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Can't beat that smileI was sitting under the stars of the clearest evening the state of Texas has ever known nursing a Lone Star in a Trudy's cousy listening to a electronic dance band from Australia send about 400 20-somethings into an orgasmic, bass-laden, synth-adorned frenzy.
I was somewhere in Uvalde County. Dusty, smelling of two-day-old Port-O-Potty freezing between two enormous hills or two relatively small mountains in west Texas.
Meanwhile, six or seven hours away, the Texas Rangers were rewriting history, again.
The team showed all those in Major League Baseball what a little home cooking can do, how much doubt it can erase as they walloped the Detroit Tigers in game 6 15-5. The win gave the Rangers their second straight American League pennant. The only two in their history.
And, never doubt it, the Rangers still have a lot to prove. One pennant wasn't enough. Another division title, winning by 10 games and putting together a complete team from the line-up, to rotation and bullpen. From management, general management and ownership.
From every draft, every trade, every free agent. Losing Cliff Lee, transitioning a pockmarked kid from the Dominican from the bullpen to the starting rotation, dealing with an insufferable fan-favorite veteran, taking a chance on a fat, bearded catcher, keeping faith in a pair of young lefties, who'd tried everyone's patience, and swallowing hard this July in letting go of some important pieces of the future and of last year's run for the chance of taking away the seventh and eighth innings come October.
Yes, the Rangers did all of this. Yet, by Friday, after Thursday's meltdown to tighten the series 3-2, many national media were looking at the Tigers as a favorite to win two straight in Arlington.
In Arlington, forget match-ups. Forget who the Rangers hit poorly or what pitchers struggle against whatever batter. Throw out records, statistics and rhetoric from the experts.
I don't blame the national writers. They primarily follow two teams. There's a cadre of second-tier teams in the big markets. Then there's teams like the Rangers, the St. Louis Cardinals, Detroit Tigers and Milwaukee Brewers. Yes, writers, lay in bed with your Red Sox, Dodgers, Cubs and Yankees. The rest will win.
Despite all of this, the Rangers still have doubters. If two pennants don't cause some to come to Jesus, nothing well and there were 50,000 fans Saturday night didn't care. I didn't care. The millions at home didn't care. Winning matters. Pennants matter. Mattering matters.
Our heroes:
Nelson Cruz
Three years ago, anyone could have had Nelson Cruz. The Rangers placed him on waivers. Another Quadruple A player who could rake easily in the minors and not find their footing in the Majors. It was this final demotion that clicked with Cruz. He went down again, abused Pacific Coast League pitching for another half summer and rejoined the team. He's never left outside of some rehab assignments.
Today, he is the ALCS MVP, and he put on a show of shows the last six games totaling two doubles, six home runs and 13 RBIs. No telling where the Rangers are at without him. Considering he has more RBI in the 11th inning (7) than 98 percent of everyone else still playing has period, I'd imagine they'd be at least playing game 7. Or the Rangers would already be on the lake.
Alexi Ogando
For those wanting to make a case for Ogando returning to the bullpen, now is the prime time to do so. Cruz was the hands down MVP choice. Ogando had to be second. He won two games and posted a 1.17 ERA, striking out 10 in 7.2 innings. Most times he went two innings in tight games. Yes, if you want Ogando back in the bullpen starting next season, now is the time to make your case.
Mike Young
Young's post-season average bottomed out at .111 after a hitless game 3. He'd collected three total hits in seven games. The talk locally provided a strong consensus that a change was due. The franchise's all-time hits, doubles and games leader and a new inductee in to the 2,000-hit club should be moved down the order by manager Ron Washington. Thankfully, most of us are thankless fans and dumb-as-shit media folks. The only redeemable aspect of Thursday's meltdown was that Young had two hits, including a double, his first extra-base hit of the post-season. By Saturday, he was ripe. Three hits, two doubles, a homer and five RBI. And he wasn't getting lucky. He was dialed in. He went opposite field at will. It was a study session. A clinic.
Derek Holland
I don't know how to explain things. I'm not going to write about how great the Dutch Oven's been. That'd be a lie. In his young post-season career, he's been pretty awful at times and marginally decent infrequently. I will say this: He's a fucking lucky son of a bitch. In this post-season, the Rangers have won every game Holland's appeared in, including three starts, one of which was game 2 against the Tigers, in which the mustachioed one watched from the dugout as the offense bailed him out. What I did like about last night's start, that ended midway through the fifth inning, was that he threw strikes. Of his 69 pitches, 47 were strikes. Granted, the Tigers hit .305 off of him including three home runs. Still, he walked none and struck out five. It was a step forward, not a step back. I don't know if he's your No. 2 starter in the World Series, but he's getting a start. He deserves all the hope we can heap on him.
Josh Hamilton
I don't think I've read a word about Josh Hamilton. Young had the huge game 6. Cruz had the insane series. The pitchers pitched. Dave Murphy, Mike Napoli, Ian Kinsler, Elvis Andrus and others all contributed. No one's talking about Hamilton's four doubles in the series, the five RBI and the .308 average. Trying the baserunning despite the sore groin or the spectacular catch he made in game 6 risking God-knows-what crashing into the left-field screen on the scoreboard.
Hamilton's output is undenied (career .326 average in ALCS). He's value to this ballclub and to the fandom is what puts him in a different class. He's the reason the Rangers spray ginger ale on each other on the field. They have so much respect for the guy that they are willing to go against the typical celebration to include their buddy. People love Josh Hamilton. They know his story, his testimony and it means more to them than whatever he does on the field. However, what he does on the field matters a lot. The fact that he leaves it all out on the diamond and his past on his sleeve forces him to love him more.
The Field
Name someone that didn't contribute. It's what the national writers don't understand.
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