Kuzul

The San Francisco Giants and Texas Rangers will begin the 2010 World Series tonight.  This Series has a much different feel to it for many baseball fans.  Neither of these teams was expected to make it this far.  In fact, many were banking on a 2009 World Series rematch between the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies.  Yet, this pairing shows how baseball has evolved, especially in this month of October. 

The Texas Rangers’ deadly lineup and a horse in Cliff Lee gives them the obvious edge on paper. Though, these attributes alone cannot guarantee a World Series victory.  Other starters will need to step in and help Lee as well.  Even the bullpen will be important for Texas, especially if these games are close.  To date, their bullpen has been awful this post-season.

The San Francisco Giants slayed a “giant” to get to the World Series.  They defeated the defending two-time NL Champion Phillies.  They put their own dynamic on the series and made quick work of Philadelphia.  Their pitching has been solid all season long and now must be at their best. 

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World Series. Game 1.

Texas Rangers. San Francisco Giants.

Cliff Lee. Tim Lincecum.

Tonight.

You can’t wait. Neither can I.

We’ll come at you with lineups, game-day quotes, information and other updates throughout the afternoon and evening.

Want to know how many episodes of SportsCenter Josh Hamilton watched this morning? We’ll tell you.

Curious what Buster Posey had for lunch today? We’ll find out.

We, at Bleacher Report, will have wall-to-wall coverage of Game 1—and the rest of the series—so stick with us for everything you could possibly want to know about the game and this year’s largely improbable World Series.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

News Corp. wants you…to watch the 2010 World Series!

OK, so maybe helping the interests of a large multinational corporation isn’t the best incentive to get people to watch the World Series. Do you really care if you help line Rupert Murdoch’s pocket?

Of course not.

However, reasons abound for taking in this particular World Series; from facial hair to missing elements of drama, this matchup between the Texas Rangers and San Francisco Giants offers something for everybody.

So tune in to FOX tonight at 8 P.M. 

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In the few days after the Texas Rangers won their first ever American League Championship, I took the time to reflect on all the adversities this team went through in its history.  Being one of the locals that has followed this club since they came to Texas in 1972, I can tell you the emotion of the fans here is “euphoric awe-shock.”
 
One could say that the foundation for this years Rangers team was laid in the middle of the 2008 season.  Then-owner Tom Hicks did his first good deed for the ball club and all of baseball, for that matter.  He hired legendary Hall of Fame pitcher and former Ranger player Nolan Ryan to be the team’s president.
 
With the season well under way, Ryan could do little but sit back and watch as he saw the Rangers go through their usual season routine of bad habits.  The first part of the season would always be a strong showing by the Rangers—they would slay all that came their way—but after the All-Star game, they would find themselves quickly fading away into oblivion. 
 
Being a former Ranger player, Ryan had the advantage of living through the lows of this struggling ball club, having seen the mismanagement by the team’s front office and witnessing firsthand the sufferings of the devoted Rangers fans.  Through it all, he still was able to achieve his own individual greatness.  

Ryan knew what was broke with this team and had a pretty good idea what it was going to take to fix it. 

First on Ryan’s to-do list was to change the Rangers’ way of thinking on pitching in Texas summer heat.  The team had demonized themselves to death by believing in a curse: No one can pitch in Texas in August heat!  Ryan knew that was a truckload of manure because he did it himself with great success.  We didn’t call him the “Heat” for nothing!

After the 2008 season, Ryan announced that he was implementing a new offseason routine for all pitchers.  This included all pitchers in the Rangers program, too, from the farm prospects through all levels of the minors league to the top pros.
 
In short, Ryan’s program was designed to increase strength and stamina.  This special conditioning program was designed to help our pitchers last longer in the games, instead of wilting away in the heat of the night.

Next, Ryan had to put the right staff in place, men who shared his ideas on how to make this team right and people he could trust to get the job done.  After all, the players would not buy into these changes unless the people doing the selling believed in them too.

