Kuzul

The Grapefruit and Cactus leagues are (thankfully) underway, but as much as this development is a wonderful harbinger of spring, I’m having trouble getting myself too worked up about the standings. Having said that, some congrats are due to those Grapefruit League-leading Baltimore Orioles and Cactus League-leading Milwaukee Brewers and Kansas City Royals. Maybe that Zack Greinke deal was a win-win after all.

And perhaps I’m just feeling sour and prickly about not being in Florida or Arizona right now. It also seems that whenever one of those spring training games is televised, I always seem to be tied up.

So, on to the regular season, and a look at some individual milestones that may be reached this year. One of the many charms of baseball is that it is uniquely a game of individual numbers, and quite a few players are poised to hit some of those numbers this year.

In this article, I have favored the round numbers—i.e., 500 home runs or 3,000 hits—over the ranking, although both the career and active leaders in all featured categories have been provided.

Without any further adieu, let’s step up to the plate and enjoy this trip around the bases.

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Countdown ‘Til Pitchers and Catchers Report: Two Days

For us red-blooded baseball lovers, it is no coincidence that the start of spring training and Valentine’s Day come together each year. I hope that my readers will greet both events with great excitement and a little extra hop in the step, although I prefer to write only about the first one.

As exciting as any spring training is—and Spring Training 2011 is particularly thrilling for Phillies fans—my goal is to make the coming regular season just a little more interesting. Perhaps I’m taking my cue from the recent Super Bowl.

I am not a betting man, but I threw in a couple shekels last Sunday for a chance to win some of my friends’ money based on 26 prop bets that our host came up with. Nothing was too creative, and most related to the Super Bowl itself; about five of the questions related to the coin flip, commercials and the color of the Gatorade dumped on the winning coach.

Yes, I ended up making a small donation, and I’m not advising anybody to bet any real money on the following. But in previewing a season that Phils fans accept as a given that their team will make the playoffs for the fifth straight time, these prop bets may add just a little intrigue to the formality of the regular season.

In honor of Cliff Lee, I propose 33 (mostly) over-and-unders to keep track of during the 2011 regular season. I have not researched Vegas odds for any of this, so if you’ve seen any of these numbers elsewhere, it’s purely coincidental.

PITCHERS AND CATCHERS

1. Combined wins by R2C2 (Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels):  71

Last year, the four pitchers combined for only 58 wins, deceptive as I think that number was.

2. Combined innings by R2C2: 850

Last year, the four hurlers amassed an amazing 881.7.

3. Combined strikeouts for R2C2: 800

Last year, they combined for 808 K.

4. Combined complete games for R2C2: 20

Last year, they combined for 19.

5. Wins by Joe Blanton in a Phils uniform: 6

Big Joe was 9-6 last season, and he won 12 the year before, but how long will he be here?

6. Saves for Brad Lidge: 33

Brad saved only 27 in 2010, but has averaged 33 during his three years in red pinstripes.

7. Batting average for Carlos Ruiz: .285

Chooch hit a remarkable .302 last season, boosting his career BA to .260.

8. Homers for Chooch: 11

He belted eight last year, and nine in 2009.

THE REST OF THE LINEUP

9. Home runs for Ryan Howard:  44

The Big Piece has averaged 45.8 in his last five (full) seasons, but knocked only 31 out of the yard last season.

10. RBI for Howard: 136

Yes, that’s a big number, but even factoring in his drop last year (108), Howard has averaged 136 over his five full seasons.

11. Whiffs for Howard:  180

Howard only whiffed 151 times last year, he averaged 191 in his previous four campaigns.

12. Games played for Chase Utley: 145

Utley only played in 115 games last season, but had averaged 151 in his previous five seasons.

13. Homers for Chase: 28

Chase only popped 16 last season; he averaged 29-plus in his previous five.

14. HBP for Chase: 23

He did not move away from 18 pitches last season in limited at-bats, he averaged an NL-high 25.3 the previous three seasons.

15. Games played for Jimmy Rollins: 145

Rollins played in only 88 last year, but he played in at least 154 games in eight of his previous nine campaigns.

