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The Texas Rangers were embarrassed by the San Francisco Giants in Game One of the 2010 World Series, losing 11-7.

The “unbeatable” Cliff Lee gave up six runs in a game where the Rangers lost by four.

Freddy Sanchez was the man of the night for San Fran, hitting four doubles and driving in three.

C.J Wilson will take the mound for Texas and try to give the Rangers a chance to head home with a split series.

Matt Cain will oppose him for the Giants.

Can the Giants be the first NL team to win Game Two of the World Series since the Diamondbacks in 2001?

Stay right here to find out.

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It’s finally that time.

The 2010 World Series is finally here.

Maybe your favorite team didn’t make it to the big stage this year and maybe you know nothing about the Texas Rangers or the San Francisco Giants, but this is the place that you want to be during Game One of the 2010 world Series.

It will be Tim Lincecum for the Giants versus Cliff Lee for the Rangers on the mound, in a pitchers duel meant for the ages of a World Series that should keep you on the edge of your seat.

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Tonight is the night that you’ve all been waiting for…

Unless you’re a Yankees fan.

Tonight will be a game to remember, in a battle between two of the greatest postseason pitchers in the history of the game.

Cliff Lee vs. Andy Pettitte.

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The Atlanta Braves will name a new manager to their franchise for the first time since Bobby Cox joined the Braves for the second time in 1990.

“Multiple baseball sources have confirmed that the Braves will introduce Fredi Gonzalez as their new manager Thursday,” reports MLB.com Atlanta Braves beat writer Mark Bowman.

Gonzalez has been the favorite to replace the legendary manager ever since the Florida Marlins fired him in late June. He worked on Cox’s coaching staff from 2003-2006 and has always been very close to the Braves organization.

One day after Atlanta was eliminated from the postseason by San Francisco on Monday night, an official Braves press release referred to Cox as “former Braves manager,” three words that the Braves and their fans have never heard to describe the manager that brought them such great success for over 20 years.

“Fredi Gonzalez is always first in my mind that pops up, just because this organization has been run the same for so long,” pitcher Derek Lowe said of Gonzalez. 

“I think Fredi would be a great choice,” outfielder Matt Diaz said. “I was only here one year with him, but watching him in Florida and the way his players responded to him in Florida … No offense to Hanley [Ramirez], but with the way Hanley handled that ball and the way Fredi handled that situation, Fredi earned a lot of respect from me, too.”

The Atlanta Braves have always been a close-knit organization, and it came as very little or no surprise that Gonzalez was selected to replace Cox so soon.

Now that the ominous cloud of “Who will fill the cleats of Bobby Cox?” has dissipated, the Braves can immediately focus on returning to the playoffs in the 2011 season and go about business just like they would any other season.

With all of the compliments and promotions of Gonzalez by Bobby Cox and his players, Braves fans can feel comfortable that Gonzalez will fit in nicely in the Braves dugout.

On Thursday afternoon, the Bobby Cox era will officially come to an end, and the Fredi Gonzalez era will begin in Atlanta.

It will be bizarre to look into the Braves dugout and not see that crazy old man who Braves country has been in love with for two decades, but as they say, all good things must come to an end.

But in this case, the good has only begun.

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Rick Ankiel was never supposed to be an outfielder.

Troy Glaus was not supposed to be a third baseman.

Brian Wilson was not supposed to be human.

The National League Division Series between the San Francisco Giants and the Atlanta Braves is not supposed to be tied—but it is.

The Giants were only five outs away from taking a 2-0 lead in the NLDS, and taking one more step towards sweeping the Braves, but the team with the second-most comeback victories in all of baseball was not going to go down without a fight.

The Giants led 4-1 all the way into the eighth inning before shortstop Alex Gonzalez tied the game up in the Braves’ three-run eight inning with a two-run double off the NL saves leader, Brian Wilson. Twenty-two-year-old Craig Kimbrel shut down the Giants lineup for two innings to carry the game into the 11th inning.

The rest could very well be history.

With one out in the top of the 11th, Rick Ankiel, the former St. Louis Cardinals pitching phenom, hit the go-ahead home run on a 2-2 fastball from Ramon Ramirez out of AT&T park and into McCovey Cove—only the fourth postseason go-ahead home run in extra innings in Braves franchise history.

Ankiel’s former Kansas City teammate, Kyle Farnsworth, pitched a scoreless 11th to give Atlanta the victory and swing the momentum their way as the Giants come to Turner Field and try to get back on track.

Isn’t baseball a funny game?

As far as pitching matchups go for the rest of the series, the Braves may have the edge over the incredible Giants pitching staff.

In Game 3 on Sunday, Braves ace Tim Hudson will duel it out with the resurgent Jonathan Sanchez, but now that Game 4 is set in stone, managers Bobby Cox and Bruce Bochy have an important decision to make—who will start?

Cox is likely to bring back Derek Lowe on short rest. Lowe threw only 96 pitches in Game 1 and is 4-1 with a 4.30 ERA in seven starts on short rest. 

