Big League Hair

Kevin Milwood - In Pictures

2008-07-19T12:14:31Z

Kevin Milwood started out with good stuff, hitting the corners with his fastball, making them run both away from bats and into the hitter's hands......

Sticking to his modus operandi (atleast his M.O. since 12/29/05.......aka day signed with Rangers) his tank ran empty in the 7th inning. To put a positive spin....he usually only goes to the 5th, thank you air conditioned dome in Minnesota (is it still the Metrodome?)

I'm not going to justify my opinion on him, if you've been a Rangers fan since he's been here, you know what I'm talking about, just trust me huh?

So without further ado, I give to you the Kevin Millwood biography..........in pictures:

Take your pick.

Last Night

2008-07-15T16:42:28Z

Last night the world was introduced to the beast that is Josh Hamilton.

Also happening last night, my man crush for Hambone intensified to embarrassing levels.

I'm going to let it soak in a little longer before I put a full entry about the All Star events.

Mainly because the exact level of love for Josh Hamilton may come out, thus terrifying those who know me and may cause me to question my own sexuality after I see it written down in black and white.

I strongly urge you to watch this clip taken from the seats of Yankee stadium as Hamilton's turn was underway.

(thanks to Jamey Newberg for forwarding to us on his mailing list)

Be Good-

Ryan A

Rangers 5 - Angels 4

2008-07-10T05:14:55Z

Click on me!!!!!!

I love this game.

Quickie....

2008-07-07T21:29:01Z

-Big game tonight against the Angels as they come to town for a 4 game series.

A sweep on our part could be a bad thing.

Should we close the gap to 3.5 games, JD and company might start trading the farm for some rentals.

So, for the love of the Rangers' franchise, I am hoping we do no better than a push, going 2-2. For the good of the franchise.

Can't believe I just said that.......

-Neftali Feliz makes his AA debut tonight for the Frisco Roughriders.

Feliz is 20 yrs old and was promoted last week, skipping high-A Bakersfield all together.

We got him in the Teixeira haul. See an updated scouting report here.

More excited to see him tonight than the boys in Arlington.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Remember it's all about tomorrow with this club.

Noone get all crazy thinking we're going to be in contention come September.

I wouldn't be hurt if I was proven wrong, let's just do it with the current roster.......kapish?

Stay the course gang.

Be Good, Go Rangers-

Ryan

Kinsler gets HOSED!!!

2008-07-07T00:19:14Z

vs.

How in the world does Ian Kinsler not start over Dustin "Mini-Me" Pedroia in the All-Star game?

Oh, yeah, that's right......Pedroia plays for the Red Sox.

What a joke....

I'm sure all the Sox fans who voted for Mini-Me have been lifelong Sox fans as well........

God knows you're lying........

Be good and GO RANGERS!

Ryan A

Everyday Eduardo

2008-06-28T11:41:21Z

I remember reading T.R. Sullivan's report indicating that the Rangers had just signed the lovable Eddie Guardado (here).

I was less than enamored.

The 37 year old lefty had Tommy John surgery in September of '06 and really stunk up the joint in limited duty while rehabbing last year with the Reds.

Couple the TJ surgery with his age, it was surely yet another failed comeback story wasn't it?

Wrong, never underestimate a man's heart.

I remember watching him at the beginning of the season and was intrigued by his story, mainly because, well, everyone likes a comeback story right? And the Rangers lead the league in comeback stories thus far.

The intrigue then turned into obsession.

This transformation occured Saturday, May 17th, 2008 against the Astros. We had cheap but good seats (yes, it's possible). Our seats were in Right-Center field, right behind the plate in the Rangers' bullpen. I'd keep looking over at the players, watching them kinda monkey around with one another, CJ Wilson acting as the ring leader......imagine that....

The sixth inning rolled around, out came Eddie from the clubhouse to the bullpen, holding three cups of coffee, everyone chilled. Not out of fear, but it seemed as though they didn't want to let Eddie down or something, couldn't quite explain it.

He maticulously lined up the coffee along the bullpen wall as everyone sat in what appeared to be barstools. CJ went over to Eddie's area, you could see that CJ's mood had gone from light to serious fairly quickly.

