There is at least one member of the Yankees' organization who can't bring himself to watch any of the postseason games since his team was knocked out. "I can't do it," he said. "It's the first time. Normally, I like to watch, but I've never been more sure of anything than us winning Game 5 [against Detroit], at home. I can't watch."
Most baseball folks do watch the postseason games after their teams are knocked out, however, with a close eye on the developing matchups. A reliever who is throwing the ball extremely well, such as Alexi Ogando, against a hitter who is locked in, such as Albert Pujols. A fielder who has suddenly developed the yips. An outfielder who is dragging because of an injury. A starting pitcher who is fading at the end of a long season.
I emailed some scouts and executives about what intrigues them in the Cardinals-Rangers series. Here are some of the responses:
From an AL evaluator: "I think this will be a tough matchup for the Texas pitchers, because the St. Louis hitters have better plate discipline than what the Tigers showed. They've got better strike zone knowledge, and the way Tony La Russa plays his left-right platoons will be a factor.
"The Cardinals will learn from how the Tigers made mistakes against Nelson Cruz. He's a mistake hitter, and kills everything on the inner half of the plate if you leave it there. You pitch him hard inside, but you have to get it in off the plate -- and then everything else is away; soft stuff away, hard stuff away. You can pitch to Cruz; I thought the Tigers did a bad job with him.
"The Rangers need to rough up Pujols. I don't mean to hit him up and in, but they have to get him to move his feet. He's locked in right now, and you need to get him to jackknife. He's hitting everything on the inner half of the plate, up and down, so you have to set up away. And he will chase pitches away -- breaking balls and sinkers. To me, you pitch him that way, and if you walk him, you live with it, because he is just swinging that well."
To read more from NL and AL evaluators on how they view the World Series matchup between St. Louis and Texas, sign up for ESPN Insider.
Buster Olney
ESPN Insider- Senior writer ESPN Magazine/ESPN.com
- Reporter for ESPN Sunday Night Baseball
- Author of "The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty"
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Buster Olney
Buster Olney is a senior writer at ESPN The Magazine. He began covering baseball in 1989, as the Nashville Banner's beat reporter assigned to the Triple-A Nashville Sounds. Later, he covered the San Diego Padres (1993-94), the Baltimore Orioles ('95-96), the New York Mets ('97) and the Yankees ('98-2001). Olney joined ESPN The Magazine in 2003, after six years at The New York Times, and he's the author of two books. "The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty," is a Times best-seller, and "How Lucky You Can Be", about basketball coaching legend Don Meyer, was released in 2011.
He grew up in central Vermont collecting baseball cards and listening to Red Sox, Expos, Phillies and Pirates radio broadcasts, and was a rabid fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He graduated from Vanderbilt University the same year as hoops legend Will Perdue, and ranks among the all-time leading scorers in pickup basketball at Memorial Gym. He claims to have witnessed the Commodores' winning football season in 1982 (although anthropologists have not yet confirmed this).
Olney also contributes to ESPN.com, ESPN Radio, ESPNEWS, "SportsCenter" and "Baseball Tonight."
Follow Buster on Twitter: @Buster_ESPN
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