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Listened to this game at work today as it was a day game. I listened over the Internet as opposed to the radio that’s sitting on my desk. Somehow it just seems “cooler” that way. :)
Anyway… This was very much a game of records. Check these things out:

• This was shutout #9 for Rangers pitching this season.
• We set a franchise record for wins with 95.
• Juan hit a home run, giving him 39. He needs one more for 4 straight years of 40 HR’s.
• We now have 936 runs scored as a team, which is 4 shy of our own record.
• The team ERA is just a shade under 5 now.
• John Burkett had his first winning season since 1993, when he went 22-7 with the Giants with a 9-8 record this year.

John Burkett sounded dominating, as did the three relievers (Crabtree, Zimmerman, & Venafro). Between the four, they only allowed 4 hits (3 by Burkett, one by Venafro) over 9 innings, and 8 strikeouts and 3 walks. It was an extraordinarily well pitched game. The radio guys were spooging over Zimmerman saying his slider looked like the best he’d thrown all season. Burkett managed to pitch out a jam later in his appearance where the Mariners were threatening to tie up the game (it was 2-0 then). He looked really good, and again, he pitched well in the end of the year, and I suspect we’ll probably pick up his option for 2000 and invite him to spring training. Of course, that’s depending on what happens in the off-season, I’m sure.
This is the end of the home season at the Ballpark in Arlington. We finished up with 51 wins at home for the season (out of 81 home dates, I believe). We went 7-5 for the final homestand, shutting out Seattle twice in the last three games.
We got out early with a Lee Stevens solo home run in the bottom of the second, and that was the game winning hit – we didn’t need anything more. Juan Gonzalez followed up with another solo home run in the bottom of the third. We got three in the 6th, and two in the 7th to close out the scoring. Was a nice spread, with Lee Stevens getting another RBI, and Tom Goodwin getting a couple, while Pudge chimed in again as usual.
We head to Anaheim for the final three games of the season. Given the way Anaheim has been playing, I wonder if we can’t get to 98 wins out there. :)

No commentary, as last night was my bowling league, and the game was on during that, and I couldn’t see it. However, it was nice to see that Todd Zeile wasn’t really hurt. However, we have lost Danny Kolb for the rest of the season, and could be losing Mike Munoz for the rest of the season.
In looking at the box score, Aaron Sele had an uncommon off night (especially in the second half of the season).

I got very busy at work today, I won’t have time to sit down and write commentary. Suffice it to say.. 10-0. Sweet. I was rather impressed with Jeff Fassero. If he pitches like this more, we might actually keep him for 2000. :)
Todd Zeile left the game hurt – I hope this doesn’t extend to the post-season, or that will be a problem.

This was my final regular season game of the year. Last year, once it got down to my last few games at the Ballpark, I started getting down about it, but this year, it didn’t hit me until I was walking into the park that this was the last time I’ll be here for 1999 except for Game 1 of the Division Series here. I probably won’t be able to go to any more playoff games, as there are better things to use that kind of money for (like more tickets for 2000). :)
I went into the game expecting to see a junk lineup, as is usually the case the day after a clinch, but we got the regular everyday lineup for the Rangers. I was surprised. Looks like they’re really serious about making a run for the home field advantage.
This was a very well pitched game by both sides. Seattle pitcher Freddy Garcia showed why he’s a good young prospect, more or less shutting down the Rangers from getting anything extended going. He looked good, and I’d love to have a pitcher like that on our staff. Rick Helling, while not getting the win pitched well in the game (oh, there’s a shock). He struck out 10 in 5 2/3 innings, and Mike Munoz followed Helling and was really sharp as well. Matter of fact, all three Ranger relievers (Munoz, Crabtree, & Wetteland) didn’t allow any hits and only one walk, as well as adding 5 more strikeouts. It was an extremely well pitched game by the Rangers.
The offense wasn’t all that great, but it was just enough to get the win. Seattle’s runs all came in the 3rd. One was on a home run ball by Ibanez off of Helling, and the other was a sac fly by Arod. That’s it for Seattle. Our first run came in the second when Todd Zeile grounded into a double play and Juan scored from third. The second to tie the game up again was by Pudge in the 6th, a single scoring Tom Goodwin. Lee Stevens, who has been very prone to the strikeout lately (had a few tonight) came through with a sac fly to left in the bottom of the eighth to close out the scoring.
It was a great game, not a blowout on either side. Well pitched by both teams, and was a great baseball game to watch. I was sitting over by the Rangers dugout (had some good seats), and it made it all the sweeter sitting that close to the action. As a side note to that, Zonk is very loud when you’re sitting about 4 seats away from him. :)
Tampa Bay did us a big favor by beating the Yankees for the second straight game. We’re now two games behind the Indians, and one behind the Yankees. The Yankees appear to be slumping now (at least a little), which could help in the playoffs if we meet them and get out and get the first game.
We went 30 games over .500 for the first time in club history last night, too. :)

Oh man – what a high! I was at this game and we won. We won big, we won at home, WE WON!

I’m running late at work, I won’t have time to write my commentary right now, but I will tomorrow. I’m actually going again tonight to the Mariners game (the final game of my 1999 Mini Plan package), so I’ll do this tomorrow.

