Walker, How About Those Texas Rangers

(BOD - Leighton Meester)

(Thanks to AC for clearing up the final play of Roy’s no hitter. It pays to have readers who are much smarter than I)

I love love love what Nolan Ryan has been trying do with his pitching staff in Texas. He is challenging his guys to sack up when they’re on the mound and finish what they’ve started. He’s attempting to construct a rotation in his own image and I think it’s fabulous that he’s going against the baseball establishment and believing that his guys’ arms won’t fall off after 100 pitches.

And suffice to say, his pitchers have drank the Kool-Aid and have the Rangers on the brink of making it to the American League Championship Series. I can’t give Ryan credit for Cliff Lee; Lee was a stud long before he came to Texas, but it was Ryan’s influence that brought Lee to the Rangers in the first place.

However, Nolan deserves every bit of credit for CJ Wilson’s dominating performance against the Rays in Game 2 of the Division Series. It was Wilson, a former closer, who approached Ryan and team management in the offseason saying he wanted to be a starter. He didn’t ask, more like he forcefully suggested. Ryan didn’t waffle and said maybe we’ll give you a shot at spring training. No, he looked Wilson in the eye, told him he was going to start and that he should plan his offseason training accordingly. It’s the confidence Ryan has instilled in his pitching staff, that they are charge of the game when on the mound, that has led to Texas’ success.

From one great left-handed performance to another, Andy Pettitte did his job, as he’s done for fifteen years, by shutting down the Twins last night to give the Yanks a 2-0 series lead. It’s a great time to be a fan of left-handed pitching as there are a number of great guys currently pitching in October. However, I do feel bad for Carl Pavano. He got completely hosed on that 2-2 pitch to Lance Berkman. Without a doubt, that was a strike.

In fact, if that had been me on the mound, that late in a close game, I guarantee I would have been run out of the game for mouthing off to the umpire after that. I’m out there working my ass off, make a perfect pitch, and you call it a ball? I would have lost my shit.

And much like Wednesday, a great left handed performance was over shadowed by an incredible outing by a righthander. Timmy Lincecum absolutely dealt to the Braves last night, striking out 14 in a complete game shutout. It was almost as good as Halladay’s gem (save for a couple of mistakes), but unfortunately I was asleep by the time Timmy really got good.

I went to bed when he had 6 strikeouts through 4. Obviously, I will not make the same mistake again and fall asleep when Lincecum’s on the hill.

Have a great Thanksgiving weekend.

Back on Tuesday. Amazingly, we could already be previewing the League Championship Series’ by that time, if the current trends hold.