The Cardinals pitching proved to be too much for the Brewers, as Milwaukee struggled to score off of the St. Louis bullpen. Milwaukee's defense also finally came back to bite them, as the committed nine errors in the series. David Freese stepped up in the series with a lot of big hits to propel with Cardinals past the Brewers.
Coming into the ALCS, Detroit was dinged up. Their roster was depleted, and their bullpen was lack luster sans Valverde and Benoit. The Rangers showed that they were a deeper, more complete team against the Tigers. Their starting pitching wasn't great, but their bullpen was phenomenal, and their offense came as advertised.
Looking at these two teams, the Rangers and the Cardinals, I think that the Rangers have the better overall team. Neither of these starting staffs are great, but I think that the Rangers starting pitching is deeper, while the Cardinals have the best pitcher in Chris Carpenter. The Rangers bullpen can shut a team down just as well as the Cardinals. The middle of the lineups are comparable, but Texas's lineup is much deeper. The Rangers are also a better defensive club than the Cardinals.
The only Cardinals starter to go at least five innings in against the Brewers was Chris Carpenter in game three, and he went five innings exactly. The Cardinals are going to have to be able to get more length out of their starters if they want to win this series. The Rangers offense is more balanced than the Brewers, meaning that if Tony La Russa wants to play match ups, it's going to be more difficult because the Rangers have more than one left handed bat in their lineup. Against the Brewers, the Cardinals would just throw righties out there, and not have to make a move until Prince came up. Against the Rangers, They'll see more lefties as I think that Ron Washington will continue to play David Murphy, Mitch Moreland, and Endy Chavez along with Josh Hamilton. The right handed bats of the Rangers are also much superior to those of the Brewers. Throwing out Lance Lynn again the bottom of the Rangers lineup won't be a lock like it was against Milwaukee.
Three of the four Rangers starters are also left handed, but I don't think that will be a big deal because it will force Lance Berkman to bat right handed. Berkman's OPS was almost .200 higher batting left handed over batting right handed. The team as a whole hasn't made up for it either, with a composite line of .265/.339/.429 again lefties, and .276/.341/.424 against righties for the season.
I don't think that losing the designated hitter in the National League park will hurt the Rangers that much. They don't really have a true David Ortiz type designated hitter. Instead, they tend to use it as a revolving door for Michael Young, Mike Napoli, David Murphy, Yorvit Torrealba, and Mitch Moreland. I'm assuming Mike Napoli will get the starts at catcher, while Michael Young will play first base. Ron Washington then has three competent bats to go to off the bench, which should essentially turn their lineup back into an American League lineup late in games. Having a designated hitter won't give the Rangers that much of an advantage though, because if gives the Cardinals an opportunity use Allen Craig, who probably should be a DH.
Both of these teams have been in the World Series since 2006, so I think both teams will come out ready to play from the first pitch. I think that the Rangers have more ways to win than the Cardinals do, because of their better offense. The biggest concern that I have in the series is how the St. Louis starters will fair against the Rangers offense. If the Cardinals starters couldn't get out of the fifth inning against the Brewers, I can't imagine what the Rangers could do against them.
I have an uncle from Texas who's been a Rangers fan all his life. He recently told me that Nolan Ryan putting Robin Ventura in a headlock, and punching him in the head a few dozen times was the only bright spot in the team's history. This year I think that they trump that and win the World Series in six games.
Buckeyes (Mostly Nonsense):
Buckeyes (Mostly Nonsense):
I think I've figured out what's going on with the Buckeyes this year. When I was in college, my roommates and I would always watch the Buckeyes on Saturday, and then the Browns on Sunday. When the Buckeyes lost, it was terrible for us, because then we'd have to pin our hopes on the Browns to win a game to salvage the weekend. We all love the Browns, and being as dedicated as we were, we knew not to expect much of them. None of us are old enough to remember a time when the Browns were any good. We did make the playoffs in 2002, but that was mostly so we could just lose to the Steelers three times in one year (which is probably a record). When my roommates and I were watching, and the Browns were winning, we'd always joke that God had slept-in that day. Because then in the second half, things would start to go crazy and we'd end up losing by 20. In 2007, the Browns had a magical year, we had Derek Stonefoot Anderson (that's a nickname that we gave him because of how nimble he is on his feet) throwing inaccurate lasers in the general direction of Braylon Edwards and Kellen Winslow, and they would continually make great catches on balls that would be uncatchable by lesser players. God did a lot of napping that season, and even let us win this game when Derek Anderson was 9 for 24 passing. I think God has seen the error in his ways, and has actually reincarnated that day's Derek Anderson into the Buckeye's passing attack this year.
Joe Bauserman bears a striking resemblance to the good old days of Derek Anderson, and here is the proof. Braxton Miller isn't much better, sometimes he drops back like he's going to throw the ball, but usually just ends up scrambling for three yards in the end. As Browns fans, we let joy into our hearts that season in 2007, and now the all-powerful God is making us repent by having us relive what I call "Stonefoot Specials" every Saturday.
And another thing, announcers: quit calling Jake Stoneburner a good receiver. I mean he's fine and all, but he had three touchdown in the first game, and that's about all. Yet all game long I hear "They have to get Stoneburner involved, he's a dynamic weapon for this team." No he's not, he stays in and blocks, and then we run the ball. His name even sounds like Stonefoot, he's probably the channel God is using to sabotage our passing game. Totally possible, and if not, I'll probably just blame it on him anyway. Because as an Ohio State fan, I don't mind using tight ends as scapegoats.
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