Rangers Headed to World Series for First Time  —  ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Their Texas-sized wait is over.  The Rangers are going to the World Series.  —  And they got there with a win over their old nemesis, the defending champion New York Yankees.  —  Vladimir Guerrero drove in three runs …

Sources: Mets wanted experienced GM candidates  —  The Mets, in selecting Sandy Alderson and Josh Byrnes as the finalists for their vacant general manager's position, determined that they needed an experienced candidate as opposed to a first-time GM, major-league sources said.

Multiple sources: Farrell offered Blue Jays' manager's job  —  ARLINGTON, Texas — Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell has been offered the job and needs only to come to agreement on a contract to become the manager of the Toronto Blue Jays, multiple industry sources said.

October's heroes: Twenty-five who have stepped up in the playoffs … Several players have enhanced their reps this October, though none more so than the top two guys on this list — the unheralded Cody Ross and the much-heralded Cliff Lee.  Ross has done what no one expected …

Don't even try to predict NLCS outcome  —  Phillies Roy Halladay and Jayson Werth with Ken Rosenthal after Game 5.  —  Ken Rosenthal has been the senior baseball writer for FOXSports.com since Aug. 2005.  He appears weekly on MLB on FOX.  Follow him on Twitter.  —  SAN FRANCISCO

When the Yankees Lose, So Do You  —  Early Exits in the Postseason's Last Two Rounds Have Led to More Spending—and Poaching  —  For the better part of two decades, most baseball fans in North America have spent the month of October aligning in a league of contempt against the New York Yankees …

Bruised Berkman ready to go for Yankees  —  Tweet  —  ARLINGTON, Texas — Other than a bruised ego and a sore bottom, Lance Berkman is ready to go tonight in Game 6 of the AL Championship Series.  —  After taking a hard spill on the Yankee Stadium warning track during Game 5 …

Let's not call the whole (BABiP) thing off  —  I like potahto...  From the mailbag at Bill James' subscriber-only site:  —  Hey, Bill: You wrote “Please stop saying ‘BABIP’; it's just laziness.”  Is saying “ERA,” RBI," “WAR,” and so on any different?  If so, why?  —  Bill: “WAR” is laziness, yes.

The Long Walk From Chicago  —  After a Meteoric Rise and a Painful Fall, Yankees Reliever Kerry Wood Is Writing His Own Ending  —  ARLINGTON, Texas—The pivotal moment of Kerry Wood's career didn't happen at Wrigley Field.  And it won't happen at Rangers Ballpark this weekend.

White Sox fan sues for backward tattoo  —  CHICAGO — Chicago White Sox fan Gina Bebis wanted to use part of her body as an homage to her favorite team, but the tattoo turned out to be as disappointing as what happened on the field for the South Siders.  —  On June 5, just before the Sox went …