Climbing on the bandwagon..
I have to admit I am not the most ardent Texas Rangers fan around. I don't seem to have (or make) the time it takes to keep up with these things. But something pretty cool is starting to happen out at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. It turns out some of these kids can play. And Ron Washington, who just a few weeks ago seemed about to be fired, can teach. Watching the organization begin to show signs of figuring out what it knew ten years ago about winning baseball is fun. No one will accuse their pitching staff of being the 1971 Baltimore Orioles but they are looking like they understand the whole "pitch strikes" idea. I love the way those Orioles pitchers played the game. The starters felt like it was their game to start and finish. Check out the complete games pitched by the 4 starters (won/loss record in parenthesis):
Mike Cuellar - 21 (20-9)
Pat Dobson - 18 (20-8)
Jim Palmer - 20 (20-9)
Dave McNally - 11 (21-5)
Think of how healthy your bullpen is when it has such a reduced workload!
But I digress. This post started out being about the Rangers and their becoming a much improved team. While they did just lose again to the Yankees for the second night in a row, a 3-0 loss isn't that bad. It should have been 2-0, but a mental lapse by 22 year old first baseman Chris Davis allowed a runner to remain on base and the inning to continue instead of being a double play. But overall, I have to admit that beyond Michael Young and Josh Hamilton, there are some fun to watch players on the team and they steal bases, throw out runners from the outfield, generally catch the ball and still score more runs than most other teams.
I'm in the back of the wagon, but I'm moving forward. I wonder if Daisy is still on board?
Mike Cuellar - 21 (20-9)
Pat Dobson - 18 (20-8)
Jim Palmer - 20 (20-9)
Dave McNally - 11 (21-5)
Think of how healthy your bullpen is when it has such a reduced workload!
But I digress. This post started out being about the Rangers and their becoming a much improved team. While they did just lose again to the Yankees for the second night in a row, a 3-0 loss isn't that bad. It should have been 2-0, but a mental lapse by 22 year old first baseman Chris Davis allowed a runner to remain on base and the inning to continue instead of being a double play. But overall, I have to admit that beyond Michael Young and Josh Hamilton, there are some fun to watch players on the team and they steal bases, throw out runners from the outfield, generally catch the ball and still score more runs than most other teams.
I'm in the back of the wagon, but I'm moving forward. I wonder if Daisy is still on board?
posted by Kurt at 7:32 PM
2 Comments:
As I said over on Rat's post about the Yankees, we (Rangers) aren't quite there yet, but we're moving in the right direction. As the Twins and Rays have proved, you don't need 8 superstars to be a really good team, or a pitching staff with all the aces. 24 solid players with a core of really good field players and pitchers who know how to keep their team in the game is enough to win more than you lose. And when that happens you always have a shot at October ball.
That play at first was freaky. I never saw a play like that in my like, the muffed double play. I don't know who would have turned that one. The second the play was over, it was obvious - but in the heat of the play, not so much.
It's hard to call the Angels a juggernaut with all their little bunts, walks & infield hits, but they look unstoppable.
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