Kuzul

It’s half-past midnight here in Ranger land and things are looking bleak. Cliff Lee has shown that he is human, and the Ranger bats seem to have gone into hibernation. To add insult to injury, the bullpen is pitching with the ferocity of a petting zoo, and with Halloween right around the corner, it seems as though the Rangers are dressing up as choke artists.

But before you decide to bury the Rangers remember one thing: The Series is coming to Arlington, and there’s nothing like home cooking to “cure what ails ya.”

I know what most of you are thinking, the Rangers have only won two games at home during the playoffs. True. However, there is one enormous difference that most people will overlook—The Rangers get to play by house rules now.

To say that playing at AT&T Park was hard on the Rangers would be like saying that do-it-yourself-dentistry is easy. It was that painful. But now the World Series shifts to Arlington where the Rangers have three games to get back in the race.

What is so substantial about the change of venue? Everything.

Playing by National League rules meant the Rangers had to sacrifice the DH spot in the order; as such, Ranger manager Ron Washington was forced to make a decision: to play Vlad, or not to play Vlad. If you saw Game 1 then you know the answer to that question, and consequently, you know the result: two errors that lead to three back-breaking Giant runs.

Further, because of the lack of a DH, Ranger pitchers were forced into dawning a helmet and wielding the lumber, which meant the Rangers were essentially guaranteed an out in the nine spot. Additionally—and I am not laying blame on the umpires at all—the games were called by National League umpires, and as any big league pitcher would tell you, the transition between the two strike zones is markedly different.

But now, Texas comes home to play in their park, with the luxury of a DH, and a familiar strike zone for their pitchers to work with.

Think about it like this: With the availability of a DH at their disposal, the Rangers can have Vlad’s bat in the middle of the order to protect Nelson Cruz, which also slides down guys like Kinsler and Molina, but perhaps more importantly, the DH puts Mitch Moreland back in the nine spot, a place where he has frustrated pitchers to Dustin Pedroia-like lengths.

The DH also means that the Rangers can use their platoon of David Murphy or Jeff Francoeur, who have both been decent at the plate. So by merit of one position change, the Rangers can have two meaningful bats in the line-up.

But positions and league rules aside, I get the feeling the Rangers were intimidated by the amped up San Francisco crowd. After having played at Tropicana Field, where the Rays had to give away tickets, and then on to Yankee Stadium where the Yankee faithful (I use that term very loosely) left their team for dead routinely, the Rangers didn’t really face much in the way of noise and hostility.

My hats off to Giant fans, you guys brought it.

The look on Derek Holland’s face during his own personal attempt at the March of Dimes in the eight inning of Game 2 said it all—the Rangers were scared. The noise, the energy, the beard, all of it definitely played a part in making Texas look more like the 2003 Rangers than the Claw and Antler edition that fans have come to love.

So where do the Fightin’ Ron Washington’s go from here?

It’s really anyone’s guess at this point. The Giants have pitched so incredibly well that the Rangers definitely have their work cut out for them. One would think that after Lincecum and Cain the sledding would get easier, but Johnathan Sanchez and Madison Bumgardner have proved they can get it done as well.

With Colby Lewis taking the hill, all the eyes of Texas will loom large on the battle tested righty. Can he do what Lee couldn’t? Will the Ranger bats finally come alive with a Frankenstein-like vengeance?

All of the above are unknowns, but if I do know one thing, its that nothing cures an illness quite like home cooking.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

When Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington wrote in Vladimir Guerrero as his starting right fielder for Game 1 of the 2010 World Series, he probably saw things going a bit differently.

Guerrero and the Rangers lost the Series opener 11-7, with starting pitcher Cliff Lee failing to make it through the fifth inning.

Guerrero drove in two runs in the contest, one in the first inning and one in the ninth. That was hardly impressive given his opportunities during the night.

His defense, however, led to at least two San Francisco runs. Guerrero committed two errors in the bottom of the eighth inning, a frame in which the Giants pushed across three runs to put the game far out of reach.

