World Series

A phenom who struggled with substance abuse; a manager who endured the same problems; a pitcher who was traded for an upgrade; another pitcher that wasn't going to make it in the majors; a veteran whose career was declining.

These are just some of the players that make up the now 2010 AL Champions and have led the Texas Rangers to their first World Series in the team's history.

The hit television show "Glee" has dominated Fox for the past year, but this October Cliff Lee, or "Clee," as one site likes to call him, looks to take over Fox. 

The Rangers' ballpark is quiet, at least for now.

Workers have slowly started to trickle in, the local radio station is doing their broadcast from the home plate entrance, the ALCS banners have been hung for fans to see as they start to file in, and the anticipation has begun.

This Friday night is far different from any other Friday night in Rangers' history, because it's on this Friday night that the Texas Rangers, and their fans, will be able to celebrate a franchise first.

An American League Championship.

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.

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.

Tonight is a very big game for the Yankees. I don’t like to throw around the cliche that it is a must-win game until it actually becomes a must-win, but tonight is pretty close.

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.

There may be nothing in professional sports that quite measures up to starting the final game of a seven-game playoff series in Major League Baseball. It can either mean going home, moving on, or winning it all.

Before the advent of the expanded playoff system in 1969, only two teams were eligible in MLB, the pennant winners of the American and National Leagues. For 66 seasons this was the accepted format, and the Fall Classic brought us many great memories from that period of time.

When Philadelphia Phillies manager Charlie Manuel walked to the mound in the eighth inning, talked with his starting pitcher, and walked back to the dugout, as a San Francisco Giants fan I was hoping this would be his Grady Little moment. Little, once the manager of the Boston Red Sox, infamously left ace Pedro Martinez on the mound in the 2003 ALCS and watched him implode against the New York Yankees.