Baseball

It’s almost trite to ask what people initially think about when they ponder the New York Yankees and the postseason.

Some will say a team resting on the ink of a paycheck, while others will say an indelible mark on baseball’s identity.

But when you clear the air on a seemingly endless argument, you’re left with the only topic that is forward focus: The 2010 ALCS.

Here lie your 2010 Minnesota Twins. April 5, 2010-October 9, 2010.

The AL and NLCS are halfway through, and the Texas Rangers and San Francisco Giants are both leading their series 3-1 and 2-1 respectfully.

Rick Rypien, a center for the Vancouver Canucks found himself getting into a shoving match with a fan in the middle of a hockey game against the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night.

While fans at the Yankees vs. Rangers ALDS Game 2 were seen throwing trash into the Rangers' bullpen on Monday.

Obviously, there's plenty of very unhappy fans out there—that becomes frustrated with what's going on in the game. 

To fans of other teams, it probably doesn't sound so bad.

Sure, the New York Yankees look to be on the verge of blowing the ALCS.  Down 3 games to 1 with two remaining games on the road, a Cliff Lee start to look forward to and Mark Teixeira's bad hammie to overcome, one could even call the Yankees' 2010 chances "bleak" as of Wednesday afternoon.  But they're still in their second straight ALCS after winning the World Series last year, and they've still got a shot to make their fourth Series in the last ten years.

When the 2010 MLB Playoffs began, almost everyone who watches or cares for baseball penciled the New York Yankees in as a probable World Series participant. A great deal of folks also had the Yankees winning it all,...again. Ah,...the Texas Rangers say "Not so Fast," and are exposing the Yankees for what they are, OLD.

The Texas Rangers have dominated the New York Yankees in this series. They have outscored them 30-11, outhit .307 to .198, and the Yankees are only hitting .154 with runners in scoring position. Aside from the top half of the eighth inning in Game 1, the Rangers have dominated the Yankees in every way. C.J. Wilson dominated Yankee ace CC Sabathia, Cliff Lee dominated Andy Pettitte and Colby Lewis dominated Phil Hughes.

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.

I have seen—and laughed at—many Boston Red Sox fans who believe that the Red Sox need to clean house this offseason to have any success next year. The Red Sox had the 10th-best record in all of baseball.

That might not seem impressive, but it truly is considering the injury struggles Boston endured. People can argue that Papelbon was, at times, a major reason for the Red Sox struggles, and they would not be wrong.