16. Runs scored for Jimmy: 105

This seems high as J-Roll only crossed home plate 48 times in 2010. In his previous six seasons, he averaged about 113 runs.

17.  Stolen bases for Rollins: 32

He dropped to 17 last season, but in the last 10 years he has swiped a total of 340. You can do the math.

18. Placido Polanco’s batting average: .300

Polly, about as consistent a hitter as you’ll find, hit .298 last year, his career BA is .303

19. Will Polanco reach 2,000 career hits before or after September 15?

Polly, who is 35, starts the season at 1,836.

20. Games played for Wilson Valdez: 55

Last year’s supersub played in a career-high 111 last season, almost tripling his previous high.

21. Will Raul Ibanez finish the season in a Phillies uniform?

22. RBI for Raul: 90

Raul rallied to end up with 83 last season, after knocking in 93 the season before. He topped 100 in each of his final three seasons as a Seattle Mariner.

23. Batting average for Shane Victorino:  .285

The ever-popular Flyin’ Hawaiian slumped to .259 last season, but the career .279 hitter had topped .285 four of his previous five seasons.

24. Homers for Shane: 13

Shane popped 18 last season. That was a personal best, but many Phils fans would sacrifice about 10 of those for a more consistent approach at the plate (and 25 or so more line drives).

25. At-bats for Domonic Brown: 250

Brown joined the parent club on July 28, and registered 62 at-bats on the season.

26. Homers for D-Brown: 14

Two of Brown’s blasts reached the seats (in fair territory) last year.

27. Games played for Ben Francisco: 115

Francisco played in 88 games last season, sometimes relegated to a defensive replacement, or pinch-hitting appearance.  (They all count, of course.)

28. Ben’s batting average: .270

Francisco hit .268 last season, and carries a lifetime .263 mark.

29. Homers for Ross Gload: 8

Gload blasted six in 2010, in only 128 at-bats.

TEAM NUMBERS

30. Total Wins in 2011: 100

Last season, the Fightins won 97, the most in the majors.

31. Games ahead at the All-Star break: 4

32. Games the Phils will win the NL East by: 7

They won by six games in 2010.

33. Games the Phils will finish ahead of the New York Mets: 13

It was a margin of 18 last year, but can the Mets be that bad again?

Okay, time to go to work, and kill some of the remaining hours until pitchers and catchers report. If I hit any of these numbers on the button, please feel free to send some of your mythical winnings to the house, care of my email address or BR’s private message service.

Play ball!

For more information on Matt Goldberg’s new books, other writings and appearances, please e-mail: matt@tipofthegoldberg.com

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

MLB Countdown Till Pitchers and Catchers Report: Five days.

The man that Philadelphia Phillies fans love to call “Chooch” has just turned 32, and has never been voted onto an all-star team or honored with a Gold Glove award.

But take a look around the league, and around all of Major League baseball. Are there as many as five other catchers who you would rather have behind the plate, and hitting out of the No. 8 hole for this team—a team whose expectations are so impossibly high?

The answer to that is debatable, but clearly, the diminutive Panamian backstop has become one of the most highly respected players on the team. So, would you entrust the fortunes of our once-in-a-generation starting pitching rotation to anyone else?

Despite his lack of Gold Gloves (Ruiz has been the Phils’ everyday catcher the last four years, and the Cardinals’ superb Yadier Molina has won the last three), by any measure Chooch does an exceptional job behind the dish.

Ruiz commits very few errors, does a great job blocking balls in the dirt, sacrifices his body to block the plate and when given a reasonable chance to throw out runners, he cuts them down with his precise laser arm. The pitching staff raves about how he calls a game, and Chooch has become more confident and assertive with them each year.

One other thing: The next time he either complains or toots his own horn publicly, will be the very first.

All of these qualities have made Carlos Ruiz a greatly valued player—in the clubhouse and in the stands of Citizens Bank Park—even if national recognition has been slow in coming.

Known more for his stellar defense, Ruiz compiled (by far) his best offensive season in 2010. One can easily make a case that he was the most consistent hitter on the team last year.

