2023 World Series: Rangers vs Diamondbacks

[Sir Ulrich 5187]

Rangers are back for the first time in 12 years and Dbacks first since 2001. Should be a good series with a lot of young talent on both sides mixed with some seasoned vets. 

Game 1 Friday at 7:03 in Arlington. 

Full schedule:

[BehoId, The Underminer! 11669]

that 2001 series is probably my favorite of all time.

[Scraps 13560]

Rangers in 4 

 

[gofuckyourself 8205]

[Guest]

The Amarillo Sod Poodles won the Texas League(AA) for the Diamondbacks organization, and that was fun. Otherwise, I have zero interest or draw to  their team.   I like it that they fought and clawed their way up the tough side of the bracket to win the NL pennant.  Fuck Philly.

Texas has a great Red Raider alum  in Josh Jung.  They also don't really have any douchebags, as opposed to 3-4-5 years ago.  Bochy commands respect and deserves admiration for his body of work.  This season has been a great turnaround. I really don't have a problem with Adolis Garcia, and when you make plays- license granted to show out a little.  His Game 6 & 7 in the ALCS were great answers to the controversy. I thought the bullshit around Maldy and home plate earlier this season was worse than anything in the playoffs, tenfold.  I still like him. Lots of other Rangers are easy to pull for.

I won't be directly rooting for the Rangers, but  I will have positives with either team.  I'm just gonna enjoy this World Series.  It should be a great one!

[Newdoc 3439]

39 minutes ago, Scraps said:

Rangers in 4 

 

If they approach the ‘at bats’ like stros Game 7, this would be possible. My concern is that these Rangers despite having a great offense can be streaky. Especially if the bullpen forgets they have arms.

[Gucci_Suit 2642]

I’m nervous af. Go Rangers. 

[BehoId, The Underminer! 11669]

i can't say i know much about the d backs, but can say that the few times i've seen their pen, it looks tough.

[Sgt Hulk 13713]

I’ve waited my entire life to see a rangers title. I still have visions of 2011 in my head. 2010 was horribad. I need game 6-7 rangers to stay hot 

[Rockethorn1978 6072]

I got rangers in 6 but the WS is weird and I thought we were gonna smoke the nationals and lost. Pitching on paper is even, pitching in the postseason is leaning rangers so if they keep up the pitching way over their heads or what they normally do rangers should win. The lineup is a no doubter edge for the rangers. If AZ wins they will have to win a couple of games with scores like 9-7 or 8-6. 

[Vic Mackey 47012]

11 minutes ago, Sgt Hulk said:

I’ve waited my entire life to see a rangers title. I still have visions of 2011 in my head. 2010 was horribad. I need game 6-7 rangers to stay hot 

I was kind of content with 2010. The magical ride was fun. Striking out A-Rod at the Ballpark to get to our first ever WS. Our bats went cold all series against SF.

2011 was the complete opposite, though. WS was an expectation, not a wishful goal. The rollercoaster of game 6 was unlike anything I've experienced in my sports history. Go up 3 in the later innings, David Freese in the 9th after one strike away. But then follow that back up to go up 2 runs from Josh Hamilton.  HE completely erased the Freese-Cruz play. Then blow it again very next half inning and lose in the 11th. Being one strike away twice. I was drunk as hell for the end of that game. I think I sat on the nasty ass bar floor in disbelief when it ended. 

This year would erase that for me and I would forever be happy. Mavs got their redemption in 2011 from the 2006 meltdown. Need the Rangers to do the same.

[gofuckyourself 8205]

8 minutes ago, Rockethorn1978 said:

I got rangers in 6 but the WS is weird and I thought we were gonna smoke the nationals and lost. Pitching on paper is even, pitching in the postseason is leaning rangers so if they keep up the pitching way over their heads or what they normally do rangers should win. The lineup is a no doubter edge for the rangers. If AZ wins they will have to win a couple of games with scores like 9-7 or 8-6. 

