Well, the Rangers did get to play October baseball this year, but unfortunately, it wasn’t the kind we were looking for, it was just the final game in a very dismal season.
Ryan Glynn pitched like he was the ace of the staff yesterday. He went toe to toe with Oakland starter Tim Hudson, going a total of 7 innings, and giving up 2 runs on six hits. Two of the runs were in the final inning he pitched, when he seemed to be getting the ball up, Oakland hit two solo home runs. Other than that, he was masterful. Pitch count was good, he walked four, struck out four, and generally pitched awesome.
Problem was that Tim Hudson was even more awesome. With the division crown on the line, and going for his 20th win, Tim Hudson pitched like a CY Young winner. He went 8 innings, giving up no runs, striking out ten, and giving up only four hits. There were two walks, but one of them was intentional. Tim Hudson was totally awesome, and from the looks of yesterday’s game, he was a big part of the success the A’s have had this year.
My hat goes off to the A’s – they are worthy champs, and I hope they go further than we were able to in the last couple of years in the playoffs against the Yankees.
I did notice on the TV coverage that after the A’s had won, you didn’t hear anything from Tom Grieve anymore. I wonder if he was on the field or in the A’s clubhouse to congratulate his son or something. Again, I can’t express how glad I am it was the A’s that won the division, and not the Mariners. I don’t dislike the Mariners, but I like the A’s – great young team, great heart. Also, I’m from Philadelphia, so there’s that tie too (Although when I was born, they had already left for Kansas City).
G161: SWEET MOTHER OF GOD! Rangers lose 23-2!
OH MY GOD! – Just when you didn’t think it could possibly get worse – it does. Worst loss ever in team history, and the most runs the A’s ever score in their team history – going all the way back to the Philadelphia days.
A big two THUMBS DOWN! Could it get any worse on the final game tomorrow? Look at this box score!
Line Score AL FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E - - - - - - - - - - - - TEXAS 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 9 0 OAKLAND 9 0 1 0 5 0 8 0 x 23 24 0 (FINAL) BATTERIES: TEX - DARREN OLIVER, BRIAN SIKORSKI (1ST), MATT PERISHO (5TH), FRANCISCO CORDERO (5TH), JONATHAN JOHNSON (7TH), DOUG DAVIS (7TH), JEFF ZIMMERMAN (8TH) AND RANDY KNORR, BJ WASZGIS (8TH) OAK - BARRY ZITO, SCOTT SERVICE (7TH), TODD BELITZ (9TH) AND RAMON HERNANDEZ, SAL FASANO (6TH) WP - BARRY ZITO (7-4) LP - DARREN OLIVER (2-9) SAVE - NONE HOME RUNS: TEX - NONE OAK - RANDY VELARDE (11) OFF SIKORSKI IN THE 1ST, 1 ON JASON GIAMBI (43) OFF SIKORSKI IN THE 3RD, 0 ON MIGUEL TEJADA (30) OFF CORDERO IN THE 5TH, 3 ON RYAN CHRISTENSON (4) OFF D DAVIS IN THE 7TH, 2 ON TIME: 3:32 ATT: 35,546 PROBABLES: TEX - RYAN GLYNN (5-6, 5.84) OAK - TIM HUDSON (19-6, 4.31) Box Score TEXAS (2) VS OAKLAND (23) - FINAL TEXAS ab r h rbi bb so lob avg Sc Green cf 5 0 1 0 0 1 5 .242 R Clayton ss 3 0 0 0 0 2 0 .241 M Young 2b 2 0 0 0 0 1 3 .000 R Palmeiro 1b 3 0 0 0 0 2 0 .288 Dransfeldt ss 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 .115 Curtis lf 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 .275 a-Valdes ph-rf 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 .260 Sierra dh 4 1 1 0 0 0 2 .237 Ledee rf-lf 2 1 1 0 2 1 0 .238 Sheldon 2b-1b 4 0 2 0 0 1 1 .289 Lamb 3b 4 0 2 1 0 0 0 .276 Knorr c 3 0 0 0 0 0 5 .303 Waszgis c 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 .222 Totals 36 2 9 2 2 10 17 a-singled for Curtis in the 8th. BATTING: RBI - Lamb (47), Waszgis (4). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - Sc Green 2, Knorr 1, Sierra 1, M Young 1. Team LOB - 9. OAKLAND ab r h rbi bb so lob avg Long cf 4 3 3 3 1 0 0 .290 b-Porter ph-cf 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 .154 R Velarde 2b 5 3 3 2 0 0 2 .277 Menechino 2b 2 1 2 2 0 0 0 .255 Ja Giambi 1b 3 3 3 3 2 0 0 .334 Je Giambi pr-1b 2 0 1 0 0 1 1 .253 Saenz dh 3 0 1 1 1 0 1 .310 J Ortiz pr-dh 2 2 1 1 0 1 3 .182 d-Hinch ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 .250 Tejada ss 4 1 1 5 1 0 4 .275 c-Byrnes ph-rf 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 .300 Grieve lf 4 1 1 0 1 1 2 .279 R Christenson pr-lf 1 2 1 3 0 0 0 .248 Piatt rf-3b 6 2 4 0 0 1 2 .299 Chavez 3b 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 .280 a-M Bellhorn ph-3b-ss 4 0 0 0 1 3 5 .154 Ra Hernandez c 2 1 0 1 1 1 2 .238 Fasano c 3 1 2 2 0 1 0 .214 Totals 48 23 24 23 10 10 24 a-walked for Chavez in the 2nd; b-walked for Long in the 7th; c-singled for Tejada in the 7th; d-struck out for J Ortiz in the 8th. BATTING: 2B - Long (34, Sikorski); Grieve (39, Cordero); Fasano (6, Cordero); Piatt (5, Jo Johnson); Menechino (9, Jo Johnson). HR - R Velarde (11, 1st inning off Sikorski 1 on, 2 out); Ja Giambi (43, 3rd inning off Sikorski 0 on, 2 out); Tejada (30, 5th inning off Cordero 3 on, 1 out); R Christenson (4, 7th inning off D Davis 2 on, 2 out). RBI - Ja Giambi 3 (137), Saenz (32), Tejada 5 (115), Ra Hernandez (61), Long 3 (80), R Velarde 2 (40), Fasano 2 (19), Menechino 2 (26), J Ortiz (1), R Christenson 3 (18). 2-out RBI - Ra Hernandez, Long 3, R Velarde 2, Ja Giambi, J Ortiz, R Christenson 3. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - Ra Hernandez 1, M Bellhorn 1, Tejada 2, Hinch 1. Team LOB - 11. -------------------------------------------------- Texas - 010 000 001 -- 2 Oakland - 901 050 80X -- 23 -------------------------------------------------- TEXAS ip h r er bb so hr era D Oliver (L, 2-9) 2/3 5 6 6 1 0 0 7.50 Sikorski 3 1/3 4 4 4 4 2 2 5.73 Perisho 1/3 3 4 4 1 1 0 7.46 Cordero 1 2/3 3 1 1 2 2 1 5.35 Jo Johnson 2/3 5 7 7 2 2 0 6.21 D Davis 1/3 2 1 1 0 1 1 5.38 Je Zimmerman 1 2 0 0 0 2 0 5.30 OAKLAND ip h r er bb so hr era Zito (W, 7-4) 6 5 1 1 1 7 0 2.72 Service 2 2 0 0 0 2 0 6.38 T Belitz 1 2 1 1 1 1 0 2.70 WP - Perisho. Pitches-strikes: Zito 100-62; Service 34-22; T Belitz 16-10; D Oliver 29-18; Sikorski 73-38; Perisho 29-19; Cordero 39-21; Jo Johnson 37-20; D Davis 20-13; Je Zimmerman 28-21. Ground balls-fly balls: Zito 6-5; Service 2-2; T Belitz 1-1; D Oliver 2-0; Sikorski 1-7; Perisho 0-0; Cordero 0-3; Jo Johnson 0-0; D Davis 0-0; Je Zimmerman 0-1. Batters faced: Zito 24; Service 8; T Belitz 6; D Oliver 8; Sikorski 18; Perisho 5; Cordero 10; Jo Johnson 9; D Davis 3; Je Zimmerman 5. UMPIRES: HP--John Shulock. 1B--Brian Runge. 2B--Rocky Roe. 3B--Ian Lamplugh. T--3:32. Att--35,546. Weather: 72 degrees, sunny. Wind: 7 mph, out to right.
