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The Dallas Mavericks were hosting the Miami Heat in an NBA Finals game tonight about a half-hour away from the Ballpark at Arlington, leaving a lot of empty seats and plenty of room for me to roam about as I made my first trip to see the home of the Texas Rangers.
And plenty of roaming there is to do. There’s the suite level. On my budget nobody was going to let me in the rooms but a friendly usher did let me wander around a bit. The rooms are named after Hall of Famers and are decorated with art featuring their namesakes.
There’re plenty of restaurants and concessions stands, some fairly generic with the typical ballpark fare and others Irish pubs or wine bars.
Over the last couple years we’ve had some great debates about the inductees and potential inductees to the Pro Football Hall of Fame at our sister site, Zoneblitz.com.
We’re going to try to start doing the same thing here at Brushbackpitch.com as well, starting today.
Jeff Idelson, Baseball Hall of Fame president, announced on the MLB Network that, in his 14th year of eligibility, pitcher Bert Blyleven received the necessary 75 percent of votes to make the Hall. Blyleven’s self-promotion sometimes went over the top but his 287 wins, despite playing for some lousy teams, and two World Series championships certainly helped his argument. Nor did his career totals of 3,701 strikeouts and 242 complete games hurt.
Joining him will be Roberto Alomar, who played second base for seven teams during a 17 year career. He stole 474 bases, earned 10 straight gold gloves and made 12 straight All-Star games. He received 90 percent of the vote and, Idelson said, the third highest vote total ever.
They join Pat Gillick, who was tapped by the Expansion Era Committee.
That leaves a number of the 33 candidates on this year’s ballot still on the outside looking in, including Barry Larkin, Jack Morris, Lee Smith, Jeff Bagwell and several members of the controversial “steroid era,” which we’ve written about several times in other contexts and certainly will cover under this heading as well.
So what do you think? Are this year’s selections the right ones? Who should have gone in and who should have stayed out?
We’re looking forward to hearing from you at brushbackpitch.com.
I loved what the Texas Rangers did in 2010. They overcame near bankruptcy to contend. They sent a top-notch prospect and others to Seattle to grab Cliff Lee for a pennant chase and it almost worked to perfection, as the Rangers pushed San Francisco in the World Series before falling.
I also think the Rangers are going to be serious players for years to come. They are now well financed and a television deal with Fox Sports Southwest makes them a real, big-money player near the likes of the Yankees and the Red Sox.
But I’m stymied by the latest news from Arlington, Texas. Various reports have the Texas Rangers close to dedicating big money – about $96 million for six years, according to at least one report – toward signing third baseman Adrian Beltre.
Now, Beltre’s not a bad player, not by any stretch. By most accounts his defense at third base has always been very good, though there are also suggestions that he’s slipping a bit, and even if he isn’t yet, he’d be 37 at the end of a six-year deal.
The bigger question I have is his offense. This is a guy who has had two monster seasons out of 13 in the big leagues with the bat. He hit .334 with 48 homers, 121 RBI and a 1.017 OPS in 2004 at the age of 25. And he hit .321 with 28 homers, 102 RBI and a .919 OPS in 2010 with the Red Sox.
I hoped it was a bad idea that would fade away after the season ended but as Major League Baseball approaches its winter meetings next week it appears that further expansion of the playoffs is not only going to be on the table, but is likely to pass with little opposition.
Thus Major League Baseball will take one more step toward becoming another league that waters down its regular season in favor of a playoff format that invites too many teams to take a shot at the championship.
I initially didn’t like the expansion to four playoff teams with a wild card included but it was a necessity when each league was split into three divisions. And I grudgingly will admit that it has created some fantastic races, this year included when San Francisco, San Diego and Atlanta fought tooth and nail to the season’s final weekend over the last two playoff spots.
The Fall Classic, sans Bronx Bombers and Philadelphia Phillies, starts tonight.