I'd actually put Arizona pitching ahead. Despite the results of basically every series, I still don't trust the Rangers bullpen. Long term trauma is hard to erase.

Dbacks bullpen is similar to the Rangers in that they've suddenly looked good to great. But theirs got better and has stayed better for longer.

If the Rangers bats stay hot though, absolutely. They objectively have much more firepower than the DBacks.

 

[idigTexas 2284]

45 minutes ago, slorch said:

The Amarillo Sod Poodles won the Texas League(AA) for the Diamondbacks organization, and that was fun. Otherwise, I have zero interest or draw to  their team.   I like it that they fought and clawed their way up the tough side of the bracket to win the NL pennant.  Fuck Philly.

Texas has a great Red Raider alum  in Josh Jung.  They also don't really have any douchebags, as opposed to 3-4-5 years ago.  Bochy commands respect and deserves admiration for his body of work.  This season has been a great turnaround. I really don't have a problem with Adolis Garcia, and when you make plays- license granted to show out a little.  His Game 6 & 7 in the ALCS were great answers to the controversy. I thought the bullshit around Maldy and home plate earlier this season was worse than anything in the playoffs, tenfold.  I still like him. Lots of other Rangers are easy to pull for.

I won't be directly rooting for the Rangers, but  I will have positives with either team.  I'm just gonna enjoy this World Series.  It should be a great one!

Someone tell slorch his account has been hacked.

[WBT 20561]

Dbacks in 6.  Just a feeling.

I'm happy for Strom for getting back so quickly.

[Vic Mackey 47012]

8 minutes ago, gofuckyourself said:

I'd actually put Arizona pitching ahead. Despite the results of basically every series, I still don't trust the Rangers bullpen. Long term trauma is hard to erase.

Dbacks bullpen is similar to the Rangers in that they've suddenly looked good to great. But theirs got better and has stayed better for longer.

If the Rangers bats stay hot though, absolutely. They objectively have much more firepower than the DBacks.

 

The streakiness of the team worries me as it reared its ugly head against Houston. Offense took a dip for the 3 games at home and almost blew the series but they came back alive to close the series out. But I have counted out Texas too many times so might as well just enjoy the ride now and trust Bochy can get 4 more wins out this group. Finally a WS where we have the manager advantage. Garcia these playoffs is like Cruz was in 2011, especially how both of them performed in the ALCS. First series these playoffs as the home team. Going back to the last week of the season, this team has only played 4 home games in a month. 1-3 in those. Although Houston just owns us at home. Can't be road warriors this series, going to need to grind out some home wins.

[Trey3216 15345]

31 minutes ago, Vic Mackey said:

I was kind of content with 2010. The magical ride was fun. Striking out A-Rod at the Ballpark to get to our first ever WS. Our bats went cold all series against SF.

2011 was the complete opposite, though. WS was an expectation, not a wishful goal. The rollercoaster of game 6 was unlike anything I've experienced in my sports history. Go up 3 in the later innings, David Freese in the 9th after one strike away. But then follow that back up to go up 2 runs from Josh Hamilton.  HE completely erased the Freese-Cruz play. Then blow it again very next half inning and lose in the 11th. Being one strike away twice. I was drunk as hell for the end of that game. I think I sat on the nasty ass bar floor in disbelief when it ended. 

This year would erase that for me and I would forever be happy. Mavs got their redemption in 2011 from the 2006 meltdown. Need the Rangers to do the same.

In '11, I had drank a few beers during Game 6, but not hammered.  I got so sick to my stomach after watching it all unfold that I walked out into my front yard and threw up like 5 times.  Literally made me sick.  

[C-Man 27187]

I'm not sure what to think. It's weird that we're now the favorite in a series after being the underdog for the first three. The D-Backs won 84 games this year but dusted the Brewers 2-0, the Dodgers 3-0 and then outlasted the Phillies in seven. They have the only true ace in this Series with Zac Gallen but he got roughed up twice by the Phillies. Full disclosure: these will be the first D-Backs I've really watched all season. Their starting pitching season starts are not very good once you get past Gallen and Merrill Kelly -- but you could also argue that we're a 2-starter team now as well. Arizona's regular-season relief stats aren't that great either. As far as the lineup goes, Corbin Carroll is a stud -- and just a rookie. He's more than lived up to his preseason hype, probably surpassing that. Ketel Marte had a big bounceback year and Christian Walker can rake at times. Beyond that, their lineup and position players are basically a mystery to me.

