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Random RangernessJuly 5th, 2008
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A few random thoughts as we move out of June and into July…
The Rangers finally move 2 games over .500, winning Monday night at Yankee Stadium. It’s the first time they’ve reached that lofty height this season following the Great April Wipeout, the Incredible May Recovery, and the June of Treading Water. Since May 22, Texas has bounced between 2 games under and 1 over the break even mark. That is mediocrity not seen since “According to Jim” went off the air. (It did finally, mercifully go off the air, didn’t it?) You keep hoping for that one hot streak that will vault the team back into Division contention. But that’s not the way it ever happens in Texas.
As a child, I came to learn that you could count on the Rangers hanging in there for the first half of the season, and then falling like Skylab right after the All-Star break, scattering players at the trade deadline like debris over Australia. Is this the year that it doesn’t happen? Is this the year that we chase down 2 teams and win the division, using rookies at catcher, first base, third base, the outfield, and a rotation that began the year scattered out across our minor league system? Okay, probably not, but at least we recovered to the point that the dreamers can dream.
Speaking of NY and the All-Star break, which Rangers will make the mid-month trip back? Young and Kinsler? You’d certainly think so based on their stats and the voting. Hamilton? Locked into the starting line-up by voters. Milton Bradley? Look at his name littered over the AL Batting Leaders board and tell me how you leave him at home. But I think his history will end up working against him. I hope that I’m wrong, because I think he deserves to go and he didn’t get anywhere near that radio guy in KC. Vincente Padilla? He probably only makes it if they need a NL batter to get hit. And the Tampa pitching staff may have that covered.
Speaking of getting a hit, someone, anyone, explain to me why the Angels aren’t going to get credit for a no-hitter in their 1-0 loss the other night. I understand that they only threw 8 innings and then lost, so they didn’t have to pitch the 9th. I get that. I ALSO GET THAT THEY ALLOWED NO HITS IN THE BALLGAME. People call me a simple man, and they do it with small words, speaking slowly so that I’ll understand. But I’m silly enough to think if your team pitches and no one gets a hit and the game is over, IT’S A NO HITTER!!!!!!!! Even if you lose.
Speaking of losing, during Saturday night’s loss to the Phillies, viewers at home missed the grand lightning show as a storm front moved through Arlington. The electrical display was serious enough that the Rangers asked fans to move out of the upper deck. So, to recap, the club took care of 12,000 people who were too cheap to buy the expensive seats, but they left two Major League Baseball teams with a combined payroll of eleventy-billion dollars out on the field. Now that is fan appreciation.
Speaking of game presentation, one more leftover from the great 2008 baseball roadtrip. Camden Yards is consistently held up as one of the greatest ballparks in the game today, the forerunner of an incredible wave of new facilities, and the site that brought a timeless and classic retro look back into the game. So what do they do after an Orioles homerun? They show a movie clip of Will Ferrell as Frank the Tank from “Old School”? Really? They couldn’t get permission to use something classy like “Naked Gun” or “Dodgeball”?
And finally, speaking of old school, it’s nice to see the Rangers with some thumpers in the outfield again. Since Juan Gonzalez hit 45 homeruns in 1998, no outfielder has led the club in HR’s. Raffy, ARod, Teixeira, and Sosa at DH have been the leaders in the past decade. But beyond that, only 2 outfielders even belted more than 20 in a season, with David Dellucci doing it once and Kevin Mench doing it twice. Traditionally, power come from the outfield, especially the corners, and I would guess that no AL teams has seen less power from their outfield than Texas has in the last ten years. Is it a councidence that Texas made the playoffs 3 times in 4 years from 96 to 99, with Juan, Lee Stevens, and Rusty Greer combining for 9 20 HR seasons in that span. Remember, you can’t spell ‘playoffs’ without OF. (By the same token, you can’t spell ‘Sure, Great Year’ without Rusty Greer, and you can’t spell ‘Next, I Kram It In Your Ear!’ without Mark Teixeira. I’m just saying…)
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