Six months plus one day in the making...

The last time I was in Rangers Ballpark in Arlington was October 5, 2012.  It looked like this:

Wild card playoff game vs. the Baltimore Orioles

Yu Darvish was on the mound and the crowd was energized.  I had my Ranger red shirt on, the Rangers baseball cap, hell...I was even wearing Texas Rangers eye-black sticker things.  Unfortunately, things did not go as planned and by 11 o'clock that night I was counting down the days until Opening Day.

Six months and one day later I was back baby!  April 6th, yesterday, my first game at the ballpark of the newly minted 2013 season.  There is just something very exciting about a young baseball season; so many possibilities and if your team is even remotely good, chances are that your expectations are through the roof.  Not to mention that I was going through massive withdrawal.  I was seriously watching the World Baseball Classic with the same fervor as the 2010 World Series.  Kidding.  Obviously, I was not.  But, I was into it.  I've never cared about David Wright so much in my life.

Back to the subject at hand:  the absolute awesomeness of opening weekend at RBiA.  Even driving up was awesome:

Not my truck.  In fact, I think my Civic could fit in this guy's truck.

If you can get around the chaos of trying to remember which lanes are turn lanes (so you can get into the parking lot to the left easier) and the dumb drivers (obviously everyone but us), then you can really get hyped up in this spot:

Move Mini Cooper, you're killing the vibe.

Even getting to our seats was fun; the Rangers "Legends" banners, a new club-type area, and new food offerings (Homeplate Butcher Block is home of the Beltre Buster, RBiA's latest heart attack on a plate) are always good to see.

Why isn't that table in my house?

Now normally, I live in the 320 sections.  There are only a few bad seats in this park, like right in that triangle area near the right field fair pole (you can't see crap) or the seats just above the green scoreboard in left field (it's hotter than hell right there...NO shade whatsoever).  The 320 sections are a great value; about $25 a seat and a nice view.  325 is right behind home plate.  But, on this day, we chose to sit a better seat.  Section 40 was awesome:

We caught the tail end of BP.

The only down side to this seat was that if a ball was hit down the line near the wall, we couldn't see if it was fair or foul, same for anything hit in the air in that corner.  We couldn't see if the outfielder made the catch or not.  But overall, very nice.  I also had a nice view of one of the best parts of the opening weekend experience:

BUNTING!!  

Although the actual game left much to be desired (what the hell is wrong with Harrison right now?), the overall ballpark experience was glorious, as always.  We got to participate in the usual ballpark traditions that go something like this:

4th Inning:  "The Stars at night, are big and bright, clap, clap, clap, clap, DEEP IN THE HEART OF TEXAS" - you're singing now, aren't you?

6th Inning:  DOT RACE!  (Although, the dots never race anymore...)

No wagering, please.

And of course the 7th inning stretch:

"Take me out to the ballgame, take me out with the crowd...

...root, root, root for the RANGERS..."

And the Cotton-Eyed Joe (!) a RBiA favorite.

Did I mention that there are additional ways to enhance the overall experience:

Now THAT is a beer cup.  Nice "1972" too.

I can sum up the overall feeling of yesterday's crowd with this guy's shirt:

That's dedication; I mean, the dude had a shirt MADE!

I'm looking forward to my next visit to our park, which, by the way, is a top 10 ballpark in the country.  Check it out, I didn't even make that up.  Hopefully, we get a better result next time.

And if you would like my own personal best list (of the parks I've visited), here it is:

1.  Camden Yards - have some Boog's BBQ

2.  Rangers Ballpark in Arlington

3.  Old Busch Stadium*

4.  Old Yankee Stadium - saw a Sox game there, Mussina vs. Beckett, and it kicked ass

5.  Wrigley Field**

* The atmosphere in the park and even in the neighborhood around the park was incredible.  EVERYONE had their Cardinals red on and EVERYONE was going to the game.  

** Here's your takeaway:  If you want to be a bleacher bum, remember that is all you will be that night.  If you have bleacher tix, you literally have no access to any other part of the ballpark.

And that's all she wrote.  Literally.  I'm out.  

Okay, not yet.  

Last note:  Get excited for Weaver and YUUUUU at the ballpark tonight!  7:05PM on ESPN (our 3rd nationally televised game of the young season)!

3W, 2L; 157 to go.

1 game. Long season...

