Groans Erik Boland of Newsday: “All the elements that put the Yankees in a three-games-to-one series hole materialized Friday night, ensuring they wouldn’t be able to completely climb out of that hole. It was another night of ragged starting pitching, ineffective relief pitching and next to nothing on offense from…
10. In retrospect, a great call by Rangers’ manager Ron Washington taking Nelson Cruz out of Game 5 early with a tight hamstring. Cruz hit the biggest homer in Rangers’ history in the four-run 5th tonight, shoving Texas to a commanding 5-1 lead. 9. Claw > Antlers? Very cool surprise…
Is tonight THE night? The lights are on. Clouds are circling but so far nothing but sprinkles. The wind is howling in from the south/right field, which means — as evidenced by Josh Hamilton’s extra-hitting session right now — the jet stream out to right-center is in full effect and it…
Writes Mike Lupica in the New York Daily News: “The Yankees showed up on Wednesday in Game 5, they did, hundred percent. Now they have to do it again in Texas, or they become another big, bad Yankee team of this decade that got hit somewhere before the World Series…
A Friend of Unfair Park directs our attention this late afternoon to DropWear.com — can’t believe someone didn’t think of this sooner. In short, it’s a tee-shirt company run by Ticket listeners who plan on turning those catchphrases and out-of-context utterances into, right, fashion statements. Brilliant.But right now, there’s a…
Following Friday’s hearing at the George Allen, Tom Hicks’s attorney in the Liverpool FC case, Fish & Richardson’s Steve Stodghill, issued a press release announcing that Hicks and George Gillett’s attorneys would “apply all of their legal energies toward securing at least $1.6 billion in damages they expect will result…
Like the BCS, style points count. So do geeky, black-and-white stats such as touchdowns and quarterback ratings. Wins and losses? Definitely. Leadership? Uh-huh. When it comes to my weekly NFL Quarterback Rankings — if I had one of those little encircled R’s to signify a trademarked idea, it’d go here — the…
Our Stephen Masker was at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport last night — which is to say, at 1 this morning — when Your Texas Rangers returned from a 2-1 trip to the Bronx. Stephen’s slide show’s here, and though he reports the crowd was on the smallish side — a…
I’ve had this feeling before. Oh, say, for example a couple of weeks ago before the 0-2 Dallas Cowboys played the Houston Texans. I thought it then and I believe it again: The Cowboys will win this week. In fact, the Cowboys will beat the New York Giants by 10+…
10. The better team didn’t win Wednesday at Yankee Stadium, but the more desperate team did. The Rangers are on a magical, unprecedented playoff roll, but asking them to be good enough – to be mature enough – to sweep the 95-win defending champions in New York was unrealistic. Those of…
I became a sportswriter because of the Texas Rangers. Well, them and my creative imagination, general obsession for sports and refined knack for exaggerating the details of a game so much so that it grew larger than life. Started something like this: In the summer of 1972 in Duncanville, there…
As expected, this thing is a blowout. Not even close. Think about it: The New Yankees entered the American League Championship Series with 41 AL pennants; the Texas Rangers 0. The Bronx Bombers play in Yankee Stadium; the Rangers in a ballpark once controlled by broke-ass bum Tom Hicks. The…
Sam MertenThis just in: Sporting News has named its 2010 Major League Player of the Year — and it’s a certain Anchorman-quoting center-fielder for Your Texas Rangers. And as SN is quick to point out, that’s the consensus among 326 major leaguers — this isn’t no sportswriters’ award, keep in…
Pssst, I’m not supposed to talk about this. Like a no-no in the 7th inning, baseball’s unwritten etiquette says you’re not supposed to whisper a word about celebratory plans. Especially when you’re on the enemy’s fabled field. But, what the hell, this hasn’t happened in … forever: Here at Yankee Stadium…
10. And that, my friends, is why I wanted the New York Yankees. Between CC Sabathia and Mariano Rivera, this is a flawed pitching staff. Just ask the Rangers, who in this series have posted 5, 7, 8 and 10 runs in building a commanding 3-1 lead in the series…
I was prepared to be in awe. To be mesmerized. To shrink in the midst of baseball’s ghosts and glory. But, I gotta tell ya, new Yankee Stadium is just a ballpark. Can’t believe this place cost more to build than Cowboys Stadium. And can’t believe people actually pay for…
Hear ye, Hear ye: The National Football League is about to start fining players … for playing football. In another move away from its popular roots as America’s most entertaining and, yes, violent sport, the NFL is suddenly showing cowardice and promising to fine and/or suspend defensive players for what…
The Texas Rangers lead the ALCS over the New York Yankees, 2-1. In Monday night’s Game 3 they waltzed into fabled Yankee Stadium and laid an 8-0 whupping on the Bronx Bombers. The Rangers have dominated the series, out-scoring New York 20-8 with five of the Yankees’ runs coming in…
Writes Mike Lupica in this morning’s New York Daily News: “So now, after all the winning during the regular season that Joe Girardi talked about in a testy postgame interview session, after starting the postseason with four straight wins and maybe thinking the Rangers were going to be the kind…
10. How dominant was Cliff Lee tonight? I sat in the right-field seats of Yankee Stadium in the middle innings and I swear fans were wildly cheering foul balls managed by Nick Swisher. Any contact was cause for applause. 9. And why did I venture out of the comfy, cozy…
Courtesy Dallas StarsTo recap: Tom Hicks no longer owns Liverpool FC (though there’s another $1.6-billion-in-damages lawsuit a-comin’, guaranteed). Tom Hicks no longer owns the Texas Rangers (and Cliff Lee or no, still very sports nervous about tonight). But Tom Hicks, who paid around $84 mil for Norm Green’s hockey team…
10. Got my bag checked and my toothpaste confiscated at D/FW Airport. Do I look that guilty? 9. I’ll never get tired of flying into New York. That skyline is one of the best views on Earth. 8. Nothing more unnerving than the cab ride from LaGuardia Aiport into the city…
