Message from Chuck Greenberg

The following was written by Chuck Greenberg, Rangers co-owner, originally posted here. He may be from Pittsburgh but he speaks like a Ranger lifer here. Let's go Ranger fans, it's our time now.

Rangers CEO Chuck Greenberg posted the following message on his Facebook page.

This season has transcended expectations and transformed the psyche and hearts of legions of Rangers fans across Texas and throughout our country and beyond. At the core of the remarkable journey we have shared together is a ballclub and a community who collectively have consigned the conventional wisdom of the past to the dust bins of history, busting myths and charting a new course previously thought to be unattainable.

Can't pitch successfully in Rangers Ballpark. Wrong.

Can't compete successfully late in the season because the heat will break you down. Wrong.

Fans will lose interest when training camp opens. Wrong.

Fans won't come to Rangers Ballpark after the All Star break because it's too hot. Wrong.

Rangers can't win a playoff series. Wrong.

Rangers can't win a playoff game at home. Wrong.

Rangers can't beat the Yankees in the playoffs. Wrong.

Rangers can't get to the World Series. Wrong.

Rangers can't captivate the hearts and emotions of fans new and old deep into the fall. Wrong.

And on and on and on....

I can't even begin to count the memorable moments we have shared this year thanks to a very special group of players with hearts and smiles as big as Texas, who always pull together, stand up for one another, and who have changed the sports landscape here in the Metroplex forever.

But here is a simple reality. Monday will be the last game played in Rangers Ballpark this year. We all owe it to ourselves, our players and each other, to celebrate with passion, enthusiasm and indefatigable belief from lineup cards to the final out, loud and proud.

The defining team of my young life was the 1979, "We are Family" Pittsburgh Pirates. I have often remarked how much this Rangers club reminds me of that team, with a confident but friendly swagger and an abundance of character and personality.

Now these two teams have something else in common. Both fell behind 3-1 in the World Series. Kent Tekulve, the great closer from the '79 Pirates, texted me after tonight's game to pass along this story. Before Game 5, Willie Stargell told his teammates:

"We are playing in front of the whole world. We may not win this thing, but before we go, let's show the world how the Pirates really play baseball."

The Pirates, playing against a team whose colors were black and orange, won Game 5. Then they returned to Baltimore and won Game 6. Then they won Game 7.

I know our players will show everyone how the Rangers play baseball tomorrow. As fans, let's do the same. We have one final opportunity this season to show the world what we have accomplished together and the passion we all hold for our players and our shared dreams.

The World Series is going back to San Francisco. And then there will be one final piece of conventional wisdom to prove wrong....

Believe.

Chuck

A kid's dream

So this is what it takes to get me writing again.

You know, it's been pretty tough on Dallas sports fans for a few years now. The Stars haven't been truly competitive for a decade and it's been four years since the Mavs choked in the Finals, beginning their slide to mediocrity. We thought the Cowboys were on the way to playing in the Super Bowl in their own stadium, before we were reminded they are still owned by Jerry and coached (for now) by Wade.

But the Rangers.

For my entire life, the Rangers have been more or less irrelevant in baseball. Sure, they'd score lots of runs, but with no pitching to speak of and the August swoon as a built-in excuse, they never really got your hopes too high. And with Tom Hicks slashing payroll the last few years--why does a top five market have a bottom five payroll?--the Rangers should have been trending down.

But things started changing five years ago, without anyone really noticing what was going on. First Jon Daniels was named GM. If you've been reading here for a while, you know I've been none too complimentary of JD in the past. Don't worry--a proper apology is coming later. After a year, he named Ron Washington manager, and two years after that Nolan Ryan joined the team as president. Along the way, Daniels made several significant trades that stocked the farm system. This year, it all came together, and combined with the eventual purchase of the team by the Greenberg-Ryan group, the Rangers were poised for great things.

And if that's all there was, it would be great. But there is so much more to this team. Simply put, they have "it"--that something that you can't quite put a finger on, but it's there nonetheless. The Red Sox as the self-proclaimed Idiots had it in 2004. The Patriots had it 2001 on their way to their first Super Bowl, just like the Rams two years earlier with the Greatest Show on Turf. It is evidenced by the Claw and the Antler, which some around baseball have mocked. That's fine--we're having fun anyway. But mock at your own peril, because you are mocking It. Maybe you call it chemistry, fate, destiny, desire, want-to. Whatever. Just know that the Rangers have It.

And only those of us who have been through the long, lean years can really appreciate how special that is. I grew up in Dallas as a fan of all three (pre-Stars) major sports teams, but the Rangers were my favorite, for a few reasons. I played little league baseball, so I readily identified with the game. Baseball was on TV more, just by the nature of the long season. But mostly, it was because those were the games I went to. Sure, we went to a Mavs game or two each year, and I went to my one-and-only Cowboys game when I was 21. But I grew up in the 70's as a Junior Ranger. I was at old Arlington Stadium when that logo you see above wasn't retro. I remember powder blues. I had fan giveaways: hats and plastic helmets and shirts and backpacks and pennants. And greatest of all, a red Rangers Louisville Slugger. I went to the top of the bleachers and peeked over the edge at the parking lot. I went to summer clinics where I got to walk out on the field and listen to real pro ballplayers talk about what they did and how they did it. Night of high school graduation? I went to Arlington with some friends to watch the great Nolan Ryan pitch. In high school and college, we'd go to games late, because after the fourth inning they'd let you in for free. I was there on April 19, 1996, when the Rangers batted around three times in an hour long bottom of the eighth and put up 18 on the Orioles, beating them 26-7. My first date with my wife? Dinner at TGI Friday's Front Row Grill and two seats in the Home Run Porch. One of the the last things I did before leaving Dallas? Take pictures out at the Ballpark. This team was a huge part of my life, from childhood into adulthood.

I've been away from Dallas for eight years. I go to Orioles Sunday home games all season at beautiful Camden Yards. I enjoy the games there. They're having a rough time on the field, but it's a great organization that takes care of its fans. Still, I miss the Rangers, and nothing can replace that. I've got too much history in Arlington.

I've waited nearly 37 years for this magical run at the World Series, and I've never enjoyed sports success so much. Not the Cowboys' Super Bowls or the Stars' Stanley Cups. Not even the Longhorns' National Championship. The plus side of all those Rangers lean years? The last few weeks have been a string of Firsts. First playoff series win. First home playoff win. First American League Pennant.

Up next: First World Series Appearance by the Texas Rangers. It's been a long time coming, and it's all the sweeter for it.

It's time.

Return to blogging: MLB predictions and Ranger questions

I haven't posted in a long time. Having a toddler, a full time job, and being in school part time will do that. Does this mean I'm back posting a lot? Probably not, but I had some Ranger opinions and MLB predictions I wanted to throw out there before the season started.