So...I had a post all ready to go about different odds and ends that I ALWAYS tend to forget once I sit down to write these things, but the events of tonight, shall we say, amended the conversation? I've been saying since opening night (an entire 3 nights ago haha)...1 game, long season...but clearly we could have dedicated TWO posts to the history that almost took place earlier tonight.


However, in the spirit of my new philosophy I'll try and write the post I originally intended. Haha. Well, the quandary the Rangers were facing (or maybe it was just us?) regarding their opening day starter this year got me thinking about the presence of an "Ace" pitcher for this Rangers team not just this year, but in the not too distant past. When baseball fans think "Ace" in this day and age we immediately invoke names like: Justin Verlander, Felix Hernandez, Roy Halladay, Clayton Kershaw, Tim Lincecum, R.A. Dickey???? (whom the Rangers drafted grrr haha)* and so on and so on...

*

I'm guessing you know what I mean. I'm talking about that guy you can send out to the mound on any given night (especially in a must win and/or elimination game in the playoffs) and you know what you're getting. You're confident he'll get the job done. It won't always be pretty, but more often than not you're going to win. They just have that extra gear/will to win.


October 12, 2010 at Tropicana Field comes to mind...






These are your no-brainer opening day starters. If we arbitrarily choose the year 2000 and examine the Rangers' opening day starters (not necessarily their "Ace") here's what you'll find:


2013 Harrison

2012 Lewis

2011 Wilson

2010 Feldman

2009 Millwood

2008 Millwood

2007 Millwood

2006 Millwood

2005 Drese

2004 Rogers

2003 Valdez

2002 Park

2001 Helling

2000 Rogers


Not all that impressive, huh? There's plenty to snicker at here. Scott Feldman? Really? I'll go you one better and tell you that game 2 that year was started by Rich Harden. What a 1-2 punch, I tell ya. This was the year we went to the World Series too, people! So by no means are you bound by these opening day starters. If anything it illustrates my point about the Rangers. Ryan Drese? Ismael Valdez? Chan Ho freakin' Park? You're killing me here, but lets move on.


Rick Helling was a great contributor (occasionally) to the mid-to-late 90s Ranger teams. Kenny Rogers was as well, even beyond the 90s. Kenny Rogers is a bit of a conundrum for me though. Different rapid fire images come to mind when I think of him. He owns one of  the greatest moments in Rangers history...





He then leaves for the Yankees for a couple of seasons and wins a ring, but never even makes a postseason roster if I'm not mistaken. He comes BACK to the Rangers in 2000 and does this in 2005...






He left again in 2006 (not surprisingly after the above incident) for Detroit, had some success, pitched in the World Series, blah blah blah...


Kevin Millwood was a solid, workhorse, innings guy for the Rangers as I've previously described. Lets be honest though. Baseball fans remember Kevin Millwood for being that one Braves starter NOT named Greg Maddux, John Smoltz or Tom Glavine. His 2005 AL ERA champion campaign was all the Rangers needed to see to feel they had finally found their "Ace". This wasn't the case either as I've also previously described. There's also another guy in there I haven't mentioned. C.J. something? Anyway...



Now if we weren't arbitrarily starting with the year 2000 you'd find a couple of  real no-names like these...

Haha. In all seriousness, though, when I think about Opening Day(s) an actual 'no name' that I remember really fondly is Ken Hill. Reason being he was the Opening Day starter/psuedo Ace for your 1996 Rangers. He dueled with Roger Clemens that day and won. I remember because I skipped school to be there in person (haha). He didn't have overpowering numbers that year, but I expected a Rangers win (even if not statistically for him) when he was on the mound. That team actually started the year 6-0 by sweeping the Red Sox and our eventual ALDS foe/World Series Champion Yankees (7-0 before losing to the White Sox). Man, was 1996 a magic year for the Rangers organization and until recent history I had it ranked as my favorite/best Rangers team of all time. Expect an entire post dedicated to that team when I'm bored one of these nights. Haha...




 




I suppose my point is that it's impossible to say we don't need an "Ace" or that we've gotten along just fine without one. That was the entire reason we ran out and got Cliff Lee after all. I'll even admit if we had 'that guy' we may have won one or both World Series we played in (even though we had 'that guy' in 2010 with Lee, he laid an egg in both his WS starts). 



