With only a few weeks left in the 2009-2010 baseball season, only 4 teams remain with hopes still alive at taking hope the World Series trophy. The American League Championship series begins tonight, pitting the defending champion New York Yankees against the upstart Texas Rangers, fresh off their first postseason series win in franchise history. The Yankees are led by some of the same familiar faces who propelled their dynasty throughout the late 90′s, including Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada and Andy Pettite. Adding some thump to the heart of the order is the Rangers onetime highest paid player Alex Rodriguez, still one of the most feared hitters in the league. Texas is led by midseason acquisition ace Cliff Lee, bolstered by a battalion of bats, namely Ian Kinsler and Nelson Cruz, two of the best batting and base stealing combo threats in baseball when healthy.On the NL side of the Championship Series divide, the Phillies and Giants square off in an intriguing matchup of all-star pitching staffs. Tomorrow night’s game pits arguably to the two premiere pitchers in the world against one another in Roy Halladay and Tim Lincecum. Halladay is coming off only the second no-hitter in post season history, while Lincecum last posted a 2-hit, shutout effort of his own. Following Halladay in the rotation is seasoned vet Roy Oswalt, whose arm seems to have fallen into the fountain of youth in the offseason. Number 3 man Cole Hamels could easily headline a host of other rotations in the Majors. Lincecum is backed up by young gunners Matt Cain and Madison Baumgarner. Cain is an All-Star in his own right at just 26, while Baumgarner is finishing off a fine season after a mid-season call up, starting the NLDS clinching game against the Braves earlier in the week. The 21 year old has pitched with the poise of a veteran early in his career, sporting just a 2.90 cumulative ERA.The Yankees and Rangers will meet on the 15^th, 16^th, 18^th and 19^th, with additional games on the 20^th, 22^nd and 23^rd if necessary. The Phillies and Giants are scheduled for the 16^th, 17^th, 19^th and 20^th, with additional games on the 21^st, 23^rd and 24^th if necessary.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 15th, 2010 at 5:08 pm and is filed under Baseball. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.