10-8 vs 8-10

[Max Power]

The Rangers are 10-8 without A-Rod and then Yankees are 8-10 with him.

I love it when that happens.

[dalmations202]

Originally posted by: Max Power
The Rangers are 10-8 without A-Rod and then Yankees are 8-10 with him.

I love it when that happens.

agreed.............

[mavsfanforever]

This maybe a dream but I would love to see Rangers knock the yanks out of first round of playoffs.

[Drbio]

You gotta love it....


Fact:

The Rangers are the only AL team with 2 shutouts. You all predicted that right? [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

[ocelot_ark]

Make that 11-8.

The rangers are absolutely SMASHING the ball.

[Drbio]

I love Hank Blalock. Yes...I said it....I love him.

[ocelot_ark]

There's not much NOT to love about these Rangers...they're a team that never quits.

[MavsFanatik33]

I cant believe how well they;re playing, and this is against arguably the best division in the league... Rangers in the playoffs? It might be too early to say, I'm still waiting for like Blalock to be injured or something....

[kingrex]

If these little Rangers keep playing this way through July, then I can see them having to buy a bigger bandwagon. I respect what they've done so far, however, everyone agrees they are over-acheiving.

Don't get me wrong, I turn up the volume everytime they show a highlight and smile in amusement as they outperform everyone's expectations. I wish them all the success this year.

[MavsFanatik33]

This team reminds me of the Angels world champion team or last year's Marlins... young, no-name players who just play with heart and not for the big bucks

Ok, maybe the Marlins without Pudge....

[Chiwas]

...and Clemens has 4 wins. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-disgusted.gif[/img]

The Yanks have been really disappointing.

Btw, Valdez has 2 wins, no defeat.

[MavsFanatik33]

Are you a Yankee fan chiwas?

PLEASE tell me you aren't a Yankee fan....

[Chiwas]

[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

[Chiwas]

Edit. (I pushed a wrong button)

[mercury_rev]

Originally posted by: Chiwas
[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

Say it ain't so, Chiwas!

Hell, with what the Rangers have given their fans the last four seasons, I'd be happy with .500 and avoidance of last place in team ERA.

Oh, that and the Yankees missing the playoffs. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

[Chiwas]

Originally posted by: mercury_rev
Oh, that and the Yankees missing the playoffs. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

That, the Mavs out, and the Cowboys not getting a good QB, I'll give sports up.

[kingrex]

If the Rangers are even remotely good this year, I can see this town really backing them. This town loves a winner.

[dalmations202]

Don't look now, but the Rangers are three games better than the Yankees in the AL standings. A comparison through April 26:

The Rangers are 11-8, while the Yankees are 8-11.

The Rangers are hitting .315 as a team. Last year, they hit .266 with the likes of A-Rod and Rafael Palmeiro in the lineup.

The Yankees are hitting .217 as a team (nearly 100 points behind the Rangers).

Compare this to the 2001 season, A-Rod's first with the Rangers. The Mariners said goodbye to Rodriguez and went 116-46 (a 25-win improvement over the year before with A-Rod).

It took the Rangers 25 games to record 11 wins last year with Rodriguez in the lineup.

It took 37 games for the Yankees to lose 11 games last year without A-Rod in the lineup.
-- ESPN Research

[Drbio]

I am no ARod fan, but he always starts slow. Historically, the slower he starts the more impressively he finishes.


Let's not get all giddy just yet. I am glad to see the Rangers playing well though.

[NYCdog]

Guys, the optimism impresses me but.........its still April.

We still have 6 months to go in the season.

If this holds up in August, then we have a problem.

[kingrex]

I think most posters here are cautiously optimistic. I don't think anyone is buying tickets to the World Series. Or even talking pennant. I think most here are just amused at their unexpected start, and added to that amusement is how badly the Yankees are doing.

No we're not getting carried away, just a bit of fun while the season is still new.

[NYCdog]

Well I guess it is a bit of fun on your end. And its good to see you guys having fun with that young up-in-coming Ranger club after the last few seasons. I wish the Ranges best of luck this season.........

