For the first time ever, I went back and rewatched Game 6 of the 2010 ALCS in its entirety. I’ve seen highlights and watched stretches before this, but I’d never just sat down and watched it all. These are my running thoughts as I watched the game…
PREGAME
*Forgot that there was rain/rain delay. BJ Thomas, who ironically became famous for the song “Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head,” sang the anthem…while raindrops were falling on his head.
*Colby Lewis has a reputation of being a big game pitcher and it really started with this game. He had two prior playoff appearances and allowed 2 runs over 10.2 innings which is really good, but it was in this series that the reputation developed and in this game that it manifested. Coming back and delivering after the Game 1 disappointment and then this performance? Big time
*Cano was so good that year. He slashed .319/.381/.534 (.914) and hit lefties and righties. He had 4 HR in this series through 5 games but went 0/4 in Game 6…Josh also had 4 HR (through 4 games) and Josh walked 8 times in the series include 3 times in Game 6. Both studs were studs
*Andy Pettitte was waiting in the wings for game 7. No one ever wants to face that guy in the playoffs. Then again, the Rangers had Cliff Lee waiting…
*This was a very favorable pitching matchup. The Rangers had knocked around Phil Hughes in Game 2 (4.0 IP, 7R/10H).
*Craig Sager was one of the dugout reporters. Miss that guy.
*Gerry Davis, he of the Adrian Beltre on-deck circle ejection, was the crew chief for the series.
*I forget that Lance Berkman played for the Yankees that year. He got the start because Tex was injured.
*Can’t quantify this but you can tell there was that “never been there before” excitement from the fans.
GAME STARTS
*Colby’s breaking ball was nasty from the jump. As the broadcasters indicate, Colby always credited this improvement to his time in Japan.
*Jeter went 0-for-4 in Game 6 and wasn’t very good in the series after game 1.
*Despite 30 HR-125 RBI, A-Rod didn't have a great year by his standards w/ a .847 OPS. He was also really bad in the ALCS going 4-for-21. …Sidebar: A-Rod's stance & Correa's stance are so similar.
*Elvis isn’t as fast now, but he could really scoot back in 2010. Got out of the box really quickly on his double to leadoff B1.
*I forgot that Ian Kinsler hit 6th. Despite a way better OBP and OPB, he hit in a lower-leverage spot than Elvis who had a .643 OPS that year. Elvis’s speed really did make a difference in the playoffs and often times helped the Rangers strike early like in Game 1.
*When Josh was dialed in he was unreal. Even opposite field hits sounded different off of his bat.
*I always loved Vlad as an opponent and it was so cool that he got to play for the Rangers for that one year. Maybe I’ll do a blog on the guys who I couldn’t believe played for my favorite teams after admiring them from afar for years…
*The Rangers had so much athleticism with Elvis and Josh and Ian and even Nellie at that time in his career. It was such a staple of their success.
*Colby was getting swings and misses on 89-91.
*One of the things that made this lineup so dang good is that they didn’t strikeout…4th best/lowest K rate in MLB that year. Early on and throughout 2-strike hitting was such a strength.
*Lineup depth was huge…The Rangers, entering game 6, had 10 RBI from 7-9.
*They still forced you to throw 4 intentional balls and Hughes threw a wild pitch on his first one to Hamilton.
*Top of the 4th Cano hit a rocket to Kinsler who made a big time play to start a 4-6-3 double play. Not an easy play for Kinsler and if he doesn’t make it, Yanks are in big position to get on the board. You always wonder how the outcome of so many individual plays that could have easily gone the other way impacted things…
*Forgot Joe Girardi had braces back then
*I never understood why fans didn’t like Ian Kinsler just because he had a proclivity for popping up. He was so good and his athleticism was huge. Plus, despite making some bonehead errors, he made some really, really tough plays at second.
*Ron Darling mentioned that the Rangers had 9 SB versus the Yankees at that point in the series, which was already the most against the Yankees in a postseason series in their franchise’s storied history
*In the bottom of the 4th with Molina up and Kinsler on first, Hughes was clearly distracted by Kinsler. As a team, the Rangers had that type of impact with their aggression. It didn’t result in anything for the Rangers there but it did throughout the postseason.
*The first hit of the game for the Yanks was a double from A-Rod to begin the 5th. It was really impressive…the pitch was likely not a strike and A-Rod got it off the end of the bat but muscled it up the alley beyond the outfielders.
