Michael Young took a lot of heat through the first seven games of the postseason, and deservedly so.
Young, who showed in the regular season that he was more than capable of batting cleanup on a regular basis, was 2-for-15 in the ALDS and was 1-for-12 in the first three games of the ALCS with Texas winning two of them.
All of that, and Ron Washington stuck with his guy after numerous calls for Young to be dropped in the order with Nelson Cruz on the most ridiculous single-series stretch in postseason history.
In the last three games of the ALCS, it paid off, especially in the clinching Game 6.
In those three, Young went 6-for-16, including his 3-for-6 night on Saturday with two doubles, a homer and five RBIs.
In that game, Young gave Rangers fans reason to believe that he has finally rediscovered his stroke.
In the Rangers' explosive third inning, Young hit a two-run double down the left-field line. Then, later in the inning he drove an outside pitch down the right-field line for his second two-run double of the inning.
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Then, in the seventh inning he took Brad Penny deep to straightaway center to cap off his brilliant night.
In case you weren't counting, that's left-field line, right-field line and onto the grassy knoll in dead center.
That's what you call hitting, folks.
If Young can carry Saturday's success into the World Series, the Rangers lineup will be awfully tough on a St. Louis Cardinals pitching staff that is nothing special. And that's why Rangers fans should feel good about this series. The Cardinals are nothing like the buzzsaw of arms the Rangers ran into last season in the San Francisco Giants.