Guerrero played only 18 games in the field this year after playing just twice in right field in 2009. Washington surely would prefer to have Guerrero at his usual designated hitter position, especially because Guerrero’s age and accumulated leg injuries have left him lacking as much for range as for reliability in the field.

Guerrero misplayed or nearly misplayed four balls that did not even show up as errors in the final line and generally looked lost. His arm probably retains some of the fire that intimidated baserunners during his tenure with the Montreal Expos, but the days when he could use that arm and his speed to make up for bad routes and tentative handling of the ball on easy flies and ground-ball singles are long gone.

The Rangers rationalized Guerrero’s misadventures simply by minimizing them: “A couple balls got by him,” said Washington, who added that he plans to play Guerrero again Thursday night in Game 2. He has since reversed that position, though.

Presumably, the real reasoning for keeping Guerrero in the lineup would be to augment the team’s lineup, and on the surface, that logic might hold up. Under more intense scrutiny, though, chinks in Guerrero’s offensive armor in Game 1 become apparent.

In the top of the first inning, Guerrero came up with runners on second and third and one out. He drove in a run on a single in that at-bat, but the hit was a one-hopper off the leg of Giants hurler Tim Lincecum. With two runners in scoring position, Guerrero had gotten just one home and did so in fairly fluky fashion.

Guerrero did not come up with runners on base again until the ninth, this time with the bases loaded and one away. Guerrero earned another RBI, but did so with a sacrifice fly that brought Texas to within one out of losing.

In the end, his line showed Guerrero as a solid hitter with two RBI. Given the four runners in scoring position when he came to the plate, though, and since he gave up an out to record the second, the two RBI are not quite as impressive as they seem. He did a decent job, but no more.

Instead of accepting Guerrero’s nightmarish defense in the hope of getting a breakout performance against Giants right-hander Matt Cain in Game 2, Washington should insert David Murphy in left field and move Nelson Cruz over to right. In the past two seasons, Guerrero’s OPS against right-handed pitching is a shade under .820. Murphy’s is a shade over .830 in the same time frame.

Murphy is just average in left field, but his presence would allow the strong defender Cruz to move over to a spot much more comfortable to him, in right.

Guerrero could be used in a high-leverage pinch-hitting situation, especially against a left-handed reliever, but the Rangers would be better off on the whole by using Murphy to start Game 2. Succumbing to reason< Washington has slotted Murphy in. Keep an eye on this move, which could help the Rangers even the Series on its way back to Arlington.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Well, Game 1 of the 2010 World Series between the Texas Rangers and San Francisco Giants didn’t unfold quite the way the boys from Arlington expected.

There was far too little “claw and antlers,” and the Rangers were given ample reason to “fear the beard.”

Many observers had seemingly bequeathed the opening game to Texas, based solely on the fact that Cliff Lee, baseball’s newest playoff hero, was on the mound. The man had been 7-0 in his eight career playoff starts; but as the old axiom goes, “That’s why they play the games.”

It’s never wise to underestimate an opponent in the postseason. I’m not suggesting the Rangers did, but Texas looked flat in many key aspects of their play, a far cry from the way they played in the first two rounds of the playoffs.

After Texas jumped out to an early 2-0 lead with Cliff Lee on the mound, most people probably assumed that the Rangers already had Game 1 in the bag. And it’s possible that scenario crept into the minds of the Rangers, ever so slightly.

The offense wasn’t the issue as they managed to get to Giants ace Tim Lincecum for four runs in a less-than-stellar start for him. Texas tallied seven runs on 11 hits total.

However, the Rangers’ normally reliable play in other facets of the game abandoned them, and they were left with a massively disappointing start to the franchise’s first-ever World Series.

Of course, it is a best-of-seven set, so there is time for Texas to rebound and create their own momentum in the series. But they have to do their absolute best to put a comprehensively sloppy game behind them and not let it damage their confidence moving forward.

Let’s take a look at how the Texas Rangers fared in several key aspects of the game during their inaugural entry in baseball’s Fall Classic. 