Hopefully he was over there just soaking in what Eddie had to offer.

Most teams have a grizzled, wily veteran on their squad. Lots of times he's on the 40-man to do just what Eddie was doing at that moment, holding court and teaching the kids what he'd do on various pitchcounts. Typically these guys pitch in mop up duty only.....But, not Eddie, he isn't one of those guys, rag-arm and all, the man can still pitch.

Not because of stuff, but because of heart, all heart.

You see, Eddie MIGHT top out at 87 mph. He is consistently 82-85 with his fastball. You may be saying, well, he must have some nasty offspeed stuff and he just uses the fastball as a "show me" pitch.

Nope.

Eddie goes right at hitters with that B.P. fastball. He works fast (probably due to the coffee) and he throws strikes. He is tenacious and he exudes a confidence (not cockiness) that every ball player should learn.

I remember in 2004 when we made a mini-run at the end of the year. Carlos Almanzar and Frankie Francisco were our setup guys and Francisco Cordero was the closer.

When those guys got up in the bullpen, fans in the right field stands would begin to stir, when the last out was made in the bottom of the 6th inning, and one of those boys was heading out the door to take the mound....it created pandamonium, the place went APESH!T. And it gave me goosebumps.

I hope we can see a little run here in the second half, I'm not expecting a ring, I just want to see Eddie running out to the middle of the diamond to chants of "Eddie, Eddie, Eddie" (I'm getting goosebumps thinking about it)

Eddie Guardado deserves to go out on top, to go out like a champion, whether it's with a ring on his finger or not.

Because Eddie Guardado is what it's all about, Eddie Guardado is the definition of old school.

Salty Getting Licked

2008-06-14T10:59:20Z

NOTE TO THE TEXAS RANGERS:

Jarrod Saltalamacchia is not a catcher.

In yesterdays second half of the double header, Kason Gabbard threw well in his first start since being recalled from AAA. In the third inning, with two outs, Gabbard delivered a very blockable ball into the dirt striking out Jose Reyes, it was scored a wild pitch which led to Reyes reaching first and thus more pitches for Gabbard.

Yes, it was in the dirt so technically it is on Gabbard but let's call a spade a spade, if you're in the big leagues you must make that play 99 times out of 100.

After the defensive display by Salty I fully expect the Rangers' starters to begin faking injuries only so they do not have to throw to him.

As I said day one (and many of you have said the same thing).....he is too big to be a catcher, there are very, very, very few catchers who have been succesful at Salty's size. I can think of a couple here recently Sandy Alomar, Jr. and A.J. Pierzynski.

Alas, there's a reason the prototypical catcher is shorter and stockier than say, well, a firstbaseman.

He cannot get down on the ball quick enough due to his enormous frame.

He cannot get "out of the shoot" quick enough when trying to throw runners out (and I stress trying, see here).

Coach Ryan says, hit your knees, mask to the dirt, glove between your legs and EXHALE.

The good news is (trying not to make this totally negative) he is only 23, so he is still maturing as a player so hopefully in 3 years I can chalk this up as just another typical kneejerk reaction by me.

Problem is, as you get older, you don't get any smaller (dangit, I couldn't help myself).

The Rangers have a good problem in having a log jam at catchers coming up through the system in Taylor Teagarden and Max Ramirez (on top of Gerald Laird and Salty who are with the big club).

With this log jam comes pressure.

Hopefully the brass can make the right choice as to who is the better all around player out of this lot. They who do not make the cut, trade them for good, legitimate prospects, or if we're in the thick of it in a couple of years, for pieces needed to get to the playoffs.

With this said, I gotta admit, I'm a little worried, mainly because of the recent track record the Rangers talent evaluators have had here in Texas, but I'm sick of harping on that little issue, for now at least.

Anywho, go Rangers!

D-Train is Derailing

2008-06-10T13:54:42Z

With the Rangers off last night I decided to tune in to last night's ballgame between the Detroit Tigers and the Cleveland Indians.

I was excited to get to see the pitching matchup Cliff Lee vs the energetic Dontrelle Willis....then the game started.

