New York Yankees

The look on Nolan Ryan's face toward the end of the top half of the eight inning said it all. What was happening was shocking, unfathomable and frustrating. Couldn't any pitcher get a gosh darn out?

The occurrences of that inning were a reminder to the Texas Rangers, their fans and their gregarious owner and erstwhile pitcher of just what they were up against.

A gutsy, heads-up play by Brett Gardner set up a stunning five run eighth inning for the New York Yankees, who came back from four runs down to beat the Texas Rangers, 6-5, and take Game 1 of the ALCS last night in Arlington. Gardner beat Rangers' starting picther, C.J. Wilson, to the bag with a headfirst slide after pulling a groundball to first in the top of the eighth.

I am 100 percent confident that C.J. Wilson does NOT give up five runs in the eighth inning if Ron Washington is allowed to stay in. He allowed two runs on two hits in that inning, and was pulled in favor of Darren Oliver following a Derek Jeter RBI double.

But the Yankees would probably have only scored those two runs (or maybe just the one already in) had Texas manager Ron Washington avoided being like Bobby Cox and Bruce Bochy.

Here is the good news for Texas Rangers’ fans: At least closer Neftali Feliz is fresh for today's Game 2.

The League Championship Series are under way between the New York Yankees and Texas Rangers in the American League and the Philadelphia Phillies and San Francisco Giants in the National League.

It has become customary to see Latino players every year excel in a single moment or throughout a whole series.

The other day you might have noticed a post on the Yankees Chapter of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance that announced our vote for the winner of the Manager of the Year Award, or the Connie Mack Award. Today we are presenting the Rookie of the Year, or Willie Mays Award.

The Yankees lead the majors in come-from-behind wins this season, so it is natural that they rely on them in the postseason as well. In the ALDS they came from behind twice to beat the Twins, and last night they came back from a 5-0 deficit to beat the Rangers 6-5 while taking Game 1 of the ALCS.

Here are some highlights:

All eyes were in Arlington Friday night as the Yankees and Rangers kicked off Game 1 of the American League Championship Series.

The Yankees, who had almost a week of rest, sent their ace in CC Sabathia to square off against the Rangers lefty C.J. Wilson in Game 1.

The game quickly started in favor of the Rangers as Sabathia's control was off from the start of the first inning.

Elvis Andrus walked to lead off the game and Michael Young singled to set up first and third with no outs.

In the 1999 movie Unbreakable, the character played by Samuel L. Jackson explained that the incredible fragility of his bone structure, the reason he was derisively known as Mr. Glass, was directly tied to the fact that Bruce Willis' character was seemingly invincible.

Mr. Glass reasoned that if there's someone in the world who represents the extreme on one end, then the universe must have a person somewhere who represents the opposite end of the spectrum.

Lisa Swan and Jon Lewin write a blog called Subway Squwakers. Swan writes about the Yankees.

This writer heard of Swan from reading her work at DailyNews.com couple of years ago. He first read her work when she wrote so many insane entries about her hatred towards Joe Torre as a person and as a manager.