Kuzul

In an interview with ESPNDallas.com, Texas Rangers president Nolan Ryan predicted the Rangers to win 90-95 games in the upcoming season. Considering we are still months away from Opening Day, that comment is a little outrageous.

The Rangers were terrific last year, going 90-72 in the regular season before losing to the San Francisco Giants in the World Series. Even that team was barely able to hit the 90-win mark and their division may have been the weakest in all of baseball.

This season looks to be a lot more competitive in the American League West as the Oakland Athletics appear to be have one of the top pitching staffs in all of baseball and the Los Angeles Angels will have one of the league’s best offenses, assuming there are few to no injuries.

The Seattle Mariners will probably not be too much better than last year but they do have perhaps the best pitcher in the American League, Felix Hernandez.

When Nolan Ryan made the prediction, he had just finished a Q&A session with Rangers fans and he probably just wanted to raise fan morale.

The Rangers didn’t have a very good off season, losing Cliff Lee and replacing him with the injury prone Brandon Webb. The biggest acquisition was obviously Adrian Beltre but the loss of Lee will most likely

\out-do the impact of Beltre’s bat.

The World Series runner up will still have Josh Hamilton and Nelson Cruz but there is no guarantee that they will both have banner seasons again.

C.J. Wilson will lead the pitching staff, but the Rangers’ pitching as a whole is not nearly as strong as the Athletics’ staff and bullpen.

The Rangers’ schedule doesn’t appear to be too challenging, although they do play a three-game series at Philadelphia during inter-league play.

They finish the season with nine of 12 games on the road, but there is no telling what the standings of the AL West will be in late September.

Ryan predicted the Rangers would win 92 games last season and they came very close to accomplishing that feat, so maybe his predicting skills are better than most.

After all, he knows the Rangers better than just about anybody. However, all signs point to the AL West being very close this year, and a runaway champion seems unlikely.

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Texas Rangers fans, get ready to hate me. The same goes for all you fans of the Astros, Angels and Mets!

I’ve had this opinion for a few years now and have no intention of changing it.

This opinion is a controversial one, but I have my reasons for it. Therefore, I’ll get right to it.

Nolan Ryan is one of the most overrated players in baseball history, if not the most overrated.

Now, I probably have about 20 minutes before rabid Texans and crazy Ryan fans storm my front door, ambush me and then leave with my head impaled on a stick, so I’ll do my best to keep this concise.

Let’s start off with Ryan’s career accomplishments. Overall, they’re not bad. He made eight All-Star teams and won a World Series with the New York Mets in 1969. On top of that, his seven career no-hitters are a record that will most definitely never be broken.

Now let’s have a look at his career numbers. Again, they’re pretty good. His career record stands at 324 wins and 292 losses. Regarding ERA, it’s a very impressive 3.19. Yet the number that blows everyone’s mind is the career strikeout total: 5,714. To go with the seven no-nos, this is a number that will never be surpassed. It’s just a fact.

I know, I know. I’ve presented you with amazing statistics but still haven’t changed my opinion. Well, let me tell you why.

First off, despite all of his success, Nolan Ryan never won a Cy Young Award. The closest he ever came to winning one was as a member of the then-California Angels in 1973, when he finished with a 21-16 record, 2.87 ERA and a record 383 strikeouts. He ultimately lost the award to Jim Palmer.

Second, let’s analyze his record. The wins are certainly there, but the losses seem a little inflated considering how dominant Ryan was in his prime. The 324-292 record gives us a winning percentage of .526, which, while respectable, is still mediocre. It’s not even in the top 100.

Finally, let’s tie the stats together with Ryan’s career strikeout total of 5,714. Yes, Ryan was a dominant strikeout pitcher throughout most of his career, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that I still think he’s overrated. Why? Because the man pitched for 27 seasons!

Let’s be honest: If Nolan Ryan were pitching today, he would not be as dominant. He was a fireballer, and now everybody in baseball is trying to be one. Combine that factor with today’s pitching coaches monitoring pitch counts, the steroid era and hitters being better prepared for hard fastballs, and he would be just another face in the crowd.