Starting Pitching: C

After last night, we finally discovered that Cliff Lee is, in fact, mortal. 

Though his previous performances in the last two postseasons may have suggested otherwise, Game 1 proved that if a pitcher doesn’t have his best command, then he’s hittable, no matter what his prior numbers or reputation may suggest.

Staked to an early two-run lead, Lee appeared to be in the driver’s seat, but he never quite looked like the ace we’ve become familiar with.

He left several more pitches up than we are accustomed to seeing, and may have gotten away with a few very hittable pitches in the first few innings. The Giants swung through a few mistakes early that could have potentially resulted in big hits. Lee didn’t have command of his breaking pitches, and several times missed up and away with those pitches to right-handed batters.

When the Giants finally got to Lee in the bottom of the third, he was hurt by two Michael Young mistakes at third that gave the Giants a little momentum. The leadoff hitter in the inning, Edgar Renteria, hit one right at Young on his glove side that ate up the converted third baseman on a play he should have been made.

Lee was given a gift when Lincecum popped up a sac bunt attempt, but Cliff compounded his own problems when he hit Torres with a pitch. Freddy Sanchez then lined a run-scoring double past Young on a hit that appeared playable if not for Young shifting his weight onto the wrong foot and stepping the wrong direction when the ball was hit. Buster Posey followed Sanchez up with a game-tying single before Lee escaped by striking out Pat Burrell and Cody Ross to end the inning.

Lee was then chased from the game in the fifth, when five of the seven batters he faced in that inning reached base, four of them on hits. His command was off and the Giants feasted on his numerous mistakes when he pitched too near the strike zone.

We’ll never know if it was the long layoff between starts that did him in, or simply that he was due for a bad outing after the utter dominance he had displayed in his three postseason starts prior to last night. Whatever it was, Lee will likely shake it off and return stronger the next time he comes to the hill in the World Series, assuming the red-hot Giants don’t sweep the series before he gets to atone for his poor outing. 

Relief Pitching: C+

Though much of the tone was set early by Lee’s lack of command, the bullpen’s contribution didn’t make matters much easier for Ron Washington. When Lee was removed from the game, it was only 5-2, still easily within reach for an offense as potent as Texas’. 

The first reliever, Darren O’Day, normally a reliable right-hander who is death on righties, came in throwing meatballs.

After missing with two sliders to the first hitter he faced, O’Day let slip an 86 mile-per-hour fastball directly over the heart of the plate that Juan Uribe crushed for a devastating three-run home run that thrust the proverbial dagger into the hearts of the Rangers.

Once that happened, it was difficult to envision a miraculous comeback, as it emboldened the Giants and brought roaring approval from the thrilled AT&T Park crowd.

A true bright spot was Alexi Ogando, the flame-throwing righty who shut down the Giants in the sixth and seventh innings, allowing only one baserunner while striking out four.  

He regularly blew the ball by San Francisco hitters who had earlier feasted on Texas pitching. Though Ogando was little-used in the first two series, his Game 1 outing should give Washington the confidence to utilize him more often as the games progress.

Mark Lowe, recently added to the Texas roster in place of Clay Rapada, only served to throw fuel on the fire and put the game further out of the Rangers’ reach.

Lowe, who hadn’t even pitched for the Rangers until the last week of the season, was added to provide another right-handed veteran arm in the bullpen to combat San Francisco’s predominantly right-handed lineup. He faced only five batters, but allowed three hits and three runs. Of course, his poor outing was helped along by two Vladimir Guerrero errors within the span of four plays; but regardless, Lowe’s performance was less than confidence-inducing. 

In light of the Rangers’ scoring three runs in the ninth, if Lowe hadn’t helped the Giants expand their cushion from 8-4 to 11-4, it’s possible the game could have turned out differently.   

Hitting: B+

Offensively, the Rangers didn’t fare badly as they scored seven runs total on 11 hits.

