Rangerfans.com

Busy Busy

2010-09-02T16:18:30Z

As those of you who have followed my site for awhile know, I've been out of work for some 15 months. This past week, I started up working again. Not full time, but a part time gig. Thing is, the first two weeks of the gig are going to be way busier than any other time, so I haven't had much time for Rangers stuff.

This will probably extend into next week, so I'm taking a short sabbatical from doing updates while I deal with work stuff.

I will be back, I want to be around for the tail end of the season. :)

Examining Our Standings

2010-08-28T16:08:57Z

A lot has been written both locally (pro and blog) and nationally about how the Rangers are "running away" with the AL West. That we have the widest margin of any of the division leaders, and that we're a "slam dunk" to make the playoffs. While all of that may be true, I decided to examine our record and see where it would put us.

I remember some years ago when the Padres make the playoffs (1998), there was talk that they were the "best of a bunch of bad teams", and that they only make the playoffs because someone from that division had to. There always seems to be some team somewhere that kind of does that - "backs into" the playoffs is what it's generally called.

Now, do I feel that's the way the Rangers are in 2010? No, we're not a bad team. No, we won't "back" into the playoffs. The way the team has played this year, we deserve to be there. But still, having said all that, I'd like to see where our current record would place us in the other divisions. A lot also has been made about how the other teams besides the Yankees & the Red Sox (and the Rays in more recent vintage) in the AL East would fare better if they were in another division. So here goes:

AL West: We're in first place, 9.5 games up on second place Oakland. Our record is 73-55, 18 games over .500 - our winning percentage is .570

AL Central: Our record in that division would put us in second place behind the Twins, only a half game behind them. We'd be three games up on third place Chicago. A pretty decent shot at winning that division, I'd say while it wouldn't be as easy, we could win that division.

AL East: We'd be in FOURTH place here. Right now the Yankees & Rays are tied at 78-50 (.609), and then Boston is in third at 74-55 (.574). We wouldn't be far behind Boston (one game), and the division leaders (5GB), but we would have to hop three other teams to get there. I'd say this would be the hardest shot to make the playoffs, despite being only 5 games out.

NL West: Our record here would put us in second place, about 3.5 games back of division leader San Diego, and 2.5 games in front of third place San Francisco. Again, we'd be right in the thick of things, and would probably have a good shot at winning this division.

NL Central: Again, second place. This time just one game back of division leader Cincinnati, and 3 games in front of second place St. Louis. A very winnable division if we were in it.

NL East: This time, our record would tie us with Atlanta for the division lead, and two games up on what would be third place Philadelphia. Of the three NL divisions, I'd say this would be the hardest fight, but we probably could win this as well.

So basically, outside of our own division, we could easily win three of them, have a good fight with one of them, and in my opinion, be out of the playoffs in one other.

I realize this is a nebulous thing, if you moved us out of the division, we'd play different teams, different stadiums, things would be different. Yeah, I know that. Just playing a "pick up and put into another scenario - how would be be doing" fantasy. I know that. Still, it's nice to know where we stand amongst everyone else.

I've given Tom Hicks some grief many a time for letting Bud Selig off the hook on moving the Rangers to the AL Central, where we'd more fit in with our division mates and the time zone. It stinks having so many games start at 9PM. However, had Bud not taken the guaranteed home and away series with the Astros every year, and actually moved us to the AL Central, we wouldn't be in the driver's seat we are in now. However, we might have won a few more divisions along the way and have been to the playoffs sometime in the last decade.

Still, this year is feeling like no other I've covered on this site since the first one I ever covered (1999). 2004 came close, but we fell down at the end. This doesn't feel like that year at all. How far we get in the playoffs is an unknown, but at this point, I'm ready to say that we WILL get there, and I expect it will not be a first round sweep and out again. Overall, I think the team is too good for that.

This Week in Baseball

2010-08-27T22:27:51Z

I've been watching this show since I was a kid ("How about that?"), but this weekend's episode should be of interest to anyone reading this site.

The subject is the 2010 Texas Rangers. :)

MLB has some press about the episode here.

How Many in 2010?

2010-08-26T18:59:00Z

Usually towards the end of the year, we always hear about how many players the Texas Rangers have used overall in any particular season. The Rangers are usually towards the high end of that list. Injuries, callups, usually make for a long list, and you tend to forget the guys who are here so quick that they don't even have time for the proverbial "cup of coffee".

