Kuzul

No sports fan will ever forget the first game they attended. In this incident, I remember my first baseball game: Mike Piazza’s first game as a New York Met on May 23, 1998. I remember every part of the game: the weather, the atmosphere, and the food. As a Mets fan for life, I’ve felt every emotion one fan can ever feel. The feelings of disappointment, excitement, over-hyped players and injury.

When I was growing up, there were two rules my mother always told me. One of them was to treat others how you’d like to be treated. The other rule was always hate the Atlanta Braves.

At the time, the Atlanta Braves, led by manager Bobby Cox, were a powerhouse in the National League East. Of course Cox had players we had to hate; players like Larry “Chipper” Jones, Andruw Jones, Walt Weiss, Ryan Klesko, John Smoltz and of course John Rocker. You could even slide Terry Mulhollhand in there somewhere. 

However, the hatred for Cox and the Braves has loosened up since those glory days, as the Philadelphia Phillies have emerged as the new powerhouse of the NL East.

The hatred transformed into appreciation.

Every time I turned on a Mets game when they were playing Atlanta, I would always see the long old look for Bobby Cox. A pioneer of the game of baseball, and somebody who truly loved the game.

Of course, I loved it when I saw Cox getting ejected for making a small mistake by an umpire look like a violation of the First Amendment. I will never forget the true emotions this man showed for the game of baseball and his players. He might have not been the nicest looking guy out on the field, but he certainly knew what was right and what was wrong with his ball club.

He’s the father of one of the greatest three-man rotations in Major League Baseball history: Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Smoltz. He once had a superstar patrolling center field by the name of Andruw Jones. He had a cocky third baseman named Chipper Jones, who’s hated more by Mets fans then any other person. (Unless you count Oliver Perez or Bobby Bonilla.) 

The purpose of me writing this article is to show how one man truly changed the game of baseball from a fans’ perspective. He changed a city and a franchise.

Unlike other articles, I’m not here to just throw statistics at the reader. We know Bobby Cox will be in the Hall of Fame five years from now. We know he has the fourth-most wins by a manager in the history of baseball. We know he’s been thrown out of more games than any other manager in the game. The reason why: because he cared that much about a child’s game. 

As I sit here in my college dorm room, procrastinating other essays that seem more important to my life, I want to extend a toast out to every baseball fan. This toast is to you Bobby Cox, for being a manager that other managers wish they were. For being the standing figure of a franchise. For being a manager every player would have loved to play for. A manager with a true hardball knowledge and appreciation for the game.

I believe a part of every baseball fans heart has died today. The part of no more ejections from No. 6 in the Red and Blue. The end of “Bobby Cox Sucks” chants at Citi Field. The end of an era and a dream. 

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Bobby Cox exited Turner Field Monday night for the last time as the Atlanta Braves‘ manager.

His emotional exit was seared into the memories of baseball fans worldwide, and a tear, no doubt, trickled down the cheeks of many, both male and female alike.

Game 4 of the NLDS was a must win game for the Atlanta Braves. It looked very promising for Bobby’s bunch until a costly error by shortstop Alex Gonzalez allowed the Giants to score two runs in the top of the seventh and take the lead by a score of 3-2.

With one out and the bases loaded, a ground ball was hit sharply to the right-hand side of Gonzalez. He made a great play to reach the ball and backhand it; however, his throw to second pulled Omar Infante off the bag, and all Giants runners were safe. A run scored on the play, tying the game at two runs each.

Had Gonzalez made an accurate throw, the Braves would have recorded their second out. Instead, the Giants accepted the gift of only one out with the bases still loaded.

The next batter struck out. This should have ended the inning. With an extra out, so to speak, Cody Ross came up to the plate with intentions of doing more damage to the Atlanta Braves.

Earlier in the night, Ross broke up a no-hitter by Braves pitcher Derek Lowe when he hit a solo home run. Now, with the bases loaded and an extra out with which to play, the Giants would make the Braves pay once again.

Ross hit a single to left field, and the go-ahead run came across the plate. The Giants attempted to add an insurance run on the same play. However, Braves left fielder Matt Diaz threw a strike to catcher Brian McCann, and with a collision at the plate, Atlanta finally had its third out.

From that point forward, no more runs would be scored by either team. The Braves had hope in the bottom of the night when Giants closer Brian Wilson walked two batters and put runners on first and second. The game ended when Melky Cabrera dribbled a grounder to third and was thrown out at first.

