Kuzul

Ah, you gotta love Texas and its slang.

Whether the Rangers are sweatin’ like a turkey the day before Thanksgiving or not, they ought to be because the Giants have spanked them so far like a rented mule.

Everything is bigger in Texas, they say. But for Rangers fans, players and management, nothing is bigger than Game 3 of this here World Series.

For if’n the Giants find a way to win again, it’s all over but the shoutin’.

Thus far, the Giants have been hotter’n a goat’s butt in a pepper patch. Yes sir, following an 11-7 beatdown of previously untouchable Cliff Lee and the Rangers in Game 1, the city by the Bay came back to clobber Texas 9-0 on Thursday night.

Meanwhile, the Rangers will be happy as a tick on a stray dog if they find the home cookin’ to their liking on Saturday. They return home to face the Giants in a pivotal Game 3 that will likely end any fading hope of a Rangers title if they lose.

The burden rests on the broad shoulders of starting pitcher Colby Lewis, who has been really good in the postseason thus far. Lewis has started three games while allowing just three runs.

So let’s take a look at the keys to Game 3. Now I may be two sandwiches short of a picnic, but if Texas can win this game, they are right back in the series.

But if they lose? Well, that would be a kick in the Texas pistachio wagon.

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Much has been made of the Giants’ Tim Lincecum and the Rangers’ Cliff Lee, and with good reason.

But after that matchup failed to produce the expected pitching duel, the Giants’ Matt Cain more than filled the ace role for San Francisco as they took a two games to none lead in the World Series, winning 9-0.

It’s about time we recognized Cain for the stud pitcher he is. After finishing the 2010 season with a 3.14 ERA and 177 K’s with 61 walks in over 223 innings, the Giants’ number two starter has been number one in the postseason.

Cain has now gone more than 22 innings without giving up an earned run.

But the game two victory took more than just the pitching of Matt Cain.

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According to a source on ESPN, Joe Girardi and the New York Yankees have reached agreement on a three-year contract that will pay him $3 million per season with a $500,000 bonus for winning the World Series.

According to the report, Girardi never even considered joining the Cubs as manager. He apparently told Yanks’ GM Brian Cashman in August that he wouldn’t leave such a good thing in New York for Chicago, despite this being his home.

Unofficially, my sources tell me that Jim Hendry was never interested in Girardi anyway, but that owner Tom Ricketts wanted Hendry to hold off on a manager until Girardi was officially free to discuss the opening with other teams.

But the Cubs got word through back channels that Girardi wasn’t coming to the Cubs, even if the Bombers didn’t bring him back. And Ricketts didn’t want to be used as negotiating leverage for Girardi.

So the Cubs went ahead and named Mike Quade as their manager and Girardi will be returning to New York as expected.

There are those in New York who maligned Girardi for his misuse of the bullpen and his strategies. One such decision that drew the fans’ ire occurred late in the season when he decided to rest several veterans in a pivotal game against the Rays.

But while many Bronx fans are mixed in their support of Girardi, he was the top choice of many Cubs fans.  However, that interest was never reciprocated by Girardi, despite rampant speculation to the contrary.

Girardi won the World Series in 2009 with the Yankees, after ending his stint with the Marlins as NL Manager of the Year in a dispute with Florida ownership. His record in three season with the Yankees is 287-199.

Hendry, meanwhile, never had interest in Ryne Sandberg as a Major League manager, either. His first choice was Freddi Gonzalez, who declined to interview because he knew he was taking over for the retiring Bobby Cox in Atlanta.

In the end, perhaps it was destiny for Chicago to have another Coach Q.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

NBC Sports Hardball Talk columnist Craig Calcaterra published a blurb asking if the idea of Derek Jeter leaving the Bronx for Boston would be such a bad thing. He even posted a picture of Jeter superimposed in a Red Sox uniform.

While this makes for good talk show fodder, and probably stirs up the angst that is always brewing on the surface between Yanks and Sox fans, it does raise the question of whether or not the Yankees icon and face of the franchise has played his last game in New York.

