Las sombras de Polo Grounds persiguen al peque\u00c3\u00b1o centerfielder de los Gigantes de Nueva York que corre como un velocista de 100 metros. Lo \u00c3\u00banico que se ve es el 24 burbujeando en la zona de seguridad, Willie Mays estir\u00c3\u00b3 el guante y la pelota aterriz\u00c3\u00b3 en la malla, parec\u00c3\u00ada estar leyendo un libro. Gir\u00c3\u00b3 y lanz\u00c3\u00b3 al cuadro en medio de su caida, a un lado flotaba la gorra.<\/p>\n
\u00c2\u00a0Los Rangers siempre ten\u00c3\u00adan jugadores impactantes como Jeff Burroughs, Bump Wills, Toby Harrah, Tom Gieve, Jim Sundberg, Pete Incaviglia, Buddy Bell, Bert Blyleven, Ferguson Jenkins, Jon Matlack, David Clyde, Cesar Tovar, Iv\u00c3\u00a1n Rodr\u00c3\u00adguez, Julio Franco y tantos m\u00c3\u00a1s. Managers como Whitey Herzog o Billy Martin. Sin embargo siempre estaban detr\u00c3\u00a1s de los Mellizos de Minnesota, los Atl\u00c3\u00a9ticos de Oakland o los Reales de Kansas City.<\/p>\n
\u00c2\u00a0 Siempre le preguntaba a mis hermanos y a los entendidos por qu\u00c3\u00a9 aquellos Gigantes de Mays, Willie McCovey, Juan Marichal, Orlando Cepeda, Mateo y Felipe Alou, Gaylord Perry, Jim Ray Hart y pare de contar nunca pudieron ganar una Serie Mundial. Ellos sospechaban que esos equipos adolec\u00c3\u00adan de la qu\u00c3\u00admica suficiente en el dugout para complementar las condiciones atl\u00c3\u00a9ticas de cada uno. Ese argumento me parec\u00c3\u00ada incompleto porque Bill Rigney (1958-1960), Alvin Dark (1961-1964) y Herman Franks (1965-1968) siempre dejaron marcas por encima de .500. Rigney llev\u00c3\u00b3 a los Mellizos al t\u00c3\u00adtulo divisional del oeste en la Liga Americana en 1970. Dark alcanz\u00c3\u00b3 la Serie Mundial con los Atl\u00c3\u00a9ticos en 1974 adem\u00c3\u00a1s del bander\u00c3\u00adn de la Liga Nacional que logr\u00c3\u00b3 con los Gigantes en 1962. Franks termin\u00c3\u00b3 en segundo lugar de la Liga Nacional entre 1965 y 1968, la \u00c3\u00banica vez que no gan\u00c3\u00b3 m\u00c3\u00a1s de 90 juegos, lleg\u00c3\u00b3 a 88. Me inclin\u00c3\u00b3 m\u00c3\u00a1s a pensar que si los Gigantes ten\u00c3\u00adan tremendo equipo, los Dodgers de los Angeles y los Cardenales de San Luis se fajaban con ellos y los venc\u00c3\u00adan en la raya.<\/p>\n
\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Lo m\u00c3\u00a1s cercano que los Rangers estuvieron de una Serie Mundial fue en las series divisionales de 1996, 1998 y 1999. En la primera estuvieron cerca de sorprender a los Yanquis de Nueva York, a pesar de que terminaron perdiendo tres juegos a uno. En las otras dos fueron barridos por los Mulos de Manhattan.<\/p>\n
\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0A\u00c3\u00ban resuena en los oidos de quienes lo escucharon y en los ojos de quienes lo le\u00c3\u00admos, la l\u00c3\u00adnea de McCovey que encendi\u00c3\u00b3 por fracciones de segundo al Candlestick Park, s\u00c3\u00b3lo para tornarse en un mar de cabezas precipitadas cuando la esf\u00c3\u00a9rica se intern\u00c3\u00b3 en el guante de Bobby Richardson; Mateo Alou paraliz\u00c3\u00b3 su carrera antes de llegar al \u00e2\u20ac\u0153home\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, Mays dio media vuelta en segunda y se quit\u00c3\u00b3 la gorra. Esa fue la vez que los Gigantes estuvieron m\u00c3\u00a1s cerca de saborear la Serie Mundial desde que se mudaron a San Francisco. En 1989 fueron barridos por los Atl\u00c3\u00a9ticos y en 2002 volvieron a perder en el s\u00c3\u00a9ptimo desaf\u00c3\u00ado frente a los Angelinos de Anaheim.<\/p>\n
\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Will Clark, aquel inicialista de excelsa defensiva y muy respetable con el madero, es el \u00c3\u00banico pelotero en jugar al menos 600 juegos con los Gigantes y los Rangers. Fue a la Serie Mundial de 1989 con el uniforme negrianaranjado y a las series divisionales con los colores texanos.<\/p>\n
\u00c2\u00a0Darryl Hamilton fue un jardinero que gan\u00c3\u00b3 la divisi\u00c3\u00b3n oeste de la Liga Americana con Texas en 1996 y la divisi\u00c3\u00b3n oeste de la Liga Nacional con San Francisco en 1997, en ambas ocasiones se qued\u00c3\u00b3 en el camino del Cl\u00c3\u00a1sico de Octubre.<\/p>\n