G160: Rangers drop opener to A’s, 7-5, Dick Bosman fired
The final series of the season. I hope going into this series that we actually lose all three, and let the A’s win it. We have nothing to play for at this point – the season is just about a total loss, we’re way in last place, and the only point in winning now would be to help the Mariners. Given a choice between the Mariners and the A’s, I’d rather the A’s get the division crown.
Well, we followed up on this plan in Game 1, losing 7-5. As losses go, it wasn’t the worst, we didn’t lie down, but a loss is a loss, and in this season, there’s a ton of ’em. 89 losses. That means we have to win both the last two to avoid a 90 loss season – don’t think it’s gonna happen. :)
We used seven pitchers, Kenny Rogers going 4.1, giving up five hits, and 3 earned runs. No one else pitched more than a single inning (Perisho had a 0 for IP). Francisco Cordero gave up two runs in 2/3 of an inning, and Jonathan Johnson & Mike Venafro each gave up a run, but neither was earned. On our side of the stick, we had a few decent nights by Scott sheldon, who went 2 for 3 after coming in early for Luis Alicea (Luis never played the field), Royce Clayton, who went 3 for 5, and Randy Knorr, who went 3 for 4.
Johnny Oates also fired Dick Bosman, which was a surprise, as they’d been together 9 years over two teams. Be curious to see who we bring in as a pitching coach. My initial vote – Bill Haselman.
G159: Rangers win with big offense, 13-6
Well, I was really hoping to come out of Seattle winning two of three and hurting Seattle – I really want to see the A’s win the division. Didn’t happen. No change in the standings at all during this series – Seattle is still 1/2 game up on Oakland going into the final three games of the season.
I had forgotten this game was on at 5:30, and didn’t see much of it, as I tuned in late. I did get to see Ruben Sierra’s home run – I was really really hoping he’d get one, on the (fairly decent) chance he won’t be here next season. He was all kinds of smiles in the dugout, and that was very nice to see – my wife even commented that it’s great to see players smile like that.
The other notable about this game (other than the fact we trounced on the Mariners) was the 5 stolen bases by Scarborough Green. I really think he should be given a shot at a 5th outfielder position. It’s too bad he can’t hit – because he plays passable defense, and has some ungodly speed – he could be a great leadoff hitter.
This weekend Tom Grieve has a chance to see his son’s team clinch the division with him announcing it. That must be cool for him.
G158: Rangers lose to Mariners, 6-4
As this season draws to a close, I’m finding it harder and harder to sit and watch an entire game without flipping channels, looking at something else on my TiVo… This game was no exception.
We lost, and we had chances. We couldn’t follow through and beat the Mariners’ closer for the win. Oh well.
G157: Rangers shut out by Sele and M’s, 5-0
Not much to talk about here. We lost 5-0 on a complete game shutout by our traitor old friend, Aaron Sele. He pitched a 6 hit complete game shutout. We couldn’t get anything going at all. Period.
About the only highlights on the other side was a pickoff of Rickey Henderson by Ryan Glynn early in the game, and the fact that our bullpen didn’t make the game any worse. :)
G156: Rangers lose finale of home season, 9-2
The final home game of the 2000 season played out pretty much like the rest of the year. Rather irritating weather, and rather irritating performance by the team on the field. After yesterday being 97 degrees with like 80 percent humidity, it was about 60 degrees at the game. Since I’m from up north these temperatures don’t bother me, but the day after 97, it’s very noticeable.
Kenny Rogers started off by walking the first three batters of the game, and surprisingly only gave up one run that inning. Kenny went five innings, and only gave up a single hit, but he also allowed a career high eight walks. Given that many walks, it’s surprising he only gave up two runs in these five innings. When he left, I was feeling pretty good about our chances to win the final home game. However, our usual problem reared it’s head. Jonathan Johnson came on and pitched a couple of innings, but gave up two consecutive solo home runs for two more runs allowed – those were his only two hits though, he didn’t pitch all that bad. Then the fun began. Tim Crabgrass came in and only pitched 1/3 of an inning, but he walked two, and with an error, ending up allowing four runs, because of Mike Venafro’s gopher ball to Mo Vaughn – a towering grand slam into the second level of the upper deck. That was the epitaph for the Ranger’s home season. Brian Sikorski came on for the ninth, and was the only pitcher not to allow any runs, but he too walked a batter – bringing the total walks allowed by Ranger pitching to FOURTEEN!!
