Hamilton for MVP

If you are not on the Josh Hamilton for MVP bandwagon yet then look at these stats. He already has a 6.0 WAR for the year. Batting for a .357/.405/ .622 and his BAPIP ranks second at .396 (behind Austin Jackson).

I have projections ready for all teams. Rangers to win 94 games at current rate.

If anyone is interested email me.

Another complete game by Cliff Lee ends in a loss

The Rangers have to find a way to give Cliff Lee some run support.  We are wasting the best pitcher in baseball since Greg Maddux (check out his K/BB and try to argue that point).  Obviously Lee is matching up with good pitching, but all we needs is a few runs and let Cliff do his thing.
Also, I went to the game last Thursday and saw Mitch Moreland get his first MLB hit.  He went 2-2 and so far looks like an upgrade over Davis (bat wise).  Several writers are declaring the Rangers as the biggest winners as the trade deadline expired.  Amazing what we can do despite without an owner.

Cliff Lee and Bengie Molina make the Rangers real contenders

Last night Bengie Molina hit for the cycle, and on top of that it was a grand slam cycle.  I've heard that it was either the eight or the ninth time ever in the history of baseball for anyone to hit a grand slam cycle, but for sure I know it is the only time that has been done by a catcher.  This all being done against the Red Sox.  They don't look so scary anymore do they.  The other great thing I've noticed is looking in the stands in Fenway I'm seeing a ton of Rangers fans...in BOSTON?  We are starting to infiltrate their stadium now like they do ours.  You gotta admit that is all Nolan power.  I have seriously been praying that the auction coming up here in August keeps Nolan in power.  I've also heard that the Mavs owner Mark Cuban is offering to join the Greenberg/Ryan group to ensure they have the highest bid.  Cuban admits to the importance of Nolan and has to be seeing what I'm seeing.  Cuban wouldn't be interested if the economics weren't there, and with Nolan in power he knows they will make money.  With Cliff Lee now in the lineup we are serious contenders.  The Rangers now have a chance of going deep in the playoffs instead of maybe just winning the AL West.  This is our year.  Every one of my friends at work were calling me nuts at the beginning of this season when I declared that the Rangers win at least one playoff series this year if not the whole thing.  How far does that seem from reality now?  Even with the ownership caught up in the courts, GM Jon Daniels has made the moves needed to make our Rangers what they deserve to be.  It's Time!

Hunter is back big time!

Man what a game.  Not only did we win the series, but it's the Rays.  Best team in baseball.  I don't want to hear any more critics say that the Rangers can't win against winning teams.  The Rangers completely shut down the Rays for the first two games of this series.  Can we sweep??  And Tommy Hunter.  Oh my God, that guy made his 2010 debut with a bang.  Reminded me of why he was my favorite pitcher last year.  With only 110 or so pitches he completed the game with only one run.  Hamilton hit a two run homer.  Smoak looked great hitting and defensively.  Even Bourbon impressed me today.  Everything needed to come together for a victory against the Rays and today was our day.  Plus with Hunters complete game it saved our bullpen and closers for tomorrow's finale against the so called best team in baseball.  Best yet was I got to take my father-in-law to the game and we couldn't have picked a better game to go to.

Wow...It's time!

   

Rangers host the Rays and have something to prove.

Rangers played great last night and I'm really excited that they won the series opener against the Rays.  The Rays are the best team in baseball and they remind me a ton of the what the Rangers could be without the ghost of Tom Hicks.  Plus it is nice to see Hank Blalock again.  I'm glad that he was finally picked up by a team.

Anyways...the good news is I'm taking my father-in-law to the Rays game this afternoon.  I plan on taking some great pics because we will be right next to the home dugout.  Can you imagine if we win this series.  It's time!

Rangers snap the four game losing streak and take over the AL West again.

