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The San Francisco Giants have not won a World Series in over 55 years. Their counterparts, the Texas Rangers, have never won period.

Nonetheless, both of these squads have proven themselves worthy of dancing in the Fall Classic. Texas found their way in a six-game upset (if you can call it that) of the powerhouse Yankees, while San Franasco (thank you Tommy Wiseau) marched into Philadelphia and conquered the Phillies.

Great, is it not?

Yet as Giants closer Brian Wilson caught slugger Carlos Beltran (err, Ryan Howard) looking at strike three to end the NLCS, baseball commissioner Bud Selig shared the same look of shock. It was at this moment he realized, the 2010 World Series (just one year after a thrilling New York/Philadelphia stand) would be split between San Francisco and Arlington.

I’ll say that again. San Francisco and Arlington.

It is no secret to people any longer. The game of baseball is dying in the public eye. Even as a lockout looms ahead, the NFL draws huge on weekends. College football is carried on virtually every channel. Ball fields are being torn up and replaced by million-dollar dog parks.

In 2005, Major League Baseball experienced their first major drop-off in World Series ratings. For the first time since total viewer stats were released in 2001, the classic failed to reach 20 million viewers for at least one game of the series. Not even Chicago, a market who had the White Sox searching for their first World Series since 1917, could generate a substantial number of spectators. Since then, only two World Series games have reached that plateau, both of which were series clinchers (’07 and ‘09).

Feel like adding insult to injury? Throw in Game 3 of the 2008 World Series between the Phillies and Rays, which failed to eclipse 10 million viewers. That’s right: people were more interested in spending $10 at a movie theater on a Saturday night than watching a World Series game for free.

Now, we fast-forward to 2010. The Giants will obtain home-field advantage after the National League won the All-Star Game (ironically in the home of the last team San Francisco faced in the World Series), meaning a 4:30 PM local time start for just about every game of the series. With only two of the games taking place on a weekend, that means that a majority of west coasters will likely be in their office for the first pitch. Unless you work for Michael Scott, things don’t look too good for you.

Then, the Arlington argument comes into play. I mentioned earlier that the 2005 World Series brought in dismal ratings. The Houston Astros, a Texas product, were the National League representative. If a city of 2.3 million could not spur some steam, how are we to expect Arlington to do so?

So Mr. Selig, things may not look so great for you. Because of two pesky teams spurring on with a “no-quit” attitude, you miss out on a repeat of a fairly marketable rematch.

However, perhaps this is not exactly a bad thing. While the 2010 World Series may be a ratings-bruiser, the battle of the Rangers and Giants could also restore credibility to a game which could use a boost in that particular field.

The Texas Rangers are the epitome of front office perfection. With new ownership at the helm (not to mention the greatest pitcher of all-time at the helm of the helm), Texas soared past the AL West-laggers, at one point controlling the best record in baseball. They brought in an aging slugger to be their designated hitter, a retiring catcher to call games, a pissed-off outfielder to gun out runners and a southpaw who has established himself to be one of the best clutch-performers of all-time. Throw in an MVP superstar and a manager looking for redemption, and that proves to be a pretty effective formula.

As for the Giants, they are the captains of charisma. Having accomplished a remarkable comeback to capture the NL West, their youth and heart has driven them to greatness. They traded a retiring catcher (quite possibly the same one mentioned above) to bring in a rookie star. Their manager, a World Series-alumnus himself, worked through a blown $126 million investment and a torn pitching staff to reach the pinnacle of the baseball world. Also, be sure not to forget an NLCS MVP who was claimed on waivers a few months back.

While the 2010 World Series may not prove to be the most efficient for the sport of baseball, this type of story has been in the making for a long, long time. Both squads have upset the odds, and are incredibly hungry for a taste of champagne (or even ginger ale). It may be true the series may not be watched by many, but for those who do, it will undoubtedly be enjoyable.

Oh, perhaps I forgot to mention something. The last time the Giants were in the Fall Classic was also the last time a World Series game eclipsed 30 million views.

In the words of Wilson, this championship match-up may be quite “delicious” for the real fans of baseball.

This article can be found on SportsFullCircle!

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Wow, in a style befitting their tortuous nature, Brian Wilson pitches the San Francisco Giants into the World Series!

After getting Ross Gload to ground out to open the inning, Wilson allows a 3-2 walk to Jimmy Rollins. He gets Placido Polanco to ground into a fielder’s choice, as Juan Uribe makes a solid throw on the run to get Rollins at second.

Then it got rough.

Chase Utley squeaked out a walk to put the tying run on second.

Then Wilson, facing Phillies clean-up man Ryan Howard, got him looking on a nasty 3-2 curveball to end the game, end the Phils’ season and send the Giants to the World Series.

