Baseball At It's Finest

This is why I love baseball.

After the Rangers historic collapse in Game 1 to the Yankees, I was second guessing my pick that they would go to the World Series. The Yankees did what the Yankees do. They were that professional team that waits the other team out, then strikes when they smell blood. It's why they've won 27 championships. I couldn't help but shrug after the game and realize the Yankees were going to win because of experience.

Texas was finished. Only they weren't. Not even close.

Their postseason rotation is Cliff Lee, CJ Wilson, Colby Lewis, and Tommy Hunter. Other than Cliff Lee, I had no idea who the last three were before this season. Wilson? A former starter, turned reliever, turned starter again who once failed miserably at being a closer. Lewis? He spent the last few years pitching in Japan. Hunter? He was just a farm hand down in the minor leagues, not even a top prospect, just somebody to fill a roster spot. And now they've played a huge role in sending this team to the World Series.

After the blow up in Game 1, Colby Lewis pitched one of the biggest games in team history, as the Rangers lit up 18 game winner Phil Hughes. Then, everyone knew Cliff Lee would win Game 3 in New York, which he did, 8-0. And the Texas offense broke out again scoring 10 runs in Game 4 to take a stunning 3-1 lead in the series. They're the only team in history to score at least 8 runs in back to back games in the postseason in New York against the Yankees. Even after the Yankees thumped Texas to force a Game 6 back in Arlington,  Lewis delivered again. Eight innings of dominant pitching set the stage for a huge victory. By the end of the night, the Yankees had surrendered the 2nd most runs they've ever given up in a playoff series.

So now the team that had won just ONE playoff game in their history before this year, marches to the World Series. Whoever they play, it won't matter. They've overcome the biggest road block already. Between a team that had played in the ALCS 40 times versus a team that was there for the first time, anyone would have taken the Yankees. Especially after Game 1. But the young, deep, and explosive Rangers ran circles around the Yanks, making them look like the aging team they were for much of the 2000s. Youth has set the precedent in baseball. The Rangers have that, the Yankees don't.

The Rangers snubbed the Yankees' history.

Now they're making their own.