The same can be said about his seven career no-hitters. If I was a pitcher in that era and throwing 98 mph, I could probably throw seven no-hitters. Point being this: I don’t care if Ryan was on a lot of bad teams in his career. His stuff was good enough that he should have wiped the floor with any opposing hitter that stepped up to face him.

On top of that, his career stats are ridiculously inflated. Nobody pitches for 27 seasons anymore, and if they did, they would definitely not be as dominant as Ryan was.

Yet despite my feelings about Ryan as a player, I have to say I’ve come to gain a lot of respect for him in recent years. After stepping away from the field for some time following his retirement, Ryan is now back in the game as owner of the Texas Rangers.

He was the president of the 2010 squad that represented the American League in the World Series, and given the balance of veterans and youth on that team, plus some amazing pitching, Ryan as shown himself to be not just one of the more overrated players in history, but possibly the most underrated executive in baseball as well.

To understand Nolan Ryan’s executive genius, we need to go back to when he first became president of the Texas Rangers in 2008. After he was introduced, he announced his intention to make the team’s pitching into the AL’s best. To start, he would do away with the pitch count philosophy that had consumed all of baseball. There was no pitch count limit when he was a player, so why should there be one now?

Before Ryan took over, the Rangers were an AL West division team that had a lot of good young talent, but whose pitching just wasn’t enough to compete with the division rival Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and the Oakland Athletics. The offense was there, thanks in large part to the Ballpark in Arlington being very hitter-friendly, but this also allowed opposing hitters to have a field day against the Texas pitching.

In each of Ryan’s three seasons as president of the Rangers, the team has improved. They finished third in the division in 2008, second place in 2009 and first place in 2010 on their way to the World Series, where they lost to an equally talented San Francisco Giants team.

Much of the Rangers’ 2010 success has been attributed to its pitching, so let’s break it down. In the starting rotation, there were young guns that simply surprised us all. Tommy Hunter came out of nowhere and impressed with a 13-4 record, and C.J. Wilson was impeccable in his transition from the bullpen to the starting rotation. 

After pitching for one season in Japan, Colby Lewis was possibly the biggest sleeper in all fantasy baseball leagues—and of course, we don’t need to go into detail about Ryan trading for Cliff Lee midseason.

The bullpen was just as effective. Rookie standout Neftali Feliz saved 40 games en route to winning the AL Rookie of the Year Award.

On offense, the team was dangerous. Vladimir Guerrero had a comeback season, silencing his critics. Outfielder Nelson Cruz was effective despite a nagging hamstring injury. Shortstop Elvis Andrus was a pest in the field and an even bigger one whilst running the bases.

Most importantly, outfielder Josh Hamilton put a cap on his inspirational story. A former drug addict, Hamilton batted .359 with 32 home runs and 100 RBI, winning himself the AL MVP Award.

Why are these players significant? Because with the help of his young GM, Jon Daniels, Nolan Ryan brought these men to Texas after most teams had written them off as has-beens and/or underachievers. A World Series appearance later, the Rangers have silenced their doubters.

Will some of their players be on different teams next season? Yes, possibly the most important piece is gone in Cliff Lee. However, I have no doubt that the Rangers will return to the playoffs to once again hush their critics and prove that they are a force to be reckoned with.

When the team is on the field proving its worth to the masses, you’ll find Nolan Ryan in his usual seat, behind home plate.

Sir, while you may be considered overrated by some (myself included), I can only hope that you will one day be commended for your accomplishments as an executive and owner. It’s truly a shame that you’re already in the National Baseball Hall of Fame as a player, and I mean that with all due respect. Regardless, there should be another plaque prepared for you, this time as one who changed the game.

NOTE TO MY READERS: THIS WILL BE MY LAST ARTICLE UNTIL THE NEW YEAR. AFTER CRANKING OUT IDEAS MONDAY-FRIDAY (MINUS YESTERDAY’S BRAIN RECHARGE DAY), IT IS TIME FOR ME TO JOIN MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY IN CELEBRATING THE HOLIDAYS. I WILL BE BACK JANUARY 3, 2011, BRINGING YOU NEW ARTICLES AND OPINIONS THAT I KNOW YOU WILL ALL ENJOY.

SO, TO ALL OF MY READERS: HAPPY BELATED CHANUKAH, MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY KWANZAA. BUT MOST OF ALL, HAVE A HAPPY AND HEALTHY 2011!!!

