Since I’m writing this almost a week after the game, I’m not going to say much except this..
Back to 500 for the first time in awhile. Was nice to win for Rick Helling, too. :)
G83: Rangers win 4th in a row; 5-4 over Padres
Since I’m writing this almost a week after the game, I’m not going to say much except this..
A grand slam for Pudge! Would have been awesome to see in person. I had tickets for this game, but wasn’t feeling good, so I stayed home. Damn. :)
Was our first extra inning win of the season.
Pudge top All Star vote getter
ARLINGTON – The people have spoken.
Rangers catcher Ivan Rodriguez is the most popular player in the major leagues.
Pudge’s All-Star vote totals All-time All-Star vote-getters
Rodriguez, defending American League Most Valuable Player, earned the distinction on Tuesday by edging National League catcher Mike Piazza of the New York Mets. Rodriguez received 2,808,456 votes, about 28,000 more than Piazza.
Rodriguez ended Ken Griffey Jr.’s four-year run as the leading vote-getter in the All-Star selection process. Griffey moved from Seattle to Cincinnati this season and was voted into the NL’s starting outfield.
Rodriguez received more votes than three AL teams’ candidates combined: Detroit, Minnesota and Tampa Bay.
“I didn’t realize I had so many fans,” said Rodriguez, whose contract includes a $50,000 incentive for making the All-Star team. “My family told me that I could get elected governor of Puerto Rico with this many votes. I owe the fans for this.
“That’s why when I put this uniform on, I go out and do my best. That’s what the fans like to see. They pay for a ticket and want to see a good show. I want to do good for them.”
This will be Rodriguez’s eight consecutive start and ninth consecutive appearance in the All-Star Game, to be played on Tuesday at Atlanta. No other Ranger finished among the top five at his position.
In the AL, only Cleveland had two elected starters: second baseman Roberto Alomar and outfielder Manny Ramirez.
In the NL, Cincinnati and San Francisco each placed two starters on the team. For Cincinnati, the starters are shortstop Barry Larkin and Griffey. For San Francisco, the starters are second baseman Jeff Kent and outfielder Barry Bonds.
Seven Hall of Famers have led the overall voting: Henry Aaron, Johnny Bench, Reggie Jackson, Rod Carew, Joe Morgan, George Brett and Robin Yount. Among active players, Baltimore’s Cal Ripken Jr. and Will Clark, Tampa Bay’s Jose Canseco, Bonds and Griffey have led the overall All-Star voting.
“We’ve all come to assume that he’s going to be the starting catcher,” Rangers manager Johnny Oates said. “But to get the most votes, that’s nice. I’m happy for him.”
Before Rodriguez’s ascension, Ripken Jr. and Griffey had led the voting annually since 1994.
The vote totals reflected each player’s role of ambassador of the game. Rodriguez, the first top vote-getter from Puerto Rico, said he would like to take on that responsibility.
“I want to leave a good example when I leave the game,” Rodriguez said. “I want it to be because of the way I play.”
Rodriguez owes his latest distinction to Griffey’s decline as much as his popularity.
Griffey, traded from Seattle to Cincinnati in the off-season, dropped from 2.92 million votes last year to 2.19 million votes, good enough to put him in the NL starting outfield.
Rodriguez picked up nearly one million votes over last year, but this was not his best showing in terms of numbers. Rodriguez attracted 3.01 million votes in 1996. His total was the lowest for the overall leader since 1995, when Ripken won with less than 1.7 million votes.
Reserves and pitchers will be named on Wednesday. The Rangers’ best hopes for a second All-Star ride with closer John Wetteland and second baseman Luis Alicea.
The Rangers have had more than one All-Star representative in eight of the last nine seasons. Rodriguez was their only representative in 1997, the last time the club had a losing record.
G82: Rangers sweep someone with 9-4 win over A’s!!
Oh man – it’s been quite some time since I’ve been able to use this graphic!
A nice sweep of the Oakland A’s last night concluded with a 9-4 win held up largely by a massive 7 run first inning. What’s really interesting about this 7 run inning is that all 7 runs were unearned. I’ve always felt that if an error leads to an unearned run, and the same error was committed by the pitcher, that it should then count as an earned run. I know that isn’t a terribly original thought, but one that I’ve held for a long time.