Bochy has a more difficult decision to make. He has not ruled out bringing back Tim Lincecum on short rest, though Lincecum never has been used on three days’ rest and threw 119 pitches in his spectacular Game 1 start. His other choice is rookie Madison Bumgarner (7-6, 3.00 ERA), who would be getting the ball on nine days’ rest.

Suddenly the pitching matchups and home-field advantage have turned for Atlanta—Hudson against Sanchez in Game 3, and possibly Bumgarner against Lowe in Game 4.

The Braves are the best team in baseball on their own diamond, so there is nothing they would love more than to end this series on Monday night—in their house.

News and Notes:

• Braves closer Billy Wagner left Game 2 with an oblique injury and he will not return for the rest of the series or, if the Braves reach the NLCS. Takashi Saito will replace Wagner on the roster.

• The likeliest candidate to take over closing duties is rookie Craig Kimbrel. Kimbrel threw 33 pitches in two innings of relief on Friday night—and the Giants only put two of those pitches into play. Since being called up in May, Kimbrel has pitched 23 1/3 innings and struck out 45 men.

• Jason Heyward has yet to record a hit in his first postseason. The Giants’ Buster Posey is 3-for-8 with two runs scored.

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This year in baseball is truly a race for October meant for the history books.

Just about every division in baseball is up for grabs and the contending teams are overflowing with young and veteran talent.

However, a championship-caliber team does not solely depend on it’s talent.

It also depends on how you use and coach that talent.

This slideshow will rank all of the managers at the helm of teams in the middle of the pennant race.

Begin Slideshow

Since May 31st, the Atlanta Braves have been all alone in first place atop the NL East.

The Braves have seen their lead rise to as much as seven games this season, but now they find themselves only one game ahead of Philadelphia with just two weeks left to play in the regular season.

With that said, who is really the team to beat in the National League East?

Is it Bobby Cox’s Braves in the legendary manager’s final season or the reigning champions of the National League?

We asked Phillies Featured Columnist Vincent Heck and Braves Featured Columnist Evan Walker to make their cases for their respective team.

Vincent Heck: 

I’m a man of faith and I know that, anytime you lack faith or doubt something great and powerful, you are sorely mistaken. The Philadelphia Phillies are powerful, on the road to great. Even if greatness does fail, it still doesn’t justify your reasoning as to why you doubted most of the time.

If you doubted the New England Patriots would win the Super Bowl in their infamous 18-1 season, you were unjustified in your doubts—period.

A great team overcomes adversity, does the unexpected, even beating the teams they are not supposed to beat—that’s greatness.

The Phillies are special in that they got their stardom as a humble, underdog, wild card team. They know how to win against hearsay—they’ve done it before.

They have since, proved, that they have risen to “powerhouse” status, considered by most to be on the brink of greatness.

The Phils mission hasn’t changed at all: Win another World Series.

The road, however, has definitely changed. This year, the charming Atlanta Braves stand in the path of a team who has always been determined to win and have always succeeded to a degree.

We all know the Braves can’t meet the Phillies in the World Series, so, somethings gotta give.

We know the firepower that the Phillies contain, there’s no need for me to run down statistics. You know Jimmy Rollins, Placido Polanco, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Jayson Werth, Raul Ibanez, Shane Victorino, and Carlos Ruiz.

Those men speak for themselves.

Those aren’t the men, on Monday the 20th through Wednesday the 22nd, that the Braves should be concerned with. It’s these men:

Monday: Cole Hamels
Tuesday: Roy Halladay
Wednesday: Roy Oswalt

The Atlanta Braves, a superb team, a relentless team, a talented team, have to contend with an offense known to put up nine run comebacks a couple times each season. And bat against three bonafide aces.

Now, as I said before, I am a man of faith, but men of faith don’t choose who they put their faith in frivolously. No—if you’re going to put faith in something, make sure it’s proven and tested.

That my friends is the Philadelphia Phillies, who have the same core from 2008 and 2009, with upgrades.

I like the Braves, but the truth is, their best chance in beating Philadelphia is as a wild card. Then, possibly, they may catch the Phillies “smelling themselves” too much.

But if the Braves win the division, there is no doubt in my mind the Phillies will take it to them in the NLCS.

Because a great team overcomes adversity, does the unexpected, and beats the teams they are not supposed to beat—the Phils are “not,” necessarily supposed to beat the New York Yankees—I’m not quite sure I’m ready to throw the Braves in that discussion yet.

Evan Walker:

The Philadelphia Phillies are a good team.

Last year, they were great. The year before, they were great, but I am not convinced that the Phillies are the same team from 2008 and 2009. They’ll need to be that team and more to avoid the tomahawk in 2010.

As we all know, this year will be the last year of the Bobby Cox dynasty and if they’re anchor Chipper Jones departs, it will be the end of the “Team of The 90’s.”

Welcome to the team of the 2010’s.

Only one word can describe the most walk-off wins in baseball, the transformation of a talented rookie into a keeper of the flame that ignited baseball’s postseason for 15 seasons, and incredible pitching in a year certain to be remembered for incredible pitching

Magical.

The Braves need no superstars. They have no Howard’s and they have no Utley’s.