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Cliff Lee is, as expected, the most coveted free agent as the MLB Winter Meetings open this week in Florida. Despite the Boston Red Sox’ acquisition of Adrian Gonzalez and the mega-deal between Jayson Werth and the Nationals, Lee remains at the forefront of the rumor mill as proceedings begin.

Lee and agent Derek Braunecker have begun visiting with teams and will undertake more serious meetings as the week progresses, according to Braunecker. The New York Yankees and Texas Rangers remain the favorites to sign Lee, but Lee and Braunecker insist there are other teams in play. Read on for the inside scoop on Lee’s free-agent posturing and the clamor of his would-be suitors.

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When news broke that Rangers owner Chuck Greenberg had delivered a verbal smackdown on Yankees fans on Monday, two things immediately came to mind.

1) Wait … doesn’t Nolan Ryan own the Rangers?
2) Chuck Greenberg must, at all costs, be destroyed.

In case you missed it, Greenberg had this to say when asked about the fervor of Rangers fans during the 2010 postseason:

“I think our fans have been great,” Greenberg told KESN-FM, which I can only assume plays insufferably crappy country music about drunk wives and dead dogs. “I think particularly in Game 3 of the World Series they just blew away anything I’ve seen in any venue during the postseason. I thought Yankee fans, frankly, were awful. They were either violent or apathetic, neither of which is good. So I thought Yankee fans were by far the worst of any I’ve seen in the postseason. I thought they were an embarrassment.”

Chuckie, Chuckie, Chuckie.

(takes deep breath, cracks knuckles)

Let’s break this down, Zapruder film style:

“I think our fans have been great.”

Yeah, nothing says baseball passion like Texas Rangers fans. Two years ago, before wearing claw and antler T-shirts became fashionable in the Lonestar State, the Rangers drew less than two million fans to The Ballpark in Arlington, ranking them No. 11 in attendance out 14 American League teams. So maybe your fans were great, but that’s only since they began to exist.

“I think particularly in Game 3 of the World Series they just blew away anything I’ve seen in any venue during the postseason.”

Oh, you mean the same Game 3 that doubled as the first World Series game in your franchise’s meek 50-year history? Put it this way: If your fans weren’t hyped up, call the National Guard, because you have 50,000 brain- and entrails-craving The Walking Dead-level zombies all in one place.

“I thought Yankee fans, frankly, were awful.”

Hey!

“They were either violent or apathetic, neither of which is good.”

Apathetic? Sure. The entire lower bowl of our stadium is filled with multi-millionaires. But violent? Maybe Chuckie accidentally switched over to Yankees Classics on YES and saw 57,000 disco fans trying to rip Chris Chambliss’ head off at the conclusion of the ’76 ALCS. We used to do violent better than anyone. We were … the best. If violence at public sports facilities was a tournament, we’d be Sly Stallone in Over The Top. But no longer. (wipes away tear)

Tangibly related point: The Yankees have lost 6,449 games in their history, but remain undefeated on Yankees Classics. A remarkable achievement.

“So I thought Yankee fans were by far the worst of any I’ve seen in the postseason.”

This is where Chuck really goes off the reservation. I’ll admit Giants fans put on quite a display in their World Series home games. Right time, right place for an underrated fanbase. But Texas’ other playoff opponent was the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Rays drew a measly 1.6 million fans in 2010 despite having the American League’s best record. Their fans’ only forms of expression come by way of the cowbell and the circular waving of adult diapers. C’mon now.

It’s also unfair to judge Yankee fans on the three ALCS games in the Bronx. The Yankees were outscored 18-3 in the first two games, then got stuck with an 4:05 first pitch in the middle of the work week in Game 5.

Come to think of it, I didn’t notice much of a decibel difference between Cliff Lee dominating the host Yankees in Game 3 of the ALCS and Tim Lincecum dominating the host Rangers in Game 5 of the World Series. Hmmmm…

“I thought they were an embarrassment.”

See, off all the things I miss about George Steinbrenner—and believe me, after the ALCS breakdown I was dreaming of a nasty Boss missive—what I miss most was his uncanny ability to twist the knife into a fallen opponent.