Well, count me as one who doesn’t think so. I do not believe, even for a New York minute, that Jeter is going anywhere.

First of all, Jeter doesn’t want to play anywhere else. Second, even if he did, the Yanks simply can’t afford to let him go. Not because of the player he is now, but because of what he has done and what he means to the city.

That is not to imply that he still isn’t a good ballplayer. He is.

Rather, it’s an acknowledgement that he is coming off a down season, and the Yankees are coming off a failed run at becoming repeat champions. We all know that in the Yankees world, someone has to pay the price.

So far, it’s pitching coach Dave Eiland paying that price, as he was fired for “personal” reasons today. Meanwhile, Joe Girardi appears safe as GM Brian Cashman talked about starting talks on a contract extension for the Yankees skipper.

So what about the Yankees captain? What will it take to bring him back?

Well, the main issue here is to bring him back on the Yanks’ terms without insulting or disrespecting the man. After all, he is finishing a 10-year, $189 million contract that was signed back in 2001, when Jeter was younger and the economy was better.

Not that the economy seems to interrupt the Yankees from spending what they want, but if they do hardball on Jeter, he may be forced to take a pay cut from his $21 million salary he earned in 2010.

The other issue, besides annual salary, is contract length.

Jeter turns 37 next June, so a three-year deal is probably as long as Cashman wants to go. But what if Jeter feels he deserves four or five years?

Perhaps a professional services-type deal could be amended to the contract, keeping Jeter in pinstripes beyond his playing career.

Jeter’s slash line of .270/.340/.370/.710 this season was well below his career norms. Does this signal a decline is in the offing, or was it a fluky down year? He should age well, but it’s not abnormal for players to decline in their late 30s.

But none of this will matter in the end. Both parties will realize they need each other and come to an agreement. But if they do not? Well, wouldn’t Boston just love to stick it to the Yankees?

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The Giants earned the right to face the Texas Rangers in the World Series by beating the favored Philadelphia Phillies in six games, on the road, winning 3-2 on Saturday night to capture their first National League title since 2002.

When the series began, many pundits — including myself — pointed to the Phillies’ superior experience, better offense and the fearsome threesome of Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels.

However, as even I pointed out, of all the teams in the playoffs in either league, the Giants had the best chance to beat the Phils due to their outstanding starting pitching.

In fact, when you look at it, the Giants have the only rotation in baseball that can stack up to Philadelphia, with Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain and Jonathan Sanchez.

Sure, the Yanks have Sabathia but who else that strikes fear? Texas has Lee, and while the others have pitched well and may end up beating the Giants, before this started I’m sure that no one ranked their staff ahead of San Fran.

Having said that, Texas does have the ultimate stopper in Cliff Lee, who has been almost unbeatable in his postseason career, so the Giants’ next stop won’t be easy by any means.

But at least for now, the Giants have to celebrate beating a team that was widely picked to repeat as NL champs. And they did it on the road.

Let’s take a look at the keys to the Giants victory.

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The Cubs are in the worst possible situation for any sports franchise to be in. That is, they are stuck in between rebuilding and contending.

Look, they simply have too many long-term, expensive contracts to totally rebuild and they do not have the major league-ready young talent to commit to a rebuilding.

The players who alleged owner Tom Ricketts are touting really come down to one player, and that is Starlin Castro. Everyone else is either years away or over-hyped.

Tyler Colvin is a nice fourth outfielder. Sure, he hit 20 homers but he had an OBP of .316 and he struck out 100 times in 300+ at-bats. Meanwhile, he played mediocre outfield.

Casey Coleman is not a prospect, folks. He struck out about as many as he walked, and his late-season success came about against mainly scrubs. At best he is a candidate for the fifth starter in the rotation.

So, other than Castro, who do the Cubs really have to make their fan base hopeful that the near-future holds any promise?

The short answer is they do not, but Tom Ricketts wouldn’t know as he is getting his information from Hendry, whose job is at stake and is obviously motivated to over-hype his young players.

Meanwhile, they have a fan base sick and tired of losing and a GM who desperately needs to win to put butts in the seats. In short, it’s a no-win situation.