It really is amazing how much your thinking can change in three weeks. We don't clinch a playoff spot until the second-to-last day, blow the division and stare up at Tampa, Baltimore and the Astros in the AL. That's not even mentioning the Braves or Dodgers from the NL. But here we are -- facing an 84-win team on the other side. Yes, we're probalby a season or two ahead of schedule. But we have to win this Series because you never know when you'll get back.

[gofuckyourself 8205]

Toss out the regular season stats.

DBacks bullpen is pitching like one of the best in baseball at the moment.

If nothing else because they made one of the best deadline moves in getting Sewald. Rangers needed a move like that.

Here's his postseason stats so far:

8 IP
3 Hits
1 Walk
0 ER
BAA is .111
WHIP .5

Only hope is he's hit 2 batters.

So he hits Adolis and engages Hulk smash mode.

Another gameplan is to go up 8 runs every game. The Rangers don't want to see the best of their bullpen late.

[Vic Mackey 47012]

22 minutes ago, Trey3216 said:

In '11, I had drank a few beers during Game 6, but not hammered.  I got so sick to my stomach after watching it all unfold that I walked out into my front yard and threw up like 5 times.  Literally made me sick.  

Yep it was a disaster. Josh Hamilton should have had a statue built for that 2 run HR in the top 10th but we blew that, too. And Game 7 was a foregone conclusion. I honestly don't remember much about that game except we scored 2 in the top 1st but then proceeded to give it right back in bottom 1st. I knew right there we were done. Don't think we scored another run all night. And we never won another playoff series since that year until this year. This is why I really hope we can take advantage this year. You just never knew how many more you will get. We got home field. Not facing one of the big dogs like the Braves/Dodgers or even a power heavy lineup like Philly. Don't have to go to Philly at night this late year in the year. But Zona swept very good teams in Milwaukee and LAD. Battled and came back from 2-0 and 3-2 against Philly. Absolutely can't discount them.

[Frank The Tank 1496]

10 minutes ago, C-Man said:

Yes, we're probalby a season or two ahead of schedule. But we have to win this Series because you never know when you'll get back.

This. In 2010 if felt just good to be there, and we expected to go back. 2011 we made it back and didn’t close out, but going back again didn’t seem off the table. We never did. I don’t care that it’s earlier than expected, we’re here. Get the job done now. Nothing in the future is guaranteed. 

[Pato del Muerto 52485]

Dbacks may only have 84 wins in the regular season, but iirc they were good early and good late, and had around a 4-6 week stretch of losing almost every game that dragged their season total down. 
 

similar to the rangers’ 4-16 stretch but longer I believe. 
 

rangers were streaky outside of that as well, no clue if Arizona was the same. 

[Skipper 6127]

55 minutes ago, Vic Mackey said:

The streakiness of the team worries me as it reared its ugly head against Houston. 

This.  Absolutely nothing in this series would surprise.  Beginning post ASB I've never seen anything like the highs and lows in a compressed period.  The way the ALCS played out was a perfect encapsulation of it.  I've been saying this team has been playing with house money since the start of the postseason considering how we ended the regular season so hoping we can just ride it out to a title.

[C-Man 27187]

I do think we've taken the tougher road to the WS. The Dodgers' rotation was pretty much a shell of itself by the time the D-Backs got them. I think all three teams the Rangers beat are on par -- if not better -- than Philly and certainly the Brewers. Of course it don't mean shit if you don't win this one.

[ztejas 43411]

9 minutes ago, Skipper said:

Absolutely nothing in this series would surprise. 

I would be shocked if the Rangers don't take at least 2 games. 

