Posted on 10/17/2011 3:31:04 PM PDT by BluesDuke
I’m still in mourning over the Tiger collapse.
Guess I’m rooting for the Rangers now.
But the Rangers will give the Cards all they can handle and then some.
An abundance of pitchers!!
. . .the Rangers will give the Cards all they can handle and then some.They'll give each other all they can handle, unless somebody makes a very egregious mistake. You're talking about two teams with balance among the bats, very flexible and solid bullpens, who know what they're doing out there, and managed by men who actually can think on their feet and see the game about four or five batters and maybe two innings ahead. I say again---I don't expect this World Series to be a short Series by any means. Not with these two teams.
Yep, great job Cards, screw Bud Selig. I still haven’t forgotten or forgiven the crap he had announced on 04/01/1970....
Should be a great series.
If nothing else, I have enjoyed a postseason without the insufferable Cranks.
If I'm the Texas Rangers' manager, I'm thinking---we'll have a handful against Chris Carpenter, sure, but we may get a bigger handful against the bullpen bulls. (Both teams have solid bullpens but my nickel has to go to the Cardinals' pen right now.) And I'll be telling my men, even against Carpenter if they should spot a flaw or a problem early, "Get your runs now---the bull market is about to open!" Get the Cardinal starters early and often, and as heavy as you can get away with before La Russa opens his bullpen, and the Rangers---who have the bats to do it---have a chance.
If I'm the Cardinals, I'm thinking the same way with a catch: the Texas starters haven't gotten deep into games this postseason either. And the catch in their bullpen this postseason is that they have a couple of guys who've been starters and were moved to the pen for the postseason, and if one of them is in shutdown mode the Ranger pen may be a tough nut to crack, too. If I'm Tony La Russa, I'm thinking---chase their starters, then jump the bullpen as soon as you can, neutralise those long men and make them waste their short men, since I've got the depth of short men to run them in and out and maybe neutralise the Rangers' bat versatility.
As I said, this one's going to be anything but a short Serious unless somebody makes a big mistake.
And you're right, it's no coincidence that those teams are managed by two of the best in the business, in La Russa and Washington.
They don't know that as a wildcard team they have no chance to win it all.God help the Rangers if they make the same mistake the Phillies and the Brewers made and underestimate the Cardinals. I don't think the Rangers are that dumb, and I'll stand by my thought that this Series won't be a short one, but underestimating these Cardinals is probably just what Tony La Russa is hoping Ron Washington (usually one of the smarter managers on the block) and company will do.
I thought the Rangers post-game celebration after beating Detroit was much tamer than last year’s, simply because they know the disappointment of not winning the Series last year...I don’t think they will take the Cardinals lightly at all.
I’m sticking my neck out here but I’ll say Cardinals in 5. The Rangers got hot at all the right times and it’s hard to keep that production up in critical situations. A lot of Texicans here at FR.
Found out an interesting statistic....the Cardinals only were .500 against left-handed pitchers, whereas the Rays and Tigers feasted against left-handers during the season, which probably went a long way towards why the Rangers’ starting pitchers haven’t been effective in the post-season, and may indicate they will be better against the Cardinals. Of course, you can throw all of that out the window during the post-season, but something just to keep in the back of your mind.
You could say the same about the Cardinals.
The Rangers have a solid rotation, they play excellent defense, they have good long relievers, an excellent closer, they are solid all the way down the order, if one player slumps, the others will pick up the slack.....and they have speed.
Carpenter is the only one who I think can shut them down, so if the Rangers win Game One, that might just be it.
Texas deserves this win, but they are going to have to earn it. Is there a better hitter in October than Albert Pujols? (Alright, Freese is better so far this year, but it is one season and it ain't over yet!)
I'm not fleeing the thread, I must meet some friends for dinner. I'll check in later.
Then again, who would have thought the Giants would have become an offensive machine in last years’ series?
Someone mentioned the Giants last year. What happened last year was the Phillies' streaky hitting going cold at the wrong time, and the Rangers had no really effective pitching outside of Cliff Lee. This year, at least the Rangers have good relief pitching, and they're going to need them to keep the Cardinals' sometimes frightening hitters at bay.
What are the Cardinals pitchers going to do with the Rangers hitters? Remember, Cruz hits SEVENTH in the lineup. If they’re on, they are a veritable Murderer’s Row.
Tampa and Detroit had much better pitchers than the Cardinals’ staff.
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