Well at least the phrase "there's always next year" actually meant something this time. A year after playing some awful baseball and losing to a team that sports 8 players in its lineup that resembled my offensive talent in old man softball last week (seriously, how do you hit into two double plays in one game in old man softball?), the Texas Rangers return to the World Series looking for that elusive ring.
6 words: I could get used to this.
After spending the first 25 years of my fandom rooting for a perennial loser owned by one of the stupidest men ever to run a country, having a juggernaut like the current Texas Rangers is pretty damn cool. The Rangers have a relatively young team, a loaded farm program, a good GM, a CEO/Owner dedicated to winning, and now a tremendously huge new revenue stream from a newly minted regional TV contract deal that can be used to go out and buy Prince Fielder.
All of this started with three people: Ron Washington, Mike Maddux, and Nolan Ryan. How did Nolan and Mike contribute? Lets look at something. In 2008, the year before Ryan and Maddux took over their respective roles as President and pitching coach, the team ERA was 5.37. IN '09 it was 4.38. In '10 it was 3.93. In '11 it was 3.79. They've done it with a converted closer (CJ Wilson), a pitcher who had to go to Japan for two years to keep his babies in diapers (Colby Lewis), a pitcher so young and with so much raw left handed power he had no idea how to harness it (Derek Holland), a rookie full season starter (Matt Harrison), and probably their most talented starting pitcher as the closer (Neftali Feliz).
So what happened? Two changes in philosophies that came with Ryan and Maddux. Maddux has been on record as saying the perfect inning is 3 pitches, not 9. Three strikeouts isn't that good. His coaching has resulted in pitchers looking to induce bad contact as opposed to nibbling the strike zone to induce strikeouts. Any Red Sox fan who watched Daisuke Matsuzaka pitch with otherworldly talent but with inability to trust that he could induce bad contact is sadly shaking his head right now. It's no small wonder that the Rangers are among the top teams in turning double plays (tip of the cap to Andrus/Kinsler as well). Instead of looking for the strikeout with a runner on, Texas pitchers look to induce bad contact for the double play to simply erase that runner who did get on and as a result get out of the inning faster.
Ryan brought a different attitude as well. A pitcher known for his longevity not only in career (an amazing 26 regular seasons), but also in individual outings, Ryan (with Maddux on board) banished pitch counts as a determining factor for pulling a pitcher. This benefits the team two-fold. First it allows a team to allow a starter to continue dominating a lineup as he had been the first 100 pitches thus increasing the likelihood they win and keeping the bullpen fresh for more important uses. Second, it offers a mental stability to a pitcher. When a pitcher knows he is on a pitch count he is probably more likely to press in those later innings just to get through a few more batters. Of course in addition to no pitch count ceilings, Ryan instituted a strenuous cardio program for pitchers too to keep up their stamina even though they only pitched once every 5 games. Between these two additions, no starter has been lost to a season ending tommy john surgery or blown rotator cuff or something.
It has been nothing but joy watching these two guys transform the pitching staff into a strength instead of the pile of shit that our offense always had to get over. But what Ron Washington has done to these guys as a whole has really put it over the top, and kudos to Nolan Ryan and GM Jon Daniels for having the foresight to see what Ron (hired before '07 season) was growing in that clubhouse when they had the tough choice of whether to fire him before the '10 season for cocaine use. Washington has kept the club loose, often strutting in the dugout like some cheesy caricature of a 70's pimp, and is usually the most animated man in the dugout when good things happen. My favorite moments are when Washington sits in a stool and starts his legs running like he is running with the guys out on the basepaths. I love that in my manager.
What I also love is his desire to keep it loose while keeping it professional. There is a difference between being loose and being unprofessional *cough* beer and fried chicken *cough*. Back in the day the Rangers used to employ Mark Teixeira prior to trading him to Atlanta for...wait for it...Neftali Feliz, Elvis Andrus, and Matt Harrison. Yes 3 instrumental pieces in our 2011 WS run for a player who can hit like a beast in a 13-2 rout of the Kansas City Royals in May, but has no idea how to play in the postseason (.207 with 3 home runs in 31 games). Tex and Ron were having problems with each other because of differences in plate philosophies where Ron wanted Tex to take pitches in the later innings to get something really good to hit off of a tired starter or mediocre reliever instead of jumping on the first reasonable pitch he saw. Tex was afraid he'd only ever get one reasonable pitch and being selfish jumped on it and more often then not killed rallies or even prevented them. Since one is still here and the other isn't I'll let you guess you won. I like that in my manager. The ability to let guys play but demand a level of professionalism when he needs it. This is after all the guy whose claim to fame in the Moneyball book and movie is turning a catcher (Scott Hatteberg) into a first baseman during his time as infield coach with the A's. He knows how to play the game and he knows how to keep players loose while reining them in at the same time.
Thanks to these three guys, and Jon Daniels who as GM has really done a nice job bringing in talent both at the farm level and the big league level I can now really look forward to long run r near the top of the American League every year. And no, I will never get bored of it.
In our second go around I remain as confident as I was going into the World Series last year. We may not have Cliff Lee and our rotation has been shaky at best and shitty at worst (Im looking at you CJ) but our bullpen and lineup is much deeper this year. What a travesty it was having to play 55 year old Vladimir Guerrero in the outfield just to get his bat in the lineup in NL parks. Sure, the Cardinals have Carpenter and a much better offense than those pricks in San Francisco (nice championship defense, btw) but we already faced two teams with better pitching and comparable lineups.
I don't like facing the wild card team that had to claw their way into the playoffs and then knock off the two best teams in the NL, but I think Texas knows what it is doing this year. Any improvements in our starting pitching in this series and this could be a sweep. I'll stay conservative and go Texas in 5.
Reason why I worry? According to ESPN "Experts" 21 out of 25 picked Texas to win. I never like being the overwhelming favorite. There is something to be said for the "no one believed in us!" rallying cry. But I don't think it's enough. It's our time! Let's go Rangers!!!