I've done this for the last two seasons, and it's worked out pretty well. I've also gotten some positive feedback on it, so I'm doing it again in 2010. For the record, if you'd like to see the final tallies for the last two years, you can still see them here: [ 2008 | 2009 ]

Anyway, this post will get bumped whenever there is a player who is making his first appearance for the Texas Rangers in 2010. I am going to count guys who get called up, but don't play immediately (or sometimes don't play at all), as they will be part of the 25 man roster officially. So here goes. The most recent additions will be on the top of the list. The original opening day 25 man roster is not in any particular order.

In 2010, the Rangers have nobody in the original opening day 25 that is making his major league debut. We had one in 2009 (Elvis Andrus) and one in 2008 (Kaz Fukumori). We do have, however five guys making their Ranger debuts in 2010: Blanco, Garko, Guerrero, Harden, & Ray.

Total players in 2010: 44
Total pitchers used in 2010: 19
Total position players used in 2010: 25
Total players making major league debut: 5

#44 - Alex Cora (Aug 24)
#43 - Michael Kirkman (Aug 20 - Major League Debut)
#42 - Brandon Boggs (Aug 15)
#41 - Cristian Guzman (Jul 31)
#40 - Jorge Cantu (Jul 30)
#39 - Mitch Moreland (Jul 29 - Major League Debut)
#38 - Cliff Lee (Jul 10)
#37 - Bengie Molina (Jul 2 - acquired on 1st, not active till 2nd)
#36 - Omar Beltre (Jun 30 - Major League Debut)
#35 - Alexi Ogando (Jun 12 - Major League Debut)
#34 - Tommy Hunter (Jun 5)
#33 - Pedro Strop (May 15 - Sent back down May 16, did not appear, came back later)
#32 - Guillermo Moscoso (May 15)
#31 - Derek Holland (May 12)
#30 - Ian Kinsler (Apr 30)
#29 - Max Ramirez (Apr 27)
#28 - Craig Gentry (Apr 27)
#27 - Justin Smoak (Apr 23 - Major League Debut)
#26 - Matt Treanor (Apr 8)

#25 to #1: Scott Feldman, Neftali Feliz, Frankie Francisco, Rich Harden, Matt Harrison, Colby Lewis, Doug Mathis, Dustin Nippert, Darren O'Day, Darren Oliver, Chris Ray, C.J. Wilson, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Taylor Teagarden, Elvis Andrus, Joaquin Arias, Andres Blanco, Chris Davis, Ryan Garko, Michael Young, Julio Borbon, Nelson Cruz, Vladimir Guerrero, Josh Hamilton, David Murphy.

Please note that 1 to 25 are in no particular order.

G126: Rangers beat Twins again by a 4-3 score

2010-08-26T18:46:12Z

Got a bit behind this week, taking a mulligan on this game.

G125: Rangers beat Twins 4-3

2010-08-26T18:44:11Z

Got a bit behind this week, taking a mulligan on this game.

G124: Rangers dominate Twins in 4-0 near no-hitter

2010-08-26T18:31:27Z

Rich Harden came off the DL for this game, and by most accounts, was pitching for his job. The talk was that if he had a bad outing, he'd be banished forever. He seriously answered the bell. In probably his best outing as a Ranger. He went 6.2 innings, picking allowing no runs, yet walking five. He left the game in the seventh with a no hitter, actually. He came out with 111 pitches. Early on, he went to a three ball count on most everyone. That's why he lost his chance to go deeper. Shame, as he was pitching well enough to carry on, but as he just came off the DL, he needed to be protected for later on in the season, which ultimately is more important.

Matt Harrison finished the inning, then Darren O'Day had his own no hitter of an inning. Then Neftali Feliz came in, and gave up the one hit, a single by Joe Mauer to break it up. Shame that didn't happen, yes. But I'm more glad we got a win, and a convincing one against a real playoff team after the weak showing recently in that department.

The Rangers had a spread out offense. Of the starters, only one had no hits (that being Treanor). Everyone else had at least one, and it was enough, given the stellar pitching of the Rangers staff.

Great win.

G123: Rangers club their way to win in Baltimore, 6-4

2010-08-26T18:19:41Z

Tommy Hunter took the mound on Sunday afternoon in the series finale and tried to shake a couple of rough outings, one including a vomiting session. He did pull it off. Had a great outing. Eight innings, five hits, three earned runs on one home run. Quite a good outing, indeed.

The other side of things were pretty much summed up quickly with this:

Josh Hamilton's three run home run in the first off of Kevin Millwood gave us the lead we never gave up. Then a second three run home run by Vlad Guerrero in the fifth - again off of Millwood.

That was the extent of the scoring for the Rangers, but it was enough. Thanks to Hunter, who seems to have bounced back nicely.