Good God Almighty, what is wrong with Dontrelle Willis?

Is anyone sensing an impending meltdown of epic proportions? One that would make the Rick Ankiel implosion look like a joyride.

It was beyond painful to watch, I thought he was crying when he came off the mound.

What made it so painful to watch was me knowing how much love D-Train has for the game, how much energy and competitiveness runs through those veins while he's on the bump.

Yes he has been on a decline in the last few years.

I would bet the ranch that it is 95% mechanical.

His long arms and legs just flailing in all directions as he delivers a pitch, never being able to replicate his delivery on back-to-back pitches.

You could see it in his eyes that he knows something is wrong,

If he didn't all he had to do was listen to Orel Hershiser shred his mechanics on national TV, but hey, that's his job, call it like he sees it.

Now it's up to Willis and the organization to right the ship of MLB's 2005 Cy Young runner-up.

Both for him and baseball at large.

Sidney "The Sandwich" Ponson

2008-06-07T13:42:30Z

Coming from and growing up in Aruba is what I blame.

Live life like it's always Spring Break and this is what you get.

Your release from a team with gaping holes in it's pitching staff despite going 4-1 with a sub-4 ERA.

According to T.R. Sullivan, Sir Sandwich was released for a variety of reasons, mainly pertaining to selfish acts unbecoming towards the team.

Per Mr. T.R.:

"Daniels declined to discuss the specifics and Ponson was unavailable for comment, but team sources said Ponson was put on notice after creating a serious disturbance at the hotel bar in St. Petersburg during the team's last road trip. He was told that further problems would not be tolerated.
Two more incidents occurred this week. Ponson started with three days' rest on Wednesday against the Indians and allowed six runs in four innings. Only two were earned because of three errors committed behind him, and Ponson reacted furiously after being taken out. His actions were interpreted as "showing up" his teammates.
The second incident occurred when manager Ron Washington informed Ponson on Thursday that he would be pushed back in his next start so that Kevin Millwood could start Tuesday on his regular four days' rest. Ponson would have pitched on Wednesday on six days' rest. Ponson wasn't happy with that decision and made his feelings clear in a heated discussion with the manager." Full story.

Let me be clear, I was rooting for this guy. He's always intrigued me, both with his stuff and his off the field antics (again, I do have a TMZ side that shines from time to time).

I even went as far as to say he could potentially be the saving grace for this season (he was for April/May atleast, right?)

I hold nothing against the front office for letting him go. In fact, I applaud it. The team always comes first, ALWAYS.

If you don't get it, then, well, you just don't get it and noone can explain it to you.

According to Evan Grant at the DMN Blog, Michael Young broke his finger the day Sandwich was released (click here).

Not trying to stir the pot but I'm calling a left hook to The Sandwiches' meaty jaw. And Sir Sandwich better be glad that Milton Bradley didn't unleash some fury on him, Milton would have ripped his head off.

If MY did, then good. In my book he just took a step closer to justifying that huge contract of his.

It is clear to me, and anyone with a brain, The Sandwiches' main problem is the bottle.

As noted in earlier entries I believed Ponson's fluff, I thought he had atleast hid the hooch from himself til the offseason.

I believed this because of a simple fact.....he had no more chances due to horrendous seasons in Baltimore, New York, St Louis, and Minnesota. But, this just shows that the bottle, unfortunately, always wins.

Hopefully, his success between the lines in Texas will not parlay him a deal with another franchise.

Atleast til Sir Sandwich dries his liver out and starts 12 steppin'.

If the Nippon Ham Fighters come a callin' that's a different story....oh, the irony.

A BIG Hamilton Achievement

2008-06-02T20:46:15Z

According to Jamey Newberg of The Newberg Report:

"MLB has just named Josh Hamilton the American League Player of the Month for May. He is the first American League player in the 35-year history of the monthly honors to win the award in both April and May in a given season. Eric Davis (1987), Bobby Bonilla (1988), and Mark McGwire (1998) achieved the feat in the National League."

Time to start the ol' "Records Josh Hamilton Has Broken" scoreboard.

There's a possibility they'd run out of numbers.