They faced two-time defending Cy Young winner, Tim Lincecum, and hit him relatively well, scoring four runs on eight hits and two walks in only 5.2 innings. If not for the Giants’ battering Lee and the Rangers’ own miscues, Texas may very well have been happy with their offensive performance.

The Rangers may have had an opportunity to blow the game open in the top of the first, when Lincecum mysteriously didn’t throw the ball when he easily had Young trapped in no-man’s land between home and third. That mental miscue loaded the bases for Ian Kinsler, but he was impatient and swung at a first-pitch slider, grounding into a rally-killing double play that let the Giants off the hook early.

A few of the big bats, Young and Hamilton specifically, were quiet and left five men on base between them. Cruz and Kinsler combined to leave seven on between them as well, though Cruz had two RBIs. Lower in the order, Bengie Molina and Mitch Moreland had two hits apiece, continuing the hot hitting that each has enjoyed throughout the playoffs, which greatly lengthens the Texas lineup and makes it dangerous throughout.

Overall, the Rangers offensive performance was good enough to have won on most days, as they had 11 hits, 15 baserunners and scored seven runs. The Texas hitters were also 4-of-12 with runners in scoring position, and they produced two sacrifice flies with a runner on third.

Usually, with Lee on the mound, that’s plenty of offensive production, but on this day, it wasn’t enough. Lee had an uncharacteristically poor performance, and the Texas defense let the team down in the biggest game in Rangers franchise history. 

Defense: F

The most upsetting part of the game for the Rangers has to be their defensive failings, which helped build momentum for the Giants’ various rallies.

Without several key errors, the game could have possibly been vastly different. Three of the Rangers’ four errors led directly to Giants runs.

Young made two misplays in the Giants two-run third that led to runs, although only one was an error.

The inning’s leadoff hitter, Renteria, hit a ball right to Young’s glove side that ate up the inexperienced third baseman. Three batters later, Sanchez lined a run-scoring double right by Young’s glove that appeared catchable if not for a bizarre play by Young. He didn’t appear quite ready as the ball was hit, and he shifted his weight heavily onto his right foot, as if he expected Sanchez to pull the ball down the line. Once it was hit to his glove side, Young had no chance to play the liner with his body moving in the opposite direction. It may not have been obvious to everyone watching, but it was surely a ball Young had a much better chance on than first appeared.

Vlad’s two errors in the eighth inning were massively damaging and contributed heavily to an inning that saw San Francisco balloon its lead from four runs to seven.

The first one, on Renteria’s leadoff single to right, was a serious misjudgment. Vlad should have just casually played it for the single it was instead of approaching it so aggressively—it was a ball he had no play on. His poor outfield play will lead to further discussion over whether his bat outweighs his potential for fielding miscues in right when the Rangers play in the National League park.

Elvis Andrus contributed another error in the disastrous fifth inning, but his—mercifully—didn’t contribute to any more scoring. But by that point, the damage had already been done.

One bright spot was Ian Kinsler ranging deep into right center on a first-inning Buster Posey pop-up to make a spectacular running play and double Freddy Sanchez off second.

Baserunning: C-

As aggressive as the Rangers had been through the first two rounds of the playoffs, they didn”t get many opportunities to run on the Giants last night. The game situations didn’t yield many chances for them to steal bases, and once they were behind, they deemed it too risky to run.

Early in the first inning, the Rangers may have run themselves out of a chance to build an early cushion to deflate the Giants’ hopes.

With runners on first and third, Nelson Cruz hit a tapper to Lincecum. Young seemed slightly indecisive and got a poor jump from third. It appeared that they had the contact play on and he was going to advance home on any ball hit.  He did head toward home, but relatively slowly, and by the time Lincecum got the ball, Young had changed his mind and returned to third. Fortunately for the Rangers, the Giants’ ace misplayed the run-down, and Young was able to harmlessly return to third.  The next hitter, Kinsler, grounded into a double play on the next pitch, and the Rangers may have missed an opportunity on Young’s indecisive running.

Later in the game, Kinsler made a colossal baserunning mistake.