First, my Ranger concerns.
I am a Ranger homer if there ever was one. I always have hope that this year will be different and we will relive the glory days of the late 90s when the Rangers won a playoff game. Ahh, memories. In fact, even on this blog, I have spouted unvarnished optimism that only a true rose colored glasses wearing homer could say. Finally, it seems this may be the year. Listening to podcasts and reading some of the national writers, many believe Texas could actually breakthrough and make it back to the playoffs. So why am I worried? I'll give you a list.
1. The rotation is deep, but full of question marks. Scott Feldman- can he do it again? He will probably regress a little, but how much? Rich Harden has looked terrible in spring training. CJ Wilson hasn't started since 2005 and he was terrible then. Can be a true #2 like he is listed in Ranger rotation? Colby Lewis was terrible the last time he was starter, too. He was great in Japan, but can be good here? Spring training stories like Matt Harrison (best shape of his life, added velocity, etc) are a dime a dozen. Does it mean anything? Is Tommy Hunter anything more than a #4 starter? Is Brandon McCarthy ever going to make us stop throwing up whenever John Danks does something? When is Derek Holland going to be ready?
2. The lineup has question marks: Chris Davis was terrible last year, so can he better? Will Ian Kinsler be able to stay healthy (not so far this year)? Will Elvis Andrus progress offensively? Will Michael Young regress? Can Hamilton stay healthy? Will Borbon's poor walk rate kill the Ranger offense? Will either catcher be any good?
3. The bullpen without Wilson is a concern. I wonder if the Rangers gain enough in moving CJ Wilson to the rotation to make up for what they lost in the bullpen? Darren Oliver is their only lefty right now. Who will close if (when) Frankie Francisco gets hurt?
4. Is Ron Washington's cocaine use last year really no big deal?

I still have hope, but for some reason, my blind optimism just isn't there.

Here are my picks
AL East: Yankees (FAIL! FAIL! FAIL!)
AL Central: Twins
AL East: Rangers (disregard everything I just wrote)
Wild Card: Rays (I just can't in good conscious pick the Yankees and the Red Sox)
AL Champion: Yankees (suck)

NL East: Phillies
NL Central: Astros (Just kidding... I'm picking the Cardinals. The Astros will probably loss 100 games)
NL West: Rockies
Wild Card: Braves
NL Champion: Braves (A wild card team goes to the World Series all the time. Why can't I pick one as well.)
World Champion: Yankees (I'm picking them to win because my predictions are never right. Even in the 2nd chance bracket for the NCAA tournament, I got exactly ZERO in the Final Four. I'm trying to reverse jinx the Yankees)

AL Cy Young: Jon Lester
AL MVP: Joe Mauer
NL Cy Young: Roy Halladay
NL MVP: Ryan Howard

Thoughts on the Rangers

I know it's been a long time since I posted, but between a baby, school, a new job, and the goal of running a freakin half marathon, I haven't had time. Instead of 110%, I've got about 2%. It'll just have to do right now.

For the last two years, I've given ridiculously optimistic outlooks for the upcoming Ranger season and then watch them come out and play like crap. So this year I don't have the time to really write anything and they come out of the gate playing pretty well. At this point, they are 8 games over .500 and 3 games ahead of the Angels in the AL West (after winning the first game of the double header with the As they are now 9 games over. Good times.) A pretty heady place for this team to be at this point in the season. Unfortunately, the point is still May. It's a long way from October and the dog days of July and August that have killed so many good Ranger teams are still a month away.

It's probably good that I didn't write this review last week right after they swept the Angels and Mariners at home. After getting swept by the Tigers in Detroit and losing 2 of 3 to the Yankees (surrounded by a sweep of the Astros which is really no great shakes), I'm not real giddy about the Rangers right now. In fact, I'm not real sure how to feel about the Rangers right now. I should be feeling good, but I think I've been burned more than a couple of times. Perhaps I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. Anyway, here are some things I like and dislike about this team as it is presently constructed.

1. Elvis Andrus and the defense. The clearest improvement of the Rangers is the defense. Andrus over Young is an upgrade at short. Young over Blalock/ Davis/ Metcalf/ Vazquez is an upgrade at third. Davis over Blalock/ Shelton/ Catalanotto/ Broussard is an upgrade at first. Kinsler and Saltalamacchia have both improved in their defense. We know the pitching needs an upgrade, but a good way to help a pitching staff is the shore up the defense. How many plays has Andrus made that Young couldn't have caught with a net? Those are outs that the team didn't make last year. And Elvis has been much better than expected. Everyone thought he'd be able to flash the leather, but he has more than held his own at bat, being the rookie leader in on base percentage, slugging and batting average among qualifiers. Remember he's 20. He'd be the 3rd youngest player in AAA. Wow.

2. The arrival of Derek Holland, the Rangers #2 prospect according to Baseball America. In past years, top Rangers prospects (especially pitchers) could be sorta like being called the prettiest ugly girl at the dance. Not anymore. Holland is for real. It feels so good to hear about a top pitching prospect, see him come up (after not being traded), and have him not puke all over himself. His first two starts have been pretty good against the Astros and just ok against the Yankees. But he is apparently for real. It's not too crazy to think that he'll be the #2 starter next year. I mean a real live #2, building up to #1 soon. Not a #4 thrust into a #2 role because they don't have anybody else.

3. The pitching in general has been better, especially the starters going deeper into games. The deeper a starter goes in a game, the less the soft underbelly of the bullpen is exposed. Make no mistake, the worst pitchers on a team are in middle relief. The less they pitch the better. Last year, the main Ranger middle relievers, Josh Rupe and Jamey Wright, pitched so often that their arms almost fell off. Hopefully the trend of working deep into games can continue.

What I don't like.
1. Strikeouts. I am concerned about the Rangers offense. Whenever people talk about the Rangers, it's always, "Oh, you know they'll hit, but what about their pitching?" Well, the Rangers offense has been less than stellar. Ian Kinsler, Josh Hamilton, Hank Blalock, and Chris Davis have each performed under expectations with Davis striking out at a record pace. Over the last couple of weeks or so he has been the consummate all or nothing (mostly nothing), home runs and strikeouts. And the team in general just does not work counts or walk that much. The more you work the count the quicker you get into the sorry parts of the bullpen. I wonder if the Rangers need to look for another hitter who can work counts. Maybe they miss Milton Bradley more than they might have imagined. Don't get me wrong. The Rangers still have a strong offense and they can really beat the living daylights out of bad pitching. But they sure made Dontrelle Willis look like he was back.

2. The Bullpen. I bet every time Jon Daniels hears the song Upgrade U by Beyonce, he thinks, "I really need to upgrade my bullpen." Frankie Francisco has been awesome, but C.J. Wilson is the reincarnation of Mitch Williams, Darren O'Day was a waiver claim this year, Jason Jennings hasn't been good in like 5 years, Eddie Guardado is now a member of the Doug Jones Hall of Fame (Dan Rosendahl knows what I'm talking about- an 80 mph fastball), and if Kris Benson pitches again for the Rangers then someone needs a CAT scan. If the Rangers could add just one thing for the stretch run, I think it should be a real live 8th inning guy. How about Huston Street or Chad Qualls? Just throwing a couple of names out there. Perhaps the solution resides within the organization right now. Maybe Neftali Feliz can be the 09 Rangers version of Francisco Rodriguez.

So, there you go. My expectation is that the Rangers stay in the race the rest of the year. They have a chance to make the playoffs for the first time in 10 years, but they may also collapse in August as happened last year and 2005.

The Airing of Grieviences

Today is Festivus and with it comes the airing of grievances, because as the Festivus patriarch Frank Costanza said, "I've got a lot of problems with you people!" Because this is a sports blog (such that it is) it will only have my sports grievances. They are in no particular order, just as they come to me.

