By Aaron M Smith
Somewhere Brian McCann is wondering if he is going to get a World Series ring this year. Sounds a little strange, as McCann’s Braves are already home hitting the local golf courses. But thanks to McCann’s double in the Midsummer Classic, also known as the MLB All-Star game – the National League won the game and ultimately home field advantage for the World Series. The San Francisco Giants are the recipients of Brian McCann’s game winning hit.
For those that have been hiding under a rock it is David vs. David. One team is in the World Series for the first time ( Texas) and the other hasn’t won a World Series Championship in 56 years ( San Francisco). Either way after this series, the drought is over for one city.
Games 1 & 2 are in San Francisco and National League rules are in. Conventional wisdom would say that the American League representative would be at a disadvantage. These Texas Rangers don’t fit that mold. While this team does have power, this team also relies on speed and situational hitting to create runs. The Giants however, are an opportunistic team who relies on its pitching to keep them in games.
Game 1 features a pair of aces with Cliff Lee and Tim Lincecum matching up. Games 1 & 2 also see the DH rule going away, forcing Vladimir Guerrero to the field. This means David Murphy will likely not start and if the Rangers get a lead – will be a defensive replacement. Will Guerrero’s knees hold up in the field?
Both teams are inexperienced in post-season play, so how much will nerves play in Games 1 & 2? Giants don’t score a ton of runs, so any defensive miscues will be amplified. The Rangers has hit the opposition’s starting pitching hard in the first two rounds – how will they do against Tim Lincecum? Lincecum has been outstanding in the post-season, second only to Bob Gibson in strikeouts in their first two appearances in the postseason.
Will either League Championship series MVPs, Josh Hamilton or Cody Ross continue their torrid hitting? Conventional wisdom says Hamilton, but history has shown that conventional wisdom doesn’t rule in the playoffs.
Prediction – Series heads back to Texas tied 1-1.
Got a prediction? Let’s hear it!
Smitty —
That’s your prediction …. Series goes back to Texas tied 1-1? That’s it?
Well … I think Chas is gonna end up being Prognosticator of the Year because the Rangers are going to win this series in … I’ll say … 7 games, possibly 6. I’m putting my saddle squarely on the horse named Cliff Lee. He could pitch 3 games in this series if it goes 7 … same can be said for Lincecum … but Lee is the guy who’s gonna come through big … at least twice. Seasoned veteran and awesome post-season pitcher who appears to be totally at the top of his game right now. The Freak’s “inexperience” and tendancy to consistently go deep into counts makes him liable to get nicked up a bit in these huge pressure packed games.
In addition to having Lee, the ACE of all aces, Texas has a better offense and a more seasoned line-up top to bottom. They play aggressive ball on the basepaths … more like a NL squad … and still have plenty of pop.
From my POV, this is a series where there will be no losers … both teams are fresh new faces … after they lose the series, the Giants will be back in the very near future to take the crown. Now having said all this and predicting that Texas will win in 6 or 7, I’m hoping that the SF Giants win and will be rooting for them. That city and franchise deserve to win a baseball championship … they are long-suffering … not like the Cubs are or like Chisox and Bosox were … but it’s been 56 years. Gagged away one to the Angels a few years ago when Steroid Boy was still with ’em. So I’m hoping for a Giants win … they are one of the classic, nostalgic franchises in baseball. Plus … a good friend of mine from HS and college is a SFG season ticket holder and will be there for 3 games. (Now if he were a GREAT friend, he’d be getting me a ticket). 😉
Smitty
Good job doing the tale of the tape for games ONE (1) and TWO (2)!
Since when do we take these things two games at a time??? We’re stringin’ this out like the NBA does playoffs into June … what … are we trying to get more advertising revenue or something???
In through the nose. Out through the mouth. Slow breathing. Slow breathing.
Rangers better do it while they have Lee in the fold. Giants will be back; Rangers may not.
Good point, Pete.
While I picked the Rangers to win the World Series, I’m rooting for the Giants. I still think the Rangers are going to win, but if the Giants do, I predict that Matt Cain will be the difference.
Good point, Chas. I’m not sure the Rangers #2 starter is as good as Cain. And I agree with Pete, too. I just hope hope this is an exciting series that goes down to the wire. On the surface, it appears it could be just that.
Are there any celebrities in this World Series?
