Farewell, Cliff Lee.

Thanks for getting us to the World Serious last year.  Thanks for not going to the Damn Yankees.  I hope you have fun against the Giants next year.  As for the Rangers:  This is bad in the v short run but v good in the long run.  We've got a lot of money now and a fairly deep prospect base.  The talk is of Garza, Grienke, & Beltre now but we might bide our time until the All-Star break, see what the club looks like in July and the Royals & Rays would not be asking for what they are asking for now.

Lee strikes out Yanks & Rangers looking.

I expect a v tight, competitive AL West race right now going in to July.  Then we'll see who will make the moves necessary to get their team in to the playoffs.

All congratulations

To the San Francisco Giants.  The torture is finally over.

The Rangers have a lot to be proud of:  They won their first ever playoff series.  They won the American League Pennant, beating the Yankees to earn it.  And they were the first Texas team to win a game in the World Series.  Houston was swept in its' only appearance.  Plus the Rangers are going to be receiving a bushelful of awards, to wit:  MVP (Hamilton), Gold Glove (Hamilton), Silver Slugger (Hamilton, Cruz possibly), Rookie of the Year (Neftali Feliz), Comeback Player of the Year (Vlad Guerrero), Manager of the Year (Ron Washington).  Plus they got that that butt-ugly AL Champion trophy (which, as the Rangers have been so awful for so long and had ne'er been anywhere near winning a pennant, I honestly did not even know that you got a fucking trophy if you won a pennant!) and Josh won the ALCS MVP.  


The Rangers are under new ownership and have just made beaucoup of bucks w/ their playoff run & I think they have a shot at retaining Cliff Lee.  Plus, just in general, Greenberg & Ryan are ready to increase payroll anyhoo.  


I really thought I'd never live to see the Rangers in the World Series.  Who knows? The future for Ranger fans certainly looks bright.  They might make it again in the near future.  Here's hoping we win the whole fucking thing next time.


Love you all, 






mds


P.S.  103 days until pitchers and catchers report in Arizona.

I am very bullish

About the World Serious returning to the City.

I am sightly bullish about the Rangers winning tonight.  I just have a feeling that Hunter's curve will be working tonight and the Rangers will hit the Giants rook lefty hard.  (Around my condo today I saw two decked-out Giants fans smoking furiously on their patios today, is doubt starting to creep in?)

I have no idea who will pitch for the Rangers in game six, though.

Get 'em Rangers!

Mitch Moreland, North Texas Folk Hero

After game three Frenchy said, "He's from Mississippi.  He doesn't have any idea what he's done yet."

The Rangers have a lot of cool stories, as do the Giants, as do generally all teams that make it this far.  (Speaking of far, with the Rangers winning yesterday, the World Serious [as the immortal Ring Lardner called it] will extend in to November this year.)  But one of the biggest stars for the Rangers yesterday deserves having his story told here today.

Meet Mitch Moreland, drafted v late (but driving a hard bargain and a $60,000 signing bonus pretty much on his own) by the Rangers in 2007.  The Rangers 1B at the time was the super-duper Mark Teixeira.  "Tex" was traded at the deadline later that year for Elvis Andrus, Neftali Feliz, Matt Harrison, and a couple of other players.  The Rangers installed Chris Davis at 1B the next year and for a young kid he did pretty damn good, earning a nickname even, "Crash" Davis.

'09 came around and "Crash" was really struggling, striking out a ton.  The ballclub sent Davis down to Oklahoma City to see if he could figure it out.  He did well there and got called up late in '09 and did okay, enough to earn him the starting job this season.

Davis, who has always played good to great defensively, just was not hitting.  & worse for him the Rangers had another kid 1B, not Moreland, a switch-hitting Mark Teixeira clone named Justin Smoak (great great baseball name) ripping through the Minors, itching to have "Crash"'s job.

& Smoak got Davis' job early this year.  Davis got sent back to OKC and Smoak did alright up in the show, hitting the occasional homer, walking a fair amount, playing decent defense.

But the Rangers really really really wanted Cliff Lee, you see.  And to get Lee, and to also prevent the Yanks from getting him, the Rangers had to pony up super-prospect Smoak to the Mariners.  They did, Cliff Lee was ours but who the eff was going to play 1B?

"Crash" got another shot, was not getting it done, and behind the scenes the Ranger brass started working for a trade to bring in a veteran 1B.  "What the eff," they must have thought, "Let's give Moreland a shot."

Moreland, meanwhile, did not get off to a good professional start.  At one point he talked the organization in to giving him a shot as a pitcher.  That did not work out, either.  He went back to 1B & 3B and worked hard to make it to the Show.

Moreland immediately endeared himself to Ranger faithful because like his at-bat last night, even against tough left-handers, he always battled, he drew walks, worked counts, always did whatever he could to get on base & help the club.  Maybe he's not as talented as "Tex" or Smoak, or, hell, even "Crash" but Moreland is that old-school gritty-ass type known as a Motherfucking Ballplayer.  He'll do anything and everything to help the team out.

(Now that I think about it, the Rangers should have put Mitch Moreland in to pitch in game two when all sorts of hell was breaking out for the Rangers.)

But that behind the scenes stuff came to fruition.  The Rangers acquired Jorge Cantu in a trade.  I think the idea was that Cantu would become our everyday sort of guy.  He is a legit, decent sort of hitter, most certainly a vet, & v good defensively.  But, either, Cantu hates the Rangers & the AL, or I do not know what, or he has just lost it, because he stunk w/ the Rangers.  He did exactly one good thing with the Rangers, he hit the eventual game-winning (division-clinching) home run up here, against the A's, on Renee's birthday.

Cantu bats right, Moreland left.  So, when the post-season started against the Rays and their tough lefty, David Price, Cantu started.  He struck out three (or was it four?) times.  Wash & Hurdle had seen enough, they put their faith in Moreland for the rest of the Ranger playoff run. Moreland has started every game since, even against lefties.  He has played v well, incl even making a couple of really nice defensive plays, something he is not really known for.  His top line stats for the post season are:  .341 AVG/.386 OBP/.512 SLG (.898 OPS!) w/ three walks and one home run (last night.)

They say he even has a nickname now, "Moose".

Cliff Lee is Human

Lee was obv not sharp & the Giants pounded him all over the ballpark last night. 

I do not think the Giants will sweep, & I bet you dollars to doughnuts Lee looks much better in game 5.

But if the Rangers want to win this thing they need to win tonight.  Except for games 5 or 7, of course, the CRUCIAL games in any series are the even numbered games.  It is how you react to situations in a series that are so important:  are you applying the leather, are you keeping afloat, or are you drowning. 

Before yesterday I believed Rangers in 6.  If they lose tonight I believe it is Giants in 6. 

I do not like our chances tonight, either.  CJ got rocked last time out, was wild, is battling a blister on his pitching hand, Matt Cain is pitching so well right now. 

Plus I just suspect that the party atmosphere in the City just keeps rolling.  Giants 7-2 today.  & Giants in 6.  All the years of waiting, finally over. 

CJ, ballclub, prove me wrong, please.