FanDuel has most likely outcome, in order:

Rangers in 6, +390

Rangers in 7, +410

Rangers in 5, +520 

DBacks in 7, +570

Dbacks in 6, +630

Dbacks in 5, +760

Rangers in 4, +880

DBacks in 4, +1500

 

Edited October 25, 2023 by ztejas

[Skipper 6127]

44 minutes ago, Trey3216 said:

In '11, I had drank a few beers during Game 6, but not hammered.  I got so sick to my stomach after watching it all unfold that I walked out into my front yard and threw up like 5 times.  Literally made me sick.  

We were at a bar in uptown with a big group, all of us young and pre-kids. Someone ordered victory shots for the table that literally showed up when it got to 2 strikes on the Nelson Cruz misplay.  It's forever referenced among anyone at that table anytime someone attempts to celebrate too early.  Just sickening.  And that was obviously the worst but walking out of Globe LIfe last Friday after the Altuve HR was a clear 2nd for most baseball sports sick I've ever been.  Still can't believe those guys were able to shake that off and win 2 more.   Because like others have said, I don't think that '11 team had a chance in game 7 after the night before.

[Beau Vine 54207]

1 hour ago, gofuckyourself said:

Dbacks bullpen is similar to the Rangers in that they've suddenly looked good to great. But theirs got better and has stayed better for longer.

It's funny that the Snakes' pen was such absolute dogshit earlier this year that it was their #1 priority at the trading deadline.  

 

[Pato del Muerto 52485]

4 minutes ago, Skipper said:

Still can't believe those guys were able to shake that off and win 2 more

I think the day off was crucial in getting right mentally. ‘11 didn’t have that.  Same applies to the time between Seattle and tampa. 

Edited October 25, 2023 by Pato del Muerto

[C-Man 27187]

8 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

Dbacks may only have 84 wins in the regular season, but iirc they were good early and good late, and had around a 4-6 week stretch of losing almost every game that dragged their season total down. 
 

similar to the rangers’ 4-16 stretch but longer I believe. 
 

rangers were streaky outside of that as well, no clue if Arizona was the same. 

Except for the 4-16 stretch, the Rangers were very consistently good -- one of the best three or four teams in baseball.

I recall Arizona challenging the Dodgers early so went and looked it up. The D-Backs were 52-39 in the first half, 32-39 in the second half. They're almost evenly-split H/A with 43 wins at home and 41 on the road. Arizona's high-water mark was on July 1st when they won to get to 50-34 and held a 3-game division lead. From 7/2 through 8/11, the D-Backs went  7-25 and found themselves two games under .500 (cue that argument again) at 57-59, 12.5 games back. The next day, Arizona began a stretch where it went 27-15 before dropping the final four games of the regular season. Like the Rangers, Arizona clinched a playoff spot on the second-to-last day of the season.

[orange dream 1246]

Born the year before the Senators moved to Arlington. Was a card-carrying ( tube sock wearing ) member of the "Jim Sundberg Dr. Pepper Junior Rangers" club.

Was at the ALCS clincher in 2010 to see Nefti leave A-Rod looking and the celebration that followed. Glorious.  After the TX-USC game, that was my lifetime sports highlight.  The WS that year was disappointing but the year was already a success in my book.  The 2011 WS, on the other hand, was ours for the taking.  As that game moved into the 9th I woke my kids up (then aged 11 and 9) so they could experience this momentous event with a plan to head straight to Academy to get WS Champs gear.  You all know what happened, eventually my 9 year old said, "why are you making me watch this"?  If I have had a lower moment as a fan, it could only have been Colt's injury, but that was a little softened by the fact that the Horns had won it all only 4 years earlier. 

All that to say, LFG Rangers!!!!! Win the whole thing. 

Edited October 25, 2023 by orange dream

[BehoId, The Underminer! 11669]

re: nothing is guaranteed.  remember that we started the season with that ridiculous 40-20 record.*  We played under .500 ball the rest of the way. this is absolutely ahead of schedule.  we can be a much improved team next year and still not beat this year's win total if we don't get that sort of unexplainable rocket boost out of the gate we had this year.