Chooch put together a wonderful slash line of .302/.400/.447, with a terrific OPS of .847. Still not impressed? Ruiz was the only Phils regular with a batting average over .300 or an OBP over .400 (he did both). It is tempting to say that he should be the Phillies’ leadoff hitter, but that would be just a tad unconventional. He has decent speed for a catcher, but…

Why would you even want to displace him from the No. 8 hole when he walked 55 times against only 54 strikeouts, and also found a way to knock in 53 runs? There simply aren’t that many batters—at any position—who rack up more BBs than Ks, and Ruiz does a superb job of turning the lineup over.

Are you ready for another interesting Chooch-related factoid?

If you look at last year’s starting lineup, Ruiz was the only position player to never make an all-star team. Going around the diamond, Ryan Howard (three times), Chase Utley (five), Jimmy Rollins (three) and Placido Polanco (one) made for a highly decorated infield.

All three starting outfielders—Raul Ibanez, Shane Victorino and Jayson Werth—suited up in the 2009 All-Star Game.

If the lack of personal honors has ever bothered Ruiz, you would never know if from the way he goes about this business. In fact, he is all business, with a knack for making the great defensive play or getting the key hit at the right time.

It would be an exaggeration to note that the Phillies ended their dubious 13-year run of not qualifying for the playoffs in 2007, when Ruiz started wearing the tools of ignorance every day. As you well know, the Fightins have won the NL East the last four years, and Ruiz has been just one reason why. At the same time, the impact of having such a reliable catcher should not be ignored.

Once in the postseason, Ruiz gets the job done behind the plate and offensively—with a career postseason line of .280/.412/.456.

It remains to be seen whether Ruiz can match last year’s offensive numbers, and if so, whether he will be rewarded with an All-Star appearance when the competition includes guys like Molina, the Braves’ perennial honoree Brian McCann and reigning Rookie of the Year Buster Posey of the Giants.

Phillies fans would love to have the opportunity to scream “Chooooooooooch” during the midsummer classic, but perhaps it’s Ruiz’s fate to be one of those terrific players who never gets to taste that kind of personal glory.

As long as Chooch gets to kneel down for about 120 grueling regular season games and 12 postseason victories, all of Phillies Nation will be delighted.

One gets the impression that the popular, ultra-reliable and unselfish catcher will be even more delighted to do his part to bring home another championship.

Gold Notes

It is interesting to speculate as to where Carlos Ruiz would rank among Phillies catchers of the last 50 years. In any debate of this ilk, there is no single stat that crunches all of the numbers and all of the intangibles, but for now he would probably rank fourth behind:

Bob Boone (who caught over 100 games seven times as a Phillie, made three All-Star games and won two Gold Gloves).

Darren Daulton (four seasons over 100 games, three All-Star games, a Silver Slugger and an RBI crown).

Mike Lieberthal (seven seasons over 100 games, two All-Star games, a Gold Glove and two seasons over .300).

Chooch has caught over 100 games the last four seasons and is the only player of the four to ever have an OBP of .400.

For more information on Matt Goldberg’s new books, other writings and appearances, please e-mail: matt@tipofthegoldberg.com

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Don’t despair Phillies fans. What has all of the makings of a long, frigid, snowy winter will soon be interrupted with this announcement: “Pitchers and catchers report today!”

Okay, Phillies’ pitchers and catchers don’t report to Clearwater, Florida, until February 13, which is still 29 days away. But consider this: It has now been 83 long, cold, unforgiving days since Ryan Howard infamously struck out looking against Brian Wilson to end the National League Championship Series, and with it the hopes of another world championship.

Phillies fans have now weathered almost 75 percent of their annual baseball vigil, and what a season this promises to be.

This past fall got a little darker when Jayson Werth defected to D.C. for oodles of cash, and then got immeasurably brighter when Cliff Lee returned to the fold.

Although hot stoves have been firing—mostly with optimism—in anticipation of an amazing 2011 season, there are days and evenings when such heat cannot mitigate the realities of winter in the Northeast. There have already been a few cruel days when the number of inches of snow was greater than the number of degrees in the wind chill reading.

The late A Bartlett (Bart) Giammati, once commissioner of Major League Baseball, and former president of Yale University, probably best captured the eternal promise and heartbreak of baseball when writing the following for his Yale Alumni Magazine.

