Baseball

Here are a few unsolicited thoughts about Game 1 of the NLCS tonight. First of all, we learned that—gasp!— Roy Halladay and Tim Lincecum are human. Neither threw a perfect game, or a no-hitter, or a shutout. In fact, the hype was so strong for this matchup, it couldn't help but be a letdown. The only way people in Philly would have been happy after Halladay's no-hitter in the NLDS would have been if he threw a perfect game tonight AND hit a grand slam.

The 2010 ALCS is tied at one game apiece.

The New York Yankees couldn’t muster together another comeback win last night and the Texas Rangers won 7-2.

Phil Hughes followed in CC Sabathia’s footsteps with another not-so-great performance from a Yankees starter. They’re human, just like the rest of us, and nobody is perfect.

The postseason isn’t built for chances or mistakes.

I'm not a Twins fan. I'm a Twins admirer.

Why? Minnesota does it right. They don't have to spend $200 million like the Yankees and the Red Sox. They don't have to pick off the best players from small market teams. They don't have half their games on national television.

So, what do they have? The Twins have Ron Gardenhire, a coach who does it the right way. He steals bases, teaches defense and occasionally bunts.

C.C. Sabathia is the unquestioned ace of the New York Yankees pitching staff, but he could leave for greener pastures after the 2011 season.

Sabathia was the Yankees No. 1 target during their free agent bonanza before the 2009 season began. General Manager Brian Cashman knew the rotation had to be upgraded, and there was no one better than Sabathia available.

Normally, a visiting team would feel pretty confident bringing a best-of-seven series back home tied 1-1.  They would have beaten one of the opponent's best pitchers, and they would have the chance to wrap up the series at home with all of their fans behind them.

Game One of the NLCS featuring the San Francisco Giants and Philadelphia Phillies is set to begin in less than an hour. Tim Lincecum will lead the Giants against Roy Halladay and the Phillies in one of the most anticipated games in recent Playoff memory.

Larry Rothschild has exercised his option to remain as the Cubs pitching coach for another season. Apparently this means that if it is OK with the new manager, he gets to stay. One of the odd things about Jim Hendry's tenure as GM is the number of no-trade contracts and player's and coach's options he has handed out.

 By the end of the six innings, the New York Yankees were down 5-0 to the Texas Rangers.

Yankees ace CC Sabathia had to exit after the fourth; his shortest outing of the season.

On the other end, Rangers starter CJ Wilson was shutting down the deep New York line-up. Wilson gave up a homerun to Robbie Cano to start the seventh, but retired the next three and the held the Yankees to a 5-1 score.

The Pittsburgh Pirates are currently interviewing candidates to replace the recently fired John Russell. I thought I'd take some time to break down how I view the leading candidates.

Let's start with the candidates the Pirates have already interviewed. Their career win-loss record is in parentheses.

Eric Wedge (561-573)

Pro

Managed a young small market team to an ALCS appearance.

The look on Nolan Ryan's face toward the end of the top half of the eight inning said it all. What was happening was shocking, unfathomable and frustrating. Couldn't any pitcher get a gosh darn out?

The occurrences of that inning were a reminder to the Texas Rangers, their fans and their gregarious owner and erstwhile pitcher of just what they were up against.