All the extra hard work started paying big dividends in the 2009 season, as we saw our Rangers come so close, but fall short of making the Wild Card spot for a postseason berth.  Quite a visible turn-around for just one season of changes.  
 
At last Rangers fans, we could look forward to the next season, as it was announced in January 2010 that Tom Hicks was selling the team to Nolan Ryan and his business partner Chuck Greenberg.  Hicks was finally doing the right thing for the Rangers by handing them over to much more capable hands. 

Spring training came and went, and still no official word that the transfer of ownership had taken place.  “What’s taking so long?” was in the minds of all the Rangers fans.  “We want Ryan!”
 
Bit by bit, the local media released startling information about our Rangers. They were bankrupt by the mismanagement of Tom Hicks (like the fans needed more reason to hate Hicks).  The Rangers organization was over $500 million in the hole, and the debt collectors were demanding full retribution in court of law. 

Meanwhile on the field of play, the Rangers “boys of summer” were making magic happen, with feats of play unmatched by any Ranger squad of the past. 

Early into the season, we saw our Rangers sitting quite solid in first place in the AL West and only a handful of games behind the league’s first place New York Yankees. 

Secretly, we held our breaths. We knew the Rangers could play like this before the mid-season break—we’ve seen it before—but would they be able to sustain their drive till the end of the season?  And would they have anything left in the tank for any postseason play? 

While Ryan was busy in the court of law fighting for ownership of the ball club, his front office geniuses were out shopping for some much needed postseason insurance.  One of the trades made would be known as the steal of the season and, to this day, has all the sports gurus scratching their heads as to how in the heck the Rangers pulled off the Cliff Lee trade. 

The Seattle Mariners were the AL West cellar dweller for this season, with over 20 games behind the Rangers and no chance of seeing the light of day.  In a move to get some value before their ace pitcher Cliff Lee turned free agent, the Mariners put him up for trade to any contending team. 

The whole sports world just knew Lee was going to the Yankees, since they have unlimited resources, but Lee wouldn’t be donning a Yank uniform this season.  Yankees offered the Mariners cash and a cluster of top prospect to boot, but the Mariners wouldn’t bite. 

Pitchers weren’t what the Mariners were looking for.  They wanted a good first baseman, and this was Texas’s chance to steal away Lee. 

The Rangers’ starting first baseman was a hot young prospect by the name of Justin Smoak.  Knowing they had depth at that position, the Rangers proposed Lee for Smoak with a couple of minor farm kids to sweeten the deal.  The Mariners were pleased to accept the player swap with no cash involved.  Good thing, since the Rangers payroll was still being held hostage in the courts. 

Finally, before the season had ended, all the court mess was settled and done with as Ryan and company won the rights to the Rangers and were given the blessing of the MLB to control the team. 

All is well in the Lone Star State, as a new reign of ownership lead by Ryan has begun.    

So, what makes Nolan Ryan so special as an owner?  Maybe it’s because Texas is where he chose to hang his hat after five years of playing here, ending his long major league career as a Texas Ranger.  Big Tex will always be remembered and loved in the hearts and minds of the true Rangers fans as standing tall and proud on the pitching mound.

If this is a dream, please don’t wake me yet, because my Rangers are about to play in the World Series.

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When Tim Lincecum throws the first pitch Wednesday night to Elvis Andrus, the Texas Rangers and San Francisco Giants will start up an age-old debate: Does pitching or hitting win the World Series?

Texas proved that it has baseball’s most potent offense with seven of its players having an OPS above .600 in the playoffs.

San Francisco, on the other hand, proved to have the best four-man rotation in the post-season with an excellent 2.08 ERA.

Something has to give, and I believe it’s going to be San Francisco’s pitching.

The Giants’ starting rotation of Lincecum, Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez and Madison Bumgarner proved to be fearless, jamming hitters at will, and throwing unhittable off-speed pitches while behind or ahead in the count.

