00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:03 And Joe, it's the day before the World Series
00:05 gets underway in Arlington.
00:07 The Rangers and the Diamondbacks.
00:09 Let's start with the series outright price
00:12 between these two teams, Geronario,
00:13 that haven't been here very often.
00:15 The Rangers' first appearance in the fall classic since 2011.
00:19 The second time Arizona has reached
00:21 this stage of a season in franchise history.
00:25 Their first since 2001.
00:28 The Rangers, a pretty hefty outright favorite at minus 174.
00:33 How big is the gap, Joe, do you think between these two teams,
00:36 Texas and Arizona?
00:39 Well, you know, it's funny, Ben, because if you
00:41 would have asked me that four months ago,
00:45 the answer would have been different, right?
00:46 But currently, and that's what makes baseball
00:50 so unique and so much fun, we're talking about what?
00:52 An 85-win team, 86-win team here in Arizona
00:56 that's about to play for a world championship.
00:59 So what they were three months ago, four months ago,
01:03 is irrelevant, because what they are right now
01:06 is one of the best teams, if not the best team,
01:09 left standing in Major League Baseball.
01:12 And it's how they're doing it.
01:13 It's amazing to me when you look at these two teams side
01:16 by side and how they got here.
01:18 And while the Rangers certainly have
01:21 been a model of inconsistency all year long,
01:24 the one thing they have been very consistent on
01:27 is winning games on the road, in the playoffs,
01:30 with their backs against the wall,
01:32 and not necessarily just hitting home runs,
01:35 which is what the Philadelphia Phillies thought they could do.
01:38 You got to be able to manufacture runs.
01:40 And quite honestly, guys, these are the two best baseball
01:44 teams that we have seen.
01:46 And ultimately, I think we ended up
01:48 with the two best baseball teams.
01:50 Forget about regular season.
01:52 These are the two best baseball teams left standing by far.
01:56 Yeah, and also, you take a look at the Diamondbacks coming
01:59 into the Phillies series.
02:00 And after you get up 2 to nothing for the Phillies,
02:02 it's like, oh, the little engine that could in the Diamondbacks
02:05 can't do it anymore.
02:05 We forget that.
02:06 They didn't lose a baseball game in the playoffs coming
02:09 into that Phillies series, then got home, won that third game.
02:11 It's like, OK, now we're in a legitimate series.
02:14 And they performed very well.
02:15 Looking for the series overall, if we take a look at the games,
02:18 four games for it to end at plus 580, five games at plus 275,
02:22 and obviously plus 205 for six and plus 205 for seven.
02:26 Are we expecting a long series here?
02:27 From my perspective here, I think
02:29 they're pretty evenly matched teams.
02:30 I would be surprised if it ends in five.
02:32 What are your thoughts here on the series lengthier, Joe?
02:35 Well, I love both these teams from the standpoint
02:38 is that they're kind of throwback teams.
02:40 They both play good defense.
02:42 They both can run the bases, steal bases.
02:45 They can pitch.
02:48 The bullpen edge I would give to Arizona, because who knew?
02:51 They were as good as they were here.
02:53 But you're right, Donnie.
02:55 The fact that both of these teams,
02:58 and while they may have a little more power on Texas's side,
03:01 Arizona has shown, yeah, they can hit the home
03:04 run as well as any time.
03:06 So I think this has got six, seven games.
03:09 I lean towards seven, because I really
03:12 do think both of these teams complement one another.
03:15 And I think it's going to be a zigzag situation.
03:18 One team's going to win one.
03:19 Next team, it's not going to be this home-road dichotomy
03:22 like we've seen from both, where we win games on the road.
03:25 We can't win at home.
03:26 I don't think that's going to be the situation here.
03:30 (upbeat music)
03:32 [BLANK_AUDIO]
Comments