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Texas Rangers

2010 World Series - Rangers v. Giants: Texas is the Favorite. And Deservedly So.

By Richie Whitt Mon., Oct. 25 2010 at 10:02 AM

Categories: Texas Rangers

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It's 1972 vs. 1958.

It's also, unless I'm seeing something terribly wrong and homerish, a clear advantage for your Texas Rangers over the San Francisco Giants. Right?

The Rangers, born in '72, have never been to the World Series. The Giants have been here three times since moving from New York but have never won it. Something's gotta give when these unheralded teams face off Wednesday night in Game 1, and I - along with the oddsmakers - believe it will be SF that crumbles.

Why?

These aren't the Giants of Barry Bonds, or even Barry Zito. They are basically a bunch of Zach Galifianakises' who pitch well but led the NL West for only 37 days (the Rangers led the AL West for over 100) and are led offensively by Cody Ross, a guy they signed off the junk pile on August 22 and who would have a difficult time making Texas' 25-man roster. The Giants - 80-24 when they score 4+ runs - beat the Philadelphia Phillies' Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hammels in the NLCS by winning tight, low-scoring games.

That strategy simply won't fly against the Rangers, by far baseball's best post-season offense.

To punctuate their World Series berths, the Rangers struck out Yankees' star Alex Rodriguez looking and the Giants struck out Phillies' star Ryan Howard looking.

The similarities end there.

The Giants have won six one-run games in the playoffs and scored 5+ runs only once. The Rangers - fueled by an offense that has produced 17 homers and 16 stolen bases - have won their seven playoff games by four, six, four, five, eight, seven and five runs. The Rangers have Cliff Lee, one of baseball's best all-time playoff pitchers, and Josh Hamilton, the likely AL Most Valuable Player.

The Rangers, who beat the team with the best record in the American League (Tampa Bay Rays) and the defending champion (Yankees) to earn a trip to the Fall Classic, should handle the Giants reasonably easy.

Pinch yourself. The Rangers are not only in the World Series, they're favored to win it.

~~Brooklyn Bridge~~. ~~Golden Gate Bridge~~. World Series championship.

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baseball, Cliff Lee, Josh Hamilton, Ron Washington