I know that Aramis Ramirez and Carlos Zambrano could come back and have great years and allow the team to tease us next year.

But does any rational, objective Cubs fan really think this team stacks up with the Reds, Cardinals, Phillies, Giants, and other top teams in the NL, not to mention the AL?

Of course not. But a team full of youngsters is not possible either, as the fans might stay away, plus what would you do with unmovable parts like Ramirez, Fukudome, Zambrano and Carlos Silva?

So they have a team that will have a reduced payroll trying to fill holes with young talent that is not ready. Sure, Starlin Castro looks good offensively but he doesn’t have the power to be a game changer and is not good enough defensively yet to be a star.

Tyler Colvin is not an everyday player, though he will be for the Cubs in 2011. He does not play good defense and does not get on base enough to be more than a fine fourth outfielder.

But since Ricketts doesn’t really care about accountability for Hendry, or he would have put in a baseball man between him and his GM, he only cares about putting butts in the seats.

That is too bad since we all thought an owner with an actual name and identity would be the answer. Regrettably, Ricketts puts his blind trust in Hendry.

That tells me he is more interested in the “Wrigley Field experience” than he is in winning a title.

Meanwhile, we thought the Tribune was bad? Cubs fans, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

There has been much consternation and gnashing of teeth over why there are fewer African-Americans populating the major league baseball landscape. While the reasons aren’t simple, I will attempt to break it down in this article.

First, in order to generate interest in a sport, it helps to have family that takes you to games when you are young and impressionable. That is a good time to make an impression on a young lad who has so many options that compete for his time, between other sports, other TV shows, the Internet and games.

In short, it is not as simple as marketing the game to blacks. And even if you tried, how do you do it when so many of today’s stars are either white or Hispanic?

No, in order to make that impression and build that market, you need to establish heroes. We all know that sports stars make bad role models, but they do help build the fan base of a future generation.

That said, stars like Albert Pujols and Joey Votto do little to relate to that young African American child that instead sees stars when watching the NBA and its mostly black superstars.

While you can’t arbitrarily determine who succeeds and who does not in baseball, you can market the blacks that star in today’s game better and, more importantly, you can do one very critical thing.

You can make the game more affordable for the average family to go to games.

Look, even black stars like Ryan Howard make exorbitant salaries that few of us can relate to. And these salaries get transferred to outrageous ticket prices that result in the average middle class fan being unable to go to a baseball game.

Now, those high ticket prices may help clubs pay the bills in the short term, but they do little to establish the next generation of future fans of the sport.

Especially in this economy, where even the white middle class cannot afford to send a family to a baseball game, it is impossible to reach out to blacks and get their interest.

Meanwhile, the game is slow and boring to many. While I love baseball for its strategy, I have to admit that it does not carry the cache of the NBA, which is fast moving and better marketed to the masses.

Now, there will never be as many blacks attending games as whites because the population of poverty leans more toward blacks than whites, but you could turn a few young kids into fans if they could just see a game in person.

Until now, this hadn’t been a major concern for the MLB, except to appear to be politically correct. But since the economy has gone into the tank, it becomes more glaring that young blacks do not care as much about baseball as they do about other sports.

Racism has always existed in sports, but it’s telling that the issue has not been embraced by MLB until they need the attendance. When times were good, they didn’t care.

By racism, I say that a white player is a gritty player even if he is average, but if he is black, he is not good unless he is “athletic” and performs to some expectation of running fast and doing great things.

And the sport is marketed to whites. Well, that has to change. But it may be too late.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

So the Phils lost game one with their ace on the mound. This should not be as surprising as you may think, given that the Giants had an ace of their own in Tim Lincecum on the mound.

But the Phillies simply have to win one at home or they are done.

Recognizing that, the Phils turn to their “other” Roy, Mr. Roy Oswalt, in an effort to salvage one game at home before heading to San Francisco for three games.

The current 2-3-2 scenario hardly favors the team with the best record, in my opinion, as all the “underdog” has to do is steal one game on the road, as the Giants have done, and they are in position to potentially win the series without ever going back on the road.

