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Today was a day when I came down to the ballpark for the sole purpose of getting the giveaway. My wife and I collect pins, and they gave out a set of Rangers HOF induction pins for each of the four 2003 inductees (Ryan, Sundberg, Hough, Oates). I ended up getting quite a show between the lines.
The Rangers belted seven home runs (6 in the first 3 innings), tying a club record for HR in a game – and the first time they did it at home. Mike Young led off the game with a home run, and we never looked back, jumping out to a 4 run lead in the first inning. In fact, all 10 of our runs came on the longball. While we’re at it, 2 of the 3 runs that Cleveland scored were on the longball as well. :)
John Thomson looked great – going 8 innings, giving up 3 runs on 5 hits – a great outing, and one we need a lot more of if Arod is going to be happy here. ;)
Game notes are here and here.

When this game started, I figured we didn’t have a hope. Pedro Martinez was pitching against us, and that’s usually enough reason to lose hope. He’s got an ERA at the Ballpark under 2! However, Colby Lewis hung with Pedro, matching him almost in every category along the way which was a nice surprise.
It was a great battle up until the 6th when we got a two run hit from Shane Spencer to put us up, 3-2. It stayed that way until the 9th inning when Cordero came on for the save, and gave up a solo home run to Trot Nixon to tie it. We couldn’t push anything across in the 9th and 10th, but in the 11th, we managed to load the bases against Boston reliever Todd Jones. That set the stage for Arod to come up – and given his frustrations, I was expecting a strikeout, but he got us the first walk off win of the 2003 season – and in style too, with a grand slam over the bullpen in right field. Was a great moment, and a great ending to a great game. Isn’t that great? Can I say Great anymore? Great.
As much as I liked winning, I can’t say I truly enjoyed taking 2 of 3 from Boston, as it helped the Yankees. Helping the Yankees is almost a crime, IMHO.
I do find it odd though that Arod came off the field after getting the traditional gang pile at home plate, and ran up the tunnel – he disappeared almost immediately, while the rest of the team was celebrating on the field. I wonder why he ran out so quickly? That just seemed odd.
Game notes are available here and here.

What an interesting day. First there’s the story about Alex being frustrated with losing (who wouldn’t be?), and then there’s the trade of Doug Glanville to the Cubs, allowing phenom Ramon Nivar to make his major league debut (Nivar did not get Pudge’s vacant uniform number 7, he got 2 instead).
We then go out and show that our youth is probably the way to go, because three of them slammed home runs into the upper deck at the Ballpark. Was a night driven by the home run. Of the 11 runs in the game, a total of 8 of them came on the longball. Fortunately, we got more than they did. Robert Ellis pitched well, going 7 innings, and giving up just two runs. I don’t think he’s a pitcher of the future, but it’s nice to see this from our staff. Ron Mahay pitched well, as did Francisco Cordero (although Cordero did allow a couple of baserunners).
Overall, a good win, and an odd feeling for me seeing the comments from Arod.
Game notes are here and here – the second with more on Arod’s comments.

I did not write about the games from July 24th through July 29th as I was out of town most of the weekend, and didn’t get to see or hear hardly any of the Ranger stuff. I did see Monday night’s game, but I spent all of Tuesday catching up at work, and had no time at all for an update.
Well, I wasn’t planning on writing about this game because of my rule about not writing about games we lose when the opponent scores over 10 runs, and I’m mostly sticking to that. However, I can’t ignore Bill Mueller. He hit two grand slams (plus a solo third HR), for a total of 9 RBI’s. He’s the first player in major league history to hit two grand slams in the same game, one from each side of the plate. A masterful performance by him. Kudos to anyone who has him active on their fantasy leagues last night. :)
Game notes are here.

A wild game. A great game to win (Glanville’s turned it around bigtime), but I really don’t have time to write the commentary this game deserves today – got a meeting in an hour.
Game notes are here – including Juando to the DL. Sigh.

The only thing worth writing about was Hank Blalock’s home run out onto Eutaw Street behind Camden Yards. I’ve been there, it’s a gorgeous place, and even more impressive when a home run is hit out there. I’m tired of writing about games where we give up over 10 runs and lose.
Game notes are here.