Either way I feel like there is an "Ace" or someone with "Ace"-like stuff somewhere in the mix here. After one start (which doesn't tell you much), for what it's worth, I don't feel that guy is Matt Harrison. No disrespect to Matty. I promise you he's here somewhere. He just has to rise to the occasion when it counts...

I could actually write a similar post about our closer situation over the years, but I won't. You get the point. The Rangers have never been known for their pitching.




Finally, a nugget I forgot to add to my Rangers/Astros post. If tonight had gone as we all hoped, it would have eclipsed perhaps what is my favorite Rangers/Astros moment. A catch you have to see (if you haven't already) to believe. Maybe even the greatest catch I've EVER seen. A shot for shot recreation doesn't even do it justice. That's about all GMJ contributed to us. Haha...

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=13118995&topic_id=&c_id=mlb&tcid=vpp_copy_13118995&v=3


Not the best post, I know. That game kind of took the wind out of my sails. Notice my code of silence on its events. I can't even bring myself to say it AFTER that fact! Learn that lesson, folks. Oh well. Rubber game tomorrow and I'll be there in person (for which I'm ALWAYS potentially a jinx, another post waiting to happen).


In conclusion, aren't yall glad baseball is back? Now I'm thinking I found a new rally cry to make myself feel better (even after a dominant shut-out win? Really? haha)...



 1 game...




Long season...

There's good news...and there's bad news....

As always, we'll start with the bad news:  Our Texas Rangers lost last night to the lowly Houston Astros.  The same Astros that lost over 100 games last year.  Of course it's only one game and therefore no real cause for concern.  The most disconcerting part of last night's game is what seemed to be proof that we majorly lack offense.  We've discussed how that will most likely be a season-long issue, remember?

Here's your refresher course, if not:

Who are these guys?  And can they go anywhere?

And, as much as we love being right here at 162+, this is one of the rare times that we desperately wanted to be wrong.  Again, it's just one game and One Knee AB and Boomstick Nelly might still prove us wrong.  But, I'm willing to venture that they won't.  Our best bet will be for our pitching to keep us contending until July when we can pick-up a big bat before the deadline.

In related bad news:  There's no Rangers baseball today.  Today is one of two off-days this week, Thursday's the other.

That's enough of the bad stuff.  Onto the good news.  Because in this case, the good news trumps the bad news by a ton.

After last night's highly disappointing Opening Night loss (not what I needed after the 6-month wait), I went to bed sulking; only to be awakened by a push alert.  One of the best push alerts I've ever received.  Of course, I am generally annoyed by 95% of all push alerts, so being "one of the best" is not exactly difficult to do.  I always think, "THAT'S what you thought worthy of pushing?", then I curse the app/site that sent it.  And yes I have thought about turning them off...and no I don't know why I haven't.

Maybe it's because I was waiting for this one...this one was awesome.  Read it and weep:

One of...maybe...5 push alerts I've ever cared about

That's right!  Word on the street (the streets named Bleacher Report and ESPN) is that the Rangers have extended Elvis!  8 years, $120 million.  And he was already under contract through 2014, so this would make him a Ranger until 2022, when he'll be turning 34 years old.  But, because the team hasn't confirmed the extension yet (several other sources HAVE confirmed it) I'm not sure how the $ is structured.  If we assume that he's making that 120 evenly over 8, which is hardly ever the case, his annual salary would be about $15 mil per year.  This would make him the 2nd highest paid shortstop in Major League Baseball right now.

The fact that Derek Jeter is still the highest paid shortstop in the leagues is beyond ridiculous.  But, we'll move on from that to preserve our happy mood.  If you'd like other comparisons, Elvis will make more than Jimmy Rollins and Jose Reyes as well, which I don't find undeserved.

All of this shortstop talk reminds me of "The Year of the Shortstop", as 1997 was deemed.  Please tell me you remember this insanity.  But if you've blacked that out, that's okay too...completely understandable.

While that's what came to mind, 2013 is hardly a great time for shortstops.  There just aren't that many good ones these days.  Rollins is as close as we get to a really good one.  Who else is there?

Jhonny Peralta?  Really?

My point here is that we got our guy!  And maybe Profar does turn into the stud we all think that he'll become...but maybe he doesn't.  If he doesn't, we'll still have Elvis & Kins.  Even if he does, why wouldn't we want them both?

This will obviously lead to some other questions for the franchise in the future:  Do we move Kins to the outfield?  Do we trade him?  Is Elvis the SS with Profar at 2B or is it the other way around?

