With all the drama surrounding the Red Sox, some may have forgotten that there is still some baseball left in this season! The World Series starts tomorrow as the Texas Rangers will take on the St. Louis Cardinals. This is for those that want to watch the drama on the field instead of in the front office or the clubhouse but need a couple people to root for. Some are familiar faces, others will be in the headlines this offseason, and some are just good stories in general. Without further ado...
C.J. Wilson
The ace of the Rangers staff stands to make some serious cash as he appears to be the best free agent pitcher out in the market, depending on what CC Sabathia does on his option. He's had it rough in the postseason (8.04 ERA in 15 2/3 innings) but all will be forgotten if he comes out tomorrow and then again later in the series and shuts down the Cardinals. Hell, that's what catapulted Josh Beckett in 2003.
If there were ever a time for the Red Sox ownership to pull off a PR signing, Wilson is their guy. He lives a straight-edged lifestyle, meaning he's doesn't drink, smoke, or use any other drugs. This would all but assure that he wouldn't partake in any rally beers (maybe a rally ginger ale) and the ownership can promote this like Vince McMahon pushed CM Punk when his wife Linda was running for a spot in the Senate.
Adrian Beltre
Yes, it's a photo of him in a Red Sox uniform but this photo summarizes the 2010 season when he did everything to keep the team relevant when it was him batting cleanup with a majority of the lineup that should've been in Pawtucket. He was the odd Adrian out once the Sox acquired Adrian Gonzalez from the Padres and went to sign a five-year, $80 million deal with Texas. He continued the hot streak from last year and put together a statline of .296/32/105 RBI in 124 games. Absurd.
He also continued the hot streak in the playoffs and singlehandedly did something that his former club couldn't do, beat the Rays. In Game 4 of the ALDS, he hit three homers to finish off those damn Rays which cued many people to say "where can the Sox get guys like this?!". It'll be incredibly bittersweet if he manages to get a hold of one and hit a homer off of one knee. But the Sox made their bed... let's move on.
David Murphy:
Remember him?! He rose through the Red Sox farm system in 2006, starting his season in Portland and finished with a September call-up to the Red Sox.
Then the Red Sox packaged Murphy, Kason Gabbard, and Engel Beltre in a trade deadline deal for this guy. (I promised Nick I would never mention his name again.) Murphy has been the best player out of this deal, playing all three outfield positions and has come up huge in the playoffs, batting .412 in the ALCS. He's that scrappy player that would be beloved in this city... it's just a shame that we traded him for Eric Friggin Gagne. Oh crap.
For the Cardinals, check back on Teds Army later on today.