Instead of a team full of Subway commercials stars, the Braves have a team of 40 different baseball players, any of whom can don the hero’s cape on any given night.

The big three pitchers in Philly are dangerous, but three pitchers do not make a pitching staff.

You need at least four pitchers to be successful in the playoffs.

Joe Blanton and Kyle Kendrick both have ERA around five, so although Hamels, Halladay, and Oswalt are almost guaranteed great performances, Kendrick (4.72 ERA) and Blanton (5.25 ERA) make the rotation questionable with a 3.70 combined ERA.

Cy Young candidate, Tim Hudson anchors the Braves rotation along with Tommy Hanson, Jair Jurjens, Derek Lowe, and Mike Minor. All of them combined have a 3.53 ERA and none of them have ERA above 4.50.

The Braves are statistically the better team in just about every category, but the reason that they have been in front of Philadelphia for the majority of this season is not about statistics.

This season is about giving a legendary manager a deserving high note to end his Hall of Fame career.

This season is about the stewardship of a baseball legacy and the beginning of a new baseball dynasty.

No matter who wins the division or who wins the wild card, the Braves and Phillies will meet in the postseason and it won’t be pretty.  But it will be great baseball.

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In just about any sport, there are the elite teams that appear regularly in the postseason and then there are the cellar dwellars, the teams that nobody takes seriously and are often never talked about.

Unfortunately, some of the best players in the MLB are on some of the worst teams in baseball.

Let’s give these players some recognition and the respect they deserve.

Begin Slideshow

Albert Pujols is once again defying the odds and shredding the history books while the young “Big Red Machine,” Joey Votto, is establishing his reputation as one of the most dangerous hitters in baseball. Both have a legitimate chance of winning the first Triple Crown since Carl Yastrzemski in 1967.

So we thought.

Last month, we were all scratching our heads laughing at the “fool,” Charlie Manuel, for selecting super-utility man Omar Infante of the Atlanta Braves to the National League All-Star team.

One month later, Infante has proven his All-Star ability and is on track to win the National League batting title.

Now who’s laughing?

Infante has the league’s best batting average at .347. However, to qualify for the batting title, a player must have a total of 502 plate appearances. Infante is currently at 342.

That means that Infante must play the remaining 35 games of the season and average 4.4 plate appearances each game.

This is a very unlikely scenario and nearly impossible if the Braves can clinch a playoff spot at the end of the season and Bobby Cox decides to rest his players, but in the world of baseball, there is always a loophole.

The Loophole: If a player doesn’t finish with 502 plate appearances, you can the add necessary hitless  plate appearances to get him there. If his new batting average is still good enough to lead the league, he gets his batting title.

As of right now, here are the standings in the NL Triple Crown categories:

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What happened to Derek Lowe?

In the offseason of 2009, the Atlanta Braves signed Derek Lowe to a four-year, $60 million dollar contract. Lowe was one of the most accomplished pitchers in baseball. He was the man who broke the curse of the Bambino, he threw the first no-no in Fenway since 1965, and in his four previous years, his ERA never climbed above four.

Since 2005, the only National League pitcher to win more games than Lowe is Roy Oswalt.

That was the old Derek Lowe.

Lowe has not been absolutely terrible for the Braves, but he has definitely not proven to be the pitcher that they invested $60 million dollars in. Last year, his ERA flirted with five points and this year, Lowe has been far from great.

Lowe’s recent struggles have left people wondering if the old Lowe rider has any gas left in the tank.

Baseball is a sport of a million statistics and there may just be a few stats that could explain the sudden free-fall of Derek Lowe’s career.

Lowe’s four years in Los Angeles were the best four years of his baseball career. His average ERA was 3.59 and Lowe was striking out six men per nine innings. He was pitching consistently and winning more games than the majority of pitchers in the NL.

Just about when the Braves thought they were getting one of the best pitchers in baseball, Lowe ran out of luck.

Batting average on balls in play (BABIP) is a statistic measuring the percentage of plate appearances ending with a batted ball in play (excluding HRs) for which the batter is credited with a hit. This sabermetric stat is used to determine if a pitcher’s season is dependent on luck.

While with the Dodgers, Lowe had an average BABIP of .291. This is slightly below the average BABIP of .300, so some could say that while in Hollywood, Lowe was slightly lucky.

When Lowe travelled down south to join the Braves, his fortunate luck did not join him. Lowe’s BABIP skyrocketed to .330 and although this year’s .309 is a slight improvement from 2009, it is still considered above average.

However, even if luck is fighting Lowe every step of the way, the reason for his struggle is quite simpler than that.

Lowe is not the same pitcher that he used to be. The 37-year-old is still a great number three pitcher to have on a starting rotation, but his pitches have lost some of that nasty movement on them and his numbers have suffered because of it.

If indeed the Atlanta Braves do reach the postseason for the first time since 2005, they will be glad to have a guy like Derek Lowe on their team. No matter his struggles, Lowe has proven to be a fantastic postseason pitcher and he is one of the few Braves that can provide October experience to a young Atlanta Braves team.

This article is also featured on Sports Haze.

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