G122: Cliff Lee homered in Rangers loss, 8-6

2010-08-26T18:11:39Z

Fell a bit behind this week, not going to write huge amounts of games this week.

I will say this. Cliff Lee had by far his worst outing as a Ranger. Just 5.2 innings, 10 hits, all eight runs were earned by him. Four home runs. It was a mess.

The best on the Rangers site was Josh Hamilton (what a shock), who went 3-5 with two runs scored, and three RBI's. Michael Young also had three hits, but beyond that, not a ton of other stuff.

Blah.

Some Cool Baseball Art

2010-08-21T04:35:18Z

Hey, if you're on Facebook, and like baseball art, you should check out this page I ran into not too long ago. It's by a fellow named "Kyle Banister", and he does some great baseball art. Noticed about a week ago he had posted a nice picture of Josh Hamilton, and I had asked his permission to post it, and he was cool with it. You can see it here. He simply calls it "Hamilton", and it was hand drawn in colored pencil and black marker. It's quite nice, and I thought I should let others know about this guy.

While he doesn't have a website yet, all of his art and whatnot is up on the fan page for him on Facebook. So if you're on Facebook (who isn't these days), go check out the Kyle Banister - Baseball Art page, and "like" it. He's got a lot of good stuff there. I also particularly like his pencil drawing of Ubaldo Jimenez.

Here's a blurb Kyle has written about himself:

Before admitting he was an artist, Kyle owned and operated a successful sign and lettering company. For nearly 20 years Kyle used his talents to help others communicate and realize their dreams. In 2002 he gave up the sign business to pursue his own dream, to become the artist he was born to be.

While producing signage for others, Kyle learned and mastered a variety of mediums. And he uses all of these in his art today, often mixing them to achieve what he sees as the best look for a particular piece of art. That is why you may see an array of styles in one of Kyle's shows. He is just as comfortable painting with 1-Shot Lettering enamel on Plexiglas as he is digitally coloring an original pointillism drawing. Some have criticized Kyle's work saying that the use of so many mediums will slow his march to success. But Kyle is OK with that as long as he can stay true to himself, and his art.

Kyle's favorite subjects are History, Baseball and Women, not necessarily in any order. He loves to travel doing research for the many projects he has planned. His strongest asset is inexhaustible creativity, he never is at a loss for a new art project. Kyle says, "It's as if God leaves notes on my forehead after a nights rest."

Kyle's art is quite a journey. So come along and enjoy the ride.

G121: Rangers return favor, shut out Orioles, 2-0

2010-08-21T04:18:45Z

On my 45th birthday, the Rangers gave me a quite nice baseball present. They broke their four game losing streak with a dominating performance by CJ Wilson.

I tend to use the phrase "dominating" on this website perhaps a little more than I realistically should, but man - it certainly applied tonight. CJ was masterful (uh-oh, another overused adjective) in this one, and was EXACTLY what we needed this night. Nolan Ryan himself in his prime couldn't have done any better in stopping the skid. CJ went 8.2 innings, allowing just THREE hits and a walk, and struck out a dozen Orioles. At one point, he got 16 Orioles in a row out. I mean, WOW! 118 pitches when he came out of the game, he still had a realistic number of pitches left. I confess at the time wishing Washington would leave him in there, but you can't argue with the result. Rangers win, Feliz got his first save of the month, and his 30th overall.

Thing is, the Orioles pitcher (Jake Arrieta) probably pitched well enough to win the game himself. He didn't have quite the line as CJ, but you can't argue with what he did as a good performance. 6.2 IP, 8 hits, three walks, two runs (one earned). Quality start for sure, and on any normal night, he probably would have won. But not against Wilson on this night - that's for sure. The Orioles pen was good though - four guys combined for 2.1 innings of shutout ball. We couldn't pad the lead at all against those guys, but we didn't really need it.

Interesting bit late. Buck Showatler got tossed out of the game not long after Nick Markakis did (first time EVER for Nick). Showalter had a lot to say when he was out there. He did turn all kinds of red, which my wife even noticed. Now I point that out, because my wife needs glasses, and if she's not wearing them, what she sees on the TV is a huge blur to her. She was laying on the sofa at the time (as the kids were both down now, and she was resting). She said "Wow - even without my glasses, Buck Showalter looks rather beet red". He did seem to blow a few blood vessels. Not quite Earl Weaver levels of Orioles manager ejections, but it was a good show for sure.

