Is the Rangers/Yankees Series a Fall Preview?
With the New York Yankees visiting Arlington to take on the Texas Rangers, many are wondering if this is perhaps the matchup we will see in October. That possibility is highly likely. It could be argued that these two teams are the best in the American League, although a case could be made for other teams.
The Rangers have been the biggest surprise of at least the American League and perhaps in all of baseball. They have the largest lead over their division of any division leaders and appear to be well on their way of winning their first division title in 11 years. They are a young, talented team with enough veterans to make a run at the franchise’s first championship.
For the Yankees, it’s business as usual as they lead their division, albeit not by a whole lot, but they are in the toughest division in baseball and appear to be the best team. It’s hard to argue against that considering they are the defending world champions and have the best record in baseball despite being in the AL East.
The Rangers do have teams in their division that don’t provide the same kind of competition the Yankees division rivals offer. The Rangers are enjoying an MVP calibre season from Josh Hamilton, they are seeing Vladimir Guerrero prove he’s still a valuable DH and are getting some great pitching from the likes of Cliff Lee, Rich Harden, C.J Wilson, Colby Lewis and Tommy Hunter. The pitching rotation looks like one that’s capable of carrying the Rangers through October.
What would help the Rangers as well is the fact that because their lead is so big, they’ll have a chance to clinch their division much earlier than any other team might and would be able to rest some starters prior to the playoffs.
The Yankees have the best starting six in their batting rotation with Nick Swisher, Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez, Robinson Cano and Jorge Posada. Those six at the top of the line-up are tough for anybody to handle. It’s probably the best starting six that money can buy. Their pitching staff isn’t so bad either with C.C Sabathia, Andy Pettitte, A.J Burnett (at times), Javier Vasquez and of course, perhaps the best closer of all time in Mariano Riviera.
Both teams are stacked with talent. The only difference is, the Rangers are the new kids on the block, while the Yankees have been around the block for what seems like an eternity. The Yankees have faced the Rangers in all three of the team’s playoff appearances and have beaten them every time, in 1996, 1998 and 1999. All three times, the Yankees went on to win the World Series. That included two sweeps in the division series.
So many are now wondering if this year will provide a similar result, either in the division series, or the league championship series. The Yankees will again be the favourites, due to the history of these franchises and the fact that the Yankees are in familiar territory.
This has been a dream season for the Rangers. While the franchise narrowly escaped bankruptcy with hall-of-famer Nolan Ryan buying the team, the team on the field will probably finish the year, having had their best season ever. Fans around Texas would certainly like to see some success translate into some playoff wins as well though.
It’s still early to tell if these two teams will be the last ones standing in the American League, but it sure is fun to explore that possibility. Many will likely be rooting against the hated Yankees and it would be an entertaining series to see.
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