Trailing by four runs in the top of the eighth inning, Kinsler led off the frame with a chopper over the mound for a leadoff single, precisely what the Rangers needed to mount a comeback. Freddy Sanchez, while trying to make the tough play, threw wildly to first, but Aubrey Huff made a spectacular diving play to snare the errant throw. Kinsler, assuming the throw was heading elsewhere, aggressively rounded first, thinking that he was on his way to second.

However, the ball never made it out of the infield thanks to Huff’s brilliant play, and Kinsler was easily tagged out while attempting to return to the bag.

It took a great diving stop by Huff, but when trailing by four late in the game, the absolute last thing a team needs is to be overly aggressive on the basepaths, running themselves out of potential rallies. It was reminiscent of Kinsler’s error in getting picked off after leading off the bottom of the eighth while down by only one run against the Yankees in ALCS Game1. Mistakes like those are critical and can drain the life from any potential rally. 

Coaching: B

It becomes easy to question a coach’s decisions and planning when things don’t work out as well as you had originally hoped. Unfortunately, even the best-laid plans don’t always yield positive results. In hindsight, maybe playing Vlad in right field doesn’t appear to have been the best move, but how can you fault Washington for wanting one of his most potent bats in the lineup as often as possible?

Most coaches would have made the same move, as it is difficult to leave your team’s most productive RBI bat out of the lineup, even if he is best-suited for the designated hitter role.

Washington isn’t planning on using Vlad full-time in right during the games in San Francisco, but last night seemed a logical time to do it.

In the first game of the World Series, it would be desirable to get out to an early lead, and having your best hitters in the lineup to face the ace of the Giants’ pitching staff is a reasonably logical move. Of course, the move will be heavily scrutinized in hindsight, but it’s hardly a decision that wouldn’t have been made by most other managers.

The rest of the decisions were fairly reasonable, nothing out of the ordinary for Washington throughout most of the game.

His relief pitching maneuvers were fairly standard. Bringing in O’Day to face Uribe after Lee was chased would normally be the proper move, but on this day, O’Day simply didn’t execute. He left a very hittable fastball right over the plate and Uribe didn’t miss it.

Later, I would question using Lowe when the game was still reasonably close in the eighth. With an offense like the Rangers’, a four-run deficit is certainly not insurmountable. It would be desirable to keep the game close to allow your potent bats the opportunity to mount a late comeback.

Using Lowe, a hurler who hadn’t pitched in 24 days, and who had really only thrown three times since May due to injury, seemed like a risky proposition at best. After Ogando had done such a splendid job shutting the Giants down for two innings, I would have expected Washington to opt for a different arm, but he went with Lowe, who proceeded to allow three more runs, putting the game further out of reach. Of course, it may not have mattered anyway, but it certainly left the Texas manager open to questioning. 

Looking ahead to Game 2

Maybe it was jitters from playing in the first World Series for most of the Texas players.

The Rangers played far below their capabilities last night, especially on the defensive side of the game. If they expect to win the first World Series in franchise history, they will need to tighten up the glovework drastically to shut down this Giants team and their growing confidence.

Unfortunately, they simply got a bad night out of Cliff Lee, and they can likely expect much better from him if he gets another opportunity to pitch in the series.

The Rangers will send C.J. Wilson to the hill against San Francisco tonight, which should present a slight challenge to the Giants’ hitters. Lee, who is normally near the strike zone all night, allowed the free-swinging Giants to be aggressive and capitalize on Lee’s mistakes over the plate.

Wilson, a pitcher with less impeccable command than Lee, will force the Giants to be more patient, making sure they’re swinging at quality pitches and not expanding the zone, chasing his stuff off the plate. 

Offensively, Texas needs to continue doing precisely what they have been, hitting and more hitting.

Even in their two losses to the Yankees, they still hit plenty enough to win, and last night was no different. They’ll face a challenge in San Francisco’s other ace, Matt Cain, but the Rangers have shown that they are a dynamic offensive ballclub capable of putting up crooked numbers, so their confidence should remain high. If they get the opportunity, they will likely look to reignite their running game in an effort to fluster Cain and the young Posey behind the plate.

