(SportsRadio 610) - Baseball in the Lone Star State will never get better than this – the Astros playing the hated Rangers in the ALCS to determine which team reaches the World Series.
Houston vs. Arlington.
Houston vs. the Metroplex.
Houston vs. Baja Oklahoma.
Dusty Baker vs. Bruce Bochy, two managers destined for the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame.
Baseball fans in Texans are frothing at the mouth because they've never witnessed an I-45 series with so much at stake. The trash talking among fans and media began as soon as their teams secured their place in this ALCS.
"We want Houston!" is already a familiar refrain in the Metroplex – as it was last season in New York and Philadelphia and this season in Minneapolis.
Those fans better be careful what they wish for.
After defeating the Twins in four games, the Astros are playing in a seventh consecutive ALCS. No other American League team has accomplished that feat. Only one team in baseball history – the Braves in the 1990s -- has played in more. Atlanta reached the NLCS eight consecutive years but won only one World Series.
The Astros, of course, need to eliminate the Rangers to make a fifth World Series in seven seasons and have an opportunity to win a third one. They're trying to become the first team since the Yankees in 2000 to repeat as champions.
If they play with the dominance of their last three series, the Astros have a good chance to achieve that goal. When desperate times required desperate measures, the Astros got serious about the season.
Since flipping the switch on a must-win road trip to Seattle and Arizona, where they secured the AL West title with five victories in six games, they bypassed the Wild Card Series before eliminating the Twins in four games in the ALDS. That conquest of Minnesota included back-to-back victories at Target Field, where their road mastery continued.
Once again, the Astros have home-field advantage, but that might not be a good thing if they continue to wallow in mediocrity at Minute Maid Park. They were 39-42 at home this season and they split the first two games with the Twins. Now they need to flip another switch and make Minute Maid Park a house of horrors for the Rangers.
The Astros and Rangers finished 90-72. The Astros won the division because they dominated the season series 9-4. Both teams have been red hot on their path to the ALCS.
The Rangers have more lives than a cat. They were left for dead after losing three of four in their last series of the season at Seattle. They blew the division title when they let the Mariners beat them in the last game even though Seattle had nothing to play for.
Forced to travel across the country to Tampa for an AL Wild Card Series, the Rangers were given last rites against the Rays, who won 99 games. What happened? The Rangers were resurrected, sweeping both games in Tampa and heading up the East Coast for Baltimore, where the 101-win Orioles were the best team in the American League. Then they swept the O's, winning two in Baltimore and one in Arlington to await the Astros' fate against the Twins.
Bochy won three World Series at San Francisco, and the Rangers talked him out of retirement. It was the smartest move in team history. He's done an outstanding job of not allowing his team to collapse after its late-season swoon that could have destroyed the collective confidence. Bochy has his players believing they can beat the Astros and win their first World Series.
The Rangers have great hitting, terrific starting pitching and a bullpen that's improved in the postseason after being historically bad over the last part of the season.
Like Bochy, Baker has done a tremendous job of getting the Astros in this position. He's been making all the right moves, and almost all of his players are responding in a positive manner.
Justin Verlander – Mr. F-Bomb -- starts the first game on Sunday. Framber Valdez, who's been a disappointment in his last three starts, tries to rebound in Monday's second game. Next season, Baker might as well put Cristian Javier on the shelf and dust him off for postseason because that's his time of the year.
Jose Urquidy deserves a tip of the cap for his six shutout innings at Arizona and his victory in the ALDS-clinching game on Wednesday.
Like the Rangers, the Astros are loaded with excellent hitting led by Yordan Alvarez and Jose Abreu, a new version of the Bash Brothers. What sets these teams apart is relief pitching.
The Astros' bullpen was the best in baseball last season and is again this season. Baker would love to get six or seven innings from starters like Verlander, Valdez and Javier, but he'll settle for five and have no reservations calling on his bullpen to finish the job.
Yes, this is a Lone Star State baseball series for the ages. Whether it goes four, five, six or seven games, the Astros and Rangers have made Texas a baseball state.
Temporarily, of course.
John McClain can be heard Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday on Sports Radio 610 and Monday, Thursday and Sunday on Texans Radio, also on Sports Radio 610. He writes five columns a week and does three Houtopia Football Podcasts for SportsRadio610.com.