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The Giants don't have offense?? How did you lose the series 29 to 12 in combined runs. Oh wait, you also got shut out twice. Welcome to the NL, good job beating the Yankees, better luck next time. Cliff Lee who? Cliff Lee hadn't faced the Giants yet. Haha, Edgar Reneteria who was on the DL most of the year, beat your best pitcher. Hahahahaha. Suck it Richie!
I know........I know..........if it were a 9 game series you would have won........ BOOOYAHHHHHHHHH!!!! Maybe next year losers!!!!!!!! 'Zero Offense' - dumbest comment of the year!!!
Calling all Rangers! Calling all Rangers! Please report to Double-A immediately! I repeat, report to Double-A immediately for pitching, hitting, fielding, psychological, and ego evaluations! hahahahahahahahaahahah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
hahaha fucking dumbasses
Where are these great, unbeatable, dominating Rangers I have been reading about on this blog? Oh wait, they finally faced the toughest pitching staff in baseball...err...wait, all you texas folk call this a "slump"....my bad. Goooooo Giants!!!!!!!
Congrats on your crystal ball of sorts here... maybe time to pack up and pursue another profession if you're truly not interested in writing "homerish" pieces. Finding a way to win against a pitching staff twice as lethal as the Rangers (comment about C.J. Wilson being the ace of any other staff in baseball is laughable) should have told you something. Let me know how these words taste when the Giants shut this thing down in your house.
+1 for Another Giants Fan. You Ranger clowns need to realize the game is played on the field; not in some statistical notebook. Right now your team looks like a joke, and that joke is not lost on you. Lesson learned #1? - don't ever underestimate your opponent, like the Yankees did. Lesson learned #2? - don't ever underestimate your opponent, like the Rangers have thus far.
Do you want to all know why the San Francisco Giants are in the World Series and they are going to win over your pathetic, egotistical sorry butts? Because they never, ever get ahead of themselves. They don't boost their own egos at the expense of others. They respect the teams they are playing, unlike the Rangers (and the Phillies and the Braves.) Even tonight after the Giants slaughtered the Rangers, Bochey said that we still had to beat this tough team. He didn't say one lousy word about the Rangers. That's why they will win the WS, because we've got good karma. We can hit and pitch and field and our guys can do it with egos in check. The Rangers have shown that they SUCK after just two games. SUCK big time. You must be really embarrassed. More importantly, you should be ashamed of yourselves for shooting down a good team before you play them. Your predictions don't mean anything now because you people are SUNK to a new low. Game two will go down in history and not for good reasons. See ya later Rangers. Hope you feel bad about yourselves for showing no respect.
I can't help but notice there aren't a lot of comments from the Rangers fans, including the author of this blog, who were so smug. How ya feeling now? Maybe the Rangers got beaten so badly because they thought, like their fans, that they had it in the bag.
Game One SF 11 TX 7 Thank you for a head start. GO GiANTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
@raymond Disagreed. The Yanks or Rays are likely 100 win teams in the NL. All you have to do is look at Javier Vazquez 2009 (in Atlanta/NL East) vs his 2010 (w/ the Yanks/AL East). He's an entirely different pitcher, a Cy Young candidate, in the NL, but in the AL East he ain't that great brutha. 2.87 ERA in 2009 vs 5.32 ERA in 2010. Just shows the extreme differences in level of play between the leagues and especially the talent in the AL East. People shouldn't undersell what the Rangers have done in this postseason, IMO they have knocked off the top 2 teams in baseball. The Giants should be an easier opponent on paper, but they are playing well and have exceeded expectations much as the lil Rangers have. I'm guessing you're a Giants fan based on your naming of SF players by first name. Well, hate to break it to ya bruuuutha but Cody Ross ain't that great!!! The Rangers will expose the Giants for the ain't that great they are!!! go rangers!
Giants in 7 CLiff Lee will get a win in Game 1 or Game 5 but Tim will pull out one win. C.J. will go 1-1 lose Game 2 but win Game 6. Colby Lewis will get a ND IN game 3 but lose Game 7 in a close game against Matt Cain. And Tolby Hunter will win Game 4. Tim will go 1-1 lose Game 1 and Win Game 5 Matt Cain will go 2-0 win game 3 and Game 7. JOnathon Sanchez will get a suprise win in Game 2 but will lose Game 6. Madison will lose Game 4 Just my predictions.
@go rangers Actully your wrong as much as i hate to say it the Phillies were a better team than both Rays and Yankees coming in to this post season. The Rays and Yankees both had pitching problems and question marks coming into the post season while the Phillies didn't have any question marks they had the perfect pitching (Roy H, Roy O and Cole Hammels how can that go wrong) and great offensive but they lost to the giants because the Giants simply out pitched them and silence their big hitters bats. The Giants are a very underrated team and are strong enough to take down the Rangers. There bullpen is outstanding and is stronger than the Rangers. I'm not saying the Rangers won't win i'm just saying it will be at least a 6 game series or possibly 7 mark my words. This reminds me alot of the Cardinals vs. TIgers World Series back in 2006 who expected that?
