'tis a fair assessment.
Though this also means that Tim Wakefield is one of the greatest pitchers that ever lived--as Joe Torre and his Yankees hitters of the time have routinely mentioned that Wakefield was/is their most hated pitcher to face.
You know what I base my high opinion of Nolan Ryan on? I base it on the opinions of the batters that faced him. Listen to the interviews. Who did you hate facing? See if his name doesn't come up.
Statistics lie.
...
Ryan is a product of his longetivity. I don't value that when evaluating a persons pitching ability. It just means he was average for a long time.
http://espn.go.com/dallas/mlb/story...exas-rangers-josh-hamilton-says-god-called-hrHamilton, who has been playing this postseason with a painful muscle pull or tear in his groin or maybe his abdomen, said divine intervention took over when he stepped to the plate in the 10th.
"He told me, 'You haven't hit one in a while, and this is the time you're going to,' " said Hamilton, who had gone 65 at-bats in the postseason without a home run. "You know what? I probably had the most relaxed, peaceful at-bat I've had of the whole series at that moment. It's pretty cool. You ought to try it sometime."
As Hamilton recalled the sequence of events in the Texas clubhouse after Game 6, he ruefully took note of the missing piece in the discussion: God promised him a four-bagger, but made no mention of the Rangers' bullpen collapse or Freese's game-tying triple in the ninth inning and game-winning homer in the 11th.
The conversation went something like this.
God: Josh?
Josh: Yes, God.
God: Josh, you are going to hit a home run in this at bat.
Josh: Thanks, God. Will it be the game winner?
Josh: God?
Josh: Are you there?
God: Hang on a second Josh, I'm having a word with David Freese.
Predictions? I'm terrible at this, but I believe most of the Hollywood-scripted fireworks happened last night. Tonight could be a tight contest that's decided in the later innings. If on short rest, Carpenter gets through the first 2 innings without damage, he'll settle in for 6 solid innings. No idea what Harrison's gonna do, but his defense won't be as bad as in game 3 or 6.
Cards have home field and all the momentum, plus Ron Washington doesn't have much left in the bullpen if Harrison doesn't pitch an absolute gem. I hate to perpetuate the notion Washington is more of a motivator than strategist, but last night he was just as culpable for the loss as Nelson Cruz's ill-fated "Buckner" moment.
I actually think Pujols is the X-factor, as strange as that sounds. He's completely overdue so the question becomes will he get to bat with a runner on 1st? If he gets a couple legit chances, I don't see him hitting long fly balls to the warning track as he's done a couple times in the series.
TLDR version: IMO Cards have a 55-45 edge but if you're a Rangers fan, I'm terrible at predictions.
Carp's throwing BP so far.IMO if Texas can post some runs early it might help clear out the cobwebs of last nights horror show, if they get behind early their gonna start pressing and ultimately losing..
RANGERS FIRST EVER ws win tonight.
noticed a lot of that in this series. I'm generally pro-tradition when it comes to baseball, but maybe cameras and a computer is superior.Worst umpire officiating tonight. This guy is so inconsistent.
And WTF happened to Rangers pitching????? It's like every pitcher has became retarded.
Worst umpire officiating tonight. This guy is so inconsistent.
Yep, looks like he's afraid to call anything against the home team.