But, this is a better problem to have than most alternatives.

So happy Elvis Andrus Day everyone!  Let's celebrate with hug:

Ian's happy, aren't you?

And an action shot:

1 down, 161 to go.

Your Opening Series Opponent (Yes Houston still has a baseball team and I'm pretty sure they're still called the Astros, but who knows haha)

This time next week we'll be gearing up for the home opener against the Halos and will have had our first series under our belts! Lest we forget the MLB season itself kicks off on Sunday night on national TV with your Texas Rangers and...the Houston Astros? I mean, I've seen/heard/read many national sports personalities scratching their heads at the Astros' inclusion. Rightfully so, I guess? The Rangers are a big draw over the past 3 years (as I've previously described) so no real surprise there, I'd say.

So I suppose it has a lot to do with the Astros switching leagues in an effort to realign divisions and create some semblance of symmetry throughout as we'll now have 3 divisions of 5 teams in each league. It also creates a rivalry of sorts (its already a natural rivalry they say) which I believe has ALWAYS felt forced. These teams won't be strangers to each other as we've played the Astros annually since 2001 thanks to interleague play (which Jenn hates). It was dubbed the "Lone Star Series" complete with a goofy trophy...the silver boot.

Side note #1
Interleague play: The Rangers actually played in the first ever interleague game on June 12, 1997 at the Ballpark against the San Francisco Giants. Semi-impress your friends with that nugget if you like. Haha...we lost 4-3 too by the way...

First Pitch. Interleague play. Nolan. Of course

I digress. Back to the Lone Star Series. The Rangers have actually enjoyed great success against the Astros in those 12 years (that long really?). They would play an even number of games (6), which I always found goofy, with the tiebreaker going to the team which scored more runs (usually the Rangers, big surprise). Anyway, the Rangers were an overall 42-30 and collected 9 of 12 Silver Boots for what it's worth. Since 2009, the Rangers are actually a fairly dominant 19-5 against the Astros.


Now I don't need to tell you this encompasses a ton of different players/teams/managers, but who are THESE Astros? Well they're pretty much the worst team in baseball. That's not hyperbole, those are just facts. Lets examine: they lost 107 games in 2012 and 106 in 2011 (that means 108 losses in 2013, no? haha..). Any Astros player you could pretend to name from the mid-to-late 2010's are all but gone.

Put a gun to my head and ask me to name an Astros player and I'll come up with this clown.

Some say they are taking a "moneyball" approach and building from within (i.e. Tampa Bay Rays, Oakland As obviously), shedding big/bad contracts, and shunning high profile free agents. You've no doubt already heard that Alex Rodriguez's salary eclipses that of the entire Astros roster combined. So on the surface it seems they pose no real threat. I mean...they're the Astros, right?...but to hear the many, many Houston fans I've encountered in my lifetime you wouldn't know it to hear them tell it...


Side note #2: We have to go back before baseball even existed in the state of Texas to examine this phenomenon. I've learned only recently that the state of Texas has always been inundated with St. Louis Cardinals fans before actual Texas teams were a part of the MLB. Now if you know anything about that fan base you know it's a very hardcore baseball culture. Now for some reason, once the Astros (formerly the Colt .45s) came into existence their fans got it in their heads that Houston is some kind of baseball town. National League ball is superior to American League ball etc. The truth is that the Astros DO have a great fanbase much like the Rangers. In my experience, however, they've always had some kind of notion of superiority towards us, but why? What have they accomplished that we haven't?


I really only bring this up because I am admittedly a huge sportstalk radio fanatic and while there are many outlets to fulfill this vice in the great city of Dallas, there is but one meager option in Bryan/College Station: Sportsradio 1150 "The Zone".  They focus primarily on Houston area sports due to the area's close proximity to the city of Houston (I'm guessing). In keeping with this focus they broadcast all Houston Astros baseball games on the station. The recent rise in popularity for the Texas Rangers led long silent (I assume) Ranger fans or perhaps new Aggies who happen to be Ranger fans to complain a bit about said broadcasts. They expressed their frustration with e-mails, texts, and calls about not being able to hear Ranger broadcasts in the area. So, years ago this prompted a local radio personality to utter the following words which I will now paraphrase as my memory of the exact words escapes me, "Alright, Ranger Fan. You can have your moment in the sun. Have a laugh at Astro Fan's expense but, overall the Houston Astros have FAR OUTSHINED the Texas Rangers in the state of Texas".