What do you mean by that, Casey? Like if the Bosox were in it and you’d have Matt Damon and Steven King in the box seats? Or Bill Murray if the Cubs happened to make it. Or Barack Obama for the ChiSox. Ever see Barack throw out a first pitch? It’s quite pathetic. Of course, being a Democrat, he’s left-handed … and he’s got a real weak arm … no surprise there. We’re talking a guaranteed 2-bouncer … you need a goalie, not a catcher.
Is Chris “Shelly” Berman a celeb? He’s a Giants fan. For the Rangers, you’ve got Nolan Ryan as the new owner, but you might also have the two former Presidents Bush … wasn’t “W” a part owner of the Rangers back in the day. George senior lives in Houston and is a regular at Astros and Texans games.
There was a W sighting at the first Rangers-Yanks game. Maybe Wiley Wiggins will come out to show his support for Lincecum.
Haha – yeah, that was a vague question by me. I almost don’t want to explain. The direction you guys took is rather interesting.
I was referring to the fact that these teams lack the sexy headline players. This series will be about baseball as opposed to any guys who have become celebs.
But please don’t let me stop you from the path taken. Wiley Wiggins?
Cliff Lee doesn’t qualify as a sexy headline player? Tim Lincecum?
I think what you really meant to say is there’s no Derek Jeter or Alex Rodriguez. 😉
Chas – you are right about Jeter and ARod.
Lee and Lincecum? If I mentioned their names at a department meeting, 3 out of 14 might know who I am talking about.
Casey … Just say “The Freak” and you might get 6 out of 14.
Let’s just imagine the Phillies were in it … would they have any “Celebrities”?
This is the match-up that might determine the Series outcome:
Lincecum & Cain vs Josh Hamilton
Out of 28 ESPN “experts”, only 6 predicted a Giants win in the Series. Wow … less than 25% (I’m good at math, huh?). Among them some familiar names — Jayson Stark: TEX in 6, Karl Ravech: TEX in 7, Buster Olney: TEX in 6, Tim Kurkjian TEX in 7, Peter Pascarelli: TEX in 6, Dave Campbell: TEX in 6.
Where’s Peter Gammons???? Maybe he’s staging a sit-in cuz his beloved Red Sox are not in it.
Just read that the Giants will be trotting out their Hall of Famers to throw out the ceremonial first pitches, etc. I went over the list and saw the name Orlando Cepeda. Not exactly resonating with me like the two Willies, I thought we should have an “investigation” or post-audit, if you will. So in hindsight, is this former 1B/LFer REALLY a HoFer???
MVP (1), BA .297, OBP .350, HR 379, RBI 1,365 (80/yr), SLG .499, OPS .849
HoF induction looks pretty generous to me as his stats look pretty good, but light for a HoFer, in my opinion. Thoughts???
Rochester’s Johnny Antonelli will be in attendance also.
Wow … Cliff Lee is almost human. Real nice comeback by the Giants (and the Freak) after falling behind 2-0. Where’d all those runs come from??? Hope they saved some for tonight! This is gonna be a great series, but advantage SFG right now.
Truth can be stranger than fiction. The Giants banging out 11 runs? How many did they score in the NLCS? And they scored that many against Cliff Lee?
That’s what happens when you live in the strike zone, I guess. Sometimes pitches end up in the hittable part of the zone, rather than the unhittable part. Score one for the guy who just tries to strike everybody out (Lincecum) over the guy who employs the more “efficient” approach. 😉
Actually, Lincecum only struck out three last night, and was lucky to come away with a win, thanks to his teammates. I’ll still take Lee over Lincecum any day of the week…for a couple more years, at least.
The Freak impressed me with his “stick-to-it-iveness”. When he fell behind and was still in some tight spots, he stayed focused and competitive … kept pitching his game. Mark of a great pitcher.
Lee is unflappable … I expect him to bounce back and pitch well in his next start. He is a great pitcher.
Since it’s “all Giants all the time” this week, I was thinking back to the ’89 Bay Series between A’s and Giants, which of course was disrupted by the earthquake. One of my favorite players back then was Will Clark … what a sweet swing he had, plus he was old school … wore the eye black and always had a chaw. Loved the SFG infield in general back then with fellow old-schoolers Matt Williams and Robbie Thomson. But I can’t remember why Clark just seemed to fade away … I always thought he’d be a long-time star and eventually make a bid for the Hall. What happened … bum shoulder or something??
Do not seek the treasure. It’s bushwhacked!
Pete — What?