It will be interesting to see what Washington does with the Vlad situation in right. Though he failed spectacularly in Game 1, it’s difficult to leave a 115-RBI man out of your lineup.

If C.J. Wilson comes out strong early and maintains his command, I would expect the Rangers to follow suit and play a much crisper game than they did last night. Though the Giants appear to have some mojo working in their favor right now, Texas looked the same way when dispatching the Rays and Yankees over the first two rounds of playoff games.

The Giants were slightly sloppy themselves in Game 1, so, overall, expectations for a cleaner, better-fielded game from both sides should be high. Both pitchers are capable of shutdown performances that could produce a pitchers’ duel.

But the way both of these teams have been swinging the bat, we could very well see a slugfest of the type we witnessed last night.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

This year’s free-agent class is fairly weak overall. This is true of the available outfielders as well. There is a lot of good talent at the top of the class, but from there, it declines fairly quickly.

With many teams looking to fill a hole in their outfield, you can expect a few bidding wars to occur over some of these players.

Begin Slideshow

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.

CHECK OUT BOLDSPORTSTALK.COM A NEW BOLD TAKE ON SPORTS

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Mark my words: Bengie Molina is going to get a World Series ring.

Impressed with the boldness of my prediction?  Don’t be: Bengie Molina is currently the catcher for the Texas Rangers, but he began the season as the catcher for the San Francisco Giants. Thus, by virtue of time served, he’ll get a World Series ring no matter which team wins.

Rest assured, though, he’d probably rather win the World Series and get the ring.

In anticipation of the Fall Classic match-up between the San Francisco Giants and the Texas Rangers, which begins tomorrow, here are some other World Series Fun Facts.

Begin Slideshow

The World Series kicks off Wednesday, and there are few people who would have guessed it would be the Texas Rangers and San Francisco Giants left standing when the season came down to its final series.

On one side, there is the offensive juggernaut that is the Rangers, a team that outscored the Yankees nearly 2-1 in knocking them off and advancing to their first World Series ever. Throw in the ace of all aces in Cliff Lee, and you see why the Rangers are favored to win it all.

On the other side, there are the underdog Giants, a team that needed a win on the final day of the season just to qualify for the postseason. Their offense is nothing to write home about on paper, but they always seem to score just enough to back their stellar pitching.

So here are ten aspects of the upcoming best of seven series, and who holds the edge, as we look at every area of the Ranger vs. Giants match-up to come.

Begin Slideshow

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.

Begin Slideshow

This is a position that the Texas Rangers are all too familiar with. It’s a position they’ve been in through their first two postseason series, and they’ll play the role one more time.

What is that role, you ask? It’s being the underdog.

When the Rangers made it to the postseason, no one expected them to get past the Tampa Bay Rays let alone be the American League Champions. They weren’t supposed to beat the Rays, and they sure weren’t given a snowball’s chance in hell against the defending champion New York Yankees.

Once the Rangers had knocked off the Rays in the American League Divisional Series, the New York media started its onslaught of entitlement. A few of which actually put the Yankees in the World Series before they had even met the Rangers in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series.

After the Yankees came back and won Game 1 after trailing most of the night, most of the fans here in Texas thought every bit of momentum from that game was gone, and the series could be over all too soon.

While some might have counted them out after the first night, the Rangers weren’t counting themselves out, and they proved it over the next five games. Finally putting them down for good in Game 6, Texas sent the defending champions home for the ninth time in 10 years.

Much to the chagrin of the media that didn’t expect a thing from the Rangers or the ones that expected them to lay down and let the Yankees walk all over them, it was the Yankees that watched another team celebrate.

Now, after playing the underdog for two straight series, they’ll be in the position one more time, but this time it comes in the World Series against the National League Champion San Francisco Giants.

The team from the Bay Area finished off a 4-2 series win over another heavily favored team, the Philadelphia Phillies.