Nice win over the White Sox tonight.  Harden goes 3-1 and Neftali amazes me again.  Even Smoak looked great.  I think Justin needs some more time to develop his swing.  Here is the big question, do we go all out and try to make something happen this year, or wait until next year to make the big moves.  Right now with the ownership issue I don't see us making a move for a catcher.  All I really don't want to see is a trade for Oswalt or some other veteran pitcher.  Any team talking to the Rangers is going to want Elvis or Neftali....it's not worth it!   The A's just lost the series opener to the Red Sox.  They then go on to play the Twins, so here is our chance to regain some distance.  The Rangers need to win this series, but then have the Rays at home.  I'll be at the Saturday game against the Rays (great seats too).  I'm so tired of the Rangers choking against teams with good records.  This weekend is the time to change that trend.  I'd like to see by the end of the weekend at least a 2-3 game lead over the A's, but that will take at least one win against the (.660) Rays.

Remember to vote for the All-Star game.  Cruz and Vlad look like they will start, and Elvis is 2nd behind Jeter right now.

Keep the faith Rangers fans!

So now we are a game out of first place in the AL West.  Where did our four game lead go?  All the excitement of the early season is now officially gone when I realized that the "pre-packaged bankruptcy" deal was thrown out.  I'm seriously nervous about the July 31st trade deadline and draft coming up.  Tom Hicks is still haunting us!  I don't think Greenberg will take the reins until the end of the season at best.   We have huge gapping holes in our lineup that would be fixed soon if it wasn't for the ghost of Hicks.  Starting at catcher, Treanor and Ramirez are JAGS (just a guy).  I wouldn't expect them to bat better than .250 and their defense isn't anything to write home about.  The other glaring hole is the center field, but I believe we have a fix for that in David Murphy.  Why Wash, Why?  Get ol' Murph in there. Stop wasting time with Bourbon!  First base is killing us.  If Smoak was better defensively I could kinda live with his bat, but a .175 is pathetic.  I still wouldn't bring Chris Davis up from Oklahoma, so our only option would be to ...oh wait the ghost of Hicks again.

I'm actually not that worried that Holland is on the DL because that brings up my favorite Tommy Hunter.  Also, when Holland comes back we might be wanting to sit Harden down by then.  

VOTE FOR CRUZ, GUERRERO, & ANDRUS!!!!

Blue Jays Road Trip Preview

   Rangers fans can all take a sigh of relief because Nelson Cruz will be back in the lineup tomorrow as the Rangers start their road trip with a three game series against the Toronto Blue Jays.  Now the Nelly is back the Rangers will drop Ryan Garko to AAA Oklahoma where they plan on putting him on outright waivers giving him a chance to be picked up by someone else.  I'm unsure what will happen with David Murphy right now, but I really hope that Wash finds a way to keep him in the lineup.
  
Probable Pitchers:
Friday- Harden vs. Cecil
Saturday- Feldman vs. Romero
Sunday- Lewis vs. Morrow

What scares me about this next series is that the Blue Jays are right behind us on the ESPN power rankings.  They are coming off a loosing series against the Red Sox, but they also haven't had to deplete their bullpen like we have in this rough series against the A's.  Both Romero and Cecil will start the game off with a better ERA than Harden and Feldman, but I'm sure our lineup can change that in a hurry.

Last night all bats, today world class pitching.

Okay I'm not going to recap the entire game but I want to focus on the Wilson/Sheets match up.  Wilson had his seventh straight quality start since the beginning of the season, a Rangers record.  The only problem today was Sheets had his best start of the season.  The Rangers weren't able to put Sheets under any early stress and allowed him to stay in the game just as long as Wilson did.  In fact Sheets won the pitch count.  Matt Treanor getting kicked out after the Wilson balk was just crap.  That umpire apparently loves to eject people from games and has had a history with the Rangers in the past (same ump that got Padilla last season).
Finally in the bottom of the 12th Vlad had his 12th career walk off hit for the series win.  Thank God we won this series.  We now have a 2 game lead in the AL West as we go off on our road trip to Canada.

Holland Returns and the fans enjoy a fire work show on a Wednesday!

Derek Holland returns from AAA Oklahoma with maturity and plenty of confidence.  He did exactly what I thought he would (or at least hoped) and went six solid scoreless innings.  Dutch is back!  Seventeen hits for the Rangers tonight.  It was a serious slug fest.  My thoughts are that although last nights game was such a heart breaker after going that deep, tonights bounce back shows the depth of the bullpen.  Then again it helps when the Rangers aren't even worried about warming up their reliever until the top of the seventh.  Oakland blew through their bullpen last night just as we did, but needed them again by the fourth.  Oakland only had two pitchers left and you saw how well that worked out for them.

