Respect the pinstripes Winning the division was huge. Of course, it was their only real opportunity to make the playoffs, so it didn't really matter. But it does help that the Yankees failed to win their division, otherwise, all eyes would be on the Bronx.
The key, however, is maintaining that advantage. You can't go out and lose two at home thinking you can win two in New York. Rangers need to tighten things up at home.
Rangers altered their roster adding lefties Clay Rapada and Michael Kirkman to the bullpen and leaving Dustin Nippert and Esteban German off. Obviously, facing Curtis Granderson, Brett Gardner, Robinson Cano is an issue. And turning Mark Teixeira, Jorge Posada, Lance Berkman and Nick Swisher around to righties is important.
Odd that two more guys who weren't on the Major-League roster to begin the season may get important spots in the AL-freakin'-CS. Crazy!
Five keys for the Texas Rangers:
Antlers
Speed and baserunning put the Rangers into the ALCS. They must continue this. Especially against Jorge Posada, who threw out a paltry 15 percent of his base stealers. The Ranger could cause major havoc on the basepaths. If they can get on.
Ceej
He's huge. Due to the five games against Tampa, Cliff Lee is out until game No. 3. Wilson must set the pace in game 1 and then bring it all back for game 5, if needed. The key for Wilson is, as always, control. Wilson is sunk whenever he starts walking guys. He's great when he doesn't.
Josh Hamilton
Of all the guys that struggled in the opening round, they could continue to struggle and it'd be OK, but Hamilton needs to snap out of his funk. I think he needs a gigantic series or he needs to force pitchers to give him something to hit or force them to put him on base.
Confidence
This ain't the same Yankees of 1996. Nor is it the same Rangers of 1996. The two teams couldn't look more different. The Rangers know this, but I don't think the Yankees (or the media and fans) know this. They don't respect the Rangers and that's OK. It might bite them in the ass. Rangers have nothing to lose. And that's dangerous.
Luck
You always need it. It was prominent in the Tampa series and the Rangers will need a ton of it against the Yankees with three games in New York.
Prediction
Yankees in 7
Rangers got some mojo going. Give the Yanks all they can handle, but the Yanks are a bit too much. Too much experience. Too much Mariano. Too much Yankee Stadium. Too many rookies. Too much in that New York line-up. Simply too much. Again, I hope I'm wrong. Very wrong.