Offensively, we didn’t have much – we had the solo home run by Randy Knorr, and an RBI bloop single by Ruben Sierra in the fourth, scoring Scarborough Green. That was it. Speaking of Ruben, he’ll be a trivia question – he made the final out of the home 2000 season, a come backer to the pitcher.
When the Rangers were coming off the field, they got (what I felt to be) a fairly decent standing ovation. Hardly anyone came back out onto the field after the game was over, but I can’t be surprised at that – they probably just wanted to get out. Raffy came out, and Scott Sheldon did, and I thought I saw Ruben Sierra, but I wasn’t sure. I was very pleased to see the fans give the team applause after the season was over. Given the usual Cowboy mentality that this town has, I figured they’d get booed – but they didn’t. I liked that.
Speaking of Raffy, he was given a special framed Rangers jersey before the game in honor of his 400th HR. It looked normal, except the number on the back of the uniform was #400. Was a nice gesture, for sure.
G155: Rangers lose big 15-4; Raffy gets #400
Well, it figures. The one game that I don’t have tickets for this series is the one where Raffy gets #400. My wife and I were in Baltimore last year when Cal Ripken missed getting his 400th by about two feet – and we missed this one, too. :)
However, Raffy was the only thing going last night. In this 15-4 loss, all four runs were driven in by Raffy. We had a total of four hits, three of them by Raffy (the other one a single by Ricky Ledee). Rick Helling was bad. Matt Perisho was fair. Darwin Cubillan was awful. Francisco Corder was fair to poor.
Was just an awful night all around – with the lone expection of Rafael Palmeiro who hit his 400th home run. I was watching, and when I saw him hit the ball, I hit pause on my TiVo (man these things are awesome). I went to get my wife, who was in the other room on the phone. When I came back, and backed the game up a few seconds so she could see it all (God, I really love TiVo). I had hit pause without even seeing it go over the fence. It was just one of those shots you could tell was going out off the bat. They shot off the home run fireworks 3 times for this one – which was cool. There was a rather large standing ovation, a curtain call from Raffy, and some nice family moments with his wife and kids who were in the first row behind the on deck circle. One funny note about the home run – a fan in the first row in the lower home run porch had the ball in his hands, and dropped it back onto the field. :)
Was a nice moment in a completely forgettable game. Oh wait, there was one cute thing. The Angels tied an AL record for using four pinch runners in an inning, and the two teams combined to set an AL record by using 5 pinch runners combined in a single inning. :)
G154: Rangers lose really tight game, 2-1
My wife and I were at this game – and we had tickets to Sunday’s final game, too. We’re thinking before we show up, you know, as we don’t have tickets to the middle of these three games, that’s when Raffy will hit his home run. And of course, I was right. He hit his 400th on Saturday.
Anyway, about this one – Darren Oliver was on the mound tonight, so I just assumed a big loss. Well, Darren didn’t pitch all that badly. He went 6.2 innings, allowing six hits, and two earned runs. Was actually a great performance, and really, he deserved a win. However, Anaheim pitchers were better than us. All five of them combined to allow only 8 hits, and 1 earned run. Hard to win when you’re outpitched like that.
The frustration of this season played out late, when Frank Catalanotto was ejected for tossing his helmet back out onto the field after arguing a close call. Every replay, and all the announcers said that he was ejected after arguing, but no one seemed to notice that it didn’t happen until he was in the dugout already, and his hat had been tossed back out onto the field.
On the injury front, Ricky Ledee was scratched from this game due to stepping on glass at home, and cutting his foot. Rusty Greer was officially shut down for the rest of the season due to the current foot problem he has. I doubt he’ll go on the DL now, but that makes yet another player (I think it’s 9 without looking it up) that have been finished for the season due to injury.
G153: Rangers take one against Minnesota, 6-4
I skipped back and forth between this game, and some other television I was watching.
It was very cool to see an extra inning win. I tuned back into the game right as Scott Sheldon was about to swing for a home run to tie the game in the ninth. That was cool to see – and then we went ahead in the 11th, but gave up a run, so the game continued.
This was a game that was started by a total of 13 rookies on both teams, out of a possible 20 players total. Rather a lot!
Was nice to see Ruben Sierra get some hits and a few RBI’s in this one – I’m really hoping he can hang around for next season, although my gut says he won’t.
This was our only win in the Metrodome all season. Sigh.
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