Is this really the case? The Astros have had a bumpy existence, winning only one NL pennant and making the playoffs just eight times in their 50 years. They have never won a World Series game despite making it in 2005 – a four-game sweep at the hands of the Chicago White Sox.


Side note #3: Lets look at the numbers just for fun...

 
Rangers

18 Winning seasons

2  Pennants
 
5  Division titles

 
Astros

21 Winning seasons

1 Pennant

6 Division titles


The Rangers are 19-25 in postseason play to the Astros' 21-35 record.
The numbers looks pretty similar, wouldn't you say?


So, in conclusion, get over yourself Houston fan and I am respectfully welcoming you to the American League. Yall are lucky I even dedicated an entire post to you. Haha. Either way, you have your work cut out for you...


By the way, here are your pitching matchups, Ranger fans...


3/31
Harrison (0-0) Norris (0-0)



 4/2
Darvish (0-0) Harrell (0-0)

4/3
Ogando (0-0) Humber (0-0)


ONE DAY!!!!

Opening Day Lineup & Season Giveaways

I know you've all been hanging on the edge of your seats to see if Wash took my advice regarding Ian Kinsler hitting 6th...

It is with great regret that I inform you that he did not...Wash did not take my advice.  (Maybe my email went to his spam folder?)

However, I am still excited to present to you, your Texas Rangers Opening Day Lineup for 2013:

1.  Ian Kinsler, 2B
2.  Elvis Andrus, SS
3.  Lance Berkman, DH
4.  Adrian Beltre, 3B
5.  Nelson Cruz, RF
6.  David Murphy, LF
7.  A.J. Pierzynski, C
8.  Mitch Moreland, 1B
9.  Leonys Martin, CF

And, of course, Matty Harrison's on the mound.  Bud Norris is starting for the Astros.  Please don't ask me who the hell that is; if Astros fans don't know, I shouldn't have to...

In fact, I was attempting to name as many Astros off the top of my head as I could.  Here they are:

Jose Altuve.

Sorry, that was it.  That's all I got.  And some joker wrote online that he's (Altuve) the best 2nd baseman in the AL West now...chile please...have you never heard of Ian Kinsler...or Howie Kendrick?  Maybe by "best" he meant "better than Dustin Ackley".  I'll give him that.  Not to mention that Altuve single-handedly keeps my Major League hopes alive.  He's 5'5!  

Any who, this was just a super quick post to show you the Opening Day lineup.  Oh, and to tell you that the Rangers have really upped the ante on the ballpark giveaways this year!  Check it out:

Best part of this t-shirt:  The "AB on one knee"/"I just hit a bomb" pose

We've got Adrian Beltre t-shirts for the first 10,000 kids 13 and under on April 21st.

There are baseballs in his holster!  Need I say more?

Nolan Ryan bobble heads for the first 30,000 on May 1st.

He counts Ks people!  

And Yu Darvish "K Counter" bobble heads for the first 20,000 on June 11th.

There are many others worth checking out like picnic blankets (it has seams on it!), fedoras, and my personal favorite, the beer steins on August 13th.  There was no photo, so we can only hope "Sweet Baby Ray's" isn't written in size 125 point font on the side of it.  

Here's your complete list of giveaways for the season complete with all of the pics posted above and several others.

And one gripe before I bid you adieu:  Why are there two off-days during opening week?!  No baseball Monday or Thursday, Rangers fans.

Oh well. 

Bring on the bunting!

2 sleeps!

Who are these guys? And can they go anywhere?

Well, if you're like me and you've been following how this 25-man is shaping up for Opening Day, then you might be in a state of minor panic...

Nick Tepesch?  Leury Garcia? Who are these guys?  Are they any good?

Let's start with Tepesch, the Rangers new 5th starter.  He's a 6'4, 225-pound righty, born in KC in the late 80's;  1988 to be exact.  Why does that sound so damn recent?

Anyway, most of that is not what you were wondering.  Here is what you DO want to know:

Tepesch spent the last two years in A ball and AA ball.  That's it.  That's all he's got.  A little addition to the "panic factor" is that his ERA was 4.28 in Frisco last year, although that was his first real shot at AA hitters.  To be positive, the Rangers drafted Tepesch in '10 after playing college ball at the University of Missouri - Columbia; and college ball usually helps pitchers.  And I like that he's 24/25 and not 21/22...21/22 usually doesn't bode well unless you're Elvis Andrus; almost never for a pitcher.