1. I'm looking at you, Dallas Cowboys, first, because you are foremost in my mind right now. Every one of you should be ashamed of yourselves for way you've performed this year. I look back on the season and see 1, maybe 2, well played games. But I swear, you have got to be the worst coached, most undisciplined, stupidest team in the history of professional sports! How can you continue to get ridiculous penalties at the worst times? Without fail, every game, there will be at least one snap that comes at the wrong count, 5 false start or offsides calls, several absolutely awful throws by Tony Romo, 2 dumb personal fouls, atrocious special teams play, a crying wide receiver, and 6 dumb looks from Wade Phillips. Has there are ever been a higher profile, less accomplished team than this one? Norm Hitzges call you the Dallas Resumes and that is exactly what you are. A bunch of resumes that have done absolutely nothing. It makes me sick watching it. This last game against the Ravens is just a case in point. Every single part of the team had a hand in that debacle. Romo throwing two of the worst thrown pics I have ever seen, just throwing it up for grabs, and would it kill the receivers to play a little defense on those plays? Two Ravens scoring drives made up mostly by Cowboys penalties. Every offensive play, there was someone coming free, and no adjustment? I know the Ravens are good on defense, but no one should get free runs at your QB every single play! I don't even want to think about those last two runs by the Ravens where there was almost no resistance, a couple of arm tackles and then nothing but space. And the special teams are a laughing stock. And somehow, through no doing of your own, you are on the precipice of the playoffs with a win in Philly on Sunday. Is there any one who has confidence in the your mental make up to win this game? I don't. Forget the mental make up. Does anyone think this coaching staff can come up with a game plan that might make a lick of sense? I don't. The blame for all this lies at the feet of Jerry Jones. This off season, Jerry, cut Terrell Owens, fire Wade Phillips and Jason Garrett and every one else on the staff, and take a dump truck full of your money and drop it in Bill Cowher's lap and give him control of the team. I know you won't do it. Your ego is too big.

2. Ok, Mavs. How stupid do you look for the most recent dumb Jason Kidd trade? Way to go Mavs! Most teams only get a chance to blow the trade of a player once. You did it twice. And what do you have for your trouble? A 35 year old point guard and a ninth place team. Awesome! You aren't even in the same zip code as the Lakers or the Spurs or the Hornets. Good bye challenging for NBA titles, hello mediocrity where you're just quite good enough to get run out of the playoffs in the first round, which is exactly what happened the last two years.

3. Stars. Are y'all even playing? I have no feelings one way or the other.

4. If I had written this a couple of weeks ago, I'd would have ranted for pages at the injustice of college football. Quite frankly, I'm ranted out on that. The bottom line is how the hell does the Oklahoma Sooners get away with losing to Texas on a neutral field and making the national championship game? Remember a few years ago when OU got plastered in the Big 12 Championship game and still made the national championship game (only to get predictably run off the field in that game)? Does OU have pictures of someone? There is something screwed up about the system and it's not gonna change because people are stupid. At the same time, Texas, you should have just stopped Tech. You had the game won and gave it away.

5. Finally, the Rangers. Why does anyone remain a fan of a team determined to hold the payroll below that of the Kansas City Royals? As Tom Hicks smugly says, "I'll be glad to expand the payroll when attendance rises." What happened in the last 10 years to make people think that anything is going to change? At least they didn't finish in last place in the division. They finished 2nd! Wow! A full 21 games out of first place! That's progress. Oh, we may sign Ben Sheets, but we're gonna have to trade Hank Blalock and his 6 million dollar salary. We could get Randy Johnson, but we are going to have to trade Vincente Padilla. Your payroll isn't going over $70 million dollars while legendary spenders like the Royals and the Pirates laugh at that total. Now I am not one of those people that think spending hundreds of millions of dollars is the way to the promised land, but Tom Hicks, you are deliberately ham stringing this team. If you can't belly up to the bar, sell the team. Hey, I think the Rangers are going in the right direction. The Rangers are generally considered to have, if not the best, then a top 2 or 3 farm systems in baseball. But no one cares about the minors. We want results in Arlington. It better happen soon or you'll really see what an empty ballpark looks like.

So, those are my sports grievances. I feel a little better. I think.

The State of the Dallas Sports Scene

It's been a while for me, so I'll jump back in by evaluating the state of Dallas sports. Putting it briefly: it isn't pretty. A year and a half ago we were looking at a series of near misses. Who knew those were the good old days?

Dallas Cowboys: Dallas has underachieved this year, but the problem is not Pac-Man Jones, Jerry, Wade, or any of the other "distractions" that get all the talk. The real problem is that this team has had to deal with something this year that they have avoided for a few years now: injuries. Since they have gotten most of their players back, they have been 3-0, although against weaker competition, bringing their season record to 8-4. The real test will be the last quarter of the season against playoff-caliber opponents. As tough as that will be, it has been made even tougher with the injury to MB3, especially with Felix Jones already out. Going at least 3-1 will be tough enough against these opponents, and having to do it for at least one game with a third string running back makes it even tougher. But if the Cowboys can do that, they should make the playoffs. They have left themselves no wiggle room, but if the Cowboys can't go 3-1, they aren't good enough anyway. For Dallas, the playoffs begin today.

Dallas Mavericks: I'm getting tired of reading articles or hearing radio personalities say that nobody could have seen the Mavs falling like they have. According to this, this, this, this, this, this and this, here at 110 Percent, we are nobodies. The Mavs are as soft as ever, but at least before they were young and soft, leaving hope that they would become grizzled veterans. Now they are just getting old and soft. They talk the same game of stepping up their defense and taking the ball to the basket, but as always, it's just talk. It stings even more seeing Devin Harris blossom into the Tony Parker starter kit that we were always told he would be. As for Josh Howard, not only is he an immature nutcase who can't play four quarters, but now he is also injured. Meanwhile, Ron Artest, who the Mavs could have aquired by dropping Howard, is a strong contributor down in Houston. Sure, the Mavs are on a 9-1 run, but like the Cowboys' last few opponents, it's been done against weak competition: eight of the ten teams have records worse than Dallas. Bad sign: the Mavs only have three players averaging double digit points. Worse sign: JJ Barea, Devean George, Antoine Wright, Shawne Williams and DaSagana Diop all get significant minutes with this club, and the Mavs are trying to convince us that this is OK. I am reminded of the mid-90's when Popeye Jones, Fat Lever, Loren Meyer and Sean Rooks were all supposed to be viable players. Hello, mediocrity!

Dallas Stars: Such high hopes. The Stars ended last season in the Western Conference Finals, but they haven't been able to carry that over to this season, instead fighting to stay out of the bottom spot for the entire league. Things went from bad to worse with the Sean Avery Incident, who likely has played his last game in Dallas. Tom Hicks has always been kinder to his hockey team than his baseball club, but I don't think he's going to enjoy buying out Avery's four year contract. Oh, well, at least everyone in the lockerroom will like each other as they miss the playoffs this year.

Texas Rangers: The Rangers have so far been inactive in the trade and free agent market, and I'm OK with that. Wheeling and dealing has not been this team's strongsuit. Imagine if the Braintrust had left well enough alone: we could have Edinson Volquez, John Danks and Chris Young at the top of the rotation. Hopefully, the Rangers will stick to their new plan of drafting smart, developing their own and making smart decisions. Who knows, in a couple years, the Rangers may be the most competitive team in Dallas.

Scattershooting Opinions

I haven't written in a while (but neither has anyone else, so I don't feel bad), mainly because I haven't had a whole lot to say. It seems a waste of time to post a couple of sentences and be done with it, but if you put them all together you can become Blackie Sharrod or some other guy with opinions.

1. So the last four games have put a damper on the Rangers and they have continued to fall out of playoff contention. As I write this, they are winning the last game in the series against the Orioles, but are 7.5 games out of the wild card and fourth behind the Red Sox, White Sox, and Yankees. They were never really serious playoff threats, but those first two games against the Yankees were fun. The problem with the Rangers is, stop me if you heard this before, pitching. Their team ERA is 5.31, a full run more than next closest team. Because of injuries and ineffectiveness, they've ran a bunch of rookies and young guys (Hurley, Harrison, Hunter, Mathis, Madrigal, Mendoza, Feldman, etc). Theoretically, they are going to get better, but raise your hand if you're confident in that. I have hope, but a wise man once said hope is not a strategy.