Steinbrenner knew how to do it. He always waited until he was already at the top of the pile before firing off the putdowns. The term “sore winner” is based on the man in the white turtleneck. Greenberg taunting with his team down 3-1 in the World Series was a classic amateur hour move in knife-twistage.

Greenberg can take solace in that he’s not the only privileged millionaire to fail this way. This happens all the time. Most recently, San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York said his team was going to win the division when it was 0-5.

Even bloodline doesn’t guarantee effectiveness. George’s son, Hank, ran his mouth with regularity in the initial months after he and brother Hal were given control of the Yankees in 2007. It wasn’t long before Hank was silenced, stripped of a defined role in the organization, and sent off to a horse farm in Tampa, Fredo-style.

Greenberg, perhaps sensing a similar fate, changed fields on Tuesday, personally apologizing to New York front office members and issuing a statement that he “unfairly and inaccurately disparaged fans of the New York Yankees.’’

“Those remarks were inappropriate,’’ Greenberg added, backtracking so fast he tumbled out of his private box. “Yankees fans are among the most passionate and supportive in all of baseball.’’

Well then.

If Greenberg was looking to put himself on the map with this stunt, mission accomplished. And since I now know who he is, you can bet I’ll be scouring the local Dallas papers for his reaction on Dec. 18, 2010, when the Yankees sign away Cliff Lee and his pretty little wife.

The richest people can say the dumbest things, after all.

Dan Hanzus writes the Yankees blog River & Sunset and can be reached at dhanzus@gmail.com. Follow Dan on Twitter @danhanzus.

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Quick.  When was the last time a Texas team won the World Series?

If almost never was your answer, then you are wrong, baseball breath. Since the World Series started in 1902, teams from Texas have won zip, zero, or zilch.

One WS appearance in 107 years by the state of Texas is listed. Phil Garner’s Astros lost to Ozzie Guillen’s South Siders in 2005. 

Think fast.  When was the last time an African-American manager won the World Series?

Ron Washington hopes to join both lists, and he has a monster of a hitting team to help. 

Back in July, I predicted the Rangers would upset the Yankees.  My Yankees friends laughed.

They ain’t laughing now.  I told them Texas had too much hitting.

The pitching ain’t too bad, either. Cliff Lee’s cut fastball speaks for itself in three different languages: Strikes one, two, and three.

The Giants get home field advantage because the NL All-Stars won the game this year, the first time since Arizona had it in 2001.

Thank manager Joe Girardi for keeping A-Rod on the bench in the All-Star Game. 

Will the first African-American manager in Rangers history deliver their first World Series title?

He will have to go through chilly California to do it.

Christened for the 2000 season, AT&T Park sits on San Francisco Bay at 24 Willie Mays Plaza. China Basin, aka McCovey Cove, is part of the Bay just beyond right field. The ballpark was once one of the largest 802.11b wireless hotspots in the world.

Playing there over the years, Texas is colder than a Frisco Fourth of July; they have yet to win a game in nine tries. They are 0-11 anywhere in Frisco going back to Candlestick Park.

The pitcher-friendly ballpark on the waterfront is prime Frisco real estate, and home runs may be minimalized.

The general description of this matchup is that Texas has plenty pop, while Frisco has plenty pitching.

Which team closes the deal before foreclosure kicks in?

Seven Rangers batted over .300 in the ALCS against the Yankees. That is more than the legendary Gas House Gang, the 1934 St. Louis Cardinals, who had five hitters batting at least .300 for the regular season.

Baseball stingers Michael Young, Josh Hamilton, Vladimir Guerrero and Nelson Cruz have their eyes on the ball.

The Giants had four batters over .300 in the NLCS against Philly, including pitcher Jonathan Sanchez, who was one-for-three.

San Francisco’s starters posted a 2.92 earned-run average against the vaunted Phillies. Texas’ starters were at 5.36 against the Yankees.

What about team defense, you ask?

Vlad the Baseball Impaler started 16 regular season outfield games.  Right fielder for Game 1, Guerrero once owned baseball’s most feared field gun. Now is he a liability next to one of the best center fielders in the game?

Defensive insurance was Wash’s forté as Oakland’s third base and infield coach.