As soon as the game ended, chants of “Bobby, Bobby, Bobby” could be heard throughout the stadium. With tears in his eyes, longtime Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox returned to the field to acknowledge fans and players, including most of the San Francisco Giants, who had remained on the field to pay tribute to Bobby before enjoying a cold champagne shower.

It will not be the same without Bobby Cox. We will miss him. He is one of the most beloved men in baseball and will always be. Still, I believe it is time for Bobby to go. It is time for a new man to take control of the Atlanta Braves and get them back to postseason success.

I dare say that Bobby Cox has not been making his best decisions for some time now. In the late 1990s, Bobby would not have let a pitcher talk him into staying in the game, even if that pitcher were named Smoltz, Glavine or Maddux. Just a few short years ago, Bobby would not have played Brooks Conrad at third base after losing Chipper Jones and Martin Prado.

For the past few years, Bobby has made a lot of decisions based upon emotion and feeling instead of doing what was best at the time. He loves those players, and he has always been a players’ manager. However, when it came time to win a baseball game, Bobby was never afraid to hurt a player’s feelings. He would take a player or a pitcher out at the drop of a hat.

Over the past few years, he accepted a lot more from the players, and because of his relationships with them, he would, at times, put decisions off that ended up hurting the team. 

Little by little, as the years rolled by, those who know baseball best could tell that Bobby’s decision-making process was changing. Did it hurt the Braves recently? Yes, it did, but more realistically, it was the lack of offense and the errors that ended the Braves’ hopes of making it to the World Series.

Derek Lowe should have been pulled much sooner, but he deserved to be out there, and Bobby made the decision to leave him out there. It was not a good decision, but it was fair and deserving. Just a few years ago, Bobby would have pulled Lowe after the sixth inning. Had he pulled him after the sixth last night, the Braves would have had a much better chance to hold the lead.

Please don’t misunderstand me, reader. Derek was dealing, but he was pitching on three days’ rest, and by the end of the sixth inning you could tell that Derek was laboring. A fresh reliever to start the seventh would have most likely shut the Giants down. We can only speculate, and we’ll never know for sure.

Bobby Cox will go down as one of the greatest managers in Major League Baseball history. No other manager will ever win 14 consecutive division titles. Bobby has had tons of success, including a World Series title in 1995. He managed every game to win, and he gave all he had at all times.

Just as many fans feel today, I am sad and I hate to see him go. Players loved to play for him, and fans loved to cheer for him.

Bobby Cox will always be, in the hearts of many, the manager of the Atlanta Braves.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

After the Alex Gonzalez throwing error to extend the seventh inning and ultimately give the San Francisco Giants the lead, it felt like the beginning of the end. From that moment until the bottom of the ninth when Melky Cabrera hit the ball to third off of Brian Wilson for a groundout, the only thing I could think about was Bobby Cox. The coach. The man. The legend.

For the first time in my life as a Braves fan, I find myself more concerned with Bobby Cox than the Braves’ loss. He’s been with the Braves for nearly my entire life. From his first stint as Braves manager, then back to Atlanta as general manager after a pit stop in Toronto, to his return to the dugout as manager once again, Bobby Cox has been the staple of the Atlanta Braves.

First it was Ron Gant, Terry Pendleton, and David Justice. Then it was the incredible big three of Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and John Smoltz. In 2005 it was the “Baby Braves” that took Atlanta to the postseason. And finally, in 2010, it was a patchwork lineup supported with a great pitching staff. It didn’t matter so much what you gave Bobby Cox to work with; he always did the most with what he had.

Nearly the whole 2010 season, the deck seemed to be stacked against the Braves. It seemed that fate was against them. Injuries decimated the Braves throughout the year.

However, the Braves always found a way to keep going. When Martin Prado, who was then leading the NL in batting average, went down due to an injury, Omar Infante came in and produced. From utility infielder to unlikely all-star; from unlikely all-star to an anchor in the Braves lineup and third in the league in batting average.

Next it was Chipper Jones going down with a torn ACL. Martin Prado moved over to third and picked up where he left off earlier in the year. Then it was Prado going down again, this time for the year, in late September. The fatal blow finally came in the playoffs with Billy Wagner’s season ending oblique injury. Of course you would never hear Cox use these things to make any type of an excuse. The man simply has too much class.

For a man whose career in baseball spanned an astounding 51 years, he accomplished just about everything one could hope. He ends his career at number four all-time in career victories with 2,404.