Philadelphia Phillies closer Brad Lidge comes in to pitch the top of the ninth. The veteran righty K’s Nate Schierholtz to lead things off, then allows a bunt single to Andres Torres and another single to left to Freddy Sanchez.

Lidge then gives a free pass to Buster Posey, forcing Giants closer Brian Wilson to come to the plate.

It looked like the Giants were considering pinch-hitting Pablo Sandoval, but it seems to be just a ruse.

Wilson pops out of the dugout, looking about as comfortable as a prostitute in church, and proceeds to ground out to Ryan Howard at first to end the inning.

We’re headed to the bottom of the ninth, with three outs separating the Giants from their first World Series berth in eight years.

And you’ll never guess who just strolled into Game 6 for the visiting San Francisco Giants: two-time Cy Young Award-winning starter Tim Lincecum, who started and went seven strong innings in a Game 5 loss on Thursday.

Lincecum strikes out Jayson Werth to begin the inning, but then allows consecutive singles to right to Shane Victorino and Raul Ibanez.

Manager Bruce Bochy comes to get Lincecum, opting instead for the more late-game-seasoned Brian Wilson. Not sure what the thinking was initially in bringing in Lincecum.

And Wilson comes through… though a bit frighteningly.

Carlos Ruiz lines to Aubrey Huff at first, who tosses to second to double off Victorino! Wow, what a letdown for the Phillies and their passionate fans.

We’re headed to the ninth.

After a quiet bottom of the seventh from the Phillies against Giants reliever Javier Lopez, the Giants struck back in the top of the eighth.

Still facing reliever Ryan Madson, Juan Uribe—starting at third base in place of Pablo Sandoval and who had been hit by a pitch in his last at-bat—took the tall righty deep to right and into the first row of seats, giving San Francisco a 3-2 lead and shocking the home crowd into silence.

Madson comes back to whiff Edgar Renteria to end the frame.

The Phillies could now be down to six outs on their season.

With Friday night’s Game 6 win by the Texas Rangers over the New York Yankees, half of the 2010 World Series is now set.

Texas right-hander Colby Lewis threw eight dominant innings and Vladimir Guerrero and Nelson Cruz came through with clutch hits in the fifth, as the Rangers dethroned the 2009 World Series champs with a 6-1 win at the Ballpark in Arlington.

The National League champion will be decided this weekend, as the Philadelphia Phillies play host to the San Francisco Giants, who lead the series three games to two. Game 6 of the NLCS is scheduled for Saturday night, while Game 7, if necessary, would be played on Sunday.

Stay tuned to Bleacher Report all day for ongoing discussions and analysis of tonight’s NLCS Game 6 and the potential World Series matchups.

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A phenom who struggled with substance abuse; a manager who endured the same problems; a pitcher who was traded for an upgrade; another pitcher that wasn’t going to make it in the majors; a veteran whose career was declining.

These are just some of the players that make up the now 2010 AL Champions and have led the Texas Rangers to their first World Series in the team’s history.

The Rangers sealed the deal tonight by beating the defending World Series Champion New York Yankees in game 6, winning 6-1.

The 2010 Texas Rangers are a true story of comebacks.

Things hadn’t gotten off to a good start for the rangers at the beginning of their season. News reports had come out about manager Ron Washington‘s cocaine use and how he had tested positive in a 2009 drug test. Rangers management could have fired him at the time but decided against it because of Washington’s admittance of his drug use prior to the test results.

With the talk of Washington’s issues, it was difficult not to remember Josh Hamilton’s similar experience with addiction problems. In his early playing days Hamilton had been indefinitely banned from the MLB for drug and alcohol abuse. Hamilton got his life together and the Rangers decided to give him a second chance. That decision would end up paying great dividends to the Rangers, especially this season with an MVP caliber season.

Another question mark, Vladimir Guerrero, was acquired during the offseason. His old team, the Los Angeles Angels, showed very little interest in re-signing a player who had provided for them during his entire stay there. Guerrero had only 15 homers, had 50 RBIs and played in 100 games for the Angels last year and was thought to be washed up. This season he played in 152 games, had 29 home runs and 115 RBIs, proving that the Angels were too quick to give up on him.

Then in the middle of the season the Rangers made one of there biggest acquisitions by trading for Cliff Lee from the Seattle Mariners. Lee had been traded to the Mariners from the Phillies because the Phillies were upgrading with star pitcher Roy Halladay. With the Mariners headed to a losing season, the Rangers lucked out and were able to get the staff ace that they were looking for.

