AL West

The Texas Rangers are—can you believe it?—but one win away from their first-ever trip to the World Series. They are one win away from sitting down the Mighty Yankees, the Bronx Bombers, Baseball’s Bullies. One win away. Just one.

“It’s time.”

This has been the slogan, the mantra, the battle-cry all season long from this club.

“It’s about time.”

Did you ever think, in the middle of October, we'd still be talking about the Texas Rangers?

Normally this time of year is reserved for the Dallas Cowboys and football. Instead, the Cowboys have not only taken a back seat but they've been so bad that the Rangers have gotten top billing on just about every radio station in town.

Let me take you back to Opening Day here in Arlington, Texas.

Just taking a glance at Cliff Lee on television from time to time, you likely wouldn’t find yourself to be overly impressed.

He will never throw harder than 93 with his fastball. He doesn’t do anything funky with his motion. He is very deliberate and has a plan of attack for the hitters.

In some ways, he could be classified as boring.

Before the game yesterday, Cliff Lee facts were trending on Twitter (#cliffleefacts). Some of the facts were ridiculous, such as "Cy Young won five Cliff Lee Awards", and "Neftali Feliz does not have to come to the game when Cliff Lee pitches, because Cliff Lee needs no closer."

When Josh Hamilton grounded out to end Game 1 on Friday night, a game where the Texas Rangers let a 5-0 lead slip away in their own ballpark to the dreaded New York Yankees, eventually losing the game 6-5, I sent the following message to my friend via Facebook chat:

"Series over."

"Yup," he replied.

Because there was no way the Rangers were going to be able to recover from a loss like that in a seven-game series. 

The Yankees came back home to open up their end of the ALCS and even with big-game Andy Pettitte on the mound, they couldn't defeat Cliff Lee.

The Rangers, behind their ace, put up two early runs and rode Lee to victory. Lee was unhittable and didn't even allow a hit until the fifth inning.

The Rangers' offense exploded in the ninth for six additional runs as Texas took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. Here's a report card, breaking down every angle of the Rangers' 8-0 win.

Once again, Los Angeles Angels' highly touted prospect Brandon Wood is proving he can master the art of hitting at the minor league level. Problem is, it doesn't resonate at the major league level.

In creating a winning team, as the Rangers have, it's not just who you have on the team, but who you DON'T have. One reason that the Rangers are in the ACLS in 2010 is because they had dumped a number of talented players that nevertheless could have hurt the team.

Some of the better trades were those of older players for younger talent with greater potential.

Before the postseason started, I predicted that the Texas Rangers would make the World Series. I didn't write an article about it, but I did tell my friends. Everyone thought I was crazy. I got comments like, "Are you serious? There is no way they are beating the Rays!" Yeah OK.

Throughout the ALDS against the Rays, where the road team won every game, I was second-guessing my prediction. But it turns out I was right.

Fast forward to the ALCS against the Yankees. Well just continue reading.

The Rangers hired Ron Washington as their manager in 2007. They wanted a manager who would be the anti-Buck Showalter. They felt Washington's light approach would get guys to play at a high level after being worn down by Showalter's micromanagement.

Washington did not start out well in his first year as the Rangers manager. His team got off to a rough start, and he did not get along with Mark Teixeira.