 

 

* (twenty games over .500, wink).

[C-Man 27187]

3 minutes ago, orange dream said:

Born the year before the Senators moved to Arlington. Was a card-carrying ( tube sock wearing ) member of the "Jim Sundberg Dr. Pepper Junior Rangers" club.

Was at the ALCS clincher in 2010 to see Nefti leave A-Rod looking and the celebration that followed. Glorious.  After the TX-USC game, that was my lifetime sports highlight.  The WS that year was disappointing but the year was already a success in my book.  The 2011 WS, on the other hand, was ours for the taking.  As that game moved into the 9th I woke my kids up (then aged 11 and 9) so they could experience this momentous event with a plan to head straight to Academy to get WS Champs gear.  You all know what happened, eventually my 9 year old said, "why are you making me watch this"?  If I have had a lower moment as a fan, it could only have been Colt's injury, but that was a little softened by the fact that the Horns had won it all only 4 years earlier. 

All that to say, LFG Rangers!!!!! Win the whole thing. 

Yeah, I was there in 2010 for the A-Rod punchout as well. That was an amazing night. Went to the one WS games we won that year against SF with my old man. Very cool experience. I went to a couple ALCS games the following year and caught Derek Holland's gem in person in the WS. Was at a buddy's watching Game 6 when that went down. Couldn't believe it. He's a fellow HUGE Spurs fan too and I was at his house in 2013 when Ray Allen made that 3-pointer to beat the Spurs in Game 6. We vowed to never watch a potential series-clinching Game 6 together again -- and we've kept that promise.

[The Dog 44019]

[BehoId, The Underminer! 11669]

13 minutes ago, C-Man said:

I … caught Derek Holland's gem in person in the WS.

Napoli?

[Gucci_Suit 2642]

‘11 loss had me legit sports depressed until Case herped and derped through the aggy secondary and dave south had to call a walk off Justin Tucker field goal. And then I was able to smile and mentally/emotionally deal with game 6. 

[Vic Mackey 47012]

22 minutes ago, C-Man said:

Yeah, I was there in 2010 for the A-Rod punchout as well. That was an amazing night. Went to the one WS games we won that year against SF with my old man. Very cool experience. I went to a couple ALCS games the following year and caught Derek Holland's gem in person in the WS. Was at a buddy's watching Game 6 when that went down. Couldn't believe it. He's a fellow HUGE Spurs fan too and I was at his house in 2013 when Ray Allen made that 3-pointer to beat the Spurs in Game 6. We vowed to never watch a potential series-clinching Game 6 together again -- and we've kept that promise.

I was at every series for the 2011 run. Game 2 against Tampa when we absolutely had to have that game after dropping game 1 in a 5 game series and at home. Napoli had a huge HR that night. Was at game 1 for ALCS. 2 separate rain delays and they were lucky to finish it. As we were driving to Applebees after, the sky fell out and huge rain the rest of the night. Sucky drive back from Arlington to Dallas. Then went to game 6 of the ALCS where we smoked a young Scherzer in the 3rd inning to the tune of 9 runs. Was amazing to see the Rangers win the ALCS in person and had great seats. This was months after seeing the Mavs win the West at the AAC and seeing them win games 4 and 5 in the Finals all in person. Was a great months of sports in the DFW. Then went to see the Game 4 Holland game where he dropped his nuts all over the Cardinals. Was supposed to go to game 5 the next night but was fired that day and not really in the mood. Game 5 was a crazy finish as well. Not like Game 6 but that was a huge win after falling down 2-1. 

[Rockethorn1978 6072]

1 hour ago, gofuckyourself said:

Toss out the regular season stats.

DBacks bullpen is pitching like one of the best in baseball at the moment.

If nothing else because they made one of the best deadline moves in getting Sewald. Rangers needed a move like that.