On my end, it sucks. Its not the slow start that gets me....I know we can turn things around in a heartbeat, hopefully. Its losing 6 out of 7 against the "Sawx" and worse, getting swept out of our own yard by them, too. I have friends in Beantown. Needless to say, I havent heard the end of it just as yet. There already proclaiming this as finally being "their year," although I think the Yanks, Astros, and Cubs might all have something to say about that come October........

Should be a fun season........Good luck Ranger fans!

[grbh]

Makw that 12-8. I was fully convinces this team would lose close to 100 this year. Needless to say I am very impressed

[Murphy3]

Cordero's 6-6 on save opportunities.

[dalmations202]

Originally posted by: NYCdog
Guys, the optimism impresses me but.........its still April.

We still have 6 months to go in the season.

If this holds up in August, then we have a problem.

Na, if it holds up in August the Yankees have a problem.....We just get to set back and have fun with the fact that everywhere that A-Rod leaves - they get much better quickly. And everywhere that A-Rod goes......tends to start losing.

I admit this is early, but I am really enjoying this..............

[Chiwas]

Esteban Loaiza 3-0
Ismael Valdez 3-0

(Yeah, yeah, I know, Clemens 4-0)



Edit: But Pettitte 0-1 [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

[MavsFanatik33]

The pitcher that has impressed me this season so far is Dickey. That boy has some stamina........

[Dooby]

Newberg Report reader Scott Lucas discovered some eye-opening data when researching the 19-game AL West stretches that Texas played to kick off the 2003 and 2004 seasons. Ranger starters posted a 6.03 ERA last year and a 4.74 mark this season, with the rotation pitching nearly an inning more per game this year than last. The bullpen had a 3.59 ERA this month against division foes, after 5.47 a year ago. Through 19 games, the offense has scored 33 more runs this year, averaging nearly six runs a game after tallying about four per game last year. And how much worse is the Rangers' defense this year? In last year's first 19 games, Texas gave up 16 unearned runs. That number was cut this year to six.

[OutletPass]

Impressive start...I'd love to see it hold up.

[Jbrjo]

Good Article on Hank Blalock (ESPN)
It was 1:50 a.m. Rangers manager Buck Showalter was leaving the ballpark when he looked in the clubhouse and saw Hank Blalock sitting at his locker, drinking a beer and talking baseball with Laynce Nix and Brad Fullmer. "It brought a tear to my eye,'' said Showalter.
You don't often see that today. That love for the game is one reason why the Rangers consider Blalock, a third baseman, a special player. It's also one reason why they gave him a five-year, $15.25 million contract in the offseason. It was, to some general managers and agents, a confusing, controversial deal. Why would the Rangers give such security to a relatively unproven, 23-year-old player who was two years away from salary arbitration and five years from free agency? Conversely, why would a player with star potential lock in for five years when, chances are, he could make a lot more going year-to-year with his contract?

The Rangers are taking a risk. Had they not signed Blalock long-term, they would have paid him around $350,000 this year, and probably $400,000 next year. Instead, he got a $250,000 signing bonus, a $500,000 salary this year and an $800,000 salary next year. That's roughly $1.5 million more than the Rangers had to pay for a player who had only one year, 64 days of major league service entering this season. But it was a similar to some of the signings that Rangers general manager John Hart made in the mid-1990s as GM of the Indians.
The Rangers say the investment will be well worth it. Blalock would have been eligible for salary arbitration in 2006. The market has been re-set in the last year by the contracts signed by three players, Albert Pujols, Ichiro Suzuki and Alfonso Soriano, who were several years away from free agency. Those contracts could have significantly increased the salaries of comparable players in arbitration. In 2006, Blalock will make $3 million; he might have doubled that in arbitration. In 2007, he will make $4.75 million. In 2008, he will make $5.95 million. He could have made a lot more had he gone one year at a time.

The signing of Blalock and shortstop Michael Young to long-term deals "sends a message to the rest of the organization,'' says Showalter. It tells everyone that the best player on the team is going to be there for at least five more years. Now, Nix, first baseman Mark Teixeira, pitcher Colby Lewis, catcher Gerald Laird and the rest of the young Rangers understand if they play well, and do things the right way, they'll be rewarded."You hear some guys say 'oh, it's not about the money,' but with Hank it's really not about the money,'' says Showalter. "There is nothing materialistic or phony about Hank.''