I understand the, "WHOA, let's not get ahead of ourselves, he's got some history, you can't trust him long term...."

As an addict, he will never overcome his addiction. The best he can do is "keep it in check."

Case in point:

After keeping his cocaine and heroin addiction in check for 20 years Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler checked into rehab a couple weeks ago after falling off the wagon he'd ridden for so long (click here).

I personally feel Josh has begun to whip his affliction for many reasons but I'll list the most pertinent in my opinion.....

First, he's established many "check points" in his day to day living. Meaning he avoids putting himself into any sort of scenario that could turn on his craving and put him in harms way. I know he's said he doesn't think about it that much, but when you've put close to four million dollars up your nose and/or in your lungs via crack pipe, it rewires your brain. It is a proven fact that all types of addiction can result in this, however, abuse of stimulants (cocaine, methamphetamines) cause the worst damage.

Next, and without trying to bring religion into the discussion, he is a very, very religious man. The basis of most recovery programs is the realization of a higher power, whether it be a door knob or the Man himself. I'll take the Man himself over an inanimate object thank you.

Finally, he has a great support system who knows everything he's gone through (see here). There is no hiding behind lies and mistruths with the people who are behind him. They know him through and through and would catch any BS in next to no time.

Nolan, JD, THicks......time to sign this cornerstone centerfielder to a 6-7 year deal.

In order to make everyone feel at ease (if legally compliant) include "Out Clauses" for the team should Josh relapse prompting action from MLB.

I'm sure the wheels are in motion but sometimes you gotta remind folks.

Go Rangers!

Sell! Sell! Sell!

2008-05-30T11:14:09Z

Talking a little hypothetical here. Bare with me and play along.

Let's say you wake up on the trading deadline which is July 31st. It's 8 am, it's already 100 degrees outside, my boy will be 1 month and 12 days old, the Rangers are 10 games over .500 and tied with the Angels of North America/California/Los Angeles and last but not least Anaheim.

See, the scenario isn't that big a stretch is it? Ok, let's say they're 2 games back of the Angels and tied for the Wild Card.....

So.....are we buyers, or are we sellers?

Now, back to reality...

See the dude in the picture with the "ARB 056" hanging from his neck......that better be Jon Daniels and he better be selling hard, selling like Blake from "Glengarry Glen Ross".

If we did find ourselves in this hypothetical position it would be tough not pulling the trigger. Scores of fans would be crying for us to buy, radio shows would be screaming to buy, columnists and beat writers alike would be shouting to buy.

But this is what "the plan" is all about, right?. Sitting on your prospects and nurturing them into anything from serviceable major leaguers to all stars. It is what baseball is about now. The frivolous spending of yesterday is long gone (besides the bigmarket boys, you know who they are) as small to mid market teams must develop their own in order to compete year in and year out.

A byproduct of "the plan" is taking some lumps and criticism. I don't know about you but I could deal with some short term pain in order to achieve long term success. We haven't won in almost a decade, so what's one or two more years, right?

Will we be in that position? Not sure, but it scares me that some in the local media have suggested we become deadline spenders. They reason this by saying our minor league system is deep enough that we could put a nice package together and not deplete our system.

Having a stockpile of minor league talent is a great position to be in isn't it? I don't remember ever having that luxury before, and with time, it will only get deeper and deeper. So why ruin it?

Now is not the time to package up prospects for a 3rd or 4th starter who will be gone a year after his service, one who has the distinct possibility of withering away in the moronic heat we have in Texas. We don't buy because I don't have the faith in our organization right now, particularly in the way they judge young talent, mainly the way they judge young PITCHING talent.

So, in this short post I beg the Rangers to Sell, Sell, Sell.....if they don't know how just call this guy.

Be good.

Ryan A

Ryan A's Proclamation

2008-05-17T12:46:11Z

Josh Hamilton is in the top five when speaking of best players in the game.

I am proclaiming that he has the best tools of ANYONE today.

The sky is the limit for our young Hammer (Hank Blalock officially lost this nomenclature the minute Hamilton started taking BP during Spring Training.)

Click here to see his monster night.