But look, not only are the Phils too good to even consider this, they have a very solid veteran in Roy Oswalt on the mound on Sunday. They will need him to pitch well or this could easily become a Giants sweep.

As crazy as that sounds, the best team does not always win these series, so all the pressure falls on the shoulders of Oswalt. Fortunately, he goes up against a Giants pitcher in Jonathan Sanchez who, despite no-hit stuff, is playing in his first playoffs.

For the Giants to go up 2-0 heading home is simply a scenario that the Phillies cannot consider. Oswalt is 4-0 in his postseason career, though he was shaky in his last start against the Reds, giving up four runs in five innings.

Now that Roy Halladay appeared human in his start on Saturday, Oswalt needs to pitch better against the Giants on Sunday. The fact that the Giants decided to go with Sanchez over Matt Cain in game two may be a blessing in disguise for Philly.

While Cain has not pitched well in Philadelphia, he is a stud. Sanchez allowed only a run in over seven innings of work in the NLDS, but Cain was equally good in the first round and is largely considered to be the better pitcher overall.

No matter what happens, anyone who considered this to be a cake walk for the Phillies is crazy. The Giants may not have as good of an offense as the Phils, but their top three pitchers match up well against anyone.

Since adding Cody Ross to the offense, this 92 win team is a lot like the Phils in that all they need is some offense and their pitching will take them the rest of the way.

Cody Ross needs to be pitched to very carefully, and if Oswalt does that, the Phils should be able to take game two.

If not, they are in serious trouble. Nobody said this was going to be easy.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Baseball history has been filled with famous home run shots, brilliant pitching performances, and of course, fantastic defensive plays.

In the postseason, everything is magnified and every play takes on a greater significance, so any time a player does something truly special it is not only celebrated and highlighted, in some cases it is etched in our memories forever.

The greatness of a particular play can be measured in different ways by different people and there is always going to be some subjectivity to the process. But one criteria with all ten of these plays is they came on the grandest stage in baseball, the postseason.

Have other web gems been better throughout history? Perhaps, but the fact that these came at such critical moments make them all the more incredible.

So, without further ado, let’s get to it!

Note: The catch by Endy Chavez (pictured above) in the 2006 NLCS Game 7 was a great leap but didn’t quite make the list.

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The final trial runs have been completed, and the horses are on the track and ready for the home stretch. So who will come spinning out of the turn as the one to beat in the race to be the Cubs’ next manager? 

This search, led by Cubs GM Jim Hendry, has been a bit befuddling. Owner Tom Ricketts told the media that the next Cubs manager had to understand the “Cubs thing.” In other words, had to intimately understand the fans’ frustration with Chicago’s failure to make the World Series since the soldiers came home after the last World War, as well as the whole silly goat curse baloney. 

Based on Lou Piniella’s reaction over the years, it was clear that he wasn’t prepared to handle the media scrutiny and the pressure of managing a team surrounded by negativity and doubt. 

Yet Hendry sent Eric Wedge to be interviewed by Ricketts, and his first interest was Fredi Gonzalez. So much for listening to your boss. 

While I don’t necessarily buy the fact that the next Cubs skipper has to “get it” and thus can’t be an outsider, I do agree that the next manager must have a lot of energy and be prepared for a fanbase that is unlikely to be very patient with the semi-rebuilding effort that the Cubs will be trotting out in 2011 and beyond. 

Now, I call it “semi-rebuilding” for two reasons. One, they don’t have the true major league-ready, impact-type prospects to go to a full youth movement. Second, they have long-term, expensive contracts with veteran players that they are unlikely to be able to move. 

Still, guys like Bob Brenly told the Cubs thanks but no thanks, in part because they know it’s a no-win situation. With the major league payroll shrinking*, there is little chance the Cubs are contenders next season. Yet the fans are hungry for a title. 

In any event, whoever the next manager will be already has a pitching coach and hitting instructor in place. So, let’s examine the racing form and set the odds for the next Cubs manager.

*Ricketts said the overall payroll will be flat, but that some resources will be shifted toward player development, which equates to a lower major league payroll for next season. 

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