Young was a shortstop who made way for Elvis Andrus—a Wash favorite.  Rangers broadcasters questioned Andrus’ ability last season.  No more.  He catalyzes high-scoring Texas on offense and defense.

One could say he eats bases, and base-hits, like Lassie being fed at first.

Wash came to dinner in the ALCS and left with a doggy bag of gourmet wins.

A pennant and an American League championship trophy later, Sidney Poitier should throw out the first WS pitch. Poitier started in the classic Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner? with Katharine Hepburn. Google it.

The Giants defense is suspect, especially behind the plate.  The Rangers should be able to run at will on Lincecum/Posey. But they have to get on base, first, second and last.

Cito Gaston was the last African-American manager to the win the World Series, in 1993.  Ron Washington knows that because I told him in a previous article.

This will be the Bay Area’s first World Series article since Barry Bonds’ squad lost to Anaheim in 2002. San Francisco has gone from a hitting team to a pitching team since he retired.

Giants manager Bruce Bochy starts quirky ace Tim Lincecum tonight in Game 1. Few Ranger have faced Lincecum, whose stuff is filthy.  If someone thinks there is a better fantasy baseball pitcher over the last two seasons, then I say he is delusional.

Lincecum may be the best in real baseball, too.  Fireballer Matt Cain will ably toe the rubber on Thursday night.

Jonathan Sanchez and Madison Bumgarner are set to start in Arlington.  I would have started Sanchez in Game 2. He pitched a no-hitter at AT&T Park in July 2009. 

Texas owns the road this postseason, and they also shined at home after the first game of the ALCS.

Lee, CJ Wilson and Colby Lewis are the probable starters for the Rangers.

Will Lee humiliate Giants hitters?

I have been a hit with my bold predictions, and this one is no different.

Prediction: Hamilton will help Wash attain managerial glory by hammering Frisco’s right field wall.  Arlington, near Dallas, experienced flooding this year.  McCovey Cove will flood with baseballs fired off the Rangers bats.  Texas wins 4-2.

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Nolan Ryan has been the man behind the 2010 Texas Rangers. After he, Chuck Greenberg and the rest of the Ranger fans ran Tom Hicks out of town, this team has gone from cellar-dweller to World Series favorite.

A guy like Ryan knows the game—he knows the kind of talent it takes to get to the ultimate goal. He brought those players in, and they are just four wins away from accomplishing what he set out to accomplish.

But is he the only former player and Hall of Famer turned general manager that could succeed in the same role? Are there other Hall-of-Fame players who could have the same type of success?

What about guys like Ricky Henderson, Dave Stewart, Ryne Sandberg, Ozzie Smith and so many others? How good would these guys be in the same position as Nolan Ryan? Would they be as good or  possibly even better?

Here’s a look at 20 current Major League Baseball Hall of Famers who could be successful general managers.

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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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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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It is quite ironic that two of the biggest topics in the news this week are the World Series and the upcoming election, which will determine our 106^th winner of the Fall Classic and our 112^th United States Congress.

There isn’t a whole lot that links the San Francisco Giants and the Texas Rangers, who are making their first appearance in the World Series.

The two teams have played just 22 times with the Giants winning 15, including 11 in a row in San Francisco—dating back to the days of Candlestick Park. The Giants have also won seven in a row overall, even though they have not faced each other this season.

The Giants did trade catcher Benjie Molina in midseason to the Rangers to make room for rising star Buster Posey.  

So, it will be a World Series in which two clubs have about as much in common as the areas they represent, which makes this World Series one that could divide the national fan base between the two teams on political lines.

            The Giants represent San Francisco, perhaps the most liberal major city in the nation. It is home to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Democratic Senators Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein. It is an area that Democrats have a firm grip on.

The Rangers represent Texas, one of the more conservative states in the union. Sen. John McCain defeated President Barack Obama by a 56 to 44 percent margin two years ago and Texas has gone Republican in every presidential election since 1980.

The Rangers were also once owned by President George W. Bush and their current president, baseball strikeout king Nolan Ryan, is a staunch Republican who has appeared in ads supporting the National Rifle Association.

One kind of gets the feeling that if the Giants win, the Obama administration would open their doors right away for San Francisco to make their visit to the White House. And if the Rangers win, one might wonder if the team would rather meet with President Bush on his ranch in Texas than go to the White House, as is traditional for the champion of all major sports teams in the country.

