94 replies to this topic

[nmigliore]

Rangers-Rays. Game 5. Awesome pitchers duel. Who does everyone have?

I'll take Cliff Lee in the big game, but wouldn't be shocked if the Rays took this one. Go Texas Rangers (hard to just say go Rangers)

I'll take the Rangers. They beat up on Price in Game 1 and they did so by having a lot of RH batters in the lineup (they only had 1 LH batter in Game 1). Tonight, 2 of their batters are lefties, and 1 of them is Josh Hamilton. Don't get me wrong, Price is still solid against righties, but hes much, much more human. And of course having Cliff Lee on the mounds help a lot too.

I want to see Texas win anyway since that's who I predicted to win the World Series, though I wouldn't be that disappointed to see the Rays win since they're a fun team to watch.

It should be a sweet game to watch. I'm still shocked Texas couldn't wrap up this series at home in the 2 tries they had.

Edited by nmigliore, 12 October 2010 - 06:48 PM.

[devilsrule33]

Cliff Lee in the playoffs is untouchable. What an outstanding performance by him and the Rangers base runners.

[Jerrydevil]

Cliff Lee in the playoffs is untouchable. What an outstanding performance by him and the Rangers base runners.

He's nearly right there (or maybe right there already) with Curt Schilling, Josh Beckett, John Smoltz and El Duque as the best postseason starters in recent memory. (I may be leaving out a couple others.) If he plays a big part in taking down the Yankees his legend will skyrocket, like Schilling and Beckett.

[Nieuwy25]

I can't believe it - my Texas Rangers win their first post-season series ever! I've literally been following them since they came to Texas. I'm so used to disappointment that this is hard to believe. We've had some good teams, including some great players, but not a really good all-around team like this one that's capable of great pitching, speed and aggressiveness on the bases, and they can play small ball as well as bashing the ball. And then there's Cliff Lee. Nolan Ryan never had a playoff-caliber team around him or he could have dominated like this, but Lee is the first one to actually do it. Too bad we can't clone him!

GO RANGERS!!!

[Martyisth3b3st]

Told ya, nmiggy =]

[nmigliore]

Told ya, nmiggy =]

Hey, I nailed all of the ALDS/NLDS picks, good enough for me.

Edited by nmigliore, 13 October 2010 - 06:08 PM.

[nmigliore]

Looks like Josh Hamilton finally woke up after sleeping through the ALDS; 3-run homer to give Texas an early 3-0 lead.

Edited by nmigliore, 15 October 2010 - 07:26 PM.

[devilsrule33]

Can't wait for Halladay-Lincecum. Probably the most excited I have been for a baseball game. Hope it lives up to the hype.

[nmigliore]

I've seen a few sports writers on Twitter making a stink out of the Rangers not using their best reliever (Feliz) in last night's game. Perhaps people are finally catching on that the 9th inning is not always the highest leverage situation in a game. Now if only managers started implementing that theory...

Edited by nmigliore, 16 October 2010 - 11:27 AM.

[nmigliore]

I'm sure the Rangers are fairly happy to tie the series, but they must be kicking themselves that they aren't up 2-0 heading into a Cliff Lee start like they should be.

I was out last night so I didn't see the Phillies/Giants game, but I probably wouldn't have gotten the game anyway since its on Fox-5 and I have Cablevision. Ugh.

Edited by nmigliore, 17 October 2010 - 08:08 AM.

[nmigliore]

Cliff Lee is ridiculous; 2 hits allowed and 13 strikeouts in 8 shutout innings vs the best lineup in baseball.

I guess the silver lining for Yankees fans to take out of this game is that he'll be pitching for them next year.

Edited by nmigliore, 18 October 2010 - 10:09 PM.

[grcenter47]

Cliff Lee is ridiculous; 2 hits allowed and 13 strikeouts in 8 shutout innings vs the best lineup in baseball.

it might be safe to say that cliff lee is probably one of the best starters ever in the playoffs

[nmigliore]

I'm sure some of you Yankee fans will be all doom and gloom about Burnett starting tomorrow, but at least you are facing Tommy Hunter, who pitched to a 4.99 FIP in 22 starts. For the non-sabermetric folk, that's pretty bads, so they should be able to provide Burnett with some good run support. That's Texas' biggest weakness really; they have no quality #4 starter.

Going back to Lee for a second though - lol, hes a got a 34:1 strikeout:walk ratio in the playoffs this year. Nuts.

Edited by nmigliore, 18 October 2010 - 10:37 PM.

[Jerrydevil]

It will be a sad day if Cliff Lee signs with the Yankees. But I don't have much confidence that the Mets, Red Sox, Cubs or whoever else will outbid them.

[devilsrule33]

Cliff Lee is simply out of this world. His playoff numbers are not believable. He has never lost a playoff game in his career.

I know everyone is making the jokes about how it's no biggie for the Yanks since he'll be with them next year, but I really hope the Rangers try and lock him up if possible although competiting against the Yankees in terms of $$$ is almost impossible. Can you imagine a pitcher this good possibly being on 5 teams in less than two years?

Edited by devilsrule33, 19 October 2010 - 12:34 PM.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

It will be a sad day if Cliff Lee signs with the Yankees. But I don't have much confidence that the Mets, Red Sox, Cubs or whoever else will outbid them.

Lousy for baseball if he does, though MLB has no one to blame but themselves...as much as I hate the Yanks it's not their fault...they play by the rules.

I'd love to see the Mets get him, but I'd also like to see him stay in Texas.

[nmigliore]

Cliff Lee is simply out of this world. His playoff numbers are not believable. He has never lost a playoff game in his career.

I know everyone is making the jokes about how it's no biggie for the Yanks since he'll be with them next year, but I really hope the Rangers try and lock him up if possible although competiting against the Yankees in terms of $$$ is almost impossible. Can you imagine a pitcher this good possibly being on 5 teams in less than two years.

I still have no idea what the Phillies were thinking when they gave him up. They didn't even get back a decent return from the Mariners either. I mean sure they have Oswalt now, but hes not on Lee's level (but then again, not many are). But could you imagine a playoff rotation of Halladay-Lee-Hamels? That's just insane.

I'd love to see a team like Texas resign him but I think he ends up in the Bronx.

[Martyisth3b3st]

He's beaten the Yankees too many times. There is a 0% chance we don't give him a blank check this offseason.

[Jerrydevil]

Lousy for baseball if he does, though MLB has no one to blame but themselves...as much as I hate the Yanks it's not their fault...they play by the rules.

I'd love to see the Mets get him, but I'd also like to see him stay in Texas.

What I loved about Curt Schilling ... a Yankee killer who never became a Yankee. If Lee went to Boston, that would be tremendous. Unfortunately for the Sox, they blew a chunk of change on a disappointing John Lackey and extending Josh Beckett. Matsuzaka lingers, also.

[Jerrydevil]

Lousy for baseball if he does, though MLB has no one to blame but themselves...as much as I hate the Yanks it's not their fault...they play by the rules.

You'll never catch me complaining about Yankee payroll. I like the way things are, and I like the black hat that the Yankees wear. It's one of the best things baseball has going for it. But I don't want Cliff Lee to become one of the bad guys.