The Rangers say there is little risk given the talent and the character of the player. Last year, Blalock hit .300 with 29 home runs and 90 RBI. He also hit a two-run home run off Eric Gagne in the All-Star Game that gave the American League a 5-4 victory. This season, Blalock is back at it, hitting .333 and with 18 RBI through Wednesday. Defensively, he gets better every day. When Showalter offers a compliment, Blalock says, "just doing my job, dude.'' "He's the only guy I let call me 'dude,' '' Showalter said, laughing.Blalock is a Californian, he's a dude, but he's a grinder. He is Hank Joe Blalock, the son of a high school baseball coach, the kind of player who's going to do things properly.

Last year, when the Rangers marketing people asked Blalock what song he wanted played before each of his at-bats, he offered none, saying "hey, I'm a hitter, not a musician.'' He has become a team leader. When Rangers pitcher R.A. Dickey moved his wife, two children and a third on the way into an apartment near the ballpark, Blalock heard about it, and would hear nothing of it. He offered his house to Dickey, saying that a growing family shouldn't be cramped in an apartment; Blalock and his wife would find another house in which to live.
Blalock is not in this for fame or publicity, just to win and to hit, much like one of Showalter's favorite players, Don Mattingly. Former teammate Alex Rodriguez offered Blalock the chance to fly to last year's All-Star Game on A-Rod's private jet after the Rangers' game that Sunday. Blalock respectfully declined, opting to take a 7 a.m. commercial flight the next day with his wife. Blalock said he might never get back to the All-Star Game, and he wanted he, and his wife, to savor every minute of it.

Blalock will play in several All-Star games before he's done. Recently, Rangers officials asked him if, five years from now, when he's a free agent, and all offers were equal, would he want to stay with the Rangers. Blalock said "they don't have to be equal, I want to spend my whole career with the Rangers. I want to be like George Brett, one team for your whole career.''We'll see about that. But for at least the next five years, Blalock will be mashing in Texas.

[Max Power]

Originally posted by: Murphy3
Cordero's 6-6 on save opportunities.

He got his 7th save now.

Another impressive win for the Rangers, a 9th inning comeback.

[Dooby]

Uhg. Chan Ho gave up 6 runs in 4 & a 1/3. If he is going to suck, I wish he'd chew up innings.

[Murphy3]

I love the type of b'ball player that Hank Blalock has become. Well, perhaps that's a bit unfair to Hank. It implies that he hasn't always looked at the game in the same way that he currently does.

Nix is just about the same kind of guy from what I hear.

[jayC]

16-9 the gest record in the majors, the first sweep of the Red Sox since 99. The Rangers have won 4 in a row and 8 of the last 9.
R.A. Dickey the 29 year old seven year minor leaguer improves to 4-1.

The Rangers lead the majors in batting average at .315 and the only major league team hitting .300. They also have the fifth best ERA in the American League at 4.30. Soriano looks more comfortable at second base every game now especially after the rough start. The gem out the 99 Juan Gonzales trade in no other than Franciso Cordero.

[Chiwas]

And you didn't want to trade A-Rod.

The curse moved to NY.

[u2sarajevo]

Dang.... I know it's still early and all but the Rangers are HAMMERING the Devil Rays early. It's the bottom of the 3rd right now, 8-0 Texas after an 8 run 1st Inning.

[mavsfanforever]

Kenny Rogers pitched a shutout. 9-0 Rangers.

17-9.

[ames7]

That was an awesome game. 3 HRs in the first inning, 8 runs total. Nice that Rogers could finish the game after Dickey couldn't last night. Dickey was really happy for him too. This just keeps looking better & better.

[Chiwas]

The Rangers are leading all the MLB after 26 games. Unbelievable.

[MavsFanatik33]

What a game last night. Rangers now in 1st in all of baseball. 9-1 in the last 10, I'm now looking forward to May 21: A'Rods return to Arlington....