“It [baseball] breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone.”

To paraphrase Giammati, the heartbreak is almost over, and presumably there are less than 30 shoveling days till baseball.

Others may prefer Groundhog Day as their personal harbinger of spring, and they long to see what those little rodents (the most famous one being Punxsutawney Phil) will do when the bright lights descend upon their winter burrows on February 2 each year.

“Groundhog Day,” of course, was also the title of a 1993 comedy starring incurable Cubs fan Bill Murray. Ever since that movie, Groundhog Day has entered our pop-cultural lexicon as the epitome of doing the same thing over and over and over and over again.

It was not that long ago that the Philadelphia Phillies staged their annual version of Groundhog Day each season from the end of 1993 until the watershed 2007 season. After the strike of 1994, the Phillies—whether or not they used the same formula each year—never qualified for the postseason. At the same time, the Atlanta Braves were winning the pennant, if not the World Series, every year.

A little known fact is that on every February 2 between 1994 and 2006, a suburban woodchuck named Paunchatiny Phillie would emerge from his burrow just long enough to read that season’s baseball forecast. Once he read the prognostications, he would crawl back into his hole after proclaiming that six long months of baseball were in the offing for Phillies fans.

Indeed, was the heartbreak of the offseason that much worse than the disappointment of the actual baseball played by the Phillies during those drought years? I would still contend that a bad day at the ballpark still beats a day without baseball, but those Phillies squads, run by the likes of John Felske and Lee Elia, were no match for skipper Charlie Manuel’s men.

Indeed, Phillies fans should appreciate the rarified near-dynasty (by modern standards anyway) of the new type of Groundhog Day that has unfolded the last four year and counting:

2007: 89 wins, NL East Champions

2008: 92 wins, World Champions of Baseball (in the words of the immortal Harry Kalas)

2009: 93 wins: NL Champs, runner-up to Yanks

2010: 97 wins; best record in baseball, lost in NLCS

2011: ?

Many Phillies fans and non-partisan baseball pundits alike accept as a foregone conclusion that the team in red pinstripes will return to the postseason in 2011, and barring crippling injuries, will be the favorite to return to the World Series.

Such projections make the chilly temperatures, icy roads (and perhaps, even an Eagles playoff loss) a little easier to take. The chatter from the hot stove has a certain warmth, even as we pose some of the following questions:

• Who is the fifth starter?
• What about our corner outfielders?
• Will Jimmy Rollins be, well, Jimmy Rolllins again?
• What about the bullpen?

The suspicion is that with the four-headed R2C2 monster of Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels and Roy Oswalt leading us, the Phillies will sprint to the division title, even if these questions aren’t answered definitively.

There will be time to examine these developments and more, and this columnist will try to do his part to add to the conversation. But for now, I am encouraged that in only four weeks, I can say “Pitchers and catchers report tomorrow.”

That five-word sentence—especially when “tomorrow” truly means only 24 hours away—is one of my favorite sentences in the English language.

It is a declaration so life-affirming that it must be warming the hearts of all true baseball fans. One suspects that even the late A Bartlett Giamatti (to say nothing of Paunchatiny Phillie) is starting to crack a warm smile.

For more information on Matt Goldberg’s new books, other writings and appearances, please e-mail: matt@tipofthegoldberg.com

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Christmas Day, 2010: Is there a better day to present you with a list of the greatest players in Major League Baseball history?

Please note: I have picked the best player for each given letter, so some players lucked out by having a name starting with an unusual letter. How else can a pretty good player like Carlos Quentin have the same odds of making my list as Stan Musial, a true all-time great.

One more note: Neither player made my list. Sorry to upset all the Carlos Quentin fans out there. Do read on.

But seriously, I hope you will enjoy one man’s opinion of the best our great national pastime has offered us—given these criteria. You will find pitchers and players alike from the deadball era to whatever era we call today’s major league baseball.

I hope these names will warm your heart on this cold December day. Please read and feel free to register your approval and/or disapproval with passion—and civility, given this season.

Time to unwrap your present, and let the great game begin!

