The last game of the season ended on both a bright note and a scary note. Unfortunately, they’re the same thing. Chan Ho Park pitched the way he should have been pitching. Which means we’ll probably try and go with him again next season. Damn. On the other hand, he pitched really well again in a park that he always pitches well in – Seattle. I wonder if something could be worked out where we send Park to Seattle for something. Park does well there, Seattle has to know that. Park went 7 innings, gave up no runs on 2 hits (3 BB/3K). A stellar performance (unfortunately).
Francisco Cordero got his final save of the season, his 49th. A record breaking season for him, as no Ranger reliever has ever had that many saves. He looked good, and fans seemed to like it when he came in. I think we have this position solved for awhile. :)
We didn’t have a lot of offense ourselves, but we had enough to get three runs across. Texas 2-4, but didn’t score, or get an RBI. Nix had a HR, and Huckaby had a double. Mike Young drove in the other two that Nix did not. As I said, not a lot of offense, but enough.
And the season comes to a close. By every account, this was a huge success, we didn’t drop out of the race until after Game #158 of the season – a major accomplishment. Buck Showalter should be manager of the year.
I also sincerely hope that Rudy Jaramillo comes back next year. He’s a great portion of our success, and I would hate to have him leave. As I’ve said before, if he left to get a manger’s job, I can’t fault him for leaving for that. However, if he leaves and becomes a hitting coach somewhere else, then I’ll be pissed. If he takes a lateral move, it means the Rangers didn’t do enough to keep him.

The last game of the season ended on both a bright note and a scary note. Unfortunately, they’re the same thing. Chan Ho Park pitched the way he should have been pitching. Which means we’ll probably try and go with him again next season. Damn. On the other hand, he pitched really well again in a park that he always pitches well in – Seattle. I wonder if something could be worked out where we send Park to Seattle for something. Park does well there, Seattle has to know that. Park went 7 innings, gave up no runs on 2 hits (3 BB/3K). A stellar performance (unfortunately).
Francisco Cordero got his final save of the season, his 49th. A record breaking season for him, as no Ranger reliever has ever had that many saves. He looked good, and fans seemed to like it when he came in. I think we have this position solved for awhile. :)
We didn’t have a lot of offense ourselves, but we had enough to get three runs across. Texas 2-4, but didn’t score, or get an RBI. Nix had a HR, and Huckaby had a double. Mike Young drove in the other two that Nix did not. As I said, not a lot of offense, but enough.
And the season comes to a close. By every account, this was a huge success, we didn’t drop out of the race until after Game #158 of the season – a major accomplishment. Buck Showalter should be manager of the year.
I also sincerely hope that Rudy Jaramillo comes back next year. He’s a great portion of our success, and I would hate to have him leave. As I’ve said before, if he left to get a manger’s job, I can’t fault him for leaving for that. However, if he leaves and becomes a hitting coach somewhere else, then I’ll be pissed. If he takes a lateral move, it means the Rangers didn’t do enough to keep him.
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Kenny Rogers had a career season, winning 18 games. His previous was 17 wins, but he topped it by one this year, and in my opinion should have been a 20 game winner, but he had a few leads blown for him. :(
Mike Young went 3-5 with a home run and 4 RBI’s to lead the Ranger hitting attack. We also had a home run from Mench, and a 3-5 game from Teixeira and Mench. Hell, Manny Alexander went 2-3 with an RBI and 2 runs scored. We had a total of 16 hits with five doubles. A nice offensive display.
For a meaningless series, the games certainly seemed to be lively. Last night was Ichiro. Tonight was Edgar Martinez, who had a ceremony for his career tonight. He also took one pitch over at third base, his position for a long time before becoming a permanent DH.
161 down. One to go.

Ryan Drese has run out of gas, he’s gotten bombed the last few starts he made of the season. However, I don’t think his season can be called anything less than a total success. He had a spectacular season.
However, this game wasn’t about the Rangers really. We were witness to Ichiro Suzuki’s record breaking 258th hit of the season, breaking an 80 year old or so record by Mr. George Sisler for hits in a season. Not a record to be taken lightly (although some wankers in the press are). Was really great to have seen that.

The final home game of the season ends on a good note, with a 6-3 win over the Angels. Rookie starter Chris Young pitched well, going six innings, giving up three runs, and looking like a good candidate for next season’s rotation. The home season ended the way it started, with RA Dickey on the mound pitching well. Too bad RA didn’t pitch all that well inbetween the start and end of the home schedule most of the time. :(
Of the 81 games at home this season, we won 51 of them, tying our best season for home winning record at 51-30. Overall, an outstanding season at home. Now if we can just get rid of the Gold Club behind home plate, things might go better.
Vlad Guerrero continued to be on a torrid streak here, having another two home runs today (he went 4-4 in this game). That gave him a 12 for 17 streak during this series, with a total of FIVE home runs in this series (two 2 HR games). Amazing.
However, the best part of the game by far was the “Thank you” lap the Rangers made around the stadium at the conclusion of the game. A very nice touch by the team, and probably won them a few season ticket holders for next year by doing that. I’m sure a lot of fans (and Randy Galloway) might see it as a cynical move, but I very much liked it – to me it showed there was some heart there. And that’s always a good thing.