He holds the vaunted ejections record with over 150. He led Atlanta to a truly incredible 14 consecutive division titles, five NL pennants, and of course that one World Series victory in 1995. But the legend of Bobby Cox extend far beyond mere numbers.

Cox always had a way with his players. One would he hard pressed to find one of his former players with anything negative to say about the man. Tune in to any of Bobby’s press conferences and one would hear overwhelming praise for his players, even if they really didn’t perform all that well.

Cox was never one to take credit for anything. That honor was reserved for his players. Cox was the type of manager who made his players better. According to J.C. Bradbury in his 2008 book The Baseball Economist: The Real Game Exposed, there exists what Sports Illustrated‘s Thomas Lake has termed the “Cox Effect.” When pitchers play for Bobby Cox, there ERA’s tend to be quarter point lower on average.

Bobby was notorious for giving his players nicknames. Gilly for Marcus Giles, Smoltzie for John Smoltz, Lemmer for Mark Lemke, Jase for Jason Heyward, and Teepee for Terry Pendleton. Bobby would always show up early for batting practice, and when the game began, he would be at the top of the dugout steps shouting encouragements. This was a manager who truly cared about his players.

In fact, he cares so much that he’s been known to send some of his former players money if they were ever in need. Also, many of his ejections came only because of his efforts to keep his players from getting ejected. When one of his players would argue with an umpire, Bobby would often step in and take over the argument while his player had time to cool down. Cox defines the term “player’s manager.”

According to Chipper Jones, Cox uses his ejections in an effort to turn the momentum and motivate his players. If anyone would know the method to the madness, it would be Jones, who has spent his entire 18-year career playing for Cox.

When Brian Wilson retired Melky Cabrera for the third out of the ninth inning, no one was in a hurry to leave Turner Field. Instead, the fans stood up and chanted “Bobby.” Never after such a heartbreaking end to a season can I remember the fans showing so much class. Bobby Cox obliged and came out for the final curtain call of his illustrious career. With a tip of the cap, Cox disappeared back into the clubhouse for the last time.

It’s the end of an era in Atlanta. Sure baseball will continue to be played come February, but things will be a whole lot different. Goodbye Bobby Cox and thank you for a great career. You are truly one of a kind.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The San Francisco Giants made short work of the Atlanta Braves in the National League Divisional Series.  Tim Lincecum and his teammates gave Braves manager Bobby Cox a rude farewell, winning the series three games to one.

Their reward?  They get to play the Philadelphia Phillies, who swept the Cincinnati Reds in their first round match-up.

But, that series won’t start for a couple days, so let’s take a look at five players who played key roles in the Giants’ first round victory.

Begin Slideshow

It started with blasts of Jason Heyward in Spring Training and probably the most memorable Major League debut in recent history.

One hundred sixty-six games and 725 tweets (by me) later, the 2010 season ends for the Atlanta Braves with Bobby Cox tipping his cap to the San Francisco Giants following Game 4 of the National League Divisional Series.

We all wanted “11 for 6” and a world championship for the capper on the illustrious career of venerable Braves manager Bobby Cox…but that’s simply not what was in the cards for a Braves team that finished the season riddled with injuries and defensive miscues.

And, before I move on, you can hate on Brooks Conrad as much as you want and place him with the title of “goat” for the Braves falling short…but the fact of the matter is this: Without “Raw Dawg’s” late-inning dramatics in three or four games over the course of the regular season, the Braves don’t even get the chance to disappoint us in the playoffs…. Dude played his guts out for the Braves all year.

As the long offseason awaits the Braves, there are a lot of things this team can build on…Jason Heyward‘s career should continue its upward track…Brian McCann is becoming a more well-rounded catcher…and the “mellow” of the team created by the veteran-rookie mixture (think: Freeman, Heyward, and Kimbrel to Jones, Lowe and B-Mac next year) should still be in place.

I’m going to keep this short…I’m kind of in shock right now (that’ll happen when you watch 98 percent of the games…).

But I think I can muster up the energy to say two more things…

First, and foremost, go Rangers.

Second: After four years of it, I think I was, emotionally, ready for this over and for the Braves to start the offseason…there’s more to write about (that, my friends, is called light sarcasm). 

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Hello everyone, and welcome to this game four live blog of the Giants vs. Braves. The first two games have been one-run thrillers and tonight could very well be the same. Should the Braves lose this will be Braves manager Bobby Cox’s last game!

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Are the 2010 San Francisco Giants the new “Atlanta Braves” of the 90s and early 2000’s? 

Maybe. Think about these:

1.) Buster Posey could potentially be the Giants‘ version of “Chipper Jones.”