Nice that we broke the streak, and as I write this on Friday night, the Angels have already lost, and the A's are currently losing. Assuming that holds up, we'll end the night eight games up on both of them. That's quite amazing, considering how lackadaisical we've played over the last week or so. Not to have lost any significant ground during this time. Wow.

G120: Rangers dominated in Baltimore by Matusz; lose 4-0

2010-08-21T03:54:47Z

I wasn't sure if I was right about the shutout statement in Game 119, but it didn't matter. The Rangers were shut out in Game 120, 4-0 in Baltimore. If you count that horrible series right before the All-Star break, we've now lost five straight games to Baltimore. I really hope Baltimore doesn't become our new Kansas City - a place where we should dominate totally, but can't win worth a damn.

While he wasn't there for the four game sweep back in July, Buck Showalter has certainly put a charge into Baltimore. I've always kind of liked Baltimore (except back in 83 when they beat my Phillies). Baltimore has had such a rough time over the last 13 years, only being beat out in futility by the Pittsburgh Pirates. Buck Showalter is probably the kind of manager they need there (the Pirates could use Bobby V, too I'd take it). But when Buck got the job, I thought it would be a good long term match, provided management doesn't get tired of waiting for a honest to god turnaround.

But one thing I loved seeing from the Showalter press conference in Baltimore was the talk about Johnny Oates. My long time readers know I have a soft spot for Johnny Oates, and that Showalter continues to pay reverence to him is great. Buck apparently asked for and got Johnny Oates' old uniform number of 26 to wear in Baltimore. From what I read, he consulted with several people, not the least of which was Johnny's family to make sure they'd be OK with it. That showed some class. I still remember the winter that Buck took over in Texas him coming straight over to me and asking me about the red Rangers hat I was wearing. I'll never forget that. The man has a reputation of being a heavy duty, almost too far level of detail to him, and the fact he'd talk to a fan (me) about cap colors with the Rangers, or talk to Johnny Oates' widow about wearing his old uniform number just makes me like him more. Don't get me wrong, I like Ron Washington, and enjoy him now, but I wish Buck Showalter had won it big here in Texas, I thought he deserved it. I hope he can have better success in Baltimore - but not until the Rangers win the World Series.

Anyway, I didn't mean to write a ton about Buck Showalter here, but truth be told, there's little else to say about this game. The story of the game is the Orioles' starter Brian Matusz (the Z is silent - Mah-toos). He went eight innings, allowing no runs on five hits and a walk. Struck out six. Koji Uehara followed with a little rocky (two hits) inning, but he too put up the all important donut in the runs column.

That was about it. Vlad Guerrero seems to be coming around again - went 2-3 with a walk for a team that got just seven hits overall. We need his power back - especially now with Cruz down, and Kinsler still out.

Tip of the hat to Brian Matusz. He looked awesome. Hard to beat that kind of pitching, no matter what your offense is doing.

G119: Rangers swept in Tampa by Rays, 8-6

2010-08-21T03:53:04Z

Shit.

G118: Rangers bombed out by Rays, 10-1

2010-08-21T03:48:56Z

The less said about this mess, the better.

But at least Murphy saved us from being shut out. If I'm not mistaken, the Rangers are the only team that hasn't been shut out in 2010.

G117: The Rays beat Cliff Lee and Rangers, 6-4

2010-08-21T03:37:51Z

Cliff Lee may have had his worst outing as a Ranger. You couldn't tell it early on, as Lee piled up zeroes on the runs column for the first four innings. He then let the Rays on the board with a two spot in the bottom of the fifth, when a Willy Aybar single scored two. OK, not too bad. Two runs, we can live with that.

We actually made a game of it, and it looked good late. The Rangers offense was shut down by Chad Price, who went six plus innings. The first six, the Rangers had no runs at all. Then Price weakened, and we put up two in the seventh. The first scored during a double play the Rangers had hit into, and hten the other on a single. So no big power here, just a lot of small ball. But OK, game's tied 2-2, and Cliff Lee's on the mound. That's good.

Even better in the eighth, when we duplicated the seventh by scoring a run in the middle of a double play, and then singling in the other guy. Now we're up 4-2 going into the bottom of the eighth with Cliff Lee on the mound. Feeling good.

Nope, that was not the feeling I should have had given the outcome. The wheels fell off in the eighth, when Lee gave up a four spot to the Rays. None of those were power RBI's either, as one was a fielder's choice, and the other runs came on two singles.

Not Cliff Lee's night, and you couldn't blame the Texas heat for that one. He fell apart late. It's OK, I suppose, it's not like he's going to go 34-0 in a season, he'll lose some here and there. Better now than October I suppose. :)