Ron Washington in the World Series (Poll and Discussions)
by javaball on Oct 23, 2010 10:11 PM PDT
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Print"My ballclub is a totally different ballclub. We can win ballgames in many ways. I think the world is beginning to see the Texas Rangers."
--Ron Washington (ALCS Game 2 post-game)
It's not a fairy tale like "Mr. Smith goes to Washington", but Ron Washing and the Rangers are going to the World Series. It surprised almost everybody except the 25 guys in that club house, as most of the sports "experts" predicted that they would lose the ALCS to the Yankees. Instead, they kicked the Yankees' $200M ass, and won the series in convincing fashion. Next the Rangers will take on the SF Giants who also knocked out the heavily favored Phillies in six games.
Who Will Win the World Series?
I'm rooting for the Rangers all the way, however, there is a chance the Giants could win it all with stellar pitching and timely hitting. As the saying goes, "It's all about pitching and defense in the playoffs." I'm in no way an expert, but just throwing things out there to get the discussions started.
1. Starting Rotation
Both teams have 3 good starters. Cliff Lee vs Tim Lincecum, i.e., The Cool vs the Freak, would be a treat to watch.
Wash
2.Bullpen
The Rangers bullpen have the second lowest ERA in the AL in the regular season, but they seemed nervous and shaky in the playoffs at times. The Giants bullpen have been impressive in NLCS, and kept the Phillies scoreless for 6 innings in the deciding Game 6.
Advantage Giants
3. Offense
As Washingtong said above, the Rangers can beat you in so many ways. They can win the game with one swing of the bat, or steal runs with their savy baserunning.
Advantage Rangers
4. Defense
The Giants have played some really sloppy defense in the NLCS that might have caused them two games.
Slight advantage to the Rangers
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Bengie Molina gets a ring no matter what.
And I cannot hate this matchup any more than I already do. See you guys in November (maybe).
I didn’t think about that. Molina actually rooted for the Giants in the NLCS, and he got his wishes. Will there be a conflict of interest for him in the WS?
In the battle of the strong, victory goes to the brave.
Why would there be?
He gets a ring and a double share. He can just go out and show the Giants that he’s Big Money, like he always has been (and he’s certainly showed me he’s no has-been yet).
That was the odd trade that benefited both teams, and in the end, it has benefited Bengie the most.
"Feel so bad, feel like a ballgame on a rainy day"-Lightnin' Hopkins
by justANotherAsFan on Oct 24, 2010 8:10 AM PDT up reply actions
If not conflict of interest, maybe conflict of emotions. He considered many of the Giants players his brothers, but in the playoffs they would be his enemies. Not sure he would handle the emotions.
In the battle of the strong, victory goes to the brave.
double share?
really, is that how the payoff rules work? I wonder what would happen if he were traded back to the Giants in the season. would he get 3X share?
by rollierollieOxenfree on Oct 24, 2010 11:30 AM PDT up reply actions
Texas will win
The only way the Giants are to win if they can get into the Rangers bullpen. The bullpen sucks but the starting pitching is hitting for the rangers. Rangers know this is their best chance to win while the Giants still have a few years left.
Bengie Molina
has got to be holding court with the rangers batters now
"The ego, the super-ego, and the Ed" - dannycakes
well he can definitely eat
But yeah, he knows EVERYTHING about the Giants pitchers…
by Billy Frijoles on Oct 25, 2010 10:15 AM PDT up reply actions
The Giants rotation is significantly better than Texas's
Having Cain and Lincecum starting four games is huge.
Whatever, I’m saying the Giants take this in six. Lee wins two but the Rangers lose the rest.
"We don't want our people to be preoccupied with seminude, crazy men jumping up and down who are chasing an inflated object," said Sheik Mohamed Osman Arus, head of operations for the Hizbul Islam insurgent group.
Doesn't the giants low OBP offense
play into Cloby lewis and CJ wilson’s game?
I agree, Can and Lincecum are gppd enough that you don’t have to try Lincecim in 1-4-7. But looking at what Wilson amd lewis (and holland for that matter) did to the yankees, I think the giants better play really good defense.
"The ego, the super-ego, and the Ed" - dannycakes
If Texas continues to hit the ball like they're capable of
they’ll crush SF. My only concern is that they’ll turn into the Phillies this week and forget everything that got ’em here.
The Giants are gonna have to try and win every game 2-1, or 3-2, and I think the Rangers offense is too good to let that happen. Rangers in 5.
I needed a team so I wouldn’t turn into one of the eighty million pink hat-wearing Bud Light-drinking mulleted idiots at Fenway.
the Rangers have been a better hitting team all season than have the Phillies
but as we know, good pitching can stop good hitting. Also – especially in the playoffs, playing good defense and running the bases intelligently can decide the outcome of the game if the score is as close as those that the Giants have been mostly playing for weeks.
If Texas pounds the Giants’ pitching, and their bullpen doesn’t melt down, advantage Texas.
Do you think the plan is to have Lee start in 1, 4 and 7 (if necessary)?
by Billy Frijoles on Oct 25, 2010 10:16 AM PDT up reply actions
Maybe
Lee’s a phenom starter in the postseason, so it’s an option.
by Oakland All-Star on Oct 25, 2010 10:39 AM PDT up reply actions
the question is, can he do it?
three days rest can be a bit of a bummer
"The ego, the super-ego, and the Ed" - dannycakes
No, and I don't think it should be, either
They’ll be shooting themselves in the foot if they take two potentially mediocre starts instead of one great one.
If they were actually going to use him in three starts, I think it would actually make more sense to have him pitch Game 5 and then Game 7 on two days’ rest. But that doesn’t make much sense to me either. It’s not like the rest of the rotation is terrible, it’s just not as good as San Francisco’s.
"We don't want our people to be preoccupied with seminude, crazy men jumping up and down who are chasing an inflated object," said Sheik Mohamed Osman Arus, head of operations for the Hizbul Islam insurgent group.
Why do you think Giants starting rotation is significantly better than Rangers'?
In the battle of the strong, victory goes to the brave.
Rangers' rotation
as per Ken Rosenthal tweet:
Lee in Game 1 for Rangers. Washington undecided on order of Wilson, Lewis for 2-3. Hunter scheduled for Game 4.
Latest has Lee, Wilson, Lewis, Hunter
And Vlad in RF in Game 1. Could be an adventure.
by OaklandSi on Oct 25, 2010 9:06 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions
Hmm.
I think if they are down 2-1 it will be very tough to keep Hunter as Game 4 starter.
by Billy Frijoles on Oct 26, 2010 2:10 PM PDT up reply actions
Interesting
Position-by-Position comparison by MLB
In the battle of the strong, victory goes to the brave.
Is Wash Really Starting Vlad in RF tonight?
That could get ugly in AT&T. Pretty questionable decision.
More predictions from MLB "experts"
Frank Thomas, among others, picked Rangers.
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20101027&content_id=15861886&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb
In the battle of the strong, victory goes to the brave.
Ive said this before and i'll say it again
Holy moly am I glad we didnt make Washington our manager. Geren is bad but Ron is an abomination when it comes to bullpen matchups. Theres no way Washington makes us a better team than if he was here instead of moron Geren.
I still trust Beane, and I believed him when he let Wash go after giving the job to Bob. Ron Washington is not a good manager, at all. Its not hard to look good when you have so many excellent players on your squad. Its easy to look bad when the biggest singular job you have is something you arent good at.
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