Was nice to see (well, listen, I couldn’t get the game due to my ongoing cable problems) the seven run first inning – we haven’t had one of those in a long time. We sent Kenny Rogers to the mound in the second inning with a 7 run lead. The last time I can remember this happening in the first was a game last year against KC where we scored 9 in the first. Still, it was nice to see, and we could have used some of these against Seattle.
Anyway, it seemed like just about everyone got in on the action in the first inning – I like it when the action is spread around, not just a big jack by one player with everyone else making an out. Everyone in the starting lineup scored at least one run (except Pudge). Mike Lamb continues to be my best surprise player of this year, going 3 for 5, and is nipping the heels of .300.
Pitching wise, Kenny Rogers was good, if not awesome – Crabtree wasn’t out there long enough to create another problem, and Zimmerman looked like Zimmerman – it seems like he’s coming around, finally.
Hopefully some of this can continue beyond this series, as all we did was pick up one game in the standings after going 6-3 against the AL West the last few games. We see the west again in two weeks when we visit Anaheim & Seattle. I’m hopeful we will be on a really good roll by then.
Well, as much as last night’s game was about Ryan Glynn, tonight’s game was about Eric Gagne. He shut down the Rangers with only a few hits, and when we had a chance, we couldn’t follow through.
The only good thing tonight was Pudge, who went 3 for 4 with a solo home run in the 8th for our only run. Most everyone else was silent. In fact only three Rangers had any hits at all – Pudge (3), Segui (2), & Raffy (1). That was it. Scarborough Green almost had his first major league home run, as he hit a ball, and it was called a HR. The fireworks went off, the music from the Natural played, and there was thunderous applause. However, about halfway through the trot, I saw the umps standing in the basepaths conferring, and I knew it would be taken away – it was. That was a shame, even if it really was a foul ball – it would have been nice.
I sat in one of two remaining places in the ballpark that I’d never sat in before. Far left field. I sat in Section 301 row 1. To tell you the truth, it wasn’t all that bad after the second inning. For the first two innings, I had to sit with my head down and my cap’s brim over the sun, as it was very sunny out there. But for $6, it wasn’t all that bad really – even though I missed seeing the out of town scoreboard. :)
G81: Rangers win on July 4th again, 10-7
I was at this game, and at this game, and at this game. Geez – a 3 hour 50 minute game! That coupled with the fireworks afterwards led to some huge traffic clogs afterwards. Since I’m writing this a few days after the fact, I’m not going to comment on the game much, but I will comment on some of the other things that happened.
My wife and I have attended the several July 4th games – they’re always a big deal for the both of us. During the pre-game ceremonies, they brought out the latest batch of Air Force cadets, and they were sworn in on field. That, coupled with the “July 4th” feeling, and the honor guard with the flag, and everyone else there is an awesome feeling for me personally. Then they hit us with the song God Bless the USA by Lee Greenwood, and I just end up crying.
However, the most entertaining thing of the night had to be the marriage proposals. You know, the thing where some guy proposes to a woman on the Jumbotron. Well, they had one of those at this game. I’m always the guy who stands there shouting “No – don’t do it – Save yourself!” I personally don’t like these things, I think they’re trite. Well, a few innings after that, there was another one. And this one was awesome. The woman shook her hands no, tossed her coke on the guy and started to run away. The guy followed her, and they disappeared down a tunnel. Well, that got a lot of laughs, and shocked reactions from the folks in the crowd. The day after, I called Chuck Morgan (the PA and entertainment guy for the Rangers), and asked him about it. To make a long story short, it was a setup. Chuck said that they’ve been doing these things for a long time, and that the Rangers get like 30 or 40 requests a day to do something like that. He said he’d been threatening to do a fake one for a long time, and tonight he did it. He also told me that the two kids involved were interns at the Ballpark.
The fake marriage proposal was one of the funniest things I’ve seen at a ballgame in quite some time – and this was before I found out it was a fake in the first place. :)
Mark Clark waived
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Right-handed pitcher Mark Clark got his wish Monday when the Texas Rangers placed him on waivers for the purpose of releasing him.If Clark is not claimed by noon Friday, he will become a free agent.