*The Yankees only run shouldn’t have scored (at least, not when it did). Lewis hit Swisher with a pitch and it got by Molina. None of the umps saw it and it stood as a wild pitch that scored A-Rod. It tied the game. Replay would have easily prevented that. Smoltz, commenting on the fact that replay was not available, said that it was his desire that you use replay for plays that involve a run. Not a bad idea…
*The bottom of the 5th started with a Mitch infield single. Likely doesn’t happy with a healthy Teixeira, who moves way better than Berkman did at first. The ball was hit to the right side and Berkman got caught in between…
*Rangers coming right back after the Yankees scored to retake the lead took the life out of the Yanks—at least, that was my memory when I watched the game live.
*The Rangers put on a ton of hit-and-runs and it was made possible by the impeccable bat control they had up and down the lineup. We can debate whether bunting as much as they did was prudent but they were great at making sure their outs were productive because of willingness to have “team at-bats” which is not something we really see a lot of these days.
*Let’s really dig in to this Vlad at-bat with how critical it was as the game played out. First off, a guy with 115 RBI in the regular season had just 1 in the postseason entering the game. With how hot Hamilton was, it might not have mattered, but I’m guessing it at least played some role in the Yankees lack of hesitation in walking Josh. Secondly, I was surprised they left Hughes in to face Vlad. Even Joe Girardi admitted with his in-game interview that Hughes was just surviving and with a rested pen, I thought he’d have gone to David Robertson. Maybe it wouldn’t have made a difference with what Robertson did but, I just remember thinking it in real time. Anyway, Vlad took the first pitch of the AB and it was called a ball even though it was clearly a strike. Brian Gorman, the home plate umpire, had a big strike zone and was consistent, for the most part, but he missed that one and it benefitted the Rangers. The next pitch was a hanging breaking ball that Vlad drove for the big two-run double. Had Gorman given Hughes the low strike as he should have, I wonder if Hughes would have felt the need to try and elevate the breaking ball just a bit, which might have resulted in him elevating it a bit too much. They didn’t show a replay focusing on Josh but I remember Ron Washington remarking how great of a first few steps Josh had on the bases and with a wet track due to the weather, I imagine his release off the bat was a big reason why he was able to get in there.
*I understand what Nellie will be remembered for most but over 2010 and 2011 that guy was so good at the plate…1.000+ OPS. It’s unfortunate about you-know-what because otherwise he’d have a legendary reputation for how unreal he was.
*The Rangers had over 30 2-strike hits that series and adding to the fact that they were tough outs all year, the Rangers hit .201 with 2 strikes that season, 3rd best in MLB.
*I forgot that Kerry Wood was a Yankee for the stretch run of that year…and he was really good for them, too. He was warming in that 5th inning and ultimately pitched later in the game.
*Colby breezed through the Yankees in the 6th and most importantly, didn’t allow Cano to bat with anyone on base, leaving him on-deck when Granderson made the 3rd out.
*The curveball Lewis threw to strike out Cano to begin the 7th inning was NASTY
*Towards the end of Young’s career it didn’t seem like teams respected his ability to turn on fastballs. Made the Yankees pay to begin the 7th.
*Robinson Cano in 2010 and Miguel Cabrera in 2011 made me scared. I knew how many hitters away they were at all times. That must have been how Yankees fans—and the team, for that matter—felt about Josh. They walked him thrice intentionally in Game 6 and he earned 5 intentional walks in the series which was an ALCS record.
*John Smoltz, who I think is an outstanding analyst, with a clairvoyant thought when describing Kerry Wood’s pitch selection to Ian Kinsler on Kinsler’s fly ball. He indicated the significance of a strikeout there and suggested that Wood go heavy on breaking balls and ignore the fastball. As we’ve seen over the last few years, pitchers, in general, have lowered their fastball usage in favor of more off-speed.
*Colby started the 8th by striking out Jorge Posada on an elevated fastball…at 90mph!
*What a way to end the night for Lewis…striking out the side in the 8th. What a badass.
*”50,000 seats here…none of them will be used in the 9th.” …pretty cool line from Ernie Johnson sending us to break before the 9th.
*”I imagine we’ll see 100 mph before the inning’s over.” -Smoltz on Feliz, back when it was still unique to throw 100 mph!
*Feliz always had a whole lotta dip tucked into that lower lip.
*No gimmes for the Rangers en route to the World Series. The Rays had the best record in the AL and the Yankees were…well, in addition to the defending champs, the Yankees…
*You know ability Feliz striking out A-Rod. Some cool symmetry there. Also cool that the guy the Rangers traded to get Feliz, Mark Teixeira, was on the other side.
*What a moment. I’ll remember it forever…
*After the game when Craig Sager interviewed Colby Lewis, Colby said that things clicked when his son, Cade, was born. Interesting how kids really do make a difference for athletes some time.