Kuzul

Every year, managers, coaches and writers from around Major League Baseball award honors and trophies to the players—and every year, they screw up.

So Bleacher Report’s Featured Columnists decided to do it ourselves. Instead of just complaining about the awards as they are announced as we would normally do on our own, we teamed up to hold our own mock awards vote.

On Monday, we kicked off Week 2 of our four-week-long results series with our picks for AL Comeback Player of the Year, then we followed that up yesterday with their counterparts in the NL. Today, we look at the best relievers in the American League.

The top five vote-getters are featured here with commentary from people who chose them. The full list of votes is at the end.

So read on, see how we did and be sure to let us know what we got wrong!

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It was 1954 when Willie Mays made “The Catch” and propelled the New York Giants to a four game sweep of the Cleveland Indians in the World Series. In 1962, it was a well played Bobby Richardson that broke hearts in San Francisco after he snagged a Willie McCovey liner in the first appearance of the San Francisco Giants in a World Series. It was the Loma Prieta earthquake that stole to show of a four game sweep by the Oakland A’s in the 1989 Battle of the Bay. And it was a game ball given to Russ Ortiz in the 2002 World Series that was the last good moment for San Francisco in a crushing defeat at the hands of the Angels.

But all is forgiven, at least for the next 4 months, because the Giants are sitting on top of the baseball world, propelled by one of the most dominant pitching staffs of all time and a three-run blast by the man with no left bicep, Edgar Renteria.

It was a dominant conclusion to a rather dominant series outing by the Giants as a team. And it was a thrilling conclusion to a thrilling postseason, one that I, nor most Giants’ fans, will ever forget.

Let us take a closer look at the game which lifted the 56 year drought off of a team, a city, and a fan base and which shocked the world.

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The 2010 World Series concluded in rather anticlimactic fashion on Monday night as Tim Lincecum and the San Francisco Giants hoisted the holy grail of baseball after just five games.

As for the Rangers? As manager Ron Washington would say, “That’s just the way baseball go.”

But for as much depth as there is in Washington’s sentiments—and if you’ve ever played baseball, you know there is—perhaps the Rangers and their fans should look to Scottish author Samuel Smiles for consolation.

Smiles once said, “Progress, of the best kind, is comparatively slow.”

Sure, the Ranger loss is an absolute heart breaker for a community that now has to endure ten more weeks of Cowboy football, but the Rangers will learn a lot from their World Series failure.

If the surprise 2010 season was any indication, the Rangers could get used to October baseball.

Rangers’ GM Jon Daniels had gone on record several times prior to the 2010 season saying that this would be the year the Rangers emerged as a playoff contender.

Was he ever right.

And remember, the keyword in the statement Daniels made several times was “emerge,” as in “We’ll be here awhile.”

When looking at the Ranger organization from top to bottom, they are set for years to come.

They have a stable ownership group for the first time in almost two years.

They have a minor league system that is the envy of the Major Leagues.

They have stars in Ian Kinsler, Josh Hamilton and Michael Young.

They have young players like Neftali Feliz, Elvis Andrus, Tommy Hunter and Mitch Moreland under contract for years to come. And they’re already playing in the Majors AND they’re under contract for the foreseeable future.

But most importantly: The Rangers learned how to win.

They learned how to win in the ALDS with small ball and timely pitching. They beat the Yankees by scoring early and late, while not giving into the pressures of a Game 1 collapse. And while they lost four of five to the Giants, they learned what it takes to win in the World Series.

No longer will the Rangers be looked at as the cellar dweller of the AL West. Rather, they will be viewed as the team who took out both of the top dogs in the AL East. They will be viewed as a team that can be a player in the free-agent market.

And most importantly, they will be viewed as team to beat.

So while losing in the first World Series in franchise history hurts, remember, we all tripped and fell before we learned to tie our shoes, but when tied, we never stopped walking.

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Down two games to none in the World Series, the Texas Rangers desperately needed some home cookin’, and more importantly needed a win in Game 3. The guy they relied on for a big performance was Colby Lewis and like in his three postseason games prior, Lewis delivered.

Lewis gave up just five hits, two runs, walked two and struck out five in 7.2 innings of work as he helped the Rangers defeat the Giants 4-2 on Saturday night. The Giants now lead the best-of-seven series 2-1.

