McAdam: For Mitch Moreland and Ian Kinsler, World Series offers another chance

Most Red Sox fans need not be reminded of how perilously close the franchise came to winning the World Series in 1986. The team was one strike away from ending its decades-long championship drought at Shea Stadium before the New York Mets pulled off a most improbable rally, then won Game 7, too.

Ian Kinsler and Mitch Moreland, teammates with the Red Sox, were once teammates with the Texas Rangers, and they, too, experienced their own personal World Series nightmare.

The Rangers were also a strike away from beating the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 6 in the 2011 World Series before the Cards staged a comeback for the ages. And like the Red Sox in 1986, the Rangers lost their second chance in Game 7, too, leaving them scarred by the experience.

Now, fully seven years later, Kinsler and Moreland have another chance at winning a ring and they're intent on letting their younger teammates know this opportunity doesn't come along every year.

But on a more basic level, they're also trying to help guide them through what can be a pressure-packed time of year.

"I really don't have to say too much,'' said Moreland, "even if they ask, because of what we've already gone through (this month), as far as the ALDS against the Yankees, then beating the defending World Series champs, the Astros. That's preparation in itself right there.

"At the same time, my experience (tells me), 'Don't take any of it for granted -- be ready for any situation. It's still the same game and keep doing what we've done all year.' That's seemed to work so far. (We just need to) figure out a way to slow down those big moments and have fun with it.''

But, at the same time, Moreland knows better than most how fleeting the moment can be and can convey a sense of urgency to some teammates.

"Believe it or not, it's been brought up to me from teammates a couple of times throughout the season,'' said Moreland. "Last year, in a meeting, I said something about it. I said, 'Look, you've got play all 27 outs, we've got to take of our business.' And that's it. These teams (we're playing) are great. We're the only two teams left, so they're going to be leaving it all on the line, too, so we've got to play our best ball, too.''

The two veteran infielders are happy to offer any necessary advice, but Kinsler, for one, doesn't believe its needed.

"I hope they don't need to know the urgency of all this,'' said Kinsler, "and I hope they don't ask me about that (year), because I don't want to talk about it. No, I'm just joking. But when there's a question about the World Series or a question about the experience, we answer it and we have a conversation about it.

"But other than that, these guys know what they're in for, they know what they're doing here. They're extremely motivated and they understand the energy of it. Other than that, I' preparing for a World Series, just like they are. If there are questions about the past, then absolutely, we have a conversation about it.  But that's the past, that's behind us.

"Could there be some experiences that I learned from, that I could share? For sure, there are. But at the end of the day, we're trying to beat the Dodgers and that's what we're focused on.''

Still, you don't go through that kind of close loss on the game's biggest stage and not have it linger. And Kinsler isn't afraid to admit that 2011 Series still stings.

"Yeah, it will forever,'' said Kinsler. "It's a World Series where we a strike away from winning. It will sting forever. But I don't think that has any relationship to this one. Every time you make it a World Series, you think this could possibly be your last. It's very difficult to get to. So, I don't really relate to another. Even when we went back-to-back in Texas (2010 and 2011), it's just different.

And now, not even the presence of infielder David Freese -- the 2011 World Series MVP, now a member of the Dodgers -- spooks Moreland.

"No, because it's not the Cardinals. It's Red Sox vs. the Dodgers,'' said Moreland, chuckling a bit. "Obviously, what he was able to do that year was tough for us and a big accomplishment for him. But this is a whole different setting, so we're going to go out and do our thing.''