Sorry Outraged Media, Nelson Cruz Didn't Cost the Rangers Game 6 and the World Series

Hyperbole has been in full effect since Thursday night.

A classic World Series game is being somewhat tarnished by some in the media who think Game Six's result was more a product of one defensive mistake rather than some key hitting.

Contrary to what a certain ESPN blowhard might think, Rangers' right fielder Nelson Cruz didn't cost Texas the game when he failed to catch David Freese's deep ball to right field that hit the wall.

Cruz did not pull a Bill Buckner, as Freese took the ball the other way, and his deep fly ball was far from routine.

Though many right fielders could make that catch, and even Ron Washington said that if Cruz had taken the easy route he would have made the catch, it is misguided to suggest Cruz cost the Rangers the series. He should not be the scapegoat for grabing a rather difficult long ball.

Had Cruz been playing deep, and Freese hit a bloop single, the fate of the game would have been nearly as bad as Albert Pujols, who was on second base, and Lance Berkman, who was on first, would have been running with two outs. Freese deserves credit for taking Neftali Feliz deep the other way, and shouldn't have his heroics undermined by media chastising a solid defensive right fielder for not handling a shot to the warning track.

In fact, Cruz suffered a groin strain on the play, and didn't take the field in the bottom of the 11th. Cruz, who has seven home runs in the postseason, has been a key reason the Rangers have come this far.

There was no error charged to Cruz on the play, yet Michael Young committed two errors in the game. There is no outrage to Young's defensive mistakes, simply because they didn't happen very late in the game. The Young errors that occurred in the fourth and sixth innings cost the Rangers two runs, and also helped take starter Colby Lewis out of the game before he could go six full innings.

Perhaps more finger-pointing should be directed at the Rangers' bullpen who conceded six running from the eight inning to the conclusion. The media emphasis should be Freese's triple and walk-off home run, and not Cruz's misjudgement.

Bill Buckner, on the other hand, let the ball go through his legs on a routine rolling ground ball. There is an enormous difference between the play Cruz had to deal with and Buckner's painful error.

It's time for some in the media to take their vitriol down a notch.