2.) Tim Lincecum could potentially be the Giants’ version of “John Smoltz.”

3.) Matt Cain could potentially be the Giants’ version of “Gred Maddux.”

4.) Barry Zito could potentially be the Giants’ version of “Tom Glavine.”

5.) Jonathan Sanchez could potentially be the Giants’ version of “Steve Avery.”

What a foundation?  The Giants management of the late 90s, including Brian Sabean, Ned Coletti, Dick Tidrow, and Dusty Baker, were eyeing the Braves and looking to rebuild, but couldn’t with Barry Bonds’ contract and a gutted farm system. 

So they hired former MLB pitcher and player developer Dick Tidrow to be the Giants VP of Player Personnel and Development. All the players above except for Zito are home-grown Giants players, and the beginnings of a new foundation similar to the Braves blueprint of the late 90s into the early 2000s. 

Of course, the above does not include promising young starting pitcher Madison Bumgarner. Additionally, the other differences between the 90s Braves and today’s Giants is that Cain and Sanchez are even more power-oriented arms than their Braves counterparts.  And power arms succeed in the postseason, according to many experts. 

So maybe the Giants will set forth on a winning tradition, beyond just division or even League pennant championships.  Maybe they’ll somehow succeed at winning a World Series or two or more. 

Right now, the Giants are in a real dog fight for their lives in the dirty south with these Atlanta Braves.  Although they are quite shorthanded by injuries, the Braves and Manager Bobby Cox still have a tradition of winning.  While it may not be the impressive team they once had, the aura and confidence that the Braves and Cox still have is not to be underestimated.

Look for this series to come down to a Game 5.  I think the Giants should be able to edge out the Braves in five games, but it could go either way.  The Giants still lack some key postseason experience in their bullpen, and the offense is not quite where it should be to be a champion.

By the way, LF Pat Burrell should be in the lineup ’til the end of the game, unless the Giants are up by two runs or more late. He reminds me of a modern-day Bobby Thomson (of 1951’s “Shot Heard ‘Round the World fame).

Anyways, if the Giants somehow get past these Braves, that would be a nice feather in their cap at this stage of their development.  The Giants vs. the Phillies quite honestly will be a mismatch.  While the pitching is about even, with maybe a slight edge to the Giants, the Phillies offense, recent postseason experience, and the rest they are now getting after dispatching the Reds will be too much to overcome for the Giants, imho. 

2010 NLDS:  Giants win 3-2 over Braves

2010 NLCS:  Giants lose 2-4 to Phillies

I’m a Giants fan, but this is the likely reality.  We’ll see, of course.   But the good news, this experience will be good for the long-term, as they build on an already excellent young foundation for the next few years to come. 

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

     The Atlanta Braves were one out away from completing another storybook come from behind victory when things fell apart in the top of the ninth. Earlier, in the bottom of the eighth, Alex Gonzalez singled and Eric Hinske hit a pinch hit home run off of Sergio Romo to the Braves up by a score of 2-1. Hinke’s homer was just the fourth Brave hit of the night but it came at such an opportune time.

     Without closer Billy Wagner, Manager, Bobby Cox, went to rookie Craig Kimbrel to put the game away. He quickly earned two outs and it was apparent that Giants hitters were having a difficult time catching up to the youngster’s fastball. With two outs and two strikes,  Braves catcher, Brian McCann, called for a slider. This was a mistake. No one had been close to hitting the fastball. Put the guy away with the heat.

      The pitch that was thrown was a slider and it came across the plate at 87 miles per hour, or approximately 10 miles per hour slower than the fastball. It was knocked for a base hit and with two runners on base Bobby Cox pulled Kimbrel from the game. I believe this was also a mistake. Did Bobby take Kimbrel out because he thought he would buckle under the pressure? So far, the rookie had faced four batters and he had been great. Yes, he had given up a hit and a walk, but not a run.

     Mike Dunn would only face one batter, the Giants first baseman, Aubrey Huff. With two strikes, Huff was able to go to right field with a pitch on the outside corner and Jason Heyward’s throw to the plate was not accurate enough to keep the Giants from tying the game.

     With the score tied, and with Peter Moylan, the ground ball wizard, on the mound, it looked as if we might go to extra innings in the event the Braves couldn’t score in the ninth. Moylan got his ground ball but it was a hot shot to second baseman, Brooks Conrad.

