There's a Bush playing for the Rangers?

I suppose I realized intellectually that Dave Bush was a pitcher for the Rangers. But I found it to be odd when I saw the Rangers pitcher with the name "Bush" on his back.

I guess a generation ago, I would have assumed it was nepotism.
It's odd that he isn't #43.

Nice to see you Mr. President. Thanks for building a stadium without a roof in Texas!

The Rangers won the series against the Angels and still have a 7 game lead in the AL West.

Call me crazy, but I am standing by "Wake me when it is Labor Day and the Rangers are in first place" stance when it comes to Texas.

The heat is going to be murder and the Angels essentially swapped out Joe Saunders and his mediocre numbers for Dan Haren and his potential All Star numbers.

Don't count out the Angels yet.

They'll make the Rangers sweat... as if they won't be sweating enough as it is.

Nice to see you Mr. President. Thanks for building a stadium without a roof in Texas!

The Rangers won the series against the Angels and still have a 7 game lead in the AL West.

Call me crazy, but I am standing by "Wake me when it is Labor Day and the Rangers are in first place" stance when it comes to Texas.

The heat is going to be murder and the Angels essentially swapped out Joe Saunders and his mediocre numbers for Dan Haren and his potential All Star numbers.

Don't count out the Angels yet.

They'll make the Rangers sweat... as if they won't be sweating enough as it is.

Girardi's quandry

Man I am glad I am not Joe Girardi today.

It looks like we’re going to have thundershowers in New York today and the chances of the game being played are thinner than that airbrushed picture of Filippa Hamilton.

So if the series is to resume on Sunday, what the hell should Girardi do?

Should he go for the jugular and start C. C. Sabathia on 3 days rest?

Should he start Andy Pettitte on his regular rest and have Sabathia ready to go in either Game 7 of the ALCS or Game 1 of the World Series?

Jeez when I write them both out like that, they both make a lot of sense.

The Angels’ confidence is running high right now going into New York. They have a new lease on life… and the two guys who are credited with lightening up the Yankee clubhouse (Nick Swisher and A. J. Burnett) are wearing goat horns.

But the Angels haven’t figured out Sabathia… who is 2-0 with a 1.12 ERA in the ALCS and has an awesome WHIP and strikeout to walk ratio… and is a stud.

It would all but certainly put an end to the series.

It would pull the rug out of any momentum and erase any relevance of the two Angels losses.

Remember how the A’s and the Mariners extended their 2000 series against the Yankees with big wins? Remember how the Indians pushed the Yankees in 1998? Or the Red Sox played the Yankees tough in 1999?

OF COURSE YOU DON’T! The Yankees went on to win the World Series those years… and the Angels grittiness would be thrown into the pile of forgotten playoff series.

Sabathia would be the exclamation point. Plus he is capable of throwing 8 or 9 innings, thus making sure the suddenly ineffective Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain don’t have to come into a big game.

But then again…

Wouldn’t that be a desperation move?

The YANKEES are in the lead, not the Angels. The Yankees are throwing Andy Pettitte and save for a Vlad Guerrero homer in Game 3, he pitched well.

And what if… and bear with me on this… the Angels BEAT Sabathia in Game 6? It’s possible. Sabathia lost 8 times this season.

He was dreadful in the post season prior to this year.

There could be a pitchers duel… or a battle of the bullpens.

So let’s say the Angels win a Game 6 started by Sabathia. They would have insane confidence going into Game 7… the Yankees would be pressing and the Game 7 pitching match up of John Lackey vs. Andy Pettitte would favor Los Angeles… or California… or Anaheim… or Los Angeles of Anaheim.

And isn’t this over managing exactly what has Girardi in the crosshairs of the fan base’s ire?

And if Sabathia DOES win Game 6 on Sunday, he would not be ready to throw in the World Series until Game 2… and he’d only have 2 starts. Which means the Yankees would be forced to start either Chad Guadin or the artist formerly known as Joba Chamberlain.

Can you imagine how Girardi would be crucified if Chad Gaudin is forced to pitch a critical Game 4 of the World Series?

But then again… how will he be slaughtered if he DOESN’T start Sabathia and he’s blamed for letting the Angels stay alive…

What I am saying is, I’m glad I’m not him.

But his job is to make decisions… and as George W. Bush said “My job is a job to make decisions. I'm a decision.. if the job description were, what do you do.. it's decision maker.”

Use those pearls of wisdom when you make your decision Joe.

The Bush years were kind to Red Sox fans

Barack Obama is taking the oath of office in a matter of hours.
It is a time for renewal, hope for some, resignation for others but undeniably a time for great change.

As a Red Sox fan, let's hope two things remain from the Bush years:

1. Great luck for the Red Sox.
2. Rotten luck for the Yankees.

Massachusetts clearly isn't Bush country. He never came close to winning Massachusetts. And being from Massachusetts is such poison in the Republican Party that Mitt Romney had to distance himself from the Bay State and talk like he was a Michigan boy.

And yet an unprecedented amount of joy happened to Red Sox Nation and uncharacteristic failures befell upon the Yankee Empire that took some (if not all) of the sting of the last 8 years.

In Bush's 8 years:

- The Red Sox won Two World Series.
- The Yankees won no World Series.

That should be enough... but it gets better.

- The Red Sox would be the first team to ever come back from a 3-0 hole in a best of 7 series.
- The team that blew the 3-0 hole to the Red Sox was the Yankees.
- The Yankees would out bid the Red Sox for Alex Rodriguez... only to see A-Rod become a Hindenberg-esque flop in four straight post seasons.

Then there is the Angels factor.

- The Red Sox would win 2 Division Series against the Angels on walk off hits... one a homer by David Ortiz and the other a single by Jed Lowrie.
- The Angels would stun the Yankees twice in the Division Series... first in 2002 and then in 2005.

Then the Mariano Factor

- Mariano Rivera would blow two series where he was three outs from clinching.
- One of those series was the 2004 ALCS against the Red Sox.

Then the pick ups.

- In the Bush years, the Red Sox picked up two World Series MVPs (Manny Ramirez and Mike Lowell) two ALCS MVPs (David Ortiz and Josh Beckett), a classic Yankee killer (Curt Schilling) and an idiot in his prime (Johnny Damon.)
- In the Bush years the Yankees picked up a slew of post season flop artists (A-Rod, Jason Giambi, Kevin Brown, Javier Vasquez, Randy Johnson) and an idiot in decline (Johnny Damon.

More?

- The Red Sox won a best of 5 series where they were down 0-2 with three heart stopping games against the A's.
- The Yankees lost to a badly outmanned Tigers team.
- The Red Sox won another series when they were down 3-1, this time to an Indians team where they had to beat the eventual Cy Young winner on the road.
- The Yankees lost a best of 5 series because their star reliever got covered in bugs.
- The Red Sox won a game when they were down 7-0 and facing elimination.
- The Yankees missed the playoffs with a $200 million payroll.


So do well, President Obama.
Guide this country through troubled waters.

But that karma from the Bush years concerning the Red Sox?
Don't change THAT, OK?

Now go take that Oath of Office!