\u00c2\u00a0Omar Vizquel gan\u00c3\u00b3 guantes de oro con los Gigantes en 2005 y 2006 y asesor\u00c3\u00b3 a Elvis Andrus sobre la manera de jugar la posici\u00c3\u00b3n mientras era suplente del cuadro de los Rangers en \u00c2\u00a02009.<\/p>\n
\u00c2\u00a0Desde que Cleveland venci\u00c3\u00b3 a Brooklyn en 1920 s\u00c3\u00b3lo en tres Series Mundiales los equipos participantes no hab\u00c3\u00adan ganado el torneo en las ciudades donde jugaban. En 1980 cuando Filadelfia venci\u00c3\u00b3 a Kansas City. En 1992 cuando Toronto derrot\u00c3\u00b3 a Atlante y en 2002 cuando los Angelinos le ganaron a los Gigantes.<\/p>\n
\u00c2\u00a0Las \u00c3\u00banicas dos franquicias que han pasado m\u00c3\u00a1s tiempo sin ganar la Serie Mundial son los Cachorros de Chicago (1908) y los Indios de Cleveland (1948).<\/p>\n
\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0De seguro ser\u00c3\u00a1 una Serie de grandes alternativas que pudiera arrancar con un enfrentamiento entre Cliff Lee y Tim Lincecum lo cual dibujar\u00c3\u00ada sobre el diamante la posibilidad de un enconado duelo de lanzadores. Ignoramos si habr\u00c3\u00a1 alguna jugada similar a la de Mays. De lo que si estamos seguros es de que se desarrollar\u00c3\u00a1 una jugada que determinar\u00c3\u00a1 cual equipo ganar\u00c3\u00a1, como aquella de Mays en el octavo inning del primer juego de la Serie de 1954, el juego estaba 2-2 y as\u00c3\u00ad se fue a extraining hasta que ganaron los Gigantes. Despu\u00c3\u00a9s los inquilinos de Polo Grounds barrieron a los Indios.<\/p>\n
\u00c2\u00a0Alfonso L. Tusa C.<\/p>\n
English translation<\/p>\n
The shadows of Polo Grounds chase the New York Giants little center fielder who runs as a one hundred meters sprinter. The only thing that can be seen is the number 24 bubbling in the warning track. Willie Mays stretched his glove out and the baseball landed in its web. He seemed to be reading a book. Mays spun and threw the ball to the infield while falling down. His cap floated by the side.<\/p>\n
\u00c2\u00a0 The Texas Rangers always had magnificent players as Jeff Burroughs, Bump Wills, Toby Harrah, Tom Grieve, Jim Sundberg, Pete Incaviglia, Buddy Bell, Bert Blyleven, Ferguson Jenkins, Jon Matlack, David Clyde, Cesar Tovar, Iv\u00c3\u00a1n Rodr\u00c3\u00adguez, Julio Franco and many more. Managers as Whitey Herzog or Billy Martin. But they always finished behind the Minnesota Twins, the Oakland A\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s or the Kansas City Royals.<\/p>\n
\u00c2\u00a0I always asked my brothers and the baseball experts why those Giants of Mays, Willie McCovey, Juan Marichal, Orlando Cepeda, Mateo and Felipe Alou, Gaylord Perry, Jim Ray Hart and many others, could never win the World Series. They suspected that those teams lacked of the enough chemistry in the dugout to complement the athletical conditions of each one. That explanation seemed wrong to me, because Bill Rigney (1958-1960), Alvin Dark (1961-1964) and Herman Franks (1965-1968) always had records above the .500 winning average. Rigney led the Minnesota Twins to the title of the West Division of the American League in 1970. Dark reached the World Series with the Oakland A\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s in 1974, besides winning the National League pennant with the 1962 Giants. Franks finished in second place of the National League between 1965 and 1968. The only time he didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t win at least 90 games, he got 88. My opinion is that the Giants had a great team, but the Los Angeles Dodgers and the St. Louis Cardinals kept hustling with them and got the pennant on the finish line.<\/p>\n
\u00c2\u00a0 The closest the Rangers arrived to be in a World Series were those divisional series of the American League in 1996,1998 and 1999. In the first one they were near of upsetting the New York Yankees, but at the end lost 3 games to one. The Rangers were swept in the other two ALDS.<\/p>\n