     It had already been a rough night for Conrad before the ball came his way in the top of the ninth. Guilty of two errors in preceding innings, Conrad allowed the sharply hit ball to go between his legs and another Giant run was able to cross the plate. The “little man that could” was not able to on this night.

     Brooks Conrad committed three errors. He would not have been out there to commit the errors in the first place had he not walloped several pinch hit home runs to tie or win games earlier in the season.

     Remember that guy? 

     He is the guy who hit a grand slam home run to beat the Reds. That one game helped the Braves win the Wild Card by just one game. Brooks Conrad was guilty of helping the Braves lose an important game against the San Francisco Giants on Sunday.

      Much of Braves country wants Conrad out for the next game but that would be another mistake on top of mistakes that have already been made. Can’t change anything in the past. No one feels worse about those errors than Brooks Conrad. He will have to live with them a lifetime.

     Fortunately, the will not be such bitter memories if the Braves can come back and win two games; one at home and one on the road. To do this, the offense will have to wake up. The stats look good for the San Francisco starting pitchers, however, I do not believe they have been as good as the Braves have been bad. That’s right. The Braves offense has been terrible and that is why the Giants pitchers have walked away with such wonderful statistics.

     The Atlanta Braves are very capable of winning two games against the Giants. They must hit the ball and they must commit no errors of any type at any type. Atlanta has pitching that can get it done but they need help from the offense. Much of the Braves offense is injured but there are plenty of guys out there who can hit the baseball. Why can they muster no offense lately?

     The Braves hitters are swinging at way too many bad pitches. Can they slow things down and jump on Giants pitching early? Perhaps it is simply a matter of the Atlanta players trying way too hard at the plate and even so in the field. They want to do it so bad for Bobby. Perhaps they are exerting too much adrenaline and it causing them to overreact? They simply need to relax and have fun. They are capable. They are a close knit group and if anyone can win, they can.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

With a gem of a shutout by Tim Lincecum, it’s hard to look at game one of the NLDS through anything but rose colored glasses for Giants fans.

The Incredible Hulk (Lincecum) pitched a two hitter, struck out 14, broke a Giants postseason record for Ks in a game, and tied a major league record for most Ks in a postseason debut.

But as great as Lincecum was, Lady Luck was even greater because Atlanta Braves starter Derek Lowe was also dealing.

Buster Posey led off the 4th inning with a single.Then, Pat Burrell swung and missed for strike three on a hit and run.

Posey slid into second base and tried to dodge the tag of 2B Brooks Conrad. Posey joked after the game, “I’m glad we don’t have instant replay.”

It was his first stolen base at the Major League level. And probably his last.

After Uribe struck out, Braves Manager Bobby Cox intentionally walked Pablo Sandoval so Derek Lowe could square off against Cody Ross.

Lowe would try to dance around Ross with Lincecum on deck and an open base.

But Lowe made a mistake and threw a 2-0 pitch too close to the plate.Ross smashed it to the left of third baseman Omar Infante.

Lady luck took over as Infante misplayed the ball.

Even though it was scored a single, anyone watching the game could see it was a misplay and should have been ruled an error.

So the Giants tripled up on luck in the inning to score the only run of the game: Posey’s stolen base, Lowe’s mistake, Infante’s error and Cox’s gamble in not intentionally walking Ross.

You may recall the reverse happened to the Giants earlier in the year versus Colorado when Bochy let Lincecum nibble at Clint Barmes.

Barmes got a hit and Colorado won the game, so maybe the Giants were owed one.

In any event, this game was decided in the tiniest details.

Most of the Giants postseason games probably will be.

Which makes the other managerial blunder so hard to take.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, Posey led off with a double and got to third on a fielding error.

After Burrell struck out, Juan Uribe walked to give the Giants runners on first and third with one out.

This was the nail in the coffin moment. If the Giants put another run or two on the board, that was it.

Cox knew it, so decided to turn Pablo Sandoval around by making a pitching change to lefty Jonny Venters.

It was Bochy’s turn to return serve.

He could have pinch hit Aaron Rowand or Edgar Renteria, and in case Cox fired back he had lefties Fontenot, Ishikawa, and Schierholtz ready as well.

But with several options, he just let Cox’s serve go right by him.

Giants fans all knew what the most probable outcome was: Pablo Sandoval would ground into a double play. It would probably be a first pitch swing, and out of the strike zone.

It doesn’t take any statistical analysis or a PhD in probability theory to know it was a terrible, terrible move by Bochy.

It was like torturous slow motion as the exact thought in the back of every Giants fan manifested itself on the field.