2. About the Cowboys preseason gamethe Chargers scrubs beat the Cowboys scrubs. Big deal. My only concern is this: the Cowboys played undisciplined: lots of penalties and lots of bad special teams play. Maybe it was just the spares, but still, Wade Phillips is not running a tight camp. There's no denying that the Cowboys have awesome talent, maybe the most in the league, but if they lead the league in sloppy play (penalties, special team problems, turnovers, etc.), they'll win a bunch of games, but start to lose them down the stretch when the games get tight. Sound familiar?
a. I know Hard Knocks is just a show and they can show whatever they want, but Wade Phillips sounds like he's just glad to be there. He doesn't inspire much confidence.
b. I'm not real worried about the cornerback formerly known as Pacman. It's been a year since he played, of course he's gonna be rusty.
c. The Cowboys need a real live backup QB. I have a stronger arm than Brad Johnson. I heard Moose Johnston say on the broadcast that he was comfortable with Johnson as the back up. Maybe Brad Johnson, circa 2000, but this is 2008. He can't be counted on to play meaningful time. As a Texas, I hesitate to long for Chris Simms, but the Cowboys desperately someone they can rely on behind Romo.
d. Felix Jones looked really good. Again, mostly against scrubs, but he looked really good. Their 2nd rd draft choice, not so much. But you can tell from Hard Knocks that they love Martellus Bennett, because the TE coach was on his butt the whole time.

3. The Mavericks summer just keeps getting worse and worse. Josh Howard continues to go off the deep end. I mean, granted, if they traded him now they'd be selling low, but at least they'd trade him before he got suspended or killed for drag racing. Then they get nothing.
a. I was skeptical of getting Ron Artest, until he went to Houston. The Mavs just keep falling further and further from their Western Conference rivals.
b. Jason Kidd is in the olympics, playing behind Chris Paul and Deron Williams. Oh, Kidd starts, but played fewer minutes than the other two. In the first game, in 13 minutes this Kidd's line: 0 Points, 0 Assists, 3 Turnovers, 2 Rebounds. Makes you proud to be an Ameican!
c. Then, their only draft choice, Shan Foster, is going overseas. Another in a long line of the Mavs "draft and stash" strategy that has worked so well over the last several years.
This season has FAILED written all over it. Anyone get the feeling that Mark Cuban is interested in buying the Cubs, because he sees the writing on the wall about the inevitable decline of the Mavs?

4. Every couple of years, the Olympics roll around and I think that this year, I'm not going to care. Then I get sucked into it and watch as much as I can. The 4x100 relay last night was awesome! I hate the human interest stories and I can't hardly watch gymnastics, but everything else is great.

Finally, I don't want to turn this into a political post, but is anyone else wondering why George Bush just seems to be hanging out at the Olympics when stuff is going on all over the world. I know in these days of instant access and internet and global cell phones, but it's just a little disconcerting to hear about the Georgia/ Russia crisis, which I think will probably end up being more important in the global situation than the war in Iraq, and he's playing grab ass with the beach volleyball players, waving a flag at Michael Phelps, and leading the basketball team in a "1-2-3 hustle" chant? Is he just mailing it in?

Even more on Josh Hamilton

We here at 110 percent are about to turn in our Hall of Fame nominees and judging by the amount of time I spend writing about Roy Hobbs, I mean, Josh Hamilton, it's pretty clear that he should be one of my nominees. It's hard to place his name in contention because he's been a Ranger for only a half a season and he could just as easily fail after this (in more ways then one). However this is at least my third post focused mainly on Hamilton in the brief time he's been a Ranger. The thing is he's been on my fandom radar since 2001. I've been a fan of his longer than I've known my wife, and honestly, even if he had done all this with the Yankees I would still be a fan of his. Well, maybe not the Yankees, but you get the idea. Anyway, he is the man. He is on the road to being my favorite Ranger of all time. Which leads me to my post.

After the impressive display off raw power the other night, which, BTW I jinxed quite effectively (I missed the first round for a breast feeding class and as soon as I was able to turn it on, he basically quit being able to his home runs), the national media started drooling all over Hamilton, which normally would have caused me to hate him, but I didn't mind it so much. I mean, he is Ranger. Anyway, I was reading a baseball chat and someone asked should the Rangers consider trading Hamilton for a pitcher like Tim Lincecum. If you don't know who Tim Lincecum is that's ok. He's a 24 year old ace, who this year in his second full year in the majors has an ERA under 3, a WHIP of about 1.2, and more than a strikeout per inning. He is a legitimate ace on a bad Giants team and exactly what the Rangers for lacked for most of their history. Hamilton for Lincecum wasn't an actual rumor, but a hypothetical to gauge the value of Hamilton, as in what kid of pitcher could be bring. So the question is would ya? Hypothetically, would you trade Hamilton for Lincecum? When I first read it, I was tantalized. I mean, the Rangers have all of a sudden come up with a strong outfield, even if you take Hamilton out of the equation, both offensively and defensively, with several legitimate outfielders on the way in the minors. On top of that, with Hamilton's background you have to be concerned about injuries or, God forbid, a relapse. This could be the ultimate "sell high." Also, the Rangers have a alot of pitchers in the minors, many of whom are close. But the close ones are not #1s, but rather mid rotation guys- Hurley, Harrison, etc. The big time guys with #1 potential are all in the lower minors. So a guy like Lincecum would step right in as the true ace of the staff, instead of that impostor, Millwood. (I am beginning to have lots of bitterness towards Millwood, but that is a topic for another day.)

Those would all be really good reasons to trade Hamilton for Lincecum. But after thinking about it for a while, I decided that I would be opposed to that trade. Over the history of the Rangers they've really lacked a true national superstar, both in terms of production and "face". Nolan Ryan was past his prime when he came the Rangers, and while he brought legitimacy to a moribund franchise and his production was pretty good (at times awesome), it wasn't enough to really take the team over the top. Alex Rodriguez never wanted anything more than his money and while I don't think that he's the only blame for the divorce from the Rangers, the fan base never truly embraced him. Pudge Rodriguez, after Ryan, was the closest to reach that level, and again, blame the Rangers for letting him go. I'm still trying to figure out who he learned how to handle a pitching staff as soon as he left the Rangers. I blame John Hart. He's a convenient scapegoat for the problems of the early aughts. Hamilton is a guy who can spend the prime of his career as the Rangers are in ascendancy and lead the team to heights that they've never reached before. Yes, I'm talking pennants and World Series. Scouts drool over his stools and his production has already starting to match it. The Rangers have always been a second rate franchise, even in their own town. Hamilton can bring legitimacy to the Rangers and be the national bell cow that takes the Rangers off the last 15 mins of Sports Center and onto the front pages. I think the Dallas/ Fort Worth fan base is dying to love the Rangers. With his history and the demons which he has defeated, he can be the face of the franchise as it moves into the upper eschelon of baseball.

It's for nights like this that I am a fan.

First of all, I'd like to thank the miracle of the internet for allowing me to being able to take part in tonight's game. If it weren't for you, I'd be watching 45 minutes of ESPN before I'd have any clue what in the world happened in lowly Texas. I'd have to watch idiodicy like Titletown. Man, ESPN sucks.