While some believe this World Series may not be the most interesting, it looks like a world championship title fight on political grounds.

In a week’s time we’ll know the results of both.

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It’s time for another World Series. Time to take attendance.

In the National League—San Francisco Giants? Check. Lineage of the old New York Giants—the franchise of Ott, Mathewson, Hubbell, Mays, Durocher and Irvin, then later in San Francisco: McCovey, Marichal, Cepeda, all those Alous. Here’s your pass—good luck out there.

Now to the American League.

Hey, is this someone’s idea of a joke? Who goes there? The Texas Rangers?

The Texas Rangers?

I’m not laughing. This may as well be the World Serious. No time for gags.

Texas Rangers, please have a seat. Where are the Yankees, tied up in the back room? Were the Red Sox too busy? Heck, give me the Oakland A’s—or even the Angels of Los Angeles/Anaheim/Southern California. Let’s make it an intra-state Series.

What happened to the Baltimore Orioles? I hear Boog Powell is ready to club another three-run home run while Earl Weaver steals a smoke in the runway.

Really, stop fooling around here. The Texas Rangers? Aren’t they the team that got their asses kicked by a bunch of dime beer-consuming fans in Cleveland back in 1974? Manager Billy Martin was running around the field at Municipal Stadium wielding a bat, trying to keep the drunks off his players.

What’s tradition with the Rangers? They came from Washington—first in war, first in peace, last in the American League. Ted Williams was the Rangers’ first manager; he lasted one season before he realized he didn’t look good in cowboy boots.

The Texas Rangers? In the World Series?

Where’s Allen Funt and that hidden camera? OK, you got me good. I wasn’t ready for that one. Nicely played.

How could the Rangers be in the World Series? Their all-time greatest team includes Buddy Bell and Pete O’Brien. Is this the Rangers’ reward for being the first team to schedule Sunday night games? Hey, it was only because it was too damn hot to play during the daytime—let’s not go overboard here.

Didn’t Nolan Ryan just pitch for them a couple of years ago? He went from the mound on a Friday to the president’s office on Monday, I hear.

The Texas Rangers, showing up to the World Series? To actually play in it?

Is this like when they elected Carrie as Prom Queen? Are they going to dump pig’s blood on them just before the first pitch in Game 1?

No teams named after a whole state should be in the World Series—isn’t that a rule? The Minnesota Twins did it three times and the Arizona Diamondbacks once but I hear someone had some photographs.

The Texas Rangers. They didn’t even win a postseason series until this year. Hell, they hadn’t even won a playoff game at home, period, until this month, and that was in the second round. There ought to be a law against such a fast track to the World Series.

With the Giants all the aforementioned names come to mind. With the Rangers, I keep thinking of Billy Sample and Steve Buechele and Jeff Burroughs. I stop and try again and all I can come up with is Joe Lovitto and Jim Sundberg and Dean Palmer.

Yeah, I know they had the Rodriguezes Pudge and Alex, but they both beat it out of town.

This is the franchise that won 94 games in 1977, but it needed four managers to do it—all managing within a week of each other.

Frank Lucchesi was fired on June 21. Eddie Stanky was brought in and he managed one game on June 22 before he got homesick and quit. The Rangers then turned to coach Connie Ryan and he managed six games. Finally, Billy Hunter took over a week after Lucchesi’s last game and guided the Rangers for the final 93 games. The name plates were made from dry erase board.

Two of the Rangers’ first three managers were Ted Williams and Billy Martin. Whitey Herzog was in between. Three big names, and that was the problem—they were bigger names than their players.

Until the Rangers won the ALCS the other night, the proudest night in franchise history was the night Nolan Ryan beat the stuffing out of young whippersnapper Robin Ventura on the pitching mound, when Ventura charged Ryan after being hit in the back with one of Nolan’s fastballs.

Someone should have told Robin that he got lucky with a medium-speed fastball in the back; if Nolan wanted to, he could have killed him, right there in the batter’s box.

So it’s not a joke then? The Texas Rangers are really here to play in the World Series?

Ohhh…I get it. This year’s Series is going to bleed into November and they needed a warm weather state.

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