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Sports Irreverence and More from The Other Tip of the Goldberg

This will teach me to go to bed early and avoid the news from 9:00 PM on.

Hey, I was spending some quality time with my two year-old son. We can joyously read and play together until midnight, and my boy will still want more Q-time from my wife and me.

But that’s a whole other story; back to the task at hand. Besides, as much as I love him and there’s no close runner-up there, I can only read and play-act The Three Little Pigs and The Big, Bad Wolf so many times.

On the way back from an evening meeting, I heard one of the local (Philly) sports talk radio hosts conjecture that the Phillies might be in the running for Cliff Lee, who pitched so memorably in his very short tenure with Philadelphia in 2009.

But of course, they were just trying to make Phillies Nation feel better after letting Jayson Werth go to the Nationals.

Surely, this was just idle chatter, or was it? No! There is some fire behind this smoke, and the Phillies and GM Ruben Amaro are on fire.

In case you have not heard the news, it has been reported from multiple sources that coveted free agent left-handed pitcher Cliff Lee has signed with the Phillies for five years, with a vesting option for a sixth year.

According to MLB.com, the five-year deal is in the $120 million range.

There has been talk that Lee left some money on the table in spurning longer-term offers with the Yankees and possibly the Rangers, who had him for a few months.

But let’s not laud Lee like he’s giving up huge money to work anonymously in the slums of Calcutta.

Three things here:

He is getting $24 million per year until age 37; so what if he turned down a sixth year for another $18 million or so.

When I leave money on the table, it’s a ratty one-dollar bill  and a couple quarters from my pocket.

I’m not bashing Lee at all; truth be told, I’m a lifelong Phillies fan who was in mourning when “we” let him go last year on the same day that we signed Roy “Doc” Halladay (who incidentally may be the best starting pitcher in the sport).

So, I am receiving this news happi-Lee, ecstatic-Lee, shocking-Lee…but enough of the Lee rejoinders and onto something more important.

THE GREAT ROTATION

In the coming days and weeks (and even now, if not in this very space), there will be a ton of analysis about what this deal means for:

• The Phillies – I guess they are the prohibitive favorites to get to, and win, the Fall Classic next year.
• Ruben Amaro – Can anyone question him now, as he has now signed Lee, Halladay, Oswalt and Lee again in less than two year’s time.
• Philadelphia – Is this convincing proof that big-time athletes do want to play here, and we’re a second class city (perception-wise) no more?
• Joe Blanton – Frankly, who cares?
• The Yankees – I guess that they don’t always get what/who they want.
• The rest of baseball – The Phillies won’t be viewed like the 2010-11 Miami Heat, unless Lee says that “I’m taking my talents to South Philly.” But yes, the rest of baseball’s true contenders must be sweating about how they can try to match up with Halladay, Lee, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels.
• Cole Hamels -“Wait, I’m now the No. 4 starter?”

R2-C2:

Just a few months ago, I proposed the nickname H20 for the Phillies amazing three-headed monster of Halladay, Hamels and Oswalt. 

Roy, Roy And Cole and … Who Takes The Ball: Pondering The Phillies Rotation

I swear on my beloved two year-old’s future that I had never seen or heard that nickname before my column-produced brainstorm, and I’m okay with “H2O” going viral and lots of t-shirts being sold without a nod to my little column on Bleacher Report, or royalties to my son’s college fund.

Well, I’m kind of okay with that, so here goes, and tell me if you heard it here first:

We now need a new nickname for (on paper) the most potent four-man rotation in modern baseball history. They are a rotation of all-world and even inter-galactic proportions and even though I am not a major sci-fi-guy, I am a nickname-meister of sorts.

So, of course, we now have two Roys (or two R’s) and a Cliff and a Cole (or two C’s). The Phillies have now upgraded the powerful H20 to an other-worldly…

                                                      R2-C2

It’s crisp, it’s clean, it’s powerful and let the rest of the baseball world and civilization as we know it deal with it. 

All I know is that Cliff Lee is back in Philly.

Well, I’ll know it when I see the press conference. 

That’ll teach me to stop watching the news at 9 PM.