But I'm not here to talk about ESPN. I'm here to celebrate the greatness of Josh Hamilton and the Texas Rangers. On a night in which the Rangers, dealing with so many injuries in the starting rotation, they started Warner Madrigal, a rookie who hadn't pitched about A ball until this year and is considered a reliever down the road, hoping he'd go three innings. The Rangers were praying just stay in the game and not have to burn through their whole bullpen, and miracle or miracles, they were in the game, down 4-2 into the bottom of the ninth, with the top of the order up.

A couple of base hits and couple of outs later, it's 4-3 with a man on and 2 outs and Hamilton at the plate. They don't call him Hobbs for nothing, and fittingly, as he rounded the bases, they played the tune from the Natural. (It doesn't matter that they play it after every Ranger's homer).

With my wife trying to sleep in the next room, I jumped and danced and celebrated and screamed as quietly as I could. It's these kinds of a games that makes it fun to be fan. That somehow or another, almost 700 miles away, I could join Josh Hamilton, the rest of the Ranger players, and all the Ranger's fans in celebrating a truly memorable moments for the Texas Rangers. I'll leave commentary about what this may mean for this year's edition of the Rangers for a later time. I'm too busy celebrating.

The Rangers at the Half Way Point and Going Forward

After 82 games, the Rangers are 41-41, a .500 team. A wise man once said you are what you are, and the Rangers are a .500 team with a really good (and could be great) offense and a mediocre to bad pitching staff. Sounds like the last nine years or so. But while the Rangers are what they are, they aren't what they were. Which is a mediocre team without much real hope for the future. I've said a couple of times before that the Rangers actually have a bright future. And it's not just Rangers fan and apologists who think so. I could list the names, but if you follow the Ranger's minor leagues you know who the are and if you don't, then I could just list any names and it wouldn't make a difference, but that sweet swing you see to your left belongs to Chris Davis, who was in the process of hitting his 2nd home run of the Red Hawks/ Nashville Sounds game a went too last week. The Rangers have some real talent on the way and some of it is really close.

So while they will probably spend the rest of this year around the .500 mark, they are looking better and better. So this begs the question on every Ranger fan's mind. Do the Rangers buy or sell? Is there enough here to try to make a run for it? Or do we trade everyone over the age of 26? On one hand, you never know when you're going to have a chance to make a run for the playoffs and for a fan base who is discontent to say the least, why would they really throw it all to wind and try to get CC Sabathia or Roy Oswalt and relief pitcher or two? On the other hand, how close are they really? They're 7 1/2 games back, and while they're by no means out of the race, they don't appear to be a team that's going to run off a big winning streak or even a 9 of 10 or anything like that. While a pick up of Sabathia would definitely help, I'm not sure it would enough and is it worth trading away the best of their farm system? Back in the 80s, the Rangers had a good team, but were several games behind the leading team. But they had a frustrated fan base and decided to go for it and trade Wilson Alvarez and Sammy Sosa for Harold Baines. No one wants that again. The Rangers have some tradable commodities: Kevin Millwood, Vincente Padilla, Milton Bradley, etc.

For a while this year I was an advocate of the first thought. But I'm not real big on trading everyone. I would rather the Rangers do what I call strategic trading with an eye not on 2008, but 2009 and further. They need to be ready to trade Millwood or Padilla (I don't think I'm big on trading both. That would leave them with an all- inexperienced rotation. Millwood and Padilla haven't been great, but even on days when they suck, like Thursday for Millwood, he at least pitched 5 innings. Not great, but he saved the bullpen.), but there's no reason to give them away. Don't trade for a pending free agent, like Sabathia. Trade for guys who are going to be here and help the next two years. At this point, my fear of the Rangers getting fleeced out of their young guys on a misguided attempt to hang around for a pennant when they are clearly the third best team in the division, a la John Danks for Brandon McCarthy or Chris Young and Adrian Gonzalez for Adam Eaton. I don't mind trading young guys, but I want something that helps soon. The Volquez- Hamilton deal was a tough deal, but both teams can be happy about that trade. Don't screw up like they did with the Harold Baines deal.

I have a great idea for speeding baseball games up

Tampa Bay - Bottom of 5th SCORE
TEX TAM
S Riggans singled to left. 2 1
B Zobrist WALKED, S Riggans to second. 2 1
A Iwamura singled to right, S Riggans scored, B Zobrist to third, A Iwamura to second advancing on throw. 2 1
C Crawford grounded out to first. 2 2
B Upton intentionally WALKED. 2 2
C Pena WALKED, B Zobrist scored, A Iwamura to third, B Upton to second. 2 2
E Longoria hit sacrifice fly to right, A Iwamura scored, B Upton to third. 2 3
J Bartlett WALKED, C Pena to second. 2 4
C Floyd WALKED, B Upton scored, C Pena to third, J Bartlett to second. 2 4
S Riggans struck out looking. 2 5
4 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors

THROW STRIKES FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!!!!!

Seriously, how much longer can this go on?

On April 10, the Rangers swept a double header from the Baltimore Orioles to go to 5-4 and put them over .500 for the very first time in Ron Washington's tenure as manager. Over the next 18 games, they lost 14 in absolutely awful ways: blown saves, blowouts, errors, and a lack of clutch hitting. Their record went as far down as 9-18 and it looked like another editions of the sorry, last place Texas Rangers. More of the same.

Then something happened. I'm not sure what. I'm reading all the blogs I usually read and no one seems to know what happened, but it's like a light has gone on. They've won 9 of 11 and are two games from .500 and only 4 games out of first place.

If you had said that early in May your rotation would be Millwood, Padilla, Sidney Ponson, Scott Feldman, and AJ Murray, you would have been very worried about your chances. They are basically working with their 7th, 8th, and 9th starters and each one of them have thrown at least one quality start in this little streak. The offense has been good, but not great. This streak is a product of excellent pitching. And like I said, I have no idea why. I also have no idea how long it can keep going.

It looks like smoke and mirrors to me. You can't really count on Ponson pitching like he did in 2003, the last time his ERA was below 5. Feldman is a converted sidearm throwing bullpen guy, and Murray's topside is #5 or a long man out of the bullpen. They can just as easily go on a streak of losing 8 of 10, and will Millwood going out of tonight's game with a sore hamstring, who know who will actually pitch this week.

So, enjoy it while you can, Ranger's fans. We have an interesting little team here.

What has gotten into the Rangers?

31 consecutive shutout innings??? They've won 10 of 14 and 4 in a row. Talk about smoke and mirrors.

I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. Maybe.... 3 games giving up 10+ runs or 3 games in which the starter doesn't get out of the 3rd or 3 games with blown saves in the 9th. Actually probably a combination of all three.

About Richie Sexson, I heard someone say, "I guess he threw the helmet because he didn't have his purse."

This team is done!

So my wife comes down stairs from her nap this afternoon and I'm clearly upset about something. "Are you depressed?" she asked me. "Of course I'm depressed, I'm listen to the Rangers."

Just when things can't seem to get any worse, they do. Over the last three days in Boston it's been different culprits: bad starting pitching on Friday night, inability to get runners homes on Saturday, and bad relief pitching on Sunday. It's obvious God hates the Rangers and loves the Red Sox.

You know, every year spring is the same. I have optimism about about the coming Ranger season. I hope that the Rangers are finally going to come together and stay in contention. The long time players (Michael Young, Hank Blalock, Ian Kinsler) etc are finally going be the players we all expected them to be. The off season moves (Jason Jennings, Eddie Guardado, Milton Bradley) are going to work out. The young players (Jason Botts, David Murphy, Josh Hamilton) are going to step up. The pitching is going to be good enough. On and on and on and it never happens. Two weeks into the season and where are we, last place in the west. What are we looking forward to the rest of the year? Last place!

