Opinion

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.

A gutsy, heads-up play by Brett Gardner set up a stunning five run eighth inning for the New York Yankees, who came back from four runs down to beat the Texas Rangers, 6-5, and take Game 1 of the ALCS last night in Arlington. Gardner beat Rangers' starting picther, C.J. Wilson, to the bag with a headfirst slide after pulling a groundball to first in the top of the eighth.

I am 100 percent confident that C.J. Wilson does NOT give up five runs in the eighth inning if Ron Washington is allowed to stay in. He allowed two runs on two hits in that inning, and was pulled in favor of Darren Oliver following a Derek Jeter RBI double.

But the Yankees would probably have only scored those two runs (or maybe just the one already in) had Texas manager Ron Washington avoided being like Bobby Cox and Bruce Bochy.

The Arizona Fall League is where a lot of top prospects are sent to get some experience, but it also is a place where guys who have struggled can try and regain some confidence.  Only a handful of games have been played, but let’s take a look at two hitters who have already begun to rebuild their value for 2011:

Lisa Swan and Jon Lewin write a blog called Subway Squwakers. Swan writes about the Yankees.

This writer heard of Swan from reading her work at DailyNews.com couple of years ago. He first read her work when she wrote so many insane entries about her hatred towards Joe Torre as a person and as a manager.

This is part two of a series of articles outlining the decisions that the Cubs will need to make this offseason. You can read part one and introduce yourself to their current situation by following this link.

As reported by CBSSports.com, the Seattle Mariners have hired former Cleveland manager Eric "The Grinder" Wedge, to replace fired skipper Don Wakamatsu following a 101 loss season.  For a team that has suffered from a chronic case of underachievement, Wedge doesn't strike me as the antidote.  Furthermore, he doesn't strike me as the solution to any team's problems. 

Now that the Braves' 2010 season has come to a close, it's time to take a look at what we should do this offseason.

First off, let's look at who's currently on the Braves and may or may not be back next year.

Retirees

Wagner: $6.5 million saved

Non-Tenured Players

Melky: $3.1 million saved

Diaz: $2.55 million saved

Free Agent Departures

Saito: $3.2 million saved

Glaus: $2.35 million saved

Three years ago, I couldn't watch a single pitch of playoff baseball. The sting of the Mets collapse was too much for me. Observing other teams pursue a world championship (especially the Phillies), caused me to think about all of the "what ifs".

What if Tom Glavine didn't blow up in the final game?

What if the Mets won just one or two more games during season?

What if, what if, what if..........

After watching Cliff Lee dominate my Tampa Bay Rays in the ALDS, and dominate, well, everybody, throughout the playoffs last season, people are starting to rank him as one of the greatest postseason pitchers of all time.  The only way to compare them is to put Lee up against the greatest postseason pitcher of all time, Sandy Koufax.

Let's take a quick look at the pitching lines.