It's no surprise that each year the Rangers' main weakness is pitching.  Thus far, with one month to go, the Rangers are 14th out of 14 teams in the AL in ERA, and quality starts.  Traditionally, they have no problems with their offense.  Currently they are first in team average, first in runs scored, first in extra base hits, and second in homeruns.  So, why can't the Rangers manage to get quality pitchers?  The answer may not be as easy as fans think.

Contrary to popular belief, the Rangers aren't affected by the curse of A-Rod.  The money that they owed him was not the single factor that they can't lure quality pitching to Arlington.  Look at Kevin Millwood.  Before he signed with the Rangers he fiished the season at 9-11, but with a 2.86 ERA.  He gave up less hits per innings pitched and struck out 146.  At the time, that seemed to be a good choice to bring him to be the starter for Texas.  He did and finished his first year in Texas with a 16-12 record, but he couldn't maintain that the next season.  Injuries were taking its toll and he lost control of his command.  His bread-and-butter pitch, the fastball has tailed off and quite honestly, Millwood isn't getting any younger.  This isn't to say he's not a good pitcher.

Continue reading "Making the Pitch"

Anything short of a miracle, the Rangers won't be making the playoffs; however, they have pieces of the puzzle they're eager to put together.  Ron Washington's club looks to finish second in the AL West, something they haven't done since 1999, their last playoff appearance.  To boot, they seek to finish the season above .500.  The Rangers are 7-3 in their last ten games and it looks like they will accomplish the task.   

With two weeks to go in the regular season, and the roster sizes expanded, Ron Washington is getting a good look at next season's prospects.  Case in point, Nelson Cruz is playing well, batting .311 and hitting four homeruns in only two weeks of play. 

Taylor Teagarden, coming back to the Rangers after winning a bronze medal in the Olympics, is making a case for a roster spot next season.  He could be used as trade bait to obtain a pitcher, but either way, Teagarden is playing for a nice payday be it with the Rangers or not.  He was higly coveted in this season's trade deadline, but no move was made.  That could change in the offseason. 

Continue reading "Putting Pieces of the Puzzle"

The Dallas Cowboys beat the Green Bay Packers conviningly and established themselves as the dominant class in the NFC.  The Giants join the Cowboys to go 3-0, but the Cowboys have gotten to this point with a much improved defense.  So, you say the Cowboys gave up 37 points to the Eagles. However, if one analyzes the game carefully, they will realize that the the Eagles scored 14 points off of turnovers and bad penalty calls.  That doesn't lead to much success, but the Cowboys pulled it off in a shootout.  The 'Boys' weakness from last season, the secondary, looks much improved and are giving up less penalties.  This could be a good sign of things to come for the Cowboys, but 3-0 doesn't guarantee a Super Bowl. They have to fire on all cylinders to get to that point

Continue reading "The 'Boys Pack a Punch"

The Texas Rangers closed out their baseball season at home with a 14-4 victory over the Oakland A's.  The final game of the season saw Hank Blalock drive in four runs and smash a homerun.  Matt Harrison pitched six strong innings and he becomes the first rookie starting pitcher for the Rangers to win nine games.  He boosted his chances for a starting position going into next season.

Josh Hamilton also had a good day getting two basehits and netting two more RBIs to extend his lead in the RBI race.  His average now stands at .304.  The Rangers battled this season under early pressures that Ron Washington would lose his job, but the Rangers responded in a big way winning seven straight series in late April - early May.  

Despite losing Ian Kinsler and David Murphy to season-ending injuries, the Rangers relied on depth from their farm team and has looked good and very promising for the future.  Though the Rangers are done at home, they still have a series at the Angels before they close out the season.  While many, including myself, had hopes they would finish .500 or above to end the season, the Rangers have built a cornerstone to go off of.  Their defense was tightened up in the second half of the season, and their pitching improved from 14th in the league in all major categories to 10th.  

Continue reading "Rangers close out their final homestand in style"

Plenty of speculation had been made as to whether or not Mike Smith was the right man for the job.  The Falcons were in a bind last season when Bobby Petrino left three-quarters of the way through the season.  While Petrino left the Falcons in bad shape, the team stayed together.

In comes the search for a coach.  With many high profile names on the market like Bill Parcells, George Seifert and Mike Tice, the Falcons ended their search shortly after the season ended with hiring on Mike Smith from Jacksonville.  His name won't obviously ring any bells, but his results should.  He was a coach on the defense with the 2000 Baltimore Ravens that won the Super Bowl.  The Ravens defense that season finished first in the league in total defense.  He later became the Defensive Coordinator for the Jacksonville Jaguars, who had, previous to his hire, been in the bottom 10 of the league in total defense from 2000-2002.  

Continue reading "Mike Smith the right choice"