The defense is horendous! Isn't Ron Washington supposed to be the guy who molded Eric Chavez into a Gold Glover? Where is that wizardry with Blalock or Kinsler? It's obvious that Young is a terrible defensive shortstop, but at least Blalock and Kinsler should be able to catch and throw. Any why does he keep trotting out Frank Catalonatto into left field? He couldn't play left for my softball team! And his former bat has completely left him. he's now a singles hitting corner outfielder: exactly what we need.

Talking about Washington, is there a worse in-game manager? How in the world does he in a one run game in which they had the lead, go with Benoit one inning, Wilson one inning, and then pin all your hopes on Franklyn German and Dustin Nippert? Of course, German gives up the lead and then Nippert allows the run that ends the game.

Except for Beniot and Wilson, they have no one worth a crap in the bullpen. They hope that Dustin Nippert can do something, but what has he done so far besides stink up the place? Nothing! And who is surprised that Eddie Guardado and Kaz Fukimori have thrown up all over themselves this year? When was their last decent year? 2001?

Any Astros fan want to testify about Jason Jennings? I will. He sucks. To quote Homer Simpson, "I've seen guys suck before, but he's the suckiest bunch of sucks that every sucked." When will JD put Rangers fans out of their misery and DFA that loser?

I don't even have a plan to move the team forward. Mainly because I'm positive that any plan they implement is almost sure to fail miserably. All I have is this: over the summer the Rangers considered getting into the Johann Santana sweepstakes. They had the prospects the Twins wanted, but the question was would Santana sign the long term deal to make the expenditure in prospects worth the Rangers while. When it was pitched to Santana talked to North Texas native Torri Hunter about Texas and then refused to even consider Texas. Why? Because the culture is poisonous. The Rangers now are the Mavs of the 90s and the Cowboys of the late 80s and the Rangers for their whole damn franchise history except for the late 90s. The Cowboys had a seismic shift when Jerry Jones bought the team in 89. The Mavs had the same thing in 2000 when Cuban bought the team. Would Tom Hicks selling the team be the change needed to change the Ranger's fortunes? Probably not.

Russell’s Rangers Preview

Last year, I wrote a preview that basically said that the Rangers will do well if...

If McCarthy and Tejeda can solidify the third and forth spots in the rotation.

If Gagne is healthy and the bullpen falls into place.

If the Blalock can break out of his malaise.

If Cruz and Kinsler are as good as advertised.

If the offense can get it done.
If Sosa doesn't become too big of a distraction.

Well, Gagne was good and got traded and Kinsler was pretty good, but everything else didn’t happen. In fact, almost the opposite happened. Not only did McCarthy and Tejeda not solidify the rotation, but Millwood and Padilla were terrible. Blalock looked really good, then got hurt. Cruz went the way of Tejeda and now both are all but gone. Sosa was ok, but not that great. All the worst case scenarios happened to the highest degrees. Well again, hope springs eternal and new year starts tomorrow. Will anything change? It’s frustrating year after year to lose and lose and this year looks to be no different. The question is are they making progress in the building of the team? Is there a light at the end of the tunnel? Are we really going to be able to tell? Here’s my rundown of the Rangers with keys to look for to see progress.

Rotation:
1 Kevin Millwood
2 Vincente Padilla
3 Jason Jennings
4 Kason Gabbard
5 Luis Mendoza
Injured: Brandon McCarthy
Next in Line: Eric Hurley, A.J. Murray, Sidney Ponson, John Patterson, Matt Harrison
This years Gagne: Padilla, Jennings

The rotation does not look pretty. The top three are great big IFs (can be really good, can be pretty bad, probably will be mediocre), Gabbard has been terrible during the spring and has a limited upside anyway, and Mendoza was given away by Boston a year ago. So it’s just a lot of “ifs” there. We will be able to see progress if Hurley gets to Arlington in August and performs well and McCarthy gets past his injury issues. These guys should be rotation mainstays for years, but as we all know injuries and control issues usually kill the Ranger pitching prospect. They brought in two guy recently who have been considered good, but have struggled with injuries and ineffectivness- John Patterson and Dustin Nippert. Are they going to be anything? Probably not. But progress could mean one of these two become something like everyone thought they could be. I expect the rotation to be better, and possibly see Padilla and Jennings traded with Hurley and Patterson or Nippert taking their places.

Infield
C Gerald Laird
1B Ben Broussard
2B Ian Kinsler
SS Michael Young
3B Hank Blalock
Util Ramon Vasquez
DH Frank Catalanotto and Jason Botts
Next in line: C Jarrod Saltalamacchia, 1B Chris Davis, 2B/SS/3B German Duran
This year’s Teixeira: Broussard, Laird, Catalanotto, Blalock

Trading Teixeira for Broussard is HUGE step down. The hope is that Blalock will be healthy and Kinsler will continue to improve. Overall, I expect the offensive output to be similar to last year. We’ll see progress if Salty solidifies his catching defense in Oklahoma and Davis comes up in September to get his feet wet.

Outfield
LF Marlon Byrd
CF Josh Hamilton
RF Milton Bradley
4OF David Murphy
Next in line: Kevin Mench, Brandon Boggs
This year’s Lofton: Bradley, Mench Byrd

When you have bad pitching, you need really good defense, in the Ballpark especially. Last year, they had one center fielder, Kenny Lofton. Now, they have three with another on the bench. Add the power of Hamilton and Bradley and this outfield is going to be A LOT better, on offense and defense. The future here is further down on the farm. Hopefully, Hamilton will prove that he can stay healthy and play at least 130 games.

Bullpen
CL C.J. Wilson
RP Joaquin Benoit
RP Kaz Fukumori
RP Eddie Guardado
RP Josh Rupe
RP Franklyn German
RP Jamey Wright
Next in Line: Frank Francisco, Wes Littleton, Kameron Loe, Kea Kometani
This years Gagne: Guardado, Wright

I’m a little worried about the bullpen. Wilson, Benoit, and Guardado have been injured or sick during spring training. The bullpen was a strength last year, but I’m afraid that this will be the weak point of this team. The guys who need to step up are Wilson, Rupe, Francisco, and Littleton.

Overall, we want to see progress in the Rangers. I think .500 is the high end of the Ranger year. Around 80 wins would be a pretty good year, but we want to see guys like Kinsler, Hamilton, Murphy, Saltalamacchia, and Botts on the offensive side and Hurley, Wilson, Nippert and Gabbard on the pitching side to lead the way for the Rangers. If it’s Padilla, Jennings, Broussard, and Catalanotto, then progress isn’t being made.

I realize we keep pushing this back, but 2010 is realistically when the Rangers can think about seriously contending for the World Series, but let me give a hypothetical. The Angels are relying on an old outfield and injuries have thinned out their pitching staff. The Mariners are Bedard, Ichiro, and ..... The As are rebuilding just like the Rangers. Can the Rangers contend? Is it at all possible that August roles around and they are within a five of games of first? Could they make a big trade to bring in top pitcher (a bullpen guy) and roll into the playoffs? Or just ride good young players like the Rockies? Maybe, stranger things have happened. I’m not holding my breath though.

