Rangers and Redbirds

The Texas Rangers defeated the Detroit Tigers on Saturday to win the ALCS 4-2.

One day later the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers to win the NLCS 4-2.

This Wordle image was created using the all the players on each Championship team's roster with a WAR of 0.5 or higher, then weighted as such.

World Series, St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers (Wordle)

The Cards are my new home team and made a fantastic turnaround from 10 games behind in the Wild Card race in late August to where they are today: National League Champions. TLR may get criticized a lot, but you can't argue with results, especially with all the injuries they had to endure. I will be cheering for them on the outside.

The Rangers ball club appears to be built better with the best team batting average in the Majors (.283), second best slugging percentage (.460), and second most home runs (210). They can hit, run, and have great depth in the bullpen. Ron Washington is a great manager who is both intelligent and very entertaining to watch. This will be the Rangers' second consecutive appearance in the World Series, as well as their second appearance overall, and is among the six Major League organizations who have never won a World Series crown. To top it all off, Nolan Ryan was my childhood idol.

Will the Cardinals win their 11th World Series or will the Rangers win their first?

I'll be honest. I really don't mind who wins the World Series.

Happy Flight

The St. Louis Cardinals just defeated the Milwaukee Brewers 12-6 and won the NLCS 4-2. There were six homers hit in the first three innings, but the ball stayed inside the park from that point onward. That ties the record for most homers in a game, which the Texas Rangers and Detroit Tigers also tied yesterday.

David Freese received the award for the National League Championship Most Valuable Player. He was great in the regular season and outstanding in the postseason. A lot of credit has to go to the relief pitchers in the Cardinals bullpen since the starting pitching has been so poor as of late.

David Freese, NLCS MVP from ESPN.com

Congratulations to the Cards. Good luck in the World Series against the Rangers.

Have a happy flight home.

Tigers Force Game 6

Thursday's night game was a do-or-die situation for the Detroit Tigers. They delivered with a 7-5 victory over Texas, which forces a game six in Arlington on Saturday. Although the Rangers still lead the series 3-2, so the Tigers are still on the brink of elimination.

Justin Verlander allowed four earned runs, eight hits, and three walks over 7+ innings. How do you win when the game is on the line and your pitching is so unusually dismal? (This would be the perfect opportunity to say a line from Day[9]TV, but I will refrain to keep this blog professional. If you understand, then you are awesome.)

Just score more runs than the other team. Brilliant!

Fangraphs

The Rangers allowed four home runs, C.J. Wilson was responsible for three of them. Alex Avila and Ryan Raburn each launched solo home runs, while Delmon Young hit two bombs in the 4th and 6th innings.

To Verlander's credit, his numbers do not give him all the credit he may deserve. He tossed a career-high 133 pitches, 94 of them for strikes. Everything was going quite well. His final pitch actually reached 100 mph on the stadium radar gun, which is uncharacteristically fast for a starting pitcher especially so late into the game. But Nelson Cruz ejected it from the park hitting a two-run home run, his fifth this postseason.

Cruz seems to be vying for his own rendition of Reggie Jackson, Mr. October. The media may give it to him if he keeps this up.

2006 World Series Rematch Unlikely

The gentlemen at Beyond the Box Score have developed a postseason simulator, which deems a rematch between the Detroit Tigers and St. Louis Cardinals only a 5.3% possibility. The Texas Rangers are the large favorite to win the World Series, as per their research.

Beyond the Box Score

I didn't live in St. Louis in 2006, nor did I have any real connection to the Cardinals at the time besides "that other team in the NL Central who beats the Pirates like everyone else." If I remember correctly, it was this World Series match up that lured me back to becoming a hardcore baseball fan. I was amazed to see the Detroit Tigers contending for their chance to win it all after losing a franchise record 119 games only three years prior.

Jim Leyland has a tendency to make heroes out of young, scrappy players. Just look at the 1990-92 Pirates, '97 Marlins, 2006 and '11 Tigers. Each team was a winner, in their own respect. I find it hard to believe he has only one World Series title and two Pennants on his managerial resume.

The Tigers accumulated a 12 game winning streak in September against several of their AL Central rivals, which distanced them from their challengers, ensured them a division title, and earned them a playoff spot. They were supported throughout the season by the extraordinary Justin Verlander, who is a shoe-in for the AL Cy Young, and Miguel Cabrera, who delivered another MVP caliber season.

Both were stellar in the regular season, but their postseason performances have been average at best. Verlander was part of the Tigers organization in 2006 and has only recorded one quality start in his postseason career. Cabrera's batting average is down and his strikeout rate is up, but the Rangers and Yankees have opted to award him first base more often than not.

2011 Regular Season

Justin Verlander (24-5, 2.40 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 250 SO)

vs.

C.J. Wilson (16-7, 2.94 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 206 SO)

Wilson quietly put up very respectable numbers behind all the hype surrounding Verlander in the American League. He also has three quality starts in his postseason career, though they all came last year. Otherwise, he looks quite similar to Verlander.

Postseason Stats

Justin Verlander (2-3, 5.71 ERA, 1.56 WHIP, 10.4 SO/9)

vs.

C.J. Wilson (1-3, 4.76 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 7.7 SO/9)

Will either starting pitcher produce a quality start for their team?

Will the bullpen get to work early again?

Game 5 starts in Detroit at 4:19 ET. The Texas Rangers lead the series 3-1, so this is a do-or-die situation for the Tigers.

(Sidenote: Could they have chosen a stranger starting game time?)

Tigers Top Yankees

Tigers win ALDS 3-2 over Yankees.

This was my hack at doing something creative. Hopefully it's appreciated as much as I liked last night's game.

The Detroit Tigers defeated the New York Yankees on Thursday night and I could not be happier. I guess money can buy the division, but it doesn't guarantee you a ring. Anyone who keeps the Yankees out of the World Series is okay in my book. The Tigers will face the Texas Rangers for game one of the ALCS on Saturday in Texas.

What made the game even more glorious was Jose Valverde striking out Alex Rodriguez to end the game. Delicious.

I don't always agree with what they say over at SB Nation, but I keep my subscription with them because of little gems like Visual Box Score. Cute and entertaining.

Detroit Tigers

New York Yankees