I thought Lewis’ start was more like his Game 2 start against the New York Yankees than his Game 6 start. Lewis danced through raindrops in that Game 2 start, and I thought he did the same thing on Saturday.

Lewis only gave up five hits and two runs, but it could have been a lot worse. He left a lot of balls right out over the plate and somehow avoided serious damage all night.

According to PitchFx, Lewis threw 57 sliders and curves in Game 3. Take a look at his pitch chart, notice how many of those pitches he left up…

Lewis left an insane amount of sliders and curves not only over the middle of the plate, but up in the zone. How he didn’t get hurt more than he did is a mystery to me.

The two mistakes he did get caught on were an inside fastball to Cody Ross and a right down the middle fastball to Andres Torres. After this postseason, I don’t think any pitcher is going to throw a fastball on purpose to the inner half of the plate to Ross. He has manhandled that pitch all postseason.

Lewis is now 3-0 with a 2.35 ERA and 24 K’s in four postseason starts. If there is a Game 7, it will most likely be Lewis taking the mound for the Rangers.

While Lewis was doing it on the mound, the Ranger offense just did enough to get by.

The first big blow for the Rangers came from Mitch Moreland in the second. After fouling off four tough pitches, Moreland hit a frozen rope over the rightfield wall for a three-run HR. Why Buster Posey would call an inside fastball in that spot was a little puzzling.

Josh Hamilton added to the lead in the fifth when he hit a hanging curve from Jonathan Sanchez into the right center field seats. Sanchez put that pitch on a platter for Hamilton and he didn’t miss it.

Here are some other observations from Game 3…

The Giants are going to have quite the decision on their hands if this series goes seven games. Sanchez was terrible for the second straight game and if this series goes seven, he is slated to start.

Sanchez only lasted 4.2 innings, and gave up four runs on six hits and three walks. Sanchez is so Jekyll and Hyde that I don’t think Bruce Bochy can go to him in a Game 7.

The Giants’ hitters weren’t much better.

Three World Series games and eight strike outs in nine AB’s. This is the Pat Burrell Tampa Bay Rays fans knew to grow and love.

While Tim McCarver thought Nelson Cruz made a poor baserunning play in the bottom of the second, I thought he made the right decision.

Here was the setting: Cruz was on third with one out and the infield was playing back. Jeff Francoeur hit a slow roller up along third. Instead of going home, Cruz went back to third. Juan Uribe looked Cruz back and then threw out Francoeur at first.

Okay, here is my take on this. Uribe fielded the ball right in front of third. If Cruz goes home off of contact, he would have been out by 20 feet. The contact play clearly wasn’t on and instead of having a runner on first with two outs, the Rangers still had a runner on third with one out. Maybe it’s me, but I would rather have the latter.

Can someone please tell Ron Washington it’s the World Series. Despite Darren O’Day getting the job done in the eighth, I still can’t believe Washington refuses to go to Feliz for a four-out save.

I will have to admit, I didn’t mind it when Washington left Lewis in the game to face Aubrey Huff in the eighth. Yes, Torres just hit a HR. And yes, Edgar Renteria hit a rope to left for an out. But Huff didn’t represent the tying or go-ahead run, so let the guy try to finish things out.

However, once Lewis hit Huff, Washington has to go to Neftali Feliz. Who do I want pitching the most important AB of the game? O’Day or Feliz? I will take Feliz for $1,000 Alex.

I was completely shocked Bochy went to Ramon Ramirez in the bottom of the eighth in a 4-2 game. I didn’t think he would see the mound again in this season unless it was a blowout.

If you told the casual fan after watching last night’s game that Pablo Sandoval hit .330 last year, they would laugh at you. He has zero and I mean ZERO confidence at the plate right now.

Moreland had 145 AB’s during the regular season, so he won’t qualify for the Rookie of the Year award in 2011, but not being up for the award aside, Moreland should be good for a .260-.270 average with 20 plus HRs.

Words can’t describe how big Game 4 is on Sunday. The difference between 2-2 and 3-1 can’t be understated. The Rangers will have Tommy Hunter on the mound trying to tie the series, and the Giants will have rookie Madison Bumgarner on the mound trying to give them a 3-1 series lead.

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg

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Well, now it’s a series. Returning home to Arlington served to be precisely the remedy to cure the Texas Rangers’ woes on the road through the first two games of the World Series.