For more information on Matt Goldberg’s new books, other writings and appearances, please e-mail: matt@tipofthegoldberg.com.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Cliff Lee of the Texas Rangers (at least for now) is the prized free agent pitcher heading into the 2011 season.

And perhaps the biggest prize of all free agents.

Where will he wind up and, presumably, pitch for the next five or so years? It appears to be a two-horse race between the Rangers and the favored New York Yankees.

The 32-year-old southpaw is projected by many to be able to command something in the vicinity of 5-year at a total of  $110 million or so. He may insist on, and receive, a six-year contract in that same $20-22 million neighborhood.

Nice neighborhood, by the way.

Any way you phrase it, there is a lot of risk involved in handing out that kind of long-term dough for any pitcher—especially a pitcher in his 30s who missed several starts this year due to injuries, however minor.

Regardless of whether he stays in Texas, goes to New York or plays (however improbably) for someone else, I project that Lee is a good risk—both performance-wise and health-wise. 

What follows is a power ranking of 10 reasons to support this premise.

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The man they call Doc Halladay had a mighty impressive first season in the National League, and the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA) certainly took notice.

Roy Halladay, the ace of aces for the Philadelphia Phillies, won the National League Cy Young Award unanimously, taking home all 32 first place votes. He easily outdistanced Adam Wainwright of the St. Louis Cardinals and the Colorado Rockies’ Ubaldo Jimenez— who seemed like a lock to win it when he arrived at the All-Star Game with a 15-1 record.

Tim Hudson, of the Atlanta Braves, and the Florida Marlins’ Josh Johnson (the NL’s ERA leader) rounded out the top five.

Halladay made his first NL campaign a most memorable one, as he led the senior circuit in wins (with a 21-10 record), complete games (nine), shutouts (four) and innings pitched (250.2). He anchored a terrific starting rotation that led the Phillies to the best record in all of baseball during the regular season.

The Phillies’ ace was both spectacular and steady. His most spectacular outing, of course, was his May 29 perfect game at Florida, in a game where the Phillies could only manage one unearned run against Josh Johnson.

Other highlights included Halladay’s 4-0 record with an 0.82 ERA and two complete games in his four starts of the season, and his last regular season start of the season which may have clinched the “Cy.”  Pitching in Washington against the pesky Nationals, he hurled a two-hit shutout without yielding a single walk.

His spectacular performances in 2010 included his first-ever postseason action, even if the postseason does not figure into the balloting. Facing a potent lineup in Game 1 of the NLDS, all Doc did was throw the second no-hitter in MLB postseason history. He was one walk away from a perfecto.

Doc also kept the season alive by winning Game 5 of the NLCS versus Tim Lincecum and the eventual world champion San Francisco Giants. That he did so pitching on one good leg only added to his legend.

Halladay was steady as well as spectacular. In his 33 starts, he failed to pitch at least seven innings only four times. His shortest outing was 5.2 innings in an 8-3 loss to the Boston Red Sox. His next outing:  the perfecto versus the Marlins.

The 6’6” future Hall of Famer, one of the most obscure superstars in the game entering the 2010 season, posted spectacular stats, and continued to do so in a way that furthered his reputation as the ultimate competitor, a workout fiend, and a terrific teammate.

The 33 year-old, still looking to add a World Series title to his trophy case that now boasts two Cy Young Awards (his first was achieved in 2003 while pitching in a Toronto Blue Jays uniform) would appear to have a few prime seasons left and it would surprise nobody in baseball if he authors another Cy-worthy campaign in 2011.

Every now and then, the baseball writers get it right, even if Halladay made it eminently easy for them to do the right thing.

GOLD NOTES:

Halladay is just the fourth Phils pitcher to be honored with this award, along with Steve Bedrosian (1987), John Denny (1983) and Steve Carlton (a four-time winner in 1972, 1977, 1980 and 1982).

Doc is now the fifth pitcher in MLB history to win a Cy in both leagues, joining Roger Clemens, Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson and Gaylord Perry.

Halladay went seven years between Cys, tying the Braves’ Tom Glavine for the longest gap between awards.

New teammate Roy Oswalt finished sixth in the balloting.

