Magic Will Decide the Series

On the eve of the greatest World Series since 1986, when the Mets prevailed over the Red Sox in seven games, with heroes named Keith Hernandez and Gary Carter, Bobby Ojeda and Ray Knight, Sid Hernandez and Mookie Wilson, Lenny Dykstra and Darryl Strawberry, I gleefully look forward to witnessing another Series for the Ages, one featuring great pitching, great hitting, great home parks and even better home crowds. And perhaps magic too.

This grand event comes on the tail-end of a week of Yankee whining, coming off a Series featuring failed Yanks pitching and even more dismal Yankee hitting. You couldn’t write home about Yankee fielding either as Arod and Jeter played deep and then couldn’t make the throws. A Yankee-hater loves hearing Yanks fans whine.

But, even better than that, the Yankee future looks ridiculous. While other serious teams (like Boston) seek to shed their older players while they still have value and well before their inevitable decline, the Yanks will pursue the long and painful path. Keeping all these old guys while limiting their playing time and plugging in utility players, mixing and matching with lesser players to ensure a decade or so of future futility. Oh baby! Bring on the Don Mattingly years.

They’ll re-sign Derek Jeter, of course, justifying it with nothing but non-baseball reasons, i.e. he’s a legacy player, he’s the captain, he’s the franchise, yada yada. And Mariano Rivera, at 41 years of age and already showing signs of decline in 2010, will also be eagerly courted. Having already re-signed Arod and Posada, that pretty much ensures they’ll be an old tired club for not just next year but well beyond.

So, at the same time as I can look forward to this Series, and be happily oblivious to the outcome, as both teams were my favorites in their respective leagues, I get the security of knowing the Yanks will be worse, maybe much worse, and the Mets will get better. (As this is written, the Mets are pursuing at least two of the finest General Managers in the game today).

Why do I like the Rangers so much? How about Nolan Ryan making a mockery of the Yanks obsession with pitch counts? How about keeping their manager on board despite his problem with drugs? How about their working with Josh Hamilton, the MVP in the American League to everyone outside the New York area, to help him beat an even more pronounced drug problem?

How about the way they developed their youth, evidenced by the successes of Michael Young and Nelson Cruz, Ian Kinsler and Elvis Andrus? How about their mid-season moves, out-Yankee-ing the Yanks for Cliff Lee and acquiring one of the best post-season catchers ever in Bengie Molina?

Okay, that’s enough rhapsodizing on the Rangers for, in the Giants, they’ll be facing another team that will be the most dangerous team the Rangers have faced this post-season. In fact, it was the Giants that let Molina go, only to replace him with arguably the best rookie in the National League, a young fella named Buster Posey.

If any team has better pitching than the Rangers, it would have to be the Giants. Lincecum, Cain, Sanchez and young Bumgarner are, one thru four, arguably better than Lee, C.J. Wilson, Colby Lewis and Tommy Hunter. They have a great closer in Brian Wilson and a great setup guy in Javier Lopez. They match up well with the Rangers closer Neftali Feliz and Lopez beats anybody the Rangers throw out there, in either Oliver or O’Day, Holland or Ogando.

I have a feeling the Rangers will be missing that setup guy. If baseball champions are characterized by pitching alone, then the Giants have a distinct advantage. Even giving the Rangers the Cliff Lee starts, Games 1 and 5, they’ll be in trouble against Cain and Sanchez and possibly Bumgarner too.

For what it’s worth, I think Lee will win Game 1 in San Fran. Then the Giants will tie the Series in Game 2 behind Cain. Then the Giants will take the lead in Texas in Game 3 with Sanchez pitted against ALCS hero Colby Lewis. There will then be a furor over whether Cliff Lee can go in Game Four. He won’t. Bumgarner and Hunter will duel evenly in Game 4 but the Giants relief pitching will give them Game 4, making it 3-1 Giants and with the Series headed back to that city by the bay.

But Lee will pitch in Game 6, probably again matched against Lincecum. The Rangers, now with Lee and with their backs to the wall, will take Game 6, thus creating a Game 7 scenario of Matt Cain for the Giants going head-to-head with C.J. Wilson. This matchup will favor the Giants again and, I’d have to think, unless the Rangers can pull off some more playoff magic, he Giants could very well win this 2010 World series.

The magic could come from Hamilton or Cruz, Kinsler or Andrus. The Giants have their own list of potential heroes but do they really match up? Posey and Huff, Uribe and Torres? I don’t think so. It’ll be pitching that wins the Series for these Giants, and if not, they won’t win it at all.

It’ll be up to Matt Cain and Brian Wilson. If they can’t keep the Rangers under 3 runs in that deciding game, the Series will go to those magic Rangers. If Cain can hold those Rangers bats down for 7 more innings (he’ll have already won Game 2 to get to this point), he’ll wind up being the Series MVP. If not, then the MVP will go to one of those other guys in red, and my money would be on the wunderkind, Josh Hamilton.

I could live with either result, I’m sure, but all things considered, I’d have to side with the Rangers of Ryan and Hamilton, Michael Young and Ian Kinsler.

Besides, the Cowboys are dead. Texas needs a real America’s team…..