The staff, however, defeated the Atlanta Braves and the Philadelphia Phillies—teams that do not run nearly as aggressively as the Rangers.

The Giants’ rotation had the luxury of throwing sliders and changeups in the dirt because of rookie sensation Buster Posey’s catching skills and their opponents’ lack of speed.

Texas’ Elvis Andrus and Josh Hamilton led the postseason with seven and four steals, respectively. Their most notable steals came during the double steal they pulled off against the New York Yankees in the ALCS.

The Rangers also aggressively tag up on pop flies to try to make each out as productive as possible, as shown by Nelson Cruz’s play in Game 5 of the ALCS.

Texas’ theory on aggressive baserunning is that pitchers are forced to throw fastballs, and it puts immense pressure on an opponent’s defense. The Giants’ starter’s success came from their off-speed pitches being extremely efficient, which will not be the case during the World Series.

The Rangers might be the best fastball-hitting squad in baseball, and will force the mediocre Giants’ defense to bail out the pitchers.

Also, the Giants’ defensive weakness resides on the left side of the diamond, which has Juan Uribe, a strong thrower but a slow-footed shortstop, and Pat Burrell, who might be the worst defensive left fielder in the game.

The top two-thirds of the Rangers’ lineup is all right-handed batters except Josh Hamilton, who batted .359 in the regular season and showed he can spray the ball everywhere. 

Everything seems to favor Texas which will likely lead to the Rangers completing its Cinderella run by winning the franchise’s first championship in five games. Cliff Lee will also improve to 5-0 this postseason and become the 2010 World Series MVP. 

As for the age-old debate, my vote is hitting wins championships. The Rangers have sold me on its offensive firepower, and the Giants’ pitching stats are misleading since they haven’t faced an offense remotely similar to the Rangers’.

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The hit television show Glee has dominated Fox for the past year, but this October Cliff Lee, or “Clee,” as one site likes to call him, looks to take over Fox.

The followers of “Clee,” the “Cleeks,” have dominated Twitter for the past few days. 

Before the game in which Lee last pitched, Cliff Lee facts were trending on Twitter (#cleefacts). Some of the facts were ridiculous, such as “Cy Young won five Cliff Lee Awards” and “Neftali Feliz does not have to come to the game when Cliff Lee pitches, because Cliff Lee needs no closer.”

Here was my personal favorite: “Cliff Lee’s wife does not flirt with him, because no one hits on Cliff Lee.”

These jokes were made all in good fun before the game, seeming more like hyperbole than fact. Then the game started, and suddenly some of those “facts” looked more like the truth.

Lee dominated the Yankees, and the “facts kept coming.” This prompted one site, www.cleefacts.com, to begin to market the Clee Facts and post them on a site.

As a personal friend of the creators of the site, here are some facts you need to know about the widespread phenomenon that is CleeFacts.

Clee Facts started out as knockoff jokes of the Chuck Norris and Jack Bauer jokes that we have already heard a thousand times. They quickly grew into more baseball jokes until they were a huge hit with Rangers fans, Cliff Lee fans and baseball fans alike. 

The site absolutely took off yesterday, when Rangers pitcher C.J. Wilson got into the action with a few Clee facts of his own. The site jumped in hits, and in followers on Twitter, when Wilson decided to join in on the fun.

A couple of hours later, on 103.3 ESPN Radio in Dallas, Ben and Skin gave Clee Facts an on-air shoutout, resulting in even more hits for the site. They have been contacted by KDFW Sports, 1310 The Ticket and ESPN Radio, and Clee Facts have taken off. 

Here is a brief overview of the site that is quickly becoming very popular. I briefly spoke to two of the site creators today. Jorge Parrales and Jacob Herrera gave me a quick rundown of the site.

www.cleefacts.com is a place where you can go and see your favorite facts about Cliff Lee and even submit some yourself. At the far right of the front page on the site, you can enter your name, email and an original Clee Fact. 