With a well-played 4-2 victory at home over the San Francisco Giants on Saturday night, Texas showed their mettle and fought their way back into the series, and now only trail two games to one.

In Game 1, the Rangers scored seven runs, but couldn’t pitch, and in Game 2, C.J. Wilson pitched a fantastic game but the Rangers couldn’t hit Matt Cain.

Game 3 saw the Rangers put all facets of their game together to earn the first ever World Series victory in franchise history.

Rangers Ballpark in Arlington was a virtual sea of red as the hometown fans vociferously cheered on their team throughout the evening.

The Texas fans have been craving a taste of success for quite some time, and in the franchise’s 50th year, finally have reason to hope.

Texas had multiple heroes in Game 3, from the 31-year-old journeyman starting pitcher living a dream after two years of pitching in Japan to a 25-year-old rookie first-baseman with only 47 Major League games on his resume prior to this postseason.

Josh Hamilton, the team’s star center-fielder, continues his dramatic road to redemption after several years out of the game due to his own harrowing battles with addiction.

The Rangers were able to get to Giants’ starter Jonathan Sanchez for four runs after getting utterly dominated by Matt Cain in Game 3. Colby Lewis, suddenly the Rangers’ ace, continued his brilliant run of performances in the postseason, earning his third win in four starts. 

Perhaps most satisfying, two Rangers’ relievers threw 1.1 shut-down innings after the bullpen had failed spectacularly in the first two games of the series.

With Games 4 and 5 scheduled to take place in Arlington on Halloween and Monday, Nov. 1, the Rangers now have good reason to expect to travel back to San Francisco for a potential Game 6, or even a possible Game 7.

Let’s grade the Rangers’ performances in several key aspects of World Series Game 3.

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Someone once said that a playoff series hasn’t begun until a road team wins.

Based on that idea, the matchup between the Giants and Rangers is still at the starting line. The next three games of the 2010 World Series will be played in Arlington, and that suits Ron Washington and his ball club just fine.

Down 2-0, the Rangers need a win to reverse the momentum that the Giants established in the pair of games at AT&T Park.

Here are three keys for a Game 3 victory for the Rangers:

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The World Series begins tonight and it is going to be quite an adventure. The National League Champion San Francisco Giants will host the American League Champion Texas Rangers at 8 PM Eastern on FOX. Both teams won their respective divisions. It was the Rangers first division title and the Giants seventh.

The Rangers have won 2 career postseason series and have never won a World Series.

The Giants enter this series with their second NL pennant and third division title this decade.  In 2002, they lost to the Angles 4-3 in a terrible game six collapse, after being up 5-0. The original “G-Men” have been to the World Series three times, in 1962, 1989 and 2002, since coming to the Golden State.

Personally, I believe the past demise for these two young and talented teams has been inexperience which is no longer an issue.

The Rangers have four active players that have experienced October baseball. Catcher Bengie Molina beat the Giants in ’02 for a World Series title. Staff ace Cliff Lee has World Series experience, dominating the Yankees in ’09. DH/OF Vladimir Guerrero and OF Jeff Francoeur also have prior playoff experience.

The Giants also have four active players that have witnessed playoff fever. Starting with infielder Edgar Renteria, who in 1997, hit the game winning RBI to give the Florida Marlins their first World Series title over the Cleveland Indians. Then there is infielder Juan Uribe, who also has a ring with the Chicago White Sox, as well as outfielders Pat Burrell and Aaron Rowand.

These experienced players helped their teams advance with positive energy and focus through the season. Their past successes helped lead their newer, younger teammates to glory.

Here are the key players to watch in this World Series:

Texas Rangers

Cliff Lee:

This guy is a monster in his short post season career. He is 7-0 with a 1.26 ERA. He has three complete games, an average of eight innings per start, and a 10/1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. If he leads the Rangers to their first World Series, he will be the greatest post season pitcher EVER.

Vladimir Guerrero:

Texas Manager Ron Washington has said that Vlad will play the field on occasion during games in San Francisco. Furthermore, Giants Manager Bruce Bochy, will most likely look to  intentionally walk All-Star Josh Hamilton.  This will leave Vlad and Cruz to do the dirty work. Having him DH most of the season clearly has helped the Rangers — 1^st in RBI’s 115, 3^rd in BA .300, 2^nd in HR 29, 3^rd in hits 178 — as he was among the league leaders in multiple offensive categories. Not to mention his arm could still shock us a few times this series. Mark my words.