Clark, 3-5 with a 7.98 ERA, hasn’t been happy with his diminished role with the Rangers, and has expressed his desire to leave the team several times.
“What good is it being here?,” Clark told The Fort Worth Star-Telegram in a story published Monday before his release. “I’m not doing the club any good sitting out there in the bullpen and not pitching, and I’m not doing myself good career-wise. Since I’m a mistake, I don’t see any reason to be here.”
Team owner Tom Hicks referred to Clark as a “mistake” last week.
Some of the club’s high-priced veterans haven’t played well this season for the Rangers, the two-time defending AL West champions who now sit in last place.
Clark signed a two-year, $5 million free-agent contract with the Rangers after the 1998 season.
The former starter was converted into a seldom-used long reliever. He has pitched just once since June 16, losing 6-3 to Seattle on Saturday.
The Rangers recalled infielder Kelly Dransfelt from Triple-A Oklahoma of the Pacific Coast League. Dransfelt was in uniform for Monday night’s game against Oakland.
Texas was expected to wait until at least next week’s All-Star break before doing anything with Clark, but needed to make a move after shortstop Royce Clayton left Sunday night’s game with a strained oblique muscle in his left side.
Clayton will be out of the lineup until at least Friday, but the Rangers aren’t ready to put him on the disabled list.
WIRE STORY #2:
ARLINGTON, TEXAS (TICKER) — The Texas Rangers have placed Mark Clark on irrevocable waivers for the purpose of giving the struggling righthander his unconditional release.
To take Clark’s place on the roster, the Rangers have recalled infielder Kelly Dransfeldt from Triple-A Oklahoma of the Pacific Coast League.
The waivers on Clark, 32, will expire on Friday at 1:00 p.m. EDT. He will become a free agent if not claimed by that time.
In 12 games, including eight starts, Clark was just 3-5 with a 7.98 ERA. He started the year in the rotation but has been pitching out of the bullpen for the last month.
Clark was the losing pitcher against Seattle on Saturday, when he allowed two runs and three hits while recording four outs.
Signed as a free agent prior to the 1999 season, Clark was 6-12 with a 8.37 ERA in 27 games, 23 starts, in his two seasons with the Rangers. He owns a career mark of 74-71 in eight seasons, having also pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals, New York Mets and Chicago Cubs.
Dransfeldt was hitting .224 with three homers and 26 RBI in 69 games for the RedHawks this season. He was with the Rangers from May 4-6 and went hitless in his only at-bat against Tampa Bay on May 4.
Dransfeldt, who batted .189 with five RBI in 16 games for the Rangers last season, will fill in for shortstop Royce Clayton, who is expected to be sidelined three to four days with a strained oblique muscle.
FROM JOE: To tell you the truth, at this point, it’s the best move that could be made for both sides. He’s not happy, so he won’t pitch well if he remains. He was never really good for the Rangers as a team. It’s a shame – I really wanted to like him – go look at the old news on my site from when he was first signed. Oh well, guess this means that the Perisho / Glynn experiment will continue longer.
Roster Transaction
- RHP Mark Clark waived for the purpose of
releasing him. - IF Kelly Dransfeldt recalled from AAA Oklahoma
G80: Rangers beat A’s, 8-3
No commentary available.
G79: Rangers make me sigh again by losing 11-4
Sigh.
This game started off as an awesome pitcher’s duel – until the top of the 7th. I thought Matt Perisho, despite some walks in the first, pitched an awesome game. Then came the Rangers’ 2000 problem, the shaky bullpen. Gave up 7 in the 7th, and that was about it.
At this point, since we were so behind, I fell asleep during the game, as I was watching it timeshifted on my TiVo (I was out for the evening, and didn’t start watching until about midnight).
If we lose 2 of 3 or get swept by the A’s, that’s probably about it for this season.
Roster Transaction
- RHP Ryan Glynn placed on 15 day DL
- LHP Doug Davis recalled from AAA Oklahoma
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 464
- 465
- 466
- 467
- 468
- …
- 521
- Next Page »