2-1

Thoughts while watching Game 3 of the World Series:

— I have a friend who always complains that TV networks pepper their coverage of major sporting events in Texas with very stereotypically Texan images. So far tonight, they've shown a rodeo and a longhorn rubbing its neck against a tree. There are rodeos in DFW, of course. And there are longhorns. But for better or worse, the place is mostly suburban now. You could show a bar or restaurant every now and again. Or maybe the arts district. I'll monitor this the rest of the night.

— Tim McCarver just suggested a runner should have tried to score on a ground ball, when that attempt would have been one of the dumbest base-running moves in recent memory. This is just to say that the world is much as we left it: Tim McCarver is a moronic gasbag.

— Joe Buck, in the bottom of the 6th: "Colby Lewis is doing what Rangers fans have come to expect." If you had asked me for the meaning of this sentence before this year, I would have gotten it very wrong.

— Darren Oliver is getting warm in the Rangers bullpen. In the mid-'90s, when I was regularly going to games in Texas, Oliver was a starting pitcher in his mid-20s. Since then, he has had a thoroughly mediocre — and sometimes worse — career. He's now 40, and the last three seasons have arguably been his best. I'm telling you: when the nuclear winter comes, the only things to survive will be cockroaches and left-handed pitchers.

— It's really the whole Fox team that stinks. If you said I had to spend the next five years in a bunker with my choice of McCarver, Joe Buck or Ken Rosenthal, I would likely ask you if there was a cyanide-pill option.

— Jeremy Affeldt is pitching for the Giants. Only 31 years old, he's still a great Exhibit B in the left-hander argument. He came up as a promising prospect with the Royals in 2002. He had a very good year in 2009 for San Francisco, but in any other profession, we wouldn't have been around long enough to have that very good year.

— Those necklaces so many players wear these days look ridiculous. This site says they're titanium necklaces, and is pretty candid about how they "work": "Baseball players report better control, less pain, and more stamina from wearing this special neckwear and bracelet designed in Japan. Aqua Titanium has been popular among Japanese baseball players for years, and even though there is some scientific debate as to its effectiveness, players can't do without them. Given that baseball is a sport surrounded by superstition . . . it doesn't matter whether the Phiten Titanium Necklace can make you better on the field, considering Yogi Berra's immortal quote on how much of the game is mental. Make sure to order your titanium necklace before next year's baseball season..."

— Cody Ross is a great story, having been picked up by the Giants late in the year, when no one else wanted him, and becoming their best hitter in the playoffs. He also seems to have quickly become a jerk about it. He's had the body language tonight of Kevin Garnett. Humble thyself, dude.

— Rangers closer Neftali Feliz is pretty electric, stupid necklace or no. Unlike some people I could name, at least he doesn't have an asinine beard. Looks like this could be a series yet.

— They close the broadcast with an aerial view of Six Flags, which is right next to the ballpark. Don't know if that's better than the rodeo or not.