Elvis Andrus:

This kid is legit at the leadoff spot and shows great promise in the field. He led the rangers in steals (32), was third in runs (88), fourth in hits (156) and first in BB (64). He will need to be successful on base and in the field for the Rangers to be successful this series. 

Neftali Feliz:

The young stud (22 years old) surprised many of us this season, as he was handed the job as closer within the first two weeks of the season. He went on to have a monster rookie year with 40 saves, 71 strikeouts and 18 walks. This kid will have to keep his cool to help the Rangers finish games this series.

San Francisco Giants

Tim Lincecum:

In his first postseason, “Timmy the Freak” is 2-1 with a 1.93 ERA. He is currently averaging seven innings a game this postseason and will need to continue to give their bullpen rest in order to win this series.

Buster Posey:

The first round pick has worked out well so far at catcher in the second half of the season. He was first on the team in BA (.305), third in RBI’s (67), and struck out only 55 times, second best out of the primary starters. Also, he had an OPS of .862, which is unheard of for a rookie. This kid may shock the world with the calm, cool and collected approach he brings to the plate.

Aubrey Huff:

The veteran led the team in RBI’s (86), hits (165), runs (100), home runs (26), BB (83), plate appearances (668), OPS (.891) and was third in batting average (.290). He also was second in fielding percentage for position players at .997, behind only catcher Bengie Molina, who had .998. He clearly carries this team offensively and has struggled a little this postseason. Huff needs to step his game up offensively for the Giants.

Bullpen:

Unlike the Rangers bullpen, which has three pitchers with at least 60 innings pitched, the Giants have only have two. Closer Brian Wilson (74.2) and reliever Sergio Romo (62). Both starting pitchers, Jonathan Sanchez (averaged 5 IP per game) and Madison Bumgarner (averaged 3.1 IP per game), have struggled this postseason going late into games. Most would say experience wins, but I think the Giants pen has been successful this post season due to the low amount of innings split this season. Their bullpen helped beat the Phillies in six games throwing 19.1 innings, 22 strike outs, 15 hits, eight walks and only six runs. This bullpen will be key for the Giants to win games.

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As everyone witnessed this past ALCS and NLCS, postseason games come down to the final pitch. Some ball players are propelled toward excellency in this one moment, and some are forever distastefully remembered for it, but its the rare feat of striking out looking that really pushes the buttons of baseball fans everywhere, and the mere fact that a backwards K can end a teams season as quickly as it began is something no fan looks forward to. 

The dismal feat of striking out looking has only happened 10 times in all the years Major League Baseball has been in existence, and this is the first year that a backwards K has ended both League Championship Series, but from the looks of history, it sure won’t be the last time we see a player end their season watching strike three fly by. 

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Here you have it. The 2010 World Series features the San Francisco Giants and the Texas Rangers. These certainly are not at all the most household playoff names in Major League Baseball, but they did take down some of the biggest championship threats of our era.

Neither the Philadelphia Phillies nor New York Yankees could withstand the onslaught that the 2010 league victors laid down on them. Both the Giants and Rangers concocted a potent mixture of offense and pitching that got them where they are today; staring each other down in hopes of wearing some shiny new World Series rings.

Stacking up the two less-likely championship candidates, one may realize that this World Series is certainly not very predictable. There are certain factors that make each team tick, but the edge goes to Texas.

Here are 10 reasons why the Texas Rangers will win their first World Series in franchise history.

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In their 50th season as the Washington Senators/Texas Rangers franchise, a pennant has finally been won. The Rangers knocked off the Yankees on Friday night 6-1 to take the AL flag in their own home in front of 50,000-plus crazy fans.

The Rangers got on the board first and after the Yankees got a gift run, the Rangers put them away. Vladimir Guerrero and Nelson Cruz got the big hits they couldn’t get in Game 5 and the team’s young closer put the hammer down in the ninth.

The Yankees couldn’t hit Colby Lewis as many expected, and although Phil Hughes wasn’t terrible, he wasn’t good enough.

With the win on Friday, Cliff Lee now will be on full rest to start Game 1 of the World Series on Wednesday in either Philadelphia or San Francisco. Here’s a report card of how the Rangers won Game 6.

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