And it begins today. Rangers on the radio at 2PM.
Speaking of Radio.. I see Victor Rojas has left MLB Network to be the play by play guy for the Angels? Oh Vic. If you were just going back to play by play, you should have stayed here. Oh, you just don’t love Texas. I see how it goes. :) j/k.
Hope it goes well for you personally, just not your new employer as such.

Batting Stance guy (Gar Ryness) is awesome. By far my favorite one of his is Andre Dawson. A ton of Gar’s stuff is great, but for some reason his version of Hawk is spectacular. Watch this clip from Gar’s appearance on the Letterman show last July. He doesn’t do Dawson, but it’s a great clip, as most of them are shticked up due to being on Letterman. :)

Finally, click this link to head over to mlb.com. It’s a video from Gar’s appearance on the MLBN “Hot Stove” program from last off season. At the 1:00 minute mark, he does Andre Dawson – this is my favorite single impression Gar’s done by anyone.
Silly MLBam not allowing streaming of their MLBN video. That would be rather cool.

A bit early I know, but watch this video. It’s really funny. Lots of visual gags, too.

The picture above is what a lot of people consider the best coaching staff the Rangers have had, because it’s (for the most part) the one that led us to the playoffs in the 90’s. The last direct link to that era is now gone. As you have to have known already before you read this, Rudy Jaramillo is out as the hitting coach of the Rangers. A lot has been made about the offensive problems this team has had in 2009. I can’t blame that on Rudy.

A few times in the last two years I’ve wondered if a change in voice is necessary. I don’t think anyone doubts that Rudy is one of the best hitting coaches around. But too much of a good thing isn’t always the best. Yeah, it’s a weak argument I make – I know that. But as much as I didn’t want to see him go, I wonder what a change in voice will bring.

Which brings us to the obvious next question. Who will replace him? I can think of nobody better. The Red Baron himself, Rusty Greer. He’s a Jaramillio pupil, so the overall message won’t be that radically different. He’s enormously well respected with the players, he’s a fan favorite – still. I think he’d be a great coach. Of course, we had Ted Willams as a manager early on, and those teams couldn’t hit either. But you have to replace Jaramillo with someone, and I think Thurman Clyde Greer III would go over well. Julio Borbon would have to give up his number, but I think they should have retired 29, anyway.

From what I can gather, it appears the Rangers offered Rudy a one year contract, I expect he thinks (probably so) that he’s worth more than that, and declined. I’m sure the places that have been mentioned as needing a new hitting coach will splurge to pick him up.

If hitting gets worse in 2010, expect there to be a lot of noise about this move at that time.

EDIT: Evan Grant mentions Will Clark, too. That’s a great idea, I didn’t even consider him.

It’s pretty bad when this picture below is the SINGLE OFFENSIVE HIGHLIGHT over the last four games. It’s David Murphy rounding the bases on his HR trot from Wednesday night. It’s the only run we’ve scored in the last four games.

Sunday: Lose 5-0 (Game 2 of DH)
Monday: Lose 9-0
Tuesday: Lose 6-1
Wednesday: Lose 4-0

That’s just bad. Even the Pittsburgh Pirates aren’t that bad.

One of my good friends lives in Seattle, and is a Red Sox fan. One of those ones who, if he could afford it, give up his job and follow them on the road like they were the Grateful Dead. ;) Anyway, he sent me this comment about the Rangers broadcasts. I wanted to pass it along, to let people know that others appreciate our guys here, locally.

The games notwithstanding, I had the occasion to listen to your radio team over the course of this series as XM only plays the home team radio broadcast. I liked the work those two guys do. I think they do a good job and were easy to listen to. Thumbs up.

UPDATE: After I posted this, I IM’ed the guy and told him I posted it. He then went on and had a few more kind things to say. From the words he used, he seemed to be mostly describing stuff Eric Nadel has done for years.

They really are (great) though, Joe. They paint a picture of the game, instead of talking about nonsense all the way through, with occasional game updates. I like guys that immerse me in the game, that’s what I want, to have a description that lets me paint a mental picture. He described stances, swing types, weather, eveything. So, so good at his craft. And I mean that, craft. He is one of two guys that have ever told me that the team is wearing red tops today,as they do every Saturday at home. Only two guys in the league pick that stuff up.

Last night I was watching Baseball Tonight, and noticed that ESPN has no love for David Murphy. They were talking about how the juggling of the lineup last night produced something good for our team. Then they threw up this graphic of the lineup from two nights ago, and the one for last night.

Daniel Murphy? Man – someone obviously is asleep at the wheel over at ESPN on that one..

I got bored tonight. Got into Photoshop. :)

Since you can’t improve on God’s word, I will just offer this small prayer for Josh Hamilton.
Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking some one to devour. (1 Peter 5:8)
Here’s why I posted this.

Strikeout.
Strikeout.
Strikeout.
Sit on bench for a few minutes.
Strikeout.
Ground out.
Pop Up.
Boatload of pitches at 98-100. 30 in all over two innings. 21 for strikes. Not bad for a guy carrying a Dora the Explorer bag. Not bad AT ALL!