Every other week the site will be running a contest to see who can come up with the best Clee Fact. The winner of the contest each week will receive a free “I Heart Clee” T-shirt. These very popular t-shirts are selling like crazy and are available for order on the site for only $12.

Today on Twitter they will be running a contest to give a free shirt away, and if they reach 2K followers, then they will give away two shirts, so follow them on Twitter @CleeFacts.

Clee Facts are becoming more and more popular each time Cliff Lee pitches. Go to Cleefacts.com and submit your own Clee Fact, or order an “I Heart Clee” t-shirt.

When Cliff Lee pitches tonight, you do not want to be the only one without an “I heart Clee” shirt.

This will be the next “Claw” and “Antlers” fad for all you Rangers fans.

“Clee Facts”—the facts about the most interesting man in baseball.

I will leave you with one more fact. “In high school, Cliff Lee was named All-State in two states. #CleeFacts.”

All you Rangers fans, go and check out www.cleefacts.com, or follow them on Twitter at @Cleefacts to get all the latest info on our star pitcher.

If 200 People tweet a Clee Fact before game time with the hashtag #CleeFacts AND #bleacherreport, then we will give away a shirt to someone who has tweeted meeting those requirements.

For questions regarding the article, please comment or send me an e-mail.

Paul Ferguson is an intern at Bleacher Report.

Visit www.cleefacts.com

Follow him on twitter at: @paulwall5

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While the favorites (Yankees, Phillies) are not participating in the 2010 MLB World Series, we do have quite a matchup to look forward to. As we sit here in the bullpen, let’s take a look at the teams and see who has the edge, if there is any.

It may not be the teams the television market and media world wanted. It’s not the flashy World Series. What it is however is two teams that play hard, with heart and want to win. This year’s Fall Classic is not about the star-studded lineups that have so much talent that they look as though they are going through the motions.

When you watch the games, starting tonight, you will see two teams playing fundamental baseball. Two teams giving it their all for the entire game.

There are plenty of great matchups and story lines to look at before tonight’s Game 1.

Following Double G Sports as we take you through a position-by-position breakdown as well as point out some interesting facts about this year’s World Series.

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Whereas the Texas Rangers are set to go where no Texas Rangers team has gone before; whereas legendary Rangers’ minority owner and president Nolan Ryan is a bona fide baseball man, while Dallas Cowboys owner/president/general manager/attention harlot Jerry Jones is a frustrated-but-overmatched head football coach; whereas, the 1-5 Cowboys still delusionally believe they are “a good team”; whereas Ron Washington, grammatically-challenged and homeless-looking though he may be, is a leader of men while Wade Phillips is a leaner on excuses; and whereas this is my blog and I will dadgum well do as I please, I hereby declare the SilverandBlueblood website the Red-Shoed Rangers site for a day.

So, forget football. Let’s talk World Series. More specifically, let’s talk Dallas (I know the Rangers are in Arlington, but you know the drill: This is Dallas) versus San Francisco, DFW versus the Bay Area. A generation ago, that would mean Cowboys versus the 49ers.

My, how the times have changed.

Which city boasts the best baseball team, or, as Ron Washington likes to say, “The team that played the best on that day,” will be decided over the next few days. But which city is best? Well, I will decide that, thank you very much.

Why? Because I can, and because I am highly qualified to do so.

I am a native Texan, born in Abilene, raised in Mineral Wells, married in Arlington, living in Grand Prairie. However, I lived an hour from San Francisco in the ’80s. I spent many a happy and carefree summer day freezing my butt off by the bay.

Frisco is a world-class city. There is no denying that. It is one-of-a-kind. It has mystique, beauty and charm. Dallas, conversely, is a town of true grit, a go-getter’s paradise. Dallas rises out of the north Texas prairie like a silver-and-chrome debutante emerging from a covered wagon.

The people in San Francisco have that weird, eclectic vibe that says “We’re cool, and we don’t even have to mention it. You know it.” Dallas people are busy adding that third-car garage to their suburban mansion that they may have to abandon soon if Obama isn’t stopped.