Leury Garcia, on the other hand is only 22 years old.  Born in 1991!  I think I was leaving elementary school at that point!  Anyway, Garcia is not as big a concern as Tepesch because he's our utility infielder, so all we really need is for him to be able to catch and throw the ball on occasion.  Although, he did hit .292 in about 400 at-bats in Frisco last year, so maybe he'll surprise us.  Of course, like any fan, I hope we only see Garcia on the random off-day for our starters, day game after a night game, etc.  God forbid anything happen to Kins or Elvis.  That would just be terrible.

Another surprise at the close of camp was Jeff Baker...the 31-year old from Germany, (finally, an adult!), who, after an incredible spring, made the team as a back-up for Beltre at 3B and Murphy in left.

So here you have it my friends, your Texas Rangers depth chart for the 2013 season as of 3/27/13, courtesy of www.TexasRangers.com:

Now, if you're looking at this depth chart with a little concern regarding the starting rotation, I'll remind you that Colby Lewis is expected back in May.  So, Tepesch's big league shot may be limited to a 6-8 week trial run.  Other positives include Mike Olt and Jurickson Profar being sent down to the minors.  Both are chock full of potential, especially Profar.  But, if we have enough talent at the MLB level to help us avoid a potential David Clyde redux, then why the heck wouldn't we?

The real cause for concern here may be our lack of power.  Hamilton's gone.  Napoli's gone.  Now, I know we've added Berkman and Pierzynski, but I'm going to need a little proof (at Berkman's age especially) before I jump on that bandwagon.  And not that Michael Young was a power guy, but he added 200 hits to our lineup up every year since God knows when (God says it was 2003).  Many of those hits were doubles, and we're going to miss that.

In my opinion, there's a fix here.  Maybe not a permanent solution, but a nice little fix to start 2013.

Doesn't that uppercut scream 6-hole to you?

I have defended Ian Kinsler in the lead-off spot many a time.  Good base stealer, good bat control, walks a lot...that adds up to one hell of a top-of-the order guy, right?  Well, if you watch half as many games as we do (which is about 81 games a year), you know that Kins hits for average OR he hits for power.  It's usually, and by usually I mean 95% of the time, not both.  It's 30/30 and he hits .250 or a nice .285-.300 avg with 10-20 home runs.  It's as if he has Rickey Henderson on one shoulder telling him to use his speed and he's got Willie Mays Hayes on the other shoulder telling him to hit it as high and far as he can.

If only Wash would make Kins drop and do 20 every time he popped up...

So I say, let Elvis lead-off and put Kins in the 6-hole.  Then he can swing for the fences as much as he wants. Berkman, Beltre, Cruz, Kins.  Not bad, right?

We are almost there...

3 Days.  

"How We Got Here" addendum...

As long as we're operating under the premise that our target audience are recent to very recent Rangers fans (4-6) years; further background on our rise to prominence still seems lacking. Although I've never technically tried my hand at actual hardcore blogging, in this day and age, social networking allows me to revisit my many, many, many sports takes on the Rangers (and all sports for that matter). Consequently/luckily/annoyingly, the goofy 'timeline' feature of Facebook lets me go back as far as 2005 (when I joined)! Now, I don't need to tell you that some of my posts (most actually haha) were spot-on, while others were slightly off. For our purposes here we'll revisit a post from 2008 and another from 2009...



Tuesday, August 12, 2008 at 12:53am  
The Texas Rangers have always taken a backseat in the DFW area and I suppose for the most part rightfully so. After all, they have produced a meager three division titles and one playoff win in 36 years. So they entered this season (as they do many) with few expectations from the hardcore Ranger fans like me and much less the casual fan. I still firmly believe this organization is just never going to get it when it comes to pitching prospects and will continue to churn out high scoring clubs because this is what fills the seats. I have to admit though that it is quite remarkable that they have put together a winning team with some (if meager and unlikely) wild card aspirations. Of course the team is only three games over .500 at the moment and that number is likely to dip again. Still, I also have to say if we are going to criticize John Daniels for trading away Chris Young, Adrian Gonzalez, and John Danks among others, we have to credit him for bringing in Josh Hamilton, Milton Bradley, and David Murphy (essentially the entire outfield). Success is still far off for the Rangers, but if they can turn our incredible depth in the farm system into pitching prospects via a trade and maybe add a C.C Sabathia/Cliff Lee, Ben Sheets, or K-Rod you never know. For now I can live with a non-last place finish and an above .500 team...