Anyone — what ever happened to Will Clark??
Will Clark – shoulder troubles? I seem to remember something about that.
Wally ? YOur gravatar? I am stunned.
I know Clark had injury troubles in his early 30s. Casey’s shoulder suggestion is as good a guess as any. Then, he retired young, at age 36, after a very good comeback year in 2000. I think if he stuck around, he would have continued to produce and made a better case for himself for the Hall.
Some interesting reading on Will Clark’s HOF support, particularly in comparison to guys like Dawson and Rice:
https://thefastertimes.com/baseballbythenumbers/2010/01/10/the-strange-case-of-will-clark/
Chas – have I mentioned that I disagree with your assessment of Dawson?
Well … Clark retired after having a very good year, which is certainly the exception rather than the rule. So it further begs the question … WHY???
I remember my boyhood idol, Dick Allen, retired essentially in his prime to develop thoroughbred racing horses or something like that. And I think it was announced on the morning before I was going to a night game. I believe I sobbed.
Casey —
a) stunned that it’s the Boise State helmet?
b) stunned that I was actually able to change it?
c) all of the above?
although if it’s a, i’m sure that was tongue in cheek by you 🙂
Casey, disagree with my assessment that Dawson’s a borderline Hall of Famer? Because that’s the worst thing I’ve said about him, I think. I don’t believe I’ve said that he’s completely undeserving, just that I think he falls a little short…kind of like Wally was saying about Orlando Cepeda the other day.
I think it’s almost time to get Mt. Otsego going again…after a much-longer-than-expected year and a half layoff. Center fielders are up next. What you say, Smitty? Or, do you even read the comments of your own posts? 😉
HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
CHAS – HELMET STICKER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Chas – not a big deal, but yeah I disagree that he is borderline. Yes, I know the voters prove your point. Dawson suffered from being on the fringe of the steroid era. His numbers took a hit because of what came after him. Combine that with the fact that he stayed around about three years too long. Why? Because contracts started to increase. Can you blame him?
But at the age of 35 he led the league in intentional walks. That’s three years AFTER his MVP year. He still had that much respect. And that Cubs’ team finished fourth in the NL East.
He played ten full seasons in Montreal. Anywhere else, and he gets more publicity.
5 .300 + seasons.
4 100 RBI seasons
1 MVP – finished second on two occasions. Tony Gwynn never finished higher than third.
ROY
1 of only three players to hit 400 HRs and steal 300 bases (Mays and Bonds are the others)
8 Gold Gloves – only seven outfielders have more – Clemente, Mays, Griffey Jr., Andruw Jones, Kaline, T. Hunter and Ichiro.
While this does not get taken into consideration, guys from the Marlins credited him with providing the leadership that helped them win the World Series.
And he’s going to get crushed in Mt. Otsego because he split between center and right field. But from 1980-89, who was a more valuable outfielder?
Wally – yes, stunned that it Boise, and it was not tongue in cheek.
We’ll agree to disagree on Dawson, Casey. The SABRmetric stats don’t paint as beautiful a picture of his career as your arguments do, but those stats don’t resonate just yet, so I’ll leave it alone.
When it comes to Mt. Otsego, we need to take a player’s entire career into consideration, then consider him at the position he played the most. For Dawson, that would be RF, even though the Hall of Fame’s web site has him listed as a center fielder. Either way, he doesn’t stand a chance. Have you taken a look at the lists of players at those positions? Sheesh…
Casey —
Thats a pretty good argument supporting Dawson. From a pure stats standpoint … he’s still borderline but leans toward my yes vote… again another guy who average only 80 RBI per year (easy for me to say). For outfielders and corner infielders, I’m looking for something closer to 90 RBI per year. But he did have the steals. 8 GG’s speaks to me and should speak to more voters than it typically does. And I think you are spot on … if he had played almost anywhere other than Montreal for those 10 years, he woulda been admitted to the HoF with much less consternation.
And to be fair, injuries … especially the bad knees … prevented him from playing in a number of games through his 20 years, so his annual and career totals are deceptively low. He averaged only 125 games a season. He’s was kinda like a “Mickey Mantle Lite” … a great 5 tool player eventually hobbled by nagging injuries to the legs.
Having practically lived in Wrigleyville for the years just post-college, Dawson was worshipped by Chicago fans in the late ’80s … part of the “Holy Trinity of Chicago sports” along with MJ and Sweetness. What a class act.