better player. When Jason Giambi, with the Yankees, at the time, pulled in to Oakland, right after Hurricane Katrina had destroyed Wash's NOLA home, Giambi handed Wash a check for $25,000. I will take that Players-Manager over genius LaRussa/Scioscia every day of the week (and twice on Sundays.)
The last time the Rangers lost two games in a row was that dreadful series at home against the Red Sox. The Rangers won the first one and then got obliterated in the next three. I remember my Giants fans friends, since a couple of these games were on national teevee, really giving me the business after the series. The Rangers were next to play the Angels in a v crucial series, and there was much hand-wringing in Ranger nation that perhaps the record super-hot Dallas weather had drained our starters of life and that the Rangers would, naturally, "wilt in the heat, again." What a load of shit! This was the last great moment for the Red Sox, their 3-1 series win against the AL West division leaders, on the road, before their own monumental Red Sox-ian September collapse in the v tranquil New England weather. (If the Rangers win the World Serious, they might, might finally put all that, "It's too hot," shit to rest.) Here they are: 13-2 Red Sox and 6-0 Red Sox.
Every team the Rangers have come up against, as I have talked to my friends, has said the same thing: "Well, they are really hot right now." And they have been right. The Rays played pretty well in September and got helped by a complete Red Sox meltdown. The Tigers have played some excellent baseball, lately, as well, completely shutting down the AL Central by Labor Day. And the Cardinals have played well, too. Though, they were also helped by a major Braves collapse.
None of my baseball friends ever remark that the Rangers went thirty-five and fifteen over their last fifty games. Or, that the Rangers are currently nine and five in the post-season. That adds up to forty-four and twenty, lately. Yeah, that is hot.
My prediction is: The last time the Rangers got worked this bad was the 9-0 defeat by the Tampa Rays in game one of the ALDS. After that, the Rangers ripped off five victories in a row, including a series clincher. I think the Rangers will wrap this up in St Louis on Weds night.
All my love,
Ardent.
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