For more information on Matt Goldberg’s new books, other writings and appearances, please e-mail: matt@tipofthegoldberg.com

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Riding the pitching arm of Colby Lewis and a three-run homer from the bat of their No. 9 hitter, the Texas Rangers defeated the San Francisco Giants 4-2 to cut their series deficit from two games to one.

To many, starting pitcher Lewis and rookie first baseman Mitch Moreland (their nine-hole hitter) may not sound like World Series heroes, but tonight their stars shined the brightest before a jubilant crowd at Ranger Ballpark in Arlington.

Their heroics guided the American League champions to the franchise’s first-ever World Series victory as they served notice to the Cinderella Giants (and the baseball world) that this, indeed, may be a long series.

The Rangers were already in uncharted territory, playing in their very first Fall Classic, and hosting their first game of such magnitude.  Adding to the drama were these little stats that may have been quite sobering to a team looking to fight back after dropping the first two games of a series.

The last 11 teams to take a 2-0 lead with home field advantage went on to win the World Series.

In the history of the Fall Classic, teams have taken a 2-0 lead 51 times; 40 of them have become World Series champions.

The last three teams to grab a 2-0 lead not only went on to win, but also went on to sweep the series.

Against these Texas-tall odds, the Rangers sent Colby Lewis to the hill to effectively keep them alive.  Lewis, who entered the game with a 2-0 postseason record and a sparkling 1.45 era, was equal to the task, even if he didn’t start the game with full command.

After retiring leadoff batter Andres Torres on a bouncer to second, Lewis gave up a two-strike hit to the sizzling Freddie Sanchez.  Aubrey Huff flew out to deep right, before Lewis walked Buster Posey.  Lewis got left fielder Pat Burrell to strike out (kind of a mean feat as Burrell was 0-for-4 with four whiffs) on a slider that appeared to be a foot aside.  Still, a huge out for a team that could not afford to give the Giants even more momentum..

The Rangers almost got to Giants starter Jonathan Sanchez in the bottom of the first frame. Vladimir Guerrero, back in his familiar designated hitter role, put a mighty swing on an inside pitch with two outs and a man (Michael Young, with a single) on first.  Vlad may have gotten it off the end of the bat, but Burrell, temporarily redeeming himself, made a fine running catch to keep the game scoreless.

For the next five innings, Lewis was in almost complete control, yielding a total of two more hits and one walk, The one free pass was issued to  Cody “Babe”  Ross to start the second, but the threat was wiped out by an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play of Pablo Sandoval, started by the nifty glove work of second sacker Ian Kinsler.

While the Rangers may not have made too many “web gems”, they were solid all night, committing no errors or misplays after playing two shoddy games in San Francisco. 

On the other side of the hill, Sanchez, who at times  can be brilliant, faced  Nelson Cruz to start the second.  The muscular left fielder hit a rocket, best described as a “Cruz Missile” that attacked the center field wall, but did not clear it for a leadoff double.

Sanchez got Kinsler to ground out to short, and Cruz alertly ran on contact to take third, with shortstop Edgar Renteria electing to take the sure out at first.  With the infield playing back, Jeff Francouer hit a one-hopper even with the bag, but the normally aggressive Cruz retreated to third, even though the Giants appeared to concede the run on a contact play.

With two outs and Cruz stalled out at third, it would now take a hit (barring a wild pitch, of which the often wild Sanchez has proved capable of dealing) to get on the board. After Bengie Molina walked, in stepped rookie first baseman Mitch Moreland, hitting out of the nine hole.

In the key at-bat of the contest, Sanchez fell behind Moreland 2-1 before getting the benefit of a borderline strike to even the count.  The first baseman would foul off four straight pitches before seeing a pitch—the ninth of the climactic showdown—that he liked.  Well, Moreland did not miss it, sending it deep into the rightfield seats to give Texas a 3-0 lead that (thanks mostly to Lewis) it would never relinquish.

Josh Hamilton, who had not yet had his big moment in the Fall Classic, would add to the 3-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth.  Again, the Rangers and their prodigiously talented center fielder would strike with two outs.  Andrus had started the frame with a leadoff single, which Michael Young followed with a hard one-hopper to third baseman Juan Uribe. 