It doesn't show his first at bat which is the one I was most impressed with. He lined a ball the opposite way for a single. Nothing real impressive, but for someone with his power and size, to be able to stay on the ball serving them into left field, is something else.

Then watch his at bat when he beats out a close-to-routine grounder.

Oh, and check out around 55 seconds, right when the ball leaves the bat, the sound the crowd makes, this is what it's all about, the "Buzz" he creates.

His natural, God-given talents are beyond ridiculous. Don't forget he's 6'4" hovering around 240.

For the record, and I"ve said this a million times, I don't care if Volquez wins 15-18 games, I make that trade 10 times out of 10.....just to emphasize it a little more, I make it 10,000,000 times out of 10,000,000.

Hamilton will win more games by being out there everyday. Hamilton is a special player, one that doesn't come around all too often.

I'm going to the game tonight and I am actually beyond excited, this is the first time I"ve felt this way in a looooong time folks.

I haven't even talked about his defense yet. I'll save that for another time, I don't want people thinking I have some sort of mancrush on the Hammer or anything..........

Be good-

Ryan A

My Turn

2008-05-16T10:01:58Z

BASEBALL FACTS:

Pitching wins ballgames.

Pitching wins championships.

Pitching will beat good hitting 9 times out of 10.

and

No Free Agent Pitchers want to pitch in Arlington, TX so we have to raise our own.

These are all pretty well known facts. I know them, you know them and well, I guess Jon Daniels doesn't know them....

Armando Galarraga, John Danks, Edinson (Edison, Jose Reyes) Volquez, and Chris Young.

Having a pretty good year collectively huh?

All of the above were traded by Jon Daniels since JD got here.

This is not an entry aimed at slamming JD, it's more of a therapeutic entry. Seeing these guys nightly on Sportscenter grows tiresome.

Now, I'll make the Volquez for Hamilton deal ten times out of ten. Josh Hamilton is a freak, we had no studs coming up in the minors who were outfielders, our OF depth on the farm is pretty weak from what I understand.

But, we sure did a good job of righting Edinson Volquez after a dismal 2006. Mark Connor sent him all the way to High A ball just as he did Roy Holladay in 2001.

So, props to the coaching staff in righting a 4-pitch maestro whose nickname is Pedrito (Little Pedro).

I'm trying to be a glass half-full guy here.

Armando Galarraga is 2-1 with a 3.07 ERA in 5 starts. In 29.1 innings he has 21 strikeouts and has held opponents to a paltry (favorite baseball adjective) .187 batting average.

I'll take that.

I don't even know why we got rid of him. I'm thinking it was some sort of log jam on the 40-man (mismanagement???) that caused us to try and have him clear waivers. I think Detroit scooped him up on the cheap, like Chris Shelton cheap. OINTMENT PLEASE!!!!

Next is John Danks, aka the lefthanded guy we drafted with our number one pick (#9 overall) in 2003....and who we traded to the Chicago White Sox for Brandon McCarthy, who may be made of glass.

Danks is 3-3 with a 2.74 ERA in 8 starts holding hitters to a .236 clip.

McCarthy, well, google him. Actually, just click on his name, but you won't find any 2008 numbers for him....

I can picture Kenny Williams (White Sox General Manager) running to the phone to accept that call from JD that eve of Christmas Eve 2006. The same way I see George Costanza running over those women and kids as he evacuated that apartment after the fire alarm went off.

And finally, Chris Young.

I think this was JD's first trade while manning the ship. Not a good way to start out is being kind.

You get my point here.

There are lots of prospects in our system that are supposed to be coming up the next few years, however, I don't know that they can equate to the above guys we've lost.

In order to find out and keep them here, Nolan Ryan may have to cut JD's trigger finger off to keep this from happening again.

Let me know Big Tex, I've got the chloroform-soaked rag ready.

Next up: Brandon Boggs, maybe....

More Gumbo Please....

2008-05-14T12:27:22Z

Alright, I apologize for the last post, apparently I jinxed the staff as they gave up 24 runs in 18 innings.....hardly close to anything they showed the previous two weeks, so I'm willing to take the blame.

Some rapidfire thoughts below.