Lots to chew on here. It's worth noting that the Rangers indeed did finish the season below .500 (79-83) yet somehow still 2nd in the West. Josh Hamilton's story is mythical. We won't cover that since he's a member of the Angels now (haha). David Murphy is a projected starter on your 2013 Rangers. Milton Bradley turned out to be one of those 1-2 year projects the Mid-2000's Rangers would take a shot/minimal risk on and would later deal to produce a serviceable young player or utility player.

As a matter of freakin' fact, David Murphy is a product of such a transaction. Scandal ridden Eric Gagne' spent one pretty damn good year with the Rangers before being traded to the Red Sox for pitcher Kason Gabbard, Engel Beltre and one David Murphy. Engel Beltre is lingering around Round Rock somewhere if I'm not mistaken.


The Rangers famously traded for Cliff Lee at the deadline in 2010 for Justin Smoak, Blake Beavan, Josh Lueke and Matt Lawson. I doubt there's a scenario where the Mariners will end up getting the better of that deal, even though Lee was a Ranger for a mere half season. I mean, would you trade the 2010 AL Pennant for those players right now? Thought not...





 
Wednesday, April 8, 2009 at 10:01pm

I wonder if anyone else in North Texas is feeling the same optimism about the Texas Rangers as I am. Though I am not ready to say this team is ready to compete legitimately I do believe they will make it interesting for at least a good majority of the 2009 season. I would actually be pleased with at least a decent start to the season unlike last year’s disastrous 10-18 (10-15 in ’07) effort out of the gates. The AL west seems largely up for grabs as the mighty Angels seem to have fallen off a bit. What we do know about the Rangers is that they will score runs in bunches and hit their share of homeruns. The question mark is, as always, the pitching. With Kevin Millwood and Vicente Padilla in contract years, however, I see them giving their best efforts on the mound. Elvis Andrus will likely struggle at the plate but is a defensive upgrade at short as the Rangers are in dire need of a defensive makeover. The time has also come for products of trades over the last few years who have pushed their way into the startling lineup to pay dividends (Nelly Cruz, Saltalamacchia, David Murphy etc.). If our bullpen holds steady as it has over the last couple of years…I see no reason why this team cannot win 84-85 games. On the intangible side, there is just something about the karma of the Rangers in red uniforms that you have to love. Either way, look for this team to make real noise in 2010.


Lots more to chew on here! The 2009 Rangers finished the year at 87-75 (2nd in the West) and actually semi-defied me by going 10-11 in April and waited until May to dominate (20-9). Since then it's actually an earmark of Ranger teams to start off the season with a particularly hot month (no pun intended)

e.g. 21-6 month of June in 2010, 18-9 July in 2011 (the 2011 Rangers actually finished hot as well evidenced by a franchise best 96 wins that year), 17-6 April and 19-9 June in 2012.

Kevin Millwood was a work horse pitcher for the Rangers throughout his tenure. His 2009 was actually pretty solid/par for the course (13-10 3.67 ERA).





He was traded later in 2009 for Chris Ray and a player to be named later. Chris Ray would go on to be traded to the San Francisco Giants (the Rangers' eventual World Series opponent) in June of 2010 for...wait for it...Bengie Molina! You could probably make a good argument that this was Millwood's greatest indirect contribution to the Rangers.

Name that ALCS moment!

Vicente Padilla was designated for assignment in 2009 and released shortly thereafter. His 3 years in Texas were ridiculous. Plain ridiculous. I'd actually like to forget he was ever a part of our team. I curse my 2009 self for reminding me of him! Haha...

Idiot.

Finally, much to my delight it appears Ranger Red is here to stay.




So there you have it, Ranger fans. Another quick trip down memory lane and window into my infinite wisdom and sports clairvoyance haha. Most of all it's a taste of the reflections, triumphs, sorrows, and grievances to come we can now share on a regular basis since I now have a clear venue for them! 4 days to go...



P.S.

Just for fun before we move forward here's actual video documentation of me watching and reacting to the last out of the 2010 ALCS (the aforementioned greatest moment of my 30s and maybe even my entire life hahaha)


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