Uribe’s throw was high, but Freddie Sanchez turned a sensational pivot, just nipping Young to complete the twin killing.  Hamilton would drive a Sanchez fastball well into the bleachers to make the score 4-0 Texas.  As well as Lewis was pitching, the blow was a key one in giving the home team some insurance against a team that never gets discouraged.

A Babe Ross homer in the seventh—almost a formality in the craziness of the 2010 postseason—would put the Giants on the board, but Lewis and the Rangers minimized damage all night by retiring the leadoff man eight out of nine times; in this case, Burrell had started the inning by whiffing again.

Things got a little more scary for Lewis after he gave up another one-out solo shot in the eighth, this time a blast by centerfielder Andres Torres.  Had Lewis, who prior to this season had done his most effective pitching in Japan, run out of gas?

Manager Ron Washington elected to leave him on the game, and Sanchez hit a rocket to left that looked like extra bases off his bat. Cruz, making one of the best plays of the night, robbed him with a  terrific over-the-shoulder catch. Lewis stayed on to face dangerous lefty Aubrey Huff, and hit him on the top of his front foot with an off-speed pitch. 

Preternaturally mature rookie catcher Buster Posey stepped to the plate, and Washington elected to turn to setup man Darren O’Day. The resulting showdown would define the game, and indeed, be what postseason baseball is all about.

Top of the second: Rangers 4, Giants 2.  Two outs, a man on first, and the momentum trending to the visitors.  A less-than-hot reliever versus a great young hitter who had already reached base safely twice on the night.

The mano-a-mano would be epic.  After getting up 0-2 on Posey, the side-arming reliever would miss on three straight offspeed pitches  that were wide of the outside corner.  O’Day would step off the mound three times, continually shake off Molina, and even have a summit conference with his battery mate during the at-bat. It was the kind of high drama that baseball fans love, and non-believers can’t stand.

The Rangers ended up loving it, as Posey reached for a 3-2 pitch and tapped it weakly to shortstop Elvis Andrus, who gunned him out at first.

With a well-rested rookie closer Neftali Feliz throwing pure gas in the ninth, the Rangers left their raucous ballpark with a 4-2 victory and the sense that they were truly in this series. 

The Rangers will turn to young Tommy Hunter against an even younger (and quite impressive) Madison Bumgarner to try to keep their momentum going in Game 4. 

But under the Saturday night lights deep in the heart of Texas, Lewis, Moreland their teammates made the debut of World Series baseball in the Longhorn State a quite memorable one.

Gold Notes

Nolan Ryan’s ceremonial first-pitch toss to honorary catcher Ivan Rodriguez was clocked at 68 MPH.  It was a little short of the plate and outside, but Pudge scooped it with ease, saving the legendary team president a wild pitch.

Babe Ross and Josh Hamilton both hit heir fifth home runs of the postseason; it was Moreland’s first.

I realize that FOX pays a ton for the rights to televise the World Series, but they have to give us a better “God Bless America” singer than Martha Plimpton, the star of a FOX series, Raising Hope.  She was horrible; I hope she’s better in the series, which I’ve decided to boycott, anyway.  Sorry to give it some play here (Kelly Clarkson gave a pretty good version of the national anthem).

One has to think FOX and otherwise neutral baseball fans would like to see a Lincecum-Lee matchup with the teams tied at two apiece.  Maybe this one will actually be a pitcher’s duel.

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The Texas Rangers hung on to take a must-win Game 3 by a 4-2 score over the San Francisco Giants before their spirited home fans.

The Rangers Ballpark in Arlington fans saw their hometown heroes come away victorious in their first-ever shot at hosting a World Series game. While the Giants still hold a 2-1 edge and maintain home-field advantage, the Rangers have now made it a series. Indeed, a win Sunday night would knot the series at two-all, with a chance to give Cliff Lee another chance to be, well, Cliff Lee in Game 5.

So what were the 10 biggest reasons that the Rangers came away with the huge Game 3 victory?  Please read on and examine the factors—some obvious and some more subtle—that enabled the Rangers to make this an interesting series again.

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