They have young pitchers in Tim Lincecum, Jonathan Sanchez and Matt Cain. Three guys who can shut down just about any team they face.

Most will talk about how the Giants shut down the Phillies offense, but even they pale in comparison to either the Yankees or the Rangers. So far this postseason, the Phillies had a team batting average of .215, a 45 point drop from their .260 combined batting average during the regular season.

But, say what you want about the Phillies, the Giants offense wasn’t much better, dropping 26 points from the regular season (.257) to the postseason (.231).

On the flip side of the coin, the Texas Rangers picked up right where they left off from the regular season. They led all of baseball in team batting average (.276), only dropping three points during the postseason (.273).

When Vladimir Guerrero wasn’t hitting, they got big hits from Josh Hamilton, Michael Young, Bengie Molina and Nelson Cruz. But, whey needed Guerrero the most, he came through in Game 6 with a clutch two-run double before Cruz put the game away for good.

They have guys who can come up big at any given time. They have a lineup that has speed up front with Elvis Andrus, power in the middle with Guerrero, Hamilton and Cruz, and role players who can pick up the slack with Ian Kinsler, Molina and David Murphy.

The one thing that you can count on being thrown out are “historic stats” between the two teams like ESPN’s Buster Olney has already done this morning. It’s inevitable that people will find some way to make their team look like the favorite in the days leading up to Game 1 of the World Series on Wednesday night.

But, no matter how many stats we want to throw out and no matter who has or hasn’t done well in the past against this pitcher, we saw how history worked out for the Yankees in the ALCS. They had owned the Rangers in the past, but the past doesn’t always translate to the present.

Where this game will be won is on the hill. The Rangers were ninth in baseball in team ERA (3.93) during the regular season and have been nothing short of dominant in the postseason, putting up a combined 2.40 ERA.

The Rangers are expected to have Cliff Lee in Game 1 followed by C.J. Wilson in Game 2 and either Colby Lewis or Tommy Hunter in Game 3 at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

For the Giants, they are most likely to go with Tim Lincecum in Game 1, Jonathan Sanchez in Game 2 and Matt Cain in Game 3.

Let’s get to the heart of what this World Series is really all about. CBS Sports’ Gregg Doyel spelled this out in a brilliant manner and far better than I ever could. This is a World Series between two mid-majors, if you forgive the college football pun.

The Yankees are out as are the Phillie,s and the Los Angeles Dodgers decided to quit with two months left in the season.

The media isn’t salivating over the pinstripes; they don’t get to talk about their crush on Mariano Rivera, Alex Rodriguez or Derek Jeter for at least another three months and change. They can’t stand that. Who is going to watch a World Series between two teams who actually earned, not bought, their way onto the biggest stage in baseball?

This guy.

It’s a series that will feature some of the best pitching baseball has to offer. It will also feature a guy you can’t help but love (Josh Hamilton), a guy with a beard that continues to get darker by the day (Brian Wilson), a guy who will get a World Series ring no matter who wins (Bengie Molina), and arguably one of the worst, or best depending on how you look at it, haircuts you’ll ever see (Tim Lincecum).

These are two good teams with a bunch of guys who you won’t hate nearly as much as those who hate the Yankees.

There is no Alex Rodriguez type arrogance, there are no Nick Swisher type barrages of ‘f’ bombs to explain their feelings about facing Cliff Lee, and there will be no home made signs that say “Can’t we just sign both Lee and Hamilton,” caught by the TBS cameras while in New York.

The Rangers and Giants don’t have the best players money can buy. These two teams have the kind of talent that makes a World Series worth watching.

The glass slipper could be the most overrated symbol in all of sports. But, we love to root for the underdog don’t we? Well, at least most of us do.

For both cities, this is as big as it gets because neither city has much to root for when it comes to football. The Giants and Rangers are saving the NFL fans who are suffering by having to watch two lackluster football teams. The Cowboys and 49ers are a combined 2-9 so far this season. Yeah, it’s not been a good year for them.