I'm seriously looking forward to tomorrow nights match up between Wilson and Sheets.  My thoughts are that if Wilson can go deep (like he did in his last appearance) and our offense puts Ben under some early stress the Rangers will be fine.  Oakland's bullpen is exhausted.  It's time to solidify our spot on the top of the AL West.

Awesome...

Will Ferrell Express

Rangers sweep the Royals, big deal or not?

So the Rangers sweep the Royals in a four game series, but I have to admit that I would be disappointed in anything but that.  The Royals are now 11-21 or .344 and with the exception of Baltimore they are the dregs of the American League.  The Rangers have the day off on Monday before starting a three game home series against the A's.  May looks like it could be a good month for the Rangers if they can get past this next series and then Minnesota later on.  Can't wait to see them slaughter the Cubbies, but that series may end up being high drama with their new Castro.  Holland should join the rotation somewhere in the middle of the A's series. Nelson Cruz will be starting his rehab assignment at AAA Oklahoma on Tuesday, and could be back by the last game of the A's series or if not at least in time for Toronto.  Being only one game ahead of Oakland right now makes this next week extremely important, but it looks hopeful.  Lewis, Holland, and Wilson will lead them during this home stand.  Oakland hasn't listed who will pitch for the Wednesday and Thursday games.
Rangers enjoy your day off tomorrow.

Semi-Confirmed: Holland is joining the rotation

This just came across the message boards.  Derek Holland will be joining the rotation.  So far no news as to when or where.  No details yet, but as I was saying last night his 0.93 ERA made an impression.  More to come on this subject as the news is leaked.

It's time to see Holland in a Rangers uniform again

This year I've been really impressed with our starting lineup with the exception of Matt Harrison.  Feldman, Harden, Lewis, Wilson...no gaps yet, but oh wait it's a five man rotation.  With Hunter just now being optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma I think we only have one option.  Bring Dutch boy back. Holland has a 0.93 ERA in six starts at AAA Oklahoma.  His time is now.  This season is too important to keep such a glaring hole in our lineup.  In my opinion Holland was amazing last year, but it was just too early for him to last such a long season.  I'm sure Sir Nolan and team had this in the cards the whole time, but sending Holland to AAA for the beginning of the season not only allowed him some time to mature his slider of all things, but to prevent that slump later in the season.  I personally can't wait to see him take Harrison's spot.  Below is a picture I took of him in the club house just after a autograph session at this years fan fest.    

Fan Fest Pics

Some great pics

Wilson's Complete Game puts Rangers on top of the AL West again

5/7/2010
    Tonight C.J. Wilson performed the most impressive start of the year so far.  Going up against Cy Young winner Zack Greinke, tonights pitcher's duel was much hyped and didn't let us fans down.  Wilson only allowed five hits, one run, and two walks.  Greinke only lasted seven innings after allowing the Rangers four runs which included Vlad's homer.  
    I am getting more impressed with our starting pitchers as of late.  Not only with tonights complete game, but I just don't remember a season with a starting pitching rotation going this deep in every game. God bless Nolan Ryan and God bless Mike Maddux.  They have toughened up our pitchers to the old school Ryan way of playing.  Last year the sports radio stations were full of C.J. haters, but I haven't heard one complaint yet.  C.J. has found his calling as a starter and I'm sold.  
  

Great books all Rangers fans should read!

Recently I've been downloading some great books on my Kindle that really all baseball fans should read.  One of which really I seriously recommend to all you Rangers fans.  The first chapter of The Baseball Codes; Beanballs, Sign Stealing, and Bench-Clearing Brawls by Jason Turbow gives the reader an amazing behind the scenes description of the 1994 butt kicking that Nolan Ryan gave Robin Ventura.  Every Rangers fan remembers that game and most die hards have had the picture as their desktop from time to time.  I actually have an old baseball card that I got when I was a kid showing Nolan with Ventura in a head lock (one of my most prized possessions).