@Dave The Rangers beat two teams tougher than Philly, the Yanks and Rays (better league/division/competition). The Giants have what on offense? Cody Ross? When's he turning back into a pumpkin? The Rangers easily have better depth than the Giants at every position but 1B and catcher (tho Bengie will be ready vs his old team). On paper the Rangers have a big advantage, and Wash will have them psyched and ready for 1 more big ass series. GOOOOOO RANGERS!!!!!!!
@DirtyP1 - butt hurt I beat you to it, huh? . That's ok, Cupcake. One day you'll get your chance.
I see a Giants team that finds ways to win, and a pitching staff that should make any lineup, especially one that hasn't seen it, nervous. The Phillies crumbled, but the Yankees were also overrated, their pitching staff was exposed as ancient and unimpressive. The Rangers' big advantage is Molina's encyclopedic knowledge of the pitching staff. Giants in 7.
Hey guys, don forget to check out my post on my date with Rooster Friday, for a quick recap, Ive got his briefs and his pubes, and he took my dong
Gino is as big of an idiot as any Rangers fan that thinks the Giants dont have pitching. Anyhow, Rangers in 5 and Michael Young becomes your World Series MVP. Oh yeah, eff rooster 2 posts to proclaim first, thats as gay as he is
The Fan Flash is such a horrible knock off of me. so lame.
Rangers in 5... This thing won't be going back to SF!!!
@Hey gino: B/C the Rangers are in the junior circuit, they are inferior? Last time I checked the little junior circuit has won the all-star game A LOT more lately than the senior circuit. @Dirty P1: You are spot on. Rooster is a puss. I would never claim that I was first in my second post. I would announce loudly and proudly that I was first in my first post. (Just in case anyone forgot, I started this whole first to post thing on here.)
So Tampa now doesn't have a staff worth a crap? Didn't the Rangers beat them? And a little team called the Yankees? The Rangers have kinda gone through two pretty good teams too, and their pitching thoroughly dominated the Yankees--look that up. Are Giants fans really that clueless?
Phillies = Overrated Braves were riding the last year of Bobby Cox emotion and in a normal year wouldnt have sniffed the playoffs. The Giants didnt win the NL West, the Padres lost it so dont act like they overcame a double digit lead in the last 2 weeks to pull off some miracle division win. If the Padres did choke the Giants would be sitting at home this post season. Rangers in 6!!!!!
Rooster, once again, you're a pussy poster. Stop being a 'tard.
@Hey gino CJ Wilson and Colby Lewis. Just as good as your #2 and #3s and pitching to tougher AL hitters. And sorry Timmy, but you ain't Clifford effing Lee, one of the greatest postseason pitchers of all-time. GOOOOOO RANGERS!!!!!!!!!!
Jeff you're dumb. Have you been watching the Rangers? On many other teams CJ Wilson would have been their ace this season. Colby Lewis has been good all season and has really shown up in the postseason. And yes, Tommy Hunter is a question mark, but we know he isn't bad, just not great. I'm not buying into the sweep or five game series hype, either, but I think, at worst, neither team should be afraid of the other. I think the Rangers have an advantage, but it really depends on the usual baseball factors. Should be a good series. If the Giants win, it will take at least six.
Fellas, 1 more series...let's remember the last championship the metroplex played in with similarly optimistic thoughts but didn't turn out like we hoped. The Giants have blown through the postseason and are exceeding expectations a lot like the Rangers. They have GREAT starting pitching and a wild ass crazy bearded Brian Wilson in the pen. Their offense kinda stinks but they have a good manager who's managed to the World Series before. Let's just take this 1 game at a time for now. It looks VERY GOOD on paper but let's just tap the breaks for the time being... and GOOOO RANGERS!!!!!
Hmm....pitching always will win out over big bats. Case in point the 88 and 90 World series. Other than Lee the Rangers have what exactly? They also have the biggest home field advantage in Baseball. i don't see many home runs being hit in the park in 55 degree weather at night.
Hey Richie, Open your mouth wide and prepare to eat your words. The Giants are a Major League team the last time I looked and the rangers are in the junior circuit. Lets see this high powered texas offense against a real pitching staff. They beat Phili who was slated as the best team in baseball. They beat the Braves and they took down the Padres. Watch you'll see. Go Giants
Gimme Rangers in 5...yep 5. Tempted to say 6, but something in my gut is saying this thing wont go back to San Fran. The Giants can pitch, but like us they are very inexperienced on this stage, unlike us they don't have Clifton...oh and they hit about as well as their cross-bay brethren. So yeah 5...or (gulp) less!
You taking two posts to claim first is even more lame than Mishon ever was. Richie, you didn't even mention how Bengie should know that staff like the back of his hand, or like the clubhouse buffet. Major advantage there as well.
Oh. And that's my 2nd 1st of the day you hosebags.
Go Rangers!