The Texas Rangers lost the World Series. Alright, a lot of teams have lost the World Series. Actually, the same number of teams have lost the World Series as have won it.
Anyway, the Rangers though are different than most teams that have lost the World Series.
The way the 2011 Texas Rangers lost the World Series will haunt every member of this team until the day they die.
Game 6 will forever be a mental pain that time can't heal. The wounds will never close.
Anybody who has participated in sports had endured difficult losses. One can get past difficult losses. The Game 6 lost though will be impossible to get over.
I hate to play the blame game but Rangers Manager Ron Washington blew Game 6. Why in the world didn't he have Neftali Feliz pitch in the bottom of the 10th? Sure he gave up two runs in the bottom of the 9th but when Josh Hamilton belted a 2-run shot in the top of the 10th it gave Feliz a chance at redemption.
Feliz is 23 years old. He threw 22 pitches in the 9th. What, he's on a 20-pitch pitch count? He's tired with the World Series on the line?
I can't imagine what guys like Rollie Fingers, Bruce Sutter and Goose Gossage were thinking, guys who would rack up 2 and 3 inning saves.
If Joe Girardi did that with Mariano Rivera in the same situation, Girardi wouldn't have made it out of the stadium alive.
When I saw Darren Oliver on the mound to start the bottom of the 11th I couldn't believe it. I bet the Cardinals didn't believe it either. Ron Washington didn't give his team the best chance to win. Give St. Louis credit but Washington blew it.
Yes, the Rangers will never get over the Game 6 loss and the loss of the World Series in 7 games. Never. Haunted. Forever.
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I agree that Washington shouldn't have gone to Oliver, and that Feliz may have been the best choice. But given his wild World Series and the fact that Feliz had already blown a 2-run lead, going to another reliever was understandable. However, of the ones left in the 'pen, only Feldman was having a legitimately good series.
ReplyDeleteThat said, the players themselves are most to blame. 41 walks, a host of errors, and many blown chances are what cost Texas their first World Series. Remember, if Feliz had gotten one more strike in the 9th, we wouldn't even be discussing Washington's choice of relievers in the 10th. So while Washington deserves a share of the blame, remember that, win or lose, the players are the ones who must execute.