\u00c2\u00a0 It still sounds in the ears of who listened it and in the eyes of who read it. The line drive of McCovey that lightened the Candlestick Park for milliseconds, just to turn on a sea of fallen faces when the baseball went inside the Bobby Richardson\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s glove. Matty Alou stopped his dash before arriving home. Mays moved back to second base and took off his cap. That was the time when the Giants were the closest of winning the World Series since they moved to San Francisco. In 1989 they were swept by the Oakland A\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s and in 2002 they lost before the Anaheim Angels in the seventh game.<\/p>\n
\u00c2\u00a0Will Clark, that first baseman of great defense and respectable batting, is the only player who played at least 600 games for both the Giants and the Rangers. He played in the 1989 Series with the black and orange jersey and in the ALDS of 1996,1998 and 1999 with the Texan uniform.<\/p>\n
\u00c2\u00a0Darryl Hamilton was an outfielder who won the West Division of the American League with the Texas Rangers in 1996 and the West Division of the National League with the San Francisco Giants in 1997.<\/p>\n
\u00c2\u00a0Omar Vizquel won two Gold Glove awards with the Giants in 2005 and 2006 and tutored Elvis Andrus about how to play the short stop position while he was the infield utility for the Rangers in 2009.<\/p>\n
\u00c2\u00a0Since Cleveland defeated Brooklyn in 1920 there have only been three World Series where the teams hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t won the title in their current cities: In 1980 when Philadelphia beat Kansas City. In 1992 when Toronto defeated Atlanta and in 2002 when the Angels beat the Giants.<\/p>\n
\u00c2\u00a0The only two franchises with a larger winingless World Series period are the Chicago Cubs (1908) and the Cleveland Indians (1948).<\/p>\n
\u00c2\u00a0This, for sure, will be a great Series that could begin with an intense pitching duel between Cliff Lee and Tim Lincecum. I ignore if there will be some play like that of Willie Mays. What I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t hesitate to think about is it will develop a play that will determine which team will win, like that of Mays in the eighth inning of the first game of the 1954 World Series. That game was tied 2-2 and that way went to extrainning until the Giants won the game. Afterwards they swept the Indians.<\/p>\n
\u00c2\u00a0Alfonso L. Tusa C.<\/p>\n
Alfonso\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s work has been featured in Venezuela\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s daily newspaper, El Nacional and in the magazine Gente en Ambiente, and he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s collaborated on several articles for newspapers, including the daily paper Tal Cual. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also written three books and biographies for SABR\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s BioProject.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Las sombras de Polo Grounds persiguen al peque\u00c3\u00b1o centerfielder de los Gigantes de Nueva York que corre como un velocista de 100 metros. Lo \u00c3\u00banico que se ve es el 24 burbujeando en la zona de seguridad, Willie Mays estir\u00c3\u00b3 el guante y la pelota aterriz\u00c3\u00b3 en la malla, parec\u00c3\u00ada estar leyendo un libro. Gir\u00c3\u00b3 y lanz\u00c3\u00b3 al cuadro en medio de su caida, a un lado flotaba la gorra.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[7358,2482,9782,11897,4398,4387,1183,11896,11899,11894,11895,2179,11898,9783,4716,11893,719,1826,56,1054],"class_list":["post-8846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-alvin-dark","tag-bert-blyleven","tag-cardenales-de-san-luis","tag-felipe-alou","tag-ferguson-jenkins","tag-gaylord-perry","tag-ivan-rodriguez","tag-jeff-burroughs","tag-jim-ray","tag-jim-sundberg","tag-jon-matlack","tag-juan-marichal","tag-julio-franco","tag-los-cardenales","tag-los-mellizos","tag-pete-incaviglia","tag-polo-grounds","tag-whitey-herzog","tag-willie-mays","tag-willie-mccovey"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8846","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/75"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8846"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8846\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}