Now with all of the pieces together, the Rangers have beaten the Yankees with the most unlikely contribution of all. Pitcher Colby Lewis was playing in Japan last year, with fleeting hope of making it in the MLB.

But the Rangers are a team that believes in giving people chances. The chance with Lewis payed off. Lewis gave the Rangers 8 innings, 3 hits and 1 run in the ALCS clincher to advance the Rangers to the World Series.

In the ultimate story of irony, the Rangers defeated the player that used to be the face of the franchise, Alex Rodriguez. To finish the series closer Neftali Feliz struck out Rodriguez for the final out of the game.

Now a team built on second chances is headed to the World Series. They better hope to win it in their first try though. Not too many teams get a second chance at a championship.

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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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Did you ever think, in the middle of October, we’d still be talking about the Texas Rangers?

Normally this time of year is reserved for the Dallas Cowboys and football. Instead, the Cowboys have not only taken a back seat but they’ve been so bad that the Rangers have gotten top billing on just about every radio station in town.

Let me take you back to Opening Day here in Arlington, Texas.

A close friend of mine has his own radio show every Monday afternoon just a few blocks from the ballpark at Arlington. He asked me to come on and talk a little baseball and give my predictions for who would win each division.

While I didn’t call a lot of them right, picking the likes of the St. Louis Cardinals to win the National League Central and the Los Angeles Dodgers to win the National League West, one prediction I did make ended up coming true. It was the last prediction I ever expected to be right.

It wasn’t the easiest of picks and especially not against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. This was a team that had been the dominant force in the American League West for so many years. Not to mention winning the World Series back in 2002 and taking home five AL West pennants this decade, including four of the previous five years.

But I guess you could call it a hunch or maybe it was a little of the homer in me coming out. Though I don’t know how that could be seeing as I was a California boy born and raised.

There was something I saw in this roster. Something that I felt that told me the Rangers were going to be a team to be reckoned with this season.

They had added Vladimir Guerrero, former Los Angeles Angel, a guy that would take the Rangers apart when he would come to the ballpark as an opponent.

Next to him was a guy by the name of Josh Hamilton. He had a story that just about every baseball fan knew from his days as a young man, to the guy that blew thousands upon thousands of dollars on drugs and alcohol, to the man that’s turned his life around completely and has become one of the more prolific baseball players in the game today.

Along with Guerrero and Hamilton are guys like long-time Ranger Michael Young, young short stop Elvis Andrus, who I remember watching when he was with the team’s Double-A affiliate, the  Frisco Roughriders, second baseman Ian Kinsler and outfielder Nelson Cruz.

The team had the look of being able to do big things this season—I just never expected that it would get to this level.

What I also didn’t count on, from Opening Day to now, was the complete ineffectiveness of pitchers Scott Feldman and Rich Harden. Both of whom aren’t even on the Rangers postseason roster.

After finishing 17-8 with a 4.08 ERA last season, Feldman finished 2010 with a 7-11 record and a 5.48 ERA. As for Harden, this is a season he’d much rather forget. In 18 starts, Harden finished with a 5-5 record and a 5.58 ERA, by far his worst numbers in his career.

The guys that have stepped up are 24-year-old right-hander Tommy Hunter, reliever turned starter C.J. Wilson and 31-year-old right-hander Colby Lewis.

Hunter finished the 2010 regular season with a 13-4 record and 3.73 ERA, Wilson has been even better than that going 15-8 with a 3.35 ERA and Colby Lewis was 12-13 with a 3.72 ERA.

These three guys have been some of the biggest reasons the Rangers are where they are right now. But it was one big move at the trade deadline that has made the biggest difference.

A few days prior to Major League Baseball’s trade deadline at the end of July, the Texas Rangers slipped in front of the New York Yankees and stole away left-hander Cliff Lee all by offering up Justin Smoak, one of the Rangers’ top prospects.

The deal looked like it backfired on them after Lee struggled through his first few starts. However, after the Rangers took him out of the rotation and had him checked out by a doctor, he was given a few cortisone shots for what the team called a back issue and was given a clean bill of health.

Since then, Lee has been nothing short of unstoppable. Through three postseason starts, he is 3-0 with an incredible 0.75 ERA and has double-digit strikeouts in all three of his starts, including a 13-strikeout performance in Game 3 of the ALCS against the Yankees.

Now, with the Rangers up three games to one in the American League Championship Series, this franchise is one win away from their first-ever trip to the World Series.

After struggling to get past the Tampa Bay Rays in the first round of the playoffs, the Rangers have dominated the Yankees in every aspect of the game. If not for one bad inning in Game 1, the Rangers would be coming home with a four-game sweep of the defending champions. That in itself is far more telling of how this series has gone.

