JML update, Playoff edition

Ian Kinsler and the Texas Rangers take on the Baltimore Orioles tonight in a one game showdown to see who advances to the AL Division Series. Not sure if Scott Feldman has made it to the 25-man roster for the post-season.

Kinsler has appeared in a total of 33 post-season games. Forgive me is I come across as a traditionalist, but I don’t like the relatively new concept of lumping all these things together. It used to be the PS was just the World Series. When the leagues were broken into two divisions in 1969, it was the Series and League Championship Series. Then it was three divisions and a wildcard, so you had the League Division Series. So then you see stuff like Manny Ramirez is the all-time PS home run leader with 29. Sure, he’s had almost 500 plate appearances. That’s about what he would have been expected to do in a full season. But Mickey Mantle hit 18 homers in just 273 plate appearances, pleasurably against better pitching, or at least against pitching he didn’t see over and over during the regular season, since there was no in-season interleague play back in his day.

Back to Kinsler: He has appeared in nine ALDS games, going 12-34 with four home runs and nine RBIs. In 12 ALCS games, Kinsler is 12-44 with no homers and nine RBIs. And in 12 World Series games, he’s 12-41 with no home runs and two RBIs.

Feldman appeared in nine games in the 2011 PS, all in relief, totaling 13.2 innings to the tune of a 3.29 ERA. He picked up the victory in Game for of the ALCS against the Tigers, pitching one inning of scoreless relief and benefiting from four Ranger runs in the top of the 11th. He also appeared in five World Series games against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Should the Rangers prevail, they would take on the NY Yankees.

 

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