Here are my picks for this year.
AL East: Boston Red Sox
AL Central: Cleveland Indians
AL West: LA Angels
AL Wild Card: Detroit Tigers
AL Champion: Indians
NL East: NY Mets
NL Central: Milwaukee Brewers
NL West: Arizona Diamondbacks
NL Wild Card: San Diego Padres
NL Champion: Diamondbacks
World Series: Indians

Another Hard Right Turn

In the 35 illustrious years of the Rangers, they have a grand total of one Hall of Famer: Nolan Ryan. But even he spent the best years of his career in California and Houston. It was he, however, who brought legitimacy to the team playing in a glorified AAA ball field in Arlington. You could say that the Ballpark is the Ballpark Nolan Built, because it was his popularity that allowed that beautiful park to be built in the first place and he is rightfully honored with a statue in the centerfield concourse. Now, he returns to Arlington as president of the Texas Rangers. He is a strong change from the previous presidents who were business people who seemed not to care even a little bit about baseball.

Over the past several years, in fact since Tom Hicks bought the team, the biggest complaint I've had is that the can't seem to stick to a plan. They swing back and forth between throwing big money at free agents and building from within, usually mixing in the terrible trade, the terrible free agent signing, and the terrible draft. In fact, usually for their whole history, it's if something bad can happen it will. Perhaps Murphy's Law should be changed to Ranger's Law: if something bad can happen it probably will.

However, I think the franchise is now on more solid footing that it has been in a long time. But that footing is precarious. Because of shrewd trades and an almost universally lauded draft last year, the Rangers went from one of the worst farm systems to one of the best, with some top prospects on the cusp of helping the team this year. However, most the big time pitching prospects are below AA and anything can happen to them (considering Ranger's Law, probably bad things).

As you all know, I like what JD has done over the last year or so. He's not batting a 1.000, but he's doing pretty good. I'm nervous about Ryan coming in and changing things before we have a chance to know if JD's plan is going to work. Apparently, Ryan's going to have say over all baseball matters. I'm nervous.

I read now, that it means that Tom Hicks will step back from baseball matters. If that is the case and Ryan can do to Hicks what he did to Robin Ventura, then I'm all for it. Only thing though, how long do you think that'll last?

Over the last month and the greater good

It's been a while since I've posted and alot of things have happened.

*The Mavs have been playing well. In fact, they've gone 13-4 since my last post. But Devin Harris just got hurt. I'm not to worried since he's only out for 2-3 weeks. I mean the Mavs almost won 70 last year with Jason Terry at the point, so I think they can survive for a couple of weeks. Unless someone else gets hurt. Then all bets are off. It does bring up the thought of righting at least one of the wrongs of the 90s Mavericks and trading for Jason Kidd. I'll just say this. I'd do it, but ain't holding my breath.

*The Stars have been struggling at 9-9. I don't follow them as closely, but I wonder what they're going to do with Marty Turco. I keep waiting for P.J. to post his thoughts. It seems to me that a Brian St. Louis would be a pretty good haul for Turco. But I know less about hockey than just about anything else.

*The Rangers fortified their starting rotation with the addition of Jason Jennings, who is probably going to fit in well with the Rangers rotation. As an Astros and Rangers fan, I am really really underwhelmed. Hopefully, he is over the health issues that plagued him in his only year as an Astros. But he sucked last year and it was especially bad in light of what the Astros gave up for him. Maybe he turns it around and pitches well this year. But the real problem is that he is another in a long line of pitchers signed to one year "make good" deals who end up sucking, like Pedro Astacio, Ismael Valdez, and Mark Clark. Plus the idea of bringing him and then, if he's any good, trading him ticks me off because I hold dreams (or hallucinations) of a competitive Ranger team that should not be trading off players at the end of the year. But in addition to Jennings, the Rangers also brought in pitchers Eddie Guardado and Kazuo Fukimori and toyed around with trading Marlon Byrd for Matt Murton (which I'd probably do). But overall, each of these moves are met with a collective *yawn*. I have written on my calender that pitchers and catchers report on Feb 14. Can't happen a moment too soon.

*In college sports, Texas won the Holiday Bowl. Which is fine, but really, I expect so much more from Texas. I like what Mack Brown has done so far: hiring Will Muschamp to coordinate the defense and bringing Major Applewhite home. Still don't think Colt McCoy is good enough to take this team to the national championship. Texas Tech won an exciting bowl game, and Texas A&M lost a bowl game. College basketball looks good for Texas, A&M, and Baylor. I don't pay attention to college basketball until March anyway.

*The Titans made the playoffs, but lost a tough first round game to the Chargers. Vince Young has a new offensive coordinator, but I think the real question is is he willing to do what it takes to be a great NFL quarterback. Merrill Hoge not withstanding, everyone thinks that he's got all the talent in the world and is going to be great, but he's gotta want it. Is he going to work on his passing game? Also, are the Titans going to surround him with the talent he needs at WR? In the two years that I've followed the Titans, it seems that Bud Adams, the owner, is cheap. They invested a #3 pick and millions of dollars on their quarterback, but last year completely failed to improve their receiving corp.

*Something else happened in Dallas sports over the last month, but I forgot what it was. I may be repressing memories.

*Anyway, about the greater good that I referenced in the title. With the Super Bowl coming up, the question for football fans everywhere is who to root for. Usually, if I don't have an interest, I root for the underdog. But this year, I hate almost equally both teams. I'm so beaten by the Pats and their "quest for perfection." You'd think after the whole spy thing, the arrogance, the jerkiness of Belichek, the football gods would wake up and kick them in the shorts. But the thing is the Giants aren't a love able team either. Michael Strahan just beats me. Every time I see him, I turn off the TV. In fact, to be honest, I've watched so little of ESPN and quit listening to sports talk radio over the last couple of weeks, they could have called the whole thing off and I may not have heard about it.
But beyond all this: the Super Bowl is further proof that the sports universe revolves around New York and Boston and as a New York and Boston sports hater, this is hell. But in the grand scheme of things, the Boston sports fan must be stopped! First, the Red Sox, now, the Patriots, and coming soon, the Celtics. Even the New England Revolution made the MLS championship! (Full disclosure: I had to look that up. I just guessed that the Rev (as I'm sure they're called) would have been any good this year.) I'm surprised the Bruins aren't kicking butt in the NHL. For the greater good of sports and the rest of the nation. Down with the Pats! Go Giants! (I think I'm gonna be sick).

Josh Hamilton: Texas Ranger

Spring 2001. Dan Rosendahl and I travel during spring break to Florida for a week of baseball- seven games in five days and some great stories featuring George Brett and some old Red Sox fans. A-Rod's a Ranger and autographs from Ranger greats Rusty Greer and Rafael Palmiero as well as Jonathan Johnson and Ryan Glynn.
One of the games we went to was the Minnesota Twins against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. In fact, it may have been our first game. This was where Dan played the little kid to the groundskeeper's Mean Jow Green, who tossed him a ball. I got one that was hit during batting practice by the immortal BJ Garbe, the Twins first round draft pick in 1999 who still can't get out AA ball.
With that ball, I was determined to get a good autograph. When I entered the stadium during batting practice, one guy stood out from the rest: the Devil Ray's number one draft pick in the entire draft, 19 year old Josh Hamilton. There were a few old guys standing around with notebooks full baseball cards and Hamilton was signing them. I thought this is a good guy who to sign my new ball. But it was taking too long with the other guys and he had to run and hit batting practice. He looked at me and told me that he would be right back. During batting practice he was showed light pole power, crushing pitches out of the park. To his credit, when he was done hitting, he came over and signed my ball. However, about that time, I looked around and realized that was I was a 27 year old guy and I was clamoring for the autograph of a 19 year old kid. The other guys who were standing around were old balding guys who, frankly, looked like complete loser. While the rest of the week, I still got lots of autographs and have paid for a few autographs, it was the beginning of the end of my careing about baseball players autographs. Now, if it's Nolan Ryan or Troy Aikman or someone of that ilk, then I'll act a complete loser to get that.
Anyway, after that year, he fell off the face of the earth, battling injuries and drug problems. In fact, he didn't play proball from 2002-2005. Then he came back last year with an OPS of .924 and with 19 hrs and covering centerfield. Now the Rangers take a risk on a guy who can be a All-Star or end up homeless. I think it's a good call. I'll talk more later.