So on a night that might inspire cautious optimism, it’s important to remember reality.

Thank Lady Luck and hope the Braves keep playing bad defense.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The Cincinnati Reds have been a dark-horse pick by a lot of fans for a few years and the team put it all together in 2010. Dusty Baker is now taking his third National League team into the playoffs.

Will this be the year he gets that ring?

The Reds offense, led by slugger Joey Votto and lead-off hitter Brandon Phillips, gets to face the toughest staff in the postseason in the Philadelphia Phillies.

If momentum is the next day’s starting pitcher then I love the Phillies’ momentum when they can throw out Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels and Roy Oswalt.

The Reds are also a great story in that they were in the NL Central where the St. Louis Cardinals were prohibitive favorites. At the start of the season, I thought that there would be no way the Cards would not make the playoffs. Tony LaRussa dealt with a myriad of injuries and at the end of the season. They looked more like an old team than a title contender.

The Atlanta Braves are also a very nice story. They led the NL East over the Phillies for a good portion of the season until the Phils finally overtook them in September. Bobby Cox is back in the postseason in his final year as the Braves manager.

The collapse of the San Diego Padres was a real surprise in the last quarter of the MLB season. A team with a limited payroll that actually picked up some bats for their meek offense in July simply fell apart down the stretch. They did survive a 10-game losing streak with the lead but that skid allowed the San Francisco Giants to make up a lot of ground. 

The Giants and the Padres look like the same team: loaded with pitching but lacking in offense. Will the Giants get enough offense to get past the Braves in the NLDS?

It looks like the Braves and Phillies will meet in the NLCS. In 1993, the Phillies shocked the Braves in the NLCS so will the tables be turned 17 years later?

Why not? Look for the Braves to go on a magical run.

The American League was supposed to be dominated by the Yankees and Red Sox again. That has not been the case as Boston suffered through a horrible season of injuries. At a critical time of the season, the Yankees have big questions about their pitching.

CC Sabathia looks like a Cy Young winner but after that the Yankees might be in trouble. I am not going to worry about Mariano Rivera so if the Yankees do have late leads, they still have the hammer to close out the games.

The thing is, will they have late leads? The Twins are going to go without Justin Morneau but they have been without him since early July and they still played the best baseball in the fourth quarter of the season.

Morneau has been out with a concussion for three months. It really makes me fret for the NFL players who sit out a week after they suffer the same injury. I applaud the Twins and Morneau for putting safety first and the story worked out as the Twins are back in the playoffs.

But they have never beat the Yankees in the playoffs.

The Texas Rangers are back in the postseason for the first time since 1999. This is a franchise that has never won a playoff series and they get matched up with the Tampa Bay Rays. It is all about timing and Josh Hamilton’s injury could not have been at a worse time. This is a fun Ranger team that has a chance to make some noise and they have their best player returning from a rib injury.

No one ever said that life was fair.

Still, I like the Rangers to get past the Rays as Tampa Bay has no home-field advantage to speak of. They had to give away 20,000 tickets to “sell out” their moribund stadium after they clinched a playoff berth. Their catwalk also cost them a game this season and the rules have been modified to account for that quirk of Tropicana Field.

Now, the Yankees also have always beaten the Rangers in the playoffs but this is not the same Rangers team. I think that they will find a way to get past the Yankees as long as they don’t trail late in the game.

Josh Hamilton was the AL MVP but he won’t win it due to his late-season injury. I do expect him to have a huge impact in what will be a magical run by the Rangers.

I am a real sentimental guy and that makes it tough for me to go against Atlanta. I look for the Braves to finish off their magical season with a World Series win over the Texas Rangers.

Let’s now take one final look at the issue of parity in the MLB. 16 out of the 30 teams were at .500 or better. That is a very good sign of the health of the game. The Reds and Giants returning to the playoffs is also a good sign as well as the Padres staying in the race until the last day of the season.

The run of the Tampa Bay Rays is sadly coming to an end after this postseason. I do realize they have prospects aplenty in their farm system but losing the likes of Carl Crawford and Carlos Pena will have them in a temporary decline. Joe Maddon is a great manager and I hope he can keep this thing rolling in Tampa Bay.

The best farm system in baseball belongs to the Kansas City Royals. That means that the Royals might have a window opening soon to be relevant again. As a Cleveland fan, I do enjoy those windows and understand that we have to suffer through seasons like 2010 to get to those windows.

As a baseball fan, I sure wish that the windows for small market teams could stay open longer.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com