The Yankees bullpen has been, for the most part, ineffective, as has their ace CC Sabathia, No. 2 man Philip Hughes and the October disappearing act Alex Rodriguez, who has just two hits in 15 at-bats against Texas in this series.

What might make this win even sweeter for Rangers fans is reading an article like this from the New York Daily News, showing the kind of respect or lack thereof that was given to this ball club before this series started.

So as Dallas and Fort Worth, along with the outlying North Texas areas, get ready to celebrate tonight if the Rangers can wrap this series up, I sit here and wonder if this changes the dynamics of sports here in Texas.

With the new ownership in place and guys like Nolan Ryan and Chuck Greenberg running the team, they are set up to be a franchise that can contend year in and year out.

With that in mind and the fact that the Dallas Cowboys have just one playoff win in over 15 years, could this slowly become more of a Ranger town than a Cowboy town?

Before you say no, don’t forget that this is one of the biggest bandwagon towns in sports. Those that were saying, “Who cares about the Rangers?” at the beginning of this season are the same ones that are wearing the “claw and antler” T-shirts and yelling, “Go Rangers” at the top of their lungs.

That’s a question that can be debated until the Rangers take the field for the 2011 season. But, for right now, these sports fans are throwing their support behind, and keeping their focus on, a team that deserves it.

There’s excitement in Texas and it has nothing to do with football.

The Rangers are one win away from the World Series. How do you like that?

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Nearly 50 years of baseball. The last 39 of those years in Arlington. One of only three teams to have never been to the World Series. The Texas Rangers were not exactly a team with a rich tradition. However, when B.J. Upton popped out to left center to end the ninth inning, Texas fans finally had reason to celebrate.

If someone had said back in April that the Texas Rangers would be playing the New York Yankees for the American League pennant and a potential World Series berth, many would have laughed in their face. From Ron Washington‘s admission of cocaine use to the bankruptcy problems that have plagued the front office, the Rangers didn’t look like a team bound for October baseball.

Luckily for the boys in red, white, and blue, things don’t always turn out like predicted.

Nolan Ryan and Ron Washington managed to find a way to put the distractions aside and lead the team to a 90 win season. From the resurgence of Vladimir Guerrero to stealing former Mariner Cliff Lee away from the Yankees right before the trade deadline, the front office made all of the right moves to give this team a chance to win. Even without potential MVP Josh Hamilton down the stretch, destiny had a plan for these Rangers.

When the Rangers clinched the West division title for the first time since 1999 in late September, long-time Ranger Michael Young finally got his first taste of the postseason. It only took a little over 1,500 games. As great as it felt to finally have the chance to play baseball deep into October, this team wasn’t simply willing to settle with a playoff berth; this team wanted playoff victories.

After the Tampa Bay Rays won the American League East, the Rangers knew that victory wasn’t going to be easy. They would be going on the road to face the team with the league’s best record at 96-66. Most experts weren’t giving them much of a chance to make it past the divisional series.

Cliff Lee and company had other plans.

After Lee dominated the Tampa Bay Rays during game one on the road, the fans in Arlington had reason to hope. Then there was C.J. Wilson’s two-hit gem in game two. The boys from Arlington were headed home with a 2-0 series lead and a chance to get that coveted series victory that had eluded them since their inception as the Washington Senators in 1961.

Unfortunately, after shutting down the Rays lineup in the first two games, things began to unravel in Texas. The Rangers’ bullpen gave up five runs in the final two innings of game three and went on to lose 6-3. Things didn’t go any better in game four as the Rays jumped ahead by five runs and went on to win 5-2 and even the series at two games apiece. 

With the momentum clearly on the Rays side going into game five in St. Petersburg, many teams would have let the pressure get to them. Not these Texas Rangers. Not with Cliff Lee on the mound for game five.

Lee continued the postseason brilliance he has been known for his entire career. After a complete game where he only allowed one run and struck out 11, the Texas Rangers are moving on to the ALCS to face the New York Yankees.

Don’t count this team out. Ranger fans haven’t forgotten the first round eliminations at the hands of the Yankees in 1996, 1998, and 1999. With Cliff Lee, C.J. Wilson, and Colby Lewis anchoring the rotation, and Josh Hamilton, Michael Young, and Vlad Guerrero providing the offense, competing with the bloated payroll of the evil empire won’t be a problem.

When the Yankees come to Arlington on Friday night, don’t expect the Rangers to back down. These Rangers are out for blood.

After nearly a half century wait, these Texas Rangers are different. Not only do they want to win, but they expect to win. It’s time to bring a pennant home. It’s time to give the loyal Ranger fans what they’ve been waiting for since 1961. Bring on the Yankees!

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