The girls in Dallas are definitely more attractive than the drag queens in SF, but the hippies down in the Haight-Ashbury district are more laid back than the gangsters in South Dallas or the uptight yuppies in North Dallas.

San Francisco has Pier 39; Dallas has the Trinity River. San Francisco has Lombard Street; Dallas recently got Cesar Chavez Drive (or Street or Way or whatever), after much wrangling. San Francisco has Ghirardelli Chocolate; Dallas has Frito-Lay.

San Francisco is wine country; Dallas is Dr. Pepper Nation.

San Francisco has the Golden Gate Bridge; Dallas has the George Bush Turnpike. San Francisco is the heart of the Silicon Valley; Dallas is the heart of the most recession-proof economy in the nation.

San Francisco is the bastion of liberalism; Dallas is the adopted home of President George W. Bush for a reason.

San Francisco has Joe Montana; Dallas has Roger Staubach. Each city’s NFL team has won five Super Bowls, but the 49ers still suck. Right, Cowboys fans?

If you want beauty and charm, go to San Francisco. If you need a job, come to Dallas.

Maybe the deciding factor is sister cities: San Francisco has the misfortune of being just a bay bridge away from that toilet known as Oakland, while Dallas has the western charm and artsy grace of beautiful Fort Worth for its prairie mate. Oakland has Al Davis; Fort Worth has “Hell’s Half-Acre.” The former appears to have spent a few years in the latter.

In the end, give me a piece of San Francisco sourdough bread to go with my Texas barbecue, and I am happy. (Well, that and the knowledge that we have the better baseball team here in Texas.)

Go Rangers.

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***First of all, I’d like to apologize for my sabbatical from you, my fellow Giants fans. Apparently graduating from college isn’t as easy as it looks, and they usually save the best stuff for your last semester. Thanks for waiting.***

All the Giants had to do was to make the playoffs. 

Honestly, all I needed was for them to beat the Padres.

I’ve been saying it forever—in a playoff series, the Giants, no matter what their offense does, has the best rotation in baseball. 

I believed that, even knowing that the Phillies had their triumvirate of awesome, the Giants matched up very well with anyone the gods decided to throw at them.

They did, and we fans saw just what the Giants are capable of. 

It’s not conventional baseball. There’s good pitching, which can’t be denied. Yet that’s not all a team needs, and it’s not all a team can rely on to get to the World Series. But somehow, the Giants were just good enough in all other categories to make it. 

This team of misfits. Bochy’s “Dirty Dozen.” A Freak on the mound, a thong-wearing designated hitter at first base, a career minor leaguer playing Gold Glove center field. An overweight third baseman. A rookie catcher. Another designated hitter playing water buffalo in left field. And beards. So many beards. 

It wasn’t easy. It was stressful. It wasn’t conventional. It was torture. 

They made it on the most improbable of events.

A managing mistake by a Los Angeles non-manager which led to a burnt-out closer giving up a walk-off home run. A seven-run inning against a previously untouchable Colorado ace. A 10-game losing streak by a San Diego team that had been in first place for a majority of the year. A triple by the worst hitting pitcher in the league on the last day of the season. 

That’s what brought the playoffs back to San Francisco. 

And since the playoffs started, there has been more improbability.

A three-error game by an out-of-position utility man, and a multitude of injuries at key positions made the Braves series interesting. The fact that every game except one was decided by one run didn’t surprise anyone at this point.

Three home runs by waiver-wire pickup Cody Ross led the Giants past Roy Halladay AND Roy Oswalt. Another slew of errors by usually sure-handed fielders like Chase Utley and Ryan Howard put the Giants past the Phillies.

And apparently if you’re playing against the Giants, you can’t make a Willie Mays-style basket catch. The gods just won’t allow it. Just ask Shane Victorino. 

Now they’re playing in the World Series. 

I’m sorry, is that still happening? They haven’t pulled a last minute switcheroo on us have they? 