Whether you think the networks will hate this World Series, you can bet that both AT&T Park and the Ballpark in Arlington will be sold out for every game that takes place at each respective stadium. These fans are chomping at the bit for Game 1, and they are ready for a World Series Championship to be brought home to their town.

For the Texas Rangers, this will be the defining moment for their franchise. They have been through an ownership change, they’ve been through slumps, the ineffectiveness of Scott Feldman and Rich Harden and jubilation when they acquired Cliff Lee from the Seattle Mariners.

This is a solid group of guys. Every single one has come up with a big hit during this postseason, every single one has done what the team required of them to get this far.

They’ve knocked off the best the American League had to offer. Now, they are just four wins away from their first ever World Series title.

The team’s mantra, “It’s Time,” has held true all season long. They have one more hurdle to clear and they’ve come too far to lose now.

The Texas Rangers, and their fans, believe it’s their time. They’re ready to celebrate in Arlington, a celebration that, for the first time, won’t have anything to do with the Dallas Cowboys.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Almost seven months, 2,430 regular season games, an entire postseason completed and it all almost ended exactly where we were a year ago. Almost.

With this past weekend’s games resulting in the conclusion of both the ALCS and NLCS series, baseball fans worldwide were almost faced with a Yankees versus Phillies rematch for the World Series. It also would have marked the third straight season the Phils reached baseball’s most coveted destination. We almost watched as the Yankees competed for their 27th World Series title. Almost.

We almost ended the season following those ever so familiar faces of postseason heroes, who have made a living crushing the competition when the season mattered the most. The likes of Derek Jeter, Cole Hamels, Ryan Howard, Alex Rodriguez…the list goes on and on. Almost.

Instead this year baseball fans will be tuning in to a series so new, for once, they really do not know what to expect. Sure the ratings certainly won’t be as high. How could they be? The Yankees and Phillies are located in two of America’s largest sports markets with fanbases of unmeasurable quantities.

Sure it would have been exciting to see CC Sabathia take on a Phillies lineup chock-full of talent, again. Sure it would be exciting to see if Cole Hamels and the rest of the Phillies All-Star rotation could hold off the Yankees erasing last season’s shortcomings. Sure it would be exciting to see if A-Rod, Jeter, Posada and company could do it again.

However, what is more exciting is the unknown this year’s Series most certainly presents.

With the stage set and the world of baseball tuned in, we turn the focus not to the ever so recognizable faces of the New York and Philadelphia ball clubs, but to the faces of baseballs new generation.

With a sport already widely considered “boring” or “too slow” it surely does not help when the same faces pop up every fall. In a sports world where the call for youth and personality has never been stronger, isn’t it time baseball got with the program?

Look at hockey with the emergence of Alex Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby and Steven Stamkos in recent years. Basketball? Try Kevin Durant, Tyreke Evans and even LeBron James. Even football with the likes of Chris Johnson, DeSean Jackson and company has seen a shift to focusing on the players of the “new school.”

Finally we have not only a series featuring a Giants club who has not reached a World Series since 2002, where they infamously choked away a 5-0 lead in Game 6 eventually leading to a championship for the Angels, but a series featuring a Ranger’s club who has previously never won a single playoff series.

That, ladies and gentleman, is excitement.

Along with the change of teams and scenery comes that calling for the new “era” of baseball. Replace CC Sabathia and Cole Hamels with two-time Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum and the Rangers young ace C.J. Wilson. Derek Jeter for Elvis Andrus, A-Rod for Pablo “Kung-Fu Panda” Sandoval, Posada for Buster Posey. What are you left with? A Series full of under-25 players starving for their first taste of postseason glory.

One thing is for sure, for the first time in a while, nothing is for sure. Baseball finally got the facelift that has been needed for years. A changing of the guard that not only shook up this season, but will have implications on many seasons to come.

Don’t let the ratings fool you, this World Series will be the best one played in recent memory. And to think we almost had a repeat season. Almost.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com