Bottom of the eighth. Rangers down, 3-1. Two on, two out. Ian Kinsler up. Count 1-2. He drives the ball into straightaway centerfield. It might be, it could be, it's . . . caught! Ryan Sweeney of the Athletics ran to the wall, jumped, reached over the fence, and snagged the ball that would have put the Rangers ahead. As a Ranger fan, I was crushed. As a baseball fan, I applauded. Every kid in Little League dreams of making a catch like that. Watch ESPN's SportsCenter or Baseball Tonight this evening and you'll see it.
Addendum: Betcha the Rangers win it in the bottom of the ninth.
Addendum 2: Oh. My. God. The Athletics scored a fourth run in the top of the ninth to take a 4-1 lead. With one out in the bottom of the ninth, Michael Young drove a ball off the leftfield scoreboard. Instead of stopping at second base, he tried to stretch it into a triple. He was thrown out by Matt Holliday. Brainlock. I expect that from Ian Kinsler, but not from Michael Young. Andruw Jones followed with a home run, which would have made it 4-3 with one out. Instead, it was 4-2 with two outs. Hank Blalock struck out to end the game. Sometimes the Rangers play like Little Leaguers. Maybe that's why they've won only one playoff game in their 37-year history.
Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D. 