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The St. Louis Cardinals won the 2011 World Series. They’re a very good team, in fact the best team. They’re a storied franchise, they have a loyal and classy fan base, and they played their hearts out. But it still bothers me that they won. Yes, they deserved to win. They didn’t win on a blown call by an umpire, or a fluke play. They didn’t cheat and the games weren’t rigged. But it still breaks my heart. The “little red shoes” just couldn’t get it done…again.

The Rangers weren’t going to win game 7. I knew it. I think most of the nation knew it. Their chance to win the World Series was in game six. In fact, they had two chances. Twice they were one strike away from hoisting the trophy. Feliz, the usually reliable closer, couldn’t get one more strike to end the Cardinals’ hopes. Then Feldman failed to do exactly the same thing. By the time Lowe came in for the 11th, it was a foregone conclusion. The Texas Rangers were not meant to win this series.

There were many Rangers who would have been heroes that night. Napoli, with his amazing defense to throw Holliday out at third base. Beltre or Cruz with their back-to-back home runs. Josh Hamilton with his go-ahead two-run homer in the top of the 10th. But through all of the efforts of these would-be heroes, the Texas Rangers couldn’t overcome the one thing that has plagued this franchise since its inception 50 years ago. Pitching.

The bullpen was worn out. They were exhausted from having to bail out a starting rotation that couldn’t go more than five rocky innings (excluding game five by Derek Holland). They were drained. Ogando had lost his luster. Feldman looked shaky, and the rest of the squad, all the way down to Feliz, was gassed.

So, when the bats finally came to life in game six, the Rangers had no way of shutting down the Cardinals. They just wouldn’t die. The Rangers were trying to plug holes in a dam with too many cracks.

Rangers fans can take solace in the fact that their team won more games this year than in the history of the franchise. They can take comfort in knowing that they took a very good St. Louis team to the brink of elimination, and a game seven in the World Series. But the one thing that the Rangers fan cannot disguise is the fact that CJ Wilson is not an ace. And without a true ace at their disposal for a critical game six (or seven), the Texas Rangers are never going to win a title. When the chips were down and it was all on the line, the Cardinals were able to go to Carpenter who gave them six incredible innings, walking only two runners and giving up only the two runs in the first inning.

Ironically, it wasn’t until game seven of the World Series that the loss of Cliff Lee finally reared its shadowy head.

Here we go. The 2011 World Series starts tonight between the Texas Rangers and the St. Louis Cardinals. Did anyone think that these two teams would be in it at the end? Sure the Rangers were the defending AL pennant winners, but there was that feeling around the league that they were a one-and-done team. I mean, can you blame anyone for thinking this? The Rangers hadn’t won a playoff series EVER before last year. In fact, many prognosticators last year didn’t believe they’d beat Tampa, and no one gave them a shot against the Yankees. Of course Texas ended up running into the buzzsaw that was the San Francisco Giants, and they looked like “the little team who wanted to”.

When the playoffs started this year, although Texas was back in the hunt, there were plenty of experts predicting the Tigers, and even more predicting the Yankees. But low and behold, the Rangers defeated the Tigers in six and handedly (15-5) punched their ticket to the Fall Classic for the second straight year.

St. Louis, probably even less likely than the Rangers, managed to scratch and claw their way into the World Series with some help from the collapsing Braves, a rare playoff loss by Cliff Lee, and sheer will in overpowering the Braves while not having a quality start from their rotation in the NLCS (a lack of quality starting pitching is something they share with the Rangers).

Both teams have tremendous bullpens. Both teams have power at the plate. Both teams have charismatic managers. It’s hard to dislike either team. But someone has to win; and someone has to go home, knowing they came so close. Who will it be? Will the Cards finally get the starting pitching they had during the NLDS? Will Nelson Cruz continue his insane streak of clutch HRs? Will Ogando and the Rangers’ bullpen once again prove to be too much for the opposition? Some of these questions will be answered starting tonight. I think we’re all in for a treat of a series. What’s not to like about these two feel-good franchises?

The Texas Rangers have done it again. They made it to the ALCS where they now have a 2 games to 1 lead over the Detroit Tigers. But now they have two more games in Detroit where the Rangers have been the worst team in the American League, and Verlander is scheduled for game 5. With that in mind, game 4 is a must-win for the Rangers. You don’t want to face a potential 3-2 coming back home, needing to win two straight.

The good news: the Rangers rested Ogando and Adams in game 3. Manager Ron Washington knows what he’s doing. If the Rangers can steal one in Detroit, they’ll head back to Arlington with a 3-2 series lead and two chances to seal the deal at home with either Holland or Lewis on the mound (and hoping for a better outing from Holland).

The more immediate concern for the Texas Rangers would have to be their lack of production from Michael Young and Mitch Moreland. You have to figure that Young will get it turned around either in this series, or the WS should the Rangers advance. But I’m not so sure about Moreland, who was replaced at first base by Young in game 3. Moreland has hit an abysmal (.143) during the postseason. His lack of production is magnified by being in a lineup with the likes of Beltre, Napoli and the red-hot Nelson Cruz. It’s very likely that Washington will stick with Chavez in the lineup and Moreland will sit out again today.

The Rangers are still in the driver’s seat in this series with Matt Harrison on the mound this afternoon and the return of the regular bullpen. If Cruz continues his tear the Tigers may find themselves in a real hole and facing an elimination game by this time tomorrow. But one thing we’ve seen out of this Tigers team is a willingness to battle. So don’t blink.

I’m just now getting my feet wet in photography. I bought a camera, I’m taking shots…, and then I find sites like these and realize I have a long, long way to go.
Awesome photo blog by Teknari. Enjoy!

This guy really makes me want to drop $3k on a Moog Voyager!!

Roger Goodell continues to infuriate me. But I do thank him for driving me to watch more college football, and playoff baseball. Beware, Big Brother is watching you, (James Harrison)..

First off, don’t be fooled by Goodell’s sudden concern for player safety. The NFL recently adopted a policy for caring for athletes after their careers are long passed. If these retired players have lingering injuries from concussions, it comes out of the NFL’s pocket.

Also, don’t be fooled into thinking the league cares about everyone equally. Look at the difference in fines when a hit is put on Vince Young (or any other small-market QB), compared to a hit on, say, a Tom Brady or Mark Sanchez. The bottom line is money. If Brady is out, they can’t sell tickets. If Manning is out, they can’t sell jerseys and Oreo cookies.

The NFL has become a parody of itself. It’s no longer about the sport. If anything, it’s turned in to the defunct XFL or, at best, arena football. Wonder why the QBs are throwing for 400+ yards a game? It’s not hard when LBs and DEs are afraid to go for the kill. They should go ahead and put cheerleaders in hot tubs and be done with it.