The 2011 Texas Rangers regular season has been a season like no other for me since I started following this team in 1995. For a couple of reasons.
First off, we were the defending American League Champions. That alone was an interesting thing to deal with. The perception that the Rangers were the team that everyone else was chasing was a weird feeling. But a good feeling just the same.
Second, I only attended four games this season. Two were in Arlington (Games 2 & 157), and two were in Philadelphia (Games 45 & 46). That’s a low for me since I’ve been a Rangers fan. For someone who used to go to about 25 games a year, that was a major adjustment.
Thirdly, my drop in updating the site. I took a huge number of breaks this year, and a lot of that has to do with the fact that I dropped cable TV and went to antenna only. I discovered that my being more than a casual fan was really based around the fact that I could watch the games on TV.
Still, it was a great season. The Rangers won the division again for the second year in a row, and the fifth overall. We set a record for wins in a season, as well as a record for home attendance. Both by minimal numbers over the previous records, but still. New records for wins and attendance are great!
CJ Wilson stepped up and pitched like the Number 1 pitcher slot he was put in. He apparently picked up a lot from Cliff Lee when Cliff was here last year. CJ seemed very “Lee-like” in several places this season. I’ll say it again, I was wrong last year in thinking there was no way he’d make the rotation, but he destroyed that.
The Rangers new scoreboard in right is spectacular. Something that should have been done ages ago, but when I saw it for the first time, it actually gave me that “seeing the green in the field as a kid” feeling. I loved the new scoreboard. Shame I only got to go to two games.
The broadcaster stuff is more confusing. We started off the season with John Rhadigan replacing Josh Lewin on TV. He didn’t last too long, and was fired fairly early on in the season. That caused a shuffle of personnel, and we ended up with Dave Barnett replacing Rhadigan on TV, and Steve Busby replacing Barnett on radio. At the time, some noise was made about those moves being temporary for the rest of the season. I certainly hope that’s the case. I never wanted Barnett on TV, he was one of the reasons I stopped listening on radio for the most part. At this point, if things went the way I would like for 2012, I’d bring back Josh Lewin for TV, and have Bryan Dolgin be with Eric on the radio. When Dolgin was on the radio, I liked him. I have nothing against Busby – I like him too. But I’ve read where he’s not interested in doing play by play full time. But Dolgin is younger, and I thought worked well with Nadel.
We’re going to the playoffs starting in a few hours. My Phillies are in too. This will be interesting. Not sure who I’d root for there. :)