Here's his postseason stats so far:

8 IP
3 Hits
1 Walk
0 ER
BAA is .111
WHIP .5

Only hope is he's hit 2 batters.

So he hits Adolis and engages Hulk smash mode.

Another gameplan is to go up 8 runs every game. The Rangers don't want to see the best of their bullpen late.

Semien could have big series. Our mvp last year in the alcs and ws was pena so guys you never think will step up. The only hope az has is to win a game or two where they out score the rangers and I’m not sure they can do that.

[TrashMaster G 17547]

1 hour ago, ztejas said:

I would be shocked if the Rangers don't take at least 2 games. 

FanDuel has most likely outcome, in order:

Rangers in 6, +390

Rangers in 7, +410

Rangers in 5, +520 

DBacks in 7, +570

Dbacks in 6, +630

Dbacks in 5, +760

Rangers in 4, +880

DBacks in 4, +1500

 

I say Rangers in 3! 

[Steamboat1874 4049]

This is the match up Fox dreaded the most.

Nothing against the Rangers or Arizona but the ratings will be half as much as they would have been if it was Philly versus Texas.

[Pato del Muerto 52485]

Nobody cares that nobody cares

[Frank The Tank 1496]

11 minutes ago, Rockethorn1978 said:

The only hope az has is to win a game or two where they out score the rangers and I’m not sure they can do that.

In order to win the game, they would have to score more runs than us. 

[HRSchenker 2268]

I've always heard this phrase but never believed it until 2011. It's never the best team that wins in baseball. The winner is the team that goes out to the field and plays the best that day. There's no doubt in my mind that the 2011 Texas Rangers were the best Rangers team to ever play. The level of talent from top to bottom should be the envy of every franchise. But all we had to do was play the best in 4 games and we only did it for 3. This year feels different. We have incredible talent AND we're playing pretty well on the field too. But I tell you what, Arizona is saying the same thing. They weren't supposed to sweep Milwaukee in the wild card series but they did. They really weren't supposed to sweep the Dodgers but they did. They definitely weren't supposed to force a game 7 in Philly and win but they did. Everyone loves the David v Goliath story but no one ever mentioned that you'd have to face off against David after doing the impossible. But I think the same could be said about the Rangers. The division was ours to lose and we lost it. We barely played .500 baseball in the final 2 months of the season and that included an 8 game losing streak. There's a reason why we haven't been favored in any series until now. 

I think Rangers in 6 or 7 is the most likely outcome. I want Rangers in 4 even though I'm a season ticket holder that would love to see us win it all in person. Just win baby.

[gsoda3 3245]

this is the therapy thread? 

 

my oldest was 8 months old.  we were a strike away and i was holding him in between feedings, marvelling that i'd had to wait decades to see the mavs and rangers win a championship but now my son was going to "see" them win one each within the first year of his life.  that didn't work out.  

 

i have 4 now and no dallas teams have won a championship since.  you better believe i'll wake them up to watch us pitch that last strike.  

[Rockethorn1978 6072]

9 minutes ago, Frank The Tank said:

In order to win the game, they would have to score more runs than us. 

Yea like 9-7 or 8-6 games like I said in a previous post. Something they don’t do often.

[idigTexas 2284]

9 minutes ago, Frank The Tank said:

In order to win the game, they would have to score more runs than us. 

We need to make sure Bochy knows this.  It could very well be the key to the Series.    

[Frank The Tank 1496]

Thread bump to keep this at the top as a reminder that the Texas Rangers are in the World Series and some other teams frequently discussed on this board are…not. 

[shadow_operative2.0 15948]

Gallen v. Eovaldi official for Friday night. 

[Hornlover 8829]

Posted in the Rangers thread, but I'll cross post here. Zac Gallen pitched against the Rangers twice this year. Won 1, Lost 1

 

[tbone_ 14110]

The Rangers spring train in Surprise, AZ. Suburb of Phoenix. Not sure what that has to do with anything.

[shadow_operative 15932]

 

 

 

[shadow_operative2.0 15948]

mlb.com’s position-by-position breakdown