Yes, the upstarts, Texas and San Francisco, vanquished heavily favored foes and the league’s two hottest teams embark on a tight matchup tonight. Here are our thoughts:
Rich:
Rangers in seven
Usually you can predict the winner of the World Series by asking a simple question, “Who’s happy to be there, and who wants to win?” That isn’t the case this year because frankly, neither team was supposed to be here. With that said, this should be a phenomenal series. The matchup is perfect. San Francisco has great pitching and adequate hitting. The starting rotation is outstanding, and the bullpen is deep. With all due respect Mr. Halladay, Tim Lincecum has become the best big game pitcher in the National League, and if Brian Wilson isn’t the best closer, he’s certainly a fair representation.
The Giants lineup doesn’t feature one great hitter, but there isn’t an easy out 1-8 in that lineup either. They also have in Pablo Sandoval a rare luxury for any NL team heading to an AL park: a designated hitter. Texas is the exact opposite, great hitting and adequate pitching. Cliff Lee is the best player in the Series, but the rotation drops off some after that. With Josh Hamilton, Vlad Guerrero, Ian Kinsler , Michael Young, etc., etc., the Rangers will show the Giants the strongest lineup they’ve seen all year. Neither team plays brick wall defense, but both feature some great players in the field.
So call it a toss-up.
I’m a Giants fan for two decades, so I really want to pick them to win. However, I think the Rangers have so much momentum heading into this series, along with Lee, I have to go with the Rangers in 7. I guess.
Andy:
Rangers in six
The pitching matchups will be fantastic. Offense will be scarce. But I think the Rangers have the potential to put up a few more runs than the Giants do.
Plus, the momentum garnered by taking out the heavily favored Yankees will keep them hot. Games will be low scoring and close. But the Rangers will prevail.
Tony:
Giants in six
Well, pretty clear whoever I pick will lose. I pick the Giants.
Pitching and homefield advantage. Should be a good series.
Major League Baseball begins the next step toward the World Series tonight as Texas hosts the New York Yankees in game one of the AL Championship series. New York publications already spent some time today talking about how important it is for the Yankees to win so television ratings stay strong but other national experts think Texas might have at least one advantage in the run game.
All three of the Brushbackpitch writers correctly predicted two of four Divisional series. Rich missed on the American League but nailed both National League series right on the nose. Andy hit Texas winning in five and Philadelphia sweeping the Reds but missed on Philadelphia’s win over Atlanta and the Yankees whitewashing of the Twins.
Tony hit the Texas and Philadelphia series but didn’t hit them squarely on the correct number of games. So … who cares? Yeah, you’re probably right.
Anyway, here are our picks for the League Championships:
Rich:
New York over Texas, six games
Philadelphia over San Francisco, five games
Tony:
New York over Texas, six games
Philadelphia over San Francisco, five games
Andy:
Texas over New York, six games
Philadelphia over San Francisco, six games
The Texas Rangers squeaked by the Tampa Rays tonight to win the American League Divisional Series three games to two. It’s been a fun series to watch with great pitching, timely hitting and momentum swings beyond belief.
I thought the series was over after Tampa manager Joe Maddon was ejected following Michael Young’s three-run homer, a shot that should never have happened because Young’s check swing on the previous pitch should have been strike three.
But the Rays collected themselves and continued battling, eventually earning the right to come back home for gave five after winning both games in Texas.
Watching the seesaw battle between these two clubs was a pretty dramatic contrast to the other AL series, which was won in dominating fashion by the New York Yankees over the Minnesota Twins, who despite a narrowed talent gap in 2010 could not come close to getting past their playoff nemesis of recent times.
I thought heading into this year’s series that things might be different. Early on it looked like there was a chance I could be right. The Twins led 3-0 in game one heading into the sixth inning.
But then things fell apart.