The "game face" Kason Gabbard sports is hardly what you'd expect to see after watching him fold like a lawn chair as Richard Sexson charged him last week. I think Kason finally got out of the fetal position an hour before warmups tonight. But, he does look mean out there, as mean as a soft tossing leftie can look that is...

Gerald Laird sure is making it tough for Wash to pencil in Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

Apparently Chris Shelton is a good bunter as he laid down two PERFECT sacs in last nights 5-2 win over Seattle, problem is he's a firstbaseman. When's the last time Big Papi put down two in one game? Or one for that matter.

To build on the above comment, if they're not willing to put Saltalamacchia at firstbase to get him some extra atbats why not put Nelson Cruz at first base starting tonight in Oklahoma (Texas Rangers AAA-affiliate), hit him 10000 fungos after the game and bring him up tomorrow giving him one last shot. He is mutilating AAA pitching (proj .336/56/162/1.179 ops) and he's added a couple of dimensions to his game which the big club wanted him to work on, his patience at the plate (28 bb vs. 22 k) and baserunning (11 sb vs. 3 cs). He's got quick hands and maybe he's finally learned how to sit back on the offspeed stuff, I say, what do you have to lose, stranger things have happened...

Rupe vultured win from Kason Gabbard, Rupe has nothing to fear.

I'm not as worried about David Murphy as I was two days ago. After strking out 4 times Sunday and starting the game Monday on the bench Murph got two hits in last night's game. The league seems to have a book on Murph now. Soft stuff away.....he knows it, let's see if he really is an everyday outfielder and makes the adjustment....last night he did.

Brandon Boggs is fun to watch, he brought a revitalized feeling to the club upon arrival, shoulda traded Marlon Byrd when we had the chance.

I will still bare Josh Hamilton's second child if he so chooses.

I'm sure we'll start hearing chants to trade Hank Blalock if Ramon Vasquez keeps playing like a maniac. Blalock is signed through the end of this year and if he's healthy and productive from now til deadline he could haul in a couple of good prospects. To be honest I say trade Vasquez, he's too good looking for this team. He looks like Enrique Iglesias sans mole (my cousin pointed that out to me, swear)

Finally, Everyday Eddie Guardado made an appearance last night. He was Yesterday Eddie (sorry) because he came in throwing the way he did in the past. 3 batters, 9 pitches, 9 strikes, 3 outs. Coming right at hitters with unintimidating stuff, an ultimate bulldog is Eddie. He was fired up after the game, he fired the team up and boy oh boy did he fire me up.

Alright boys, 1 game under .500 after 41 games. Keep learning how to win, keep getting better.

Over and out-

Ryan A

Pitching and defense really does win games....weird

2008-05-11T12:57:31Z

As a lifelong baseball fan I've always heard this phrase, as a Ranger-lifer, I've rarely if ever seen it executed.

It was so foreign to me and the rest of the Ranger faithful. Even during the runs of the late 90's our staff was below average, what got them to the postseason were some pitchers that would go into the mid innings backed by a defense that did not kick many balls...oh yeah, and an offense that massacred those standing 60' 6" away.

May rolls around and all we can do is forget about April. Which by all accounts was worse than brutal...I actually can't come up with a descriptive word to describe April...

Staff ERA is 1.84...really? Goodness.

Batting Average Against is .197....uhhhh, what?

We've won the last 5 and are 8-2 for the month correcting our overall record to 18-20 putting us 4 games behind Oakland and Los Angeles Anaheim California whatever.....

Any coincidence? Darn tootin' there is.

People were calling for Wash's head on a plater. I was about to become one of them. It's amazing what some wins will do. I think he's learning on the job, just as JD has. Have they been perfect? By all means, a big hearty "No."

But given what Wash had to work with at the beginning of the year was unfair, now they've called up some kids who have energized both the team and the fans.

This is what it was supposed to be about....rebuild.

It didn't look like it when we had Frank the Cat, Marlon Byrd and Ben Broussard out there every day.

Now we can call it rebuilding.

It is fun to watch the kids, but most importantly, it's fun to watch these kids win.

Next Up: Brandon Boggs...promise.