THE GIANTS ARE IN THE WORLD SERIES!

They really are. And they’re facing a group of guys in the Rangers whose path to the World Series was just as improbable, defeating the two best records in the American League (the Yankees and the Rays). 

After facing the best pitcher in the National League in the last series (Halladay), and beating him once, they’re facing arguably the best pitcher in the American League (in playoffs history?) in Cliff Lee. 

After facing one of the best hitters in the National League in Ryan Howard, and holding him to ZERO RBIs and 12 strikeouts in 22 at bats, they’ll have to do the same against one of the best hitters in the American League in Josh Hamilton.

But if what we’ve seen so far is any indication, none of that matters to this Giants team.

All that matters is this: There will be good pitching. 

All that matters is this: There will have to be a little offense.

All that matters is this: There will be a hero, and his name will be praised.

Let’s go Giants. This is it. This is where we win.

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As a New York Yankees fan it is easy to get to know the players in the American League.

Due to geographical circumstances and interleague play, I have learned more about some of the teams in the National League, like the New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers.

Over the past few seasons, the San Francisco Giants have not come to the Bronx and have not factored in the postseason.

The Giants actually resided in New York City from 1930-57, in which the franchise won five World Championships and 17 pennants. Since making the move to San Francisco, the city still awaits for their Giants to bring a World Series title to the Bay.

Mainly known as the home to starting ace Tim Lincecum (“The Freak”), who has won the Cy Young Award the past two seasons, the Giants are another team residing in the NL West along with the Dodgers and San Diego Padres.

The organization’s biggest star, Barry Bonds disgraced the team’s mainstay. It seemed that the last special baseball moment for the Giants was Bonds hitting for his home-run record. It is his record because MLB can’t count it as baseball history when it was unauthentic.

Other than a cheat and a freak, there wasn’t much reason to get to the Giants over the last five seasons, until now.

After watching a few Giants games I understand their team’s appeal. The Giants players are scrappy, good, fundamental baseball players who are darn fun to watch because they never seem to give up.

STRENGTHS:

The team’s biggest asset is pitching. Three aces: Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez and Madison Bumgarner, follow Lincecome.

The Giants starters finished the regular season with a 3.36 ERA, which was the lowest in baseball. The Giants rotation also tossed a total of 1461 innings, gave up the least hits with 1279, 546 earned runs, and struck out the most batters.

All stats led the majors for 2010. They tied for third place with the Dodgers and Marlins for the least home-runs allowed with 134 in total.

The Giants have the top closer in baseball, Brian Wilson. A guy I would want on my team. Not only can Wilson shutdown batters, but he radiates a superior, daunting presence from the mound, making batters wince. Wilson led the majors with 57 saves in 73 save opportunities.

The Giants only offensive strength comes from pure, home-run hitting power. It is the only way the Giants know how to win.

Strategy is finding a way to beat the other team by holding up the opponent’s hitters and capitalizing at the plate on the two, three or four mistakes the opponent’s pitchers inevitably make.

WEAKNESSES:

The Giants approach has no surprises.

Slow is an understatement, as the team is tied with the cubs for the slowest runners in baseball stealing just 55 bases on the season.

The batters hit into a lot of double plays and rely too much on home-runs with nothing else as an offensive back-up. It explains how the Giants wins/losses coincide with the starting pitcher’s performance.

It is not a safe way to make the playoffs, as small ball can get a team those extra wins when other aspects are slumping. In many ways the Giants are an upgraded or superior version of the Toronto Blue Jays, as Toronto’s pitching keeps improving so does the team’s record.

How do I think the Giants will do against the Texas Rangers?

The Giants pitchers need to set the tone and dominate the games from the start. Other than Cliff Lee, the Texas Rangers pitching doesn’t hold a candle to the Giants. Keeping the speedy Rangers completely off the base-pads is essential.

I see no reason why the Giants couldn’t win it in six, only because Lee will win both his starts almost without a doubt.

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