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There will be a lot of new faces managing Major League Baseball teams next season. Joe Torre left the Dodgers. Lou Piniella left the Cubs. Cito Gaston left the Blue Jays — and those are just the ones who left voluntarily.
Bobby Cox is also leaving the Atlanta Braves. This retirement might be the biggest loss of all for the game.
Cox took an undermanned Braves team to the playoffs as a wild card despite losing Chipper Jones, Martin Prado and two key pitchers during the season. And he had the San Francisco Giants on the brink in the NL Divisonal Playoffs despite losing closer Billy Wagner and a bunch of errors by Brooks Conrad.
The better team won the series. But the Giants and their fans were classy about it, giving Cox a standing ovation for his years and contributions to the game.
Congratulations on your retirement, Mr. Cox. You’ve given Atlanta a heckuva ride.
Though the blogosphere, the Internets and the traditional media will be exploding with talk of Randy Moss returning to Minnesota, the biggest story in the Twin Cities sports scene Wednesday could be the opening of the Minnesota Twins/New York Yankees playoff series.
Yes, the baseball playoffs begin Wednesday and we, like every other baseball fan, have opinions on who is going to take home the trophy. Here are our first round picks.
Rich:
Tampa Bay over Texas, four games
Minnesota over New York, four games (or Yankees in three)
Philadelphia over Cincinnati, three games
San Francisco over Atlanta, five games
Tony:
Texas over Tampa Bay, four games
Minnesota over New York, fie games
Philadelphia over Cincinnati, four games
Atlanta over San Francisco, three games
Andy:
Texas over Tampa Bay, five games
Minnesota over New York, four games (If it goes five, Twins lose)
Philadelphia over Cincinnati, three games
Atlanta over San Francisco, five games
Often times former catchers make good major league managers. Sometimes they get fired anyway.
Major league journeyman Matt Walbeck spent two years at the helm for the Altoona Curve, the Double-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. In 2009 the team finished in sixth place in the Eastern League. In 2010, the team captured the first Eastern League championship in its 12 year history.
On Sept. 29, Pittsburgh told Walbeck his services were no longer needed.
I’m not going to pretend I followed the Curve during their championship run, nor am I going to say I recognize even one of the names of the players on the team’s roster during the 2010 season. I can’t say I know anything about Walbeck as a manager or much about his background – other than I watched him play catcher for the Minnesota Twins back during the team’s dark years in the early 2000s.
But when a guy wins a championship, even in the minor leagues, it would seem he is doing something right.
The Pirates, who last had anything resembling a competitive team in the major leagues in 1992, only released a one sentence statement: “We appreciate Matt’s efforts and wish him the best in his future endeavors but felt that it was best that we allow him to pursue other opportunities,” according to general manager Neal Huntington via the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.
Dejan Kovacevic, the Post-Gazette’s Pirates beat writer, updated the story later with a comment from an unidentified source indicating that the move came from concerns about Walbeck’s communication with staff and players.
Okay, maybe he was a bad communicator. He won a championship at the Double-A level for an organization that, for two decades in the major leagues, has had virtually nothing to be excited about at all.And he was 312-224 in four seasons managing in the Detroit Tigers’ system.
Granted, there is more to managing in the minors than winning. But the Pirates finally have some young guys – Andrew McCutchen, Pedro Alvarez, Jose Tabata and Neil Walker among others, that interestingly have come from the minors over the last couple seasons. Not all played under Walbeck. Some did. And for an organization that has shown little promise for two decades, I would think continuity would be a good thing for a team that must have done something right in 2010 to win the league championship.
Walbeck certainly didn’t do it himself, but someone had to help those players reach that level.
Maybe the Pirates will prove this was the correct move. Maybe the players won the championship in spite of Walbeck rather than because of him. If so I’ll fall on my sword later.
Until then, it would appear to me that the once-proud Pirates franchise has given the city of Pittsburgh and baseball fans around the country another illustration of how the organization has spent two decades as a laughingstock.
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