The Definition of Insanity, Part 2

One definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Earlier I talked about this concerning the Dallas Mavericks. Now I'm saying this about myself and the Texas Rangers. I keep expecting that the Rangers are going to do something smart and then contend and it never happens. Stupid trades on top of stupid free agent signings on top of bad drafts on top of key injuries on top of under performing players on top of bad leadership from the top and so on and so on. I haven't looked at all the numbers, but I'm pretty confident in saying that the Rangers are probably fighting it out with the Rays and the Royals for the worst franchises in all of baseball.

This past year has been a bit of a step backwards for the franchise: trading their best player (Mark Teixeira) for Jarrod Saltalamacchia and a bunch of minor leaguers, big free agent signings of the past couple of years (Kevin Millwood and Vincente Padilla) struggling, a slow start from the FOTF (face of the franchise- Michael Young), injuries to key players (Brandon McCarthy and Hank Blalock), and another questionable trade (McCarthy for Danks). There are a couple of things you can look back on as good things: a couple of very good trades (Kenny Lofton and Eric Gagne for Max Ramirez, Kason Gabbard, Elvis Andrus and David Murphy), a good step forward by some younger players (Ian Kinsler, C.J. Wilson, Travis Metcalf, and Edinson Volquez), and what looks like and excellent draft. For the first time in LOOOONG time outside observers are calling the Ranger farm system one of the best in baseball with a whole lot of prime pitching talent, including some that may impact the big league team this year (Eric Hurley and Matt Harrison).

So the question is about this off-season, preparing for 2008. How aggressive should the Rangers be in free agency for areas of need? What about trading some of their prime minor league talent for established major leaguers like Johan Santana or Eric Bedard?

So far the Rangers have made only very minor moves: stealing an Angels' prospect on a paperwork snafu and trading a barely usable center fielder for a recently released first baseman. Hardly front page stuff. Their stated focus of the off season, Torri Hunter, signed with the Angels and as the top flight center fielders sign elsewhere the Rangers are forced to look at spares like Corey Patterson and Juan Pierre. This hasn't exactly been an off season to get excited about Rangers baseball. When the Royals are more appearing more apt to spend money than you, you know you have problems.

I suggest, however, that the Rangers are making the right moves at this time by not making any major, earth shattering moves. There are two main reasons that I think this:
1. For the first time in years, it appears the Rangers actually have a plan and are sticking to it. That plan is building the team from within, especially in the pitching department. In the top 20 prospect list I linked earlier, 6 are pitchers that were added this last year, either through trade or the draft. They have finally realized that if you want to hold down costs you can't build a rotation through free agency. Also, when pitchers get traded, it's for top notch minor league talent, like when the Marlins traded Josh Beckett for Hanley Ramirez and more. The thing about pitching prospects is the high attrition rate. TINSTAAPP (There is no such thing as a pitching prospect). Injuries happen, guys aren't effective, they go off the deep end mentally. Any number of things can happen. How do you keep that from killing your franchise? By stock pilling as many as possible.
2. They've realized you don't get better by throwing ridiculous amounts of money at mediocre players. For example, after Torri Hunter, Andruw Jones was the best center fielder on the market. According the reports, while he signed for 2/36 with the Dodgers he wanted a long term commitment to change leagues and sign with the Rangers. Now the best center fielder on the market, Aaron Rowand wants five years. If you're operating on a budget, you can't throw good money after bad players. I'm not even sure the Torii Hunter was worth the money the Rangers would have had to pay him to et him hear.

The off season is still going on. There are plenty of time for the Rangers to make moves and screw all this up. Hopefully, they will continue to follow the blue print that they have set out for themselves. They still need to improve the outfield which with Murphy, Byrd, and Catalanotto may be the worst outfield in baseball. I don't think they need a closer or a starter right now, although if you can get rid of Vicente Padilla you gotta do it. Their offense has a chance to be terrible. But 2008 is not what we are working for. We're looking at 2009, 2010, etc.

So, What did I miss?

It's been over a month since I posted anything and I think I'm gonna do a Peter King style scattershooting about baseball.

5 Things I Think about baseball.
1. I think the Rangers made three excellent trades at the deadline. I'm sure that doesn't surprise anyone who reads this blog with any regularity (all three of you). Jon Daniels turned a 40 year old outfielder (Kenny Lofton) into a catcher better known as a hitter(Max Ramirez). Eric Gagne netted two solid players and another minor leaguer with big upside in 17 year old Engel Beltre. In the biggest trade, Mark Teixeira and Ron Mahay brought 5 players, each of whom have upside led by catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia. In this trade as well, the Rangers ended up a couple of players several years away. So, including this years draft, the Rangers have added a great deal of young talent. Talents that may not arrive for a couple years, but this sets the Rangers up long term. Before this year, they had a middle of the road farm system with little big time, superstar talent. But now Elvis Andrus is compared to Jose Reyes and Beltre to Barry Bonds (seriously, I've seen this written.) Are all these guys gonna make it for the Rangers? No, injuries and trades and just flat out stinking can happen anytime, but the more good players you have, the more likely you are to have some work out.

2. I think, no, I know Mark Teixeira was not going to resign with Texas, no way, no how and it's not totally his fault (or his agent's). I watched his first game with the Braves and I had rarely seen that kind of happiness when he was with the Rangers. Then he kinda goes scorched earth throwing the Ranger organization under the bus. Ok, Mark, we get it. Your happy to be out of Texas. As a fan, it's frustrating for the one who was your best player so anxious to get out of town. Unfortunately, Texas has been mismanaged for the last 8 years or so and the blame should be laid at owner, Tom Hicks. I've said this before. Only a philosophy change can bring about winning at the Ballpark. Hopefully JD can have the leeway he needs to do it. I think he can. The moves he made over this season in the trades and the draft have set up this team for strong future. I hope he has the chance to see it through.

3. I think 30-3 is what makes baseball so darn interesting. You realize that the same team that scored 30 runs last week, got no hit earlier in the year and the two previous games had struck out 30 times and scored 2 runs. In the five games since that game, the Rangers have scored 25 runs. The craziest stat to me is that in a game where the winning team scored 30 runs, Wes Littleton came in in the 7th inning ahead 14-3 and got the SAVE. In football, you can take a knee. In basketball, you can dribble out the clock. But in baseball, you gotta get the 27th out and until you do, the game isn't over. I'll tell you this though. As fan, and I'm sure as a player, you'd rather be on this side of history instead of the other.

4. I think I'm ready for Barry Bonds to crawl under a rock and go away. I was on vacation in Florida when he broke Hank Aaron's record. I watched it on the hotel television. It was pretty cool to see it live, but I didn't feel a whole lot of emotion. Basically I'm just glad it's over. I missed the McGwire/ Sosa chase in 1998 because I was living in Kazakhstan and I wasn't really that sad. I sorta feel the same way now. Meh.

5. I think the Astros are gonna be bad for a while. They aren't great this year and their farm system makes the Ranger system look awesome and overloaded with talent. They fired their manager and GM yesterday, but I don't think it's really gonna help. It won't be long before the Astros are Roy Oswalt, Lance Berkman, Carlos Lee, and a bunch of spares. They've had a great run with a World Series appearance, but they are in store for a bit of a dry spell.