I took a bunch of pictures with the digital camera of the game and the celebration, I’ll be posting them tomorrow, too. In the meantime, here’s one of me standing outside my car after the game was over. What you can’t see in this picture is that my car has a Texas Rangers license plate, and a window sticker on it, too. :)

UPDATE: As I sit down to write this on Tuesday afternoon, the game is a blur. I don’t remember much about the specifics of the game except for the Rafael Palmeiro grand slam that hit the foul pole. After that, the buzz (at least I felt this) was that the game was over when they hit that slam. Todd Zeile did have a home run earlier that felt good, but the Palmeiro slam was positively awesome. That’s the third Grand Slam I’d seen with my own eyes this year (the other two were another by Palmeiro and one by Roberto Kelly). This was just awesome.

It was really cool that my wife and I were at the game to see the win in person. What made this even sweeter was that we didn’t have to pay for the game. When Jim Lites took over as president of the Rangers, a package was sent out to all season ticket holders with a bunch of discount coupons and the like. One thing in there was a voucher for two free tickets to a game in September (you got to pick from three). We picked this game (back in August). What a lucky break that was. And to make matters even cooler, it was fan appreciation weekend, and we also got vouchers for two free tickets to a game in April or May of 2000! What a deal!

Thinking back to the game itself, Esteban Loaiza pitched really well, going 7 innings, allowing only four hits and one earned run. Matter of fact, he retired mostly everyone except for one inning. It was a nice bounce back from a few mediocre outings. Jeff Zimmerman though, wasn’t as dominating. He allowed another home run, and has shown in the second half of the season that he’s a “real person”. :) His ERA has gone up to 2.39, which is still awesome, but isn’t the same way he was pitching in the first half of the season. The rest of the game is a blur to me, I just remembered a few points, but the big deal here was the division title.

What was particularly cool about the post game celebration was that Chuck Morgan played Frank Sinatra’s “New York New York” on the PA while “Bring on the Yankees” was flashed on the scoreboard. They also played the locker room celebration that was shown on Fox Sports Southwest on the Jumbotron, which was very cool. They invited folks to stay in the stands to watch (normally, you get chased out quickly, which I never like). I was surprised more people didn’t hang around to watch it. It was very awesome.

I don’t know what else to say. It was totally awesome that we won this at home with a win, instead of backing into it like we did the previous two years. Perhaps this is an omen for further success in the playoffs. :)

My wife’s commentary:

WOW! This game can be summed up with just that one word. After being a Ranger fan (and season ticket holder) for the past three seasons, clinching the AL West at home with a big win was so sweet.

The Rangers did something in their pre-game activities that I hadn’t seen before. They played the video clip from the movie, “Rudy“, where the Head Coach of Notre Dame gives the pre-game speech: “No one, I mean NO ONE comes into our house and pushes us around…” The scoreboard below the Jumbotron kept flashing “OUR HOUSE”. I thought it was a great way to show the fans how big this game was to the Rangers. They also replayed the same video clip in the top of the 9th inning.

This was a long game, but the biggest offensive plays were Juan’s triple, Todd’s homerun, and Palmeiro’s grand slam. Where we were sitting (upper deck section 329), I thought the ball was foul until Joe yelled, “It hit the foul pole, it’s a grand slam!!!”. The house went crazy, and what made it even better was that Palmeiro came back out and tipped his hat to the fans. That was the first time that I saw that in person.

The Ranger’s fans were so into this game, and they were so LOUD!!! Mostly everyone stayed until the last out of the ninth, and the Ranger’s won the West. There were fireworks, and “Ain’t No Stopping Us Now” was played. It was so great to see all the Rangers run out onto the field for such a big celebration. Then, it was announced that the clubhouse party would be shown on the Jumbotron for all the fans to enjoy. I do wish that the Rangers would have had some sort of ceremony on the field to include the fans more, but at least we could watch all the champagne flowing on the Jumbotron with thousands of other Ranger fans.

After the game, my voice was almost gone, and we were a bit sunburned, but it was so worth it. Let’s go Rangers, and get to the World Series!!

The power stroke got going in a big hurry today. We went down 3-0 early, after a Ben Grieve single to right got by Juan Gonzalez. Mark McLemore started off the bottom of the 1st with a solo home run into the Ranger bullpen. That’s all we got in the first, but in the second….
We put up a huge 8 spot which crushed the A’s from that point on (although they did get a solo home run in the 8th). Tom Goodwin came through in the bottom of the second with a two run single to right to tie up the game again. We took the lead when Appier delivered a wild pitch. After another single a and a wild pitch (and another run), Rafael Palmeiro was walked intentionally to load the bases, but Todd Zeile made ’em pay for it with a Grand Slam over the left field scoreboard to cap off the 8 spot. Oakland pitcher Ron Mahay came on, and shut down the Rangers after this. Our 8 spot was it for us, except for a Rusty Greer home run (his 20th) in the seventh inning. Mahay probably should have started. :)
John Burkett went 7 innings, allowing 3 runs (two earned) on five hits. Pretty good pitching, actually. This second game drove our magic number down to one, and the excitement level at my house through the roof, as my wife and I had tickets to the Sunday game, which meant they could have clinched while we were there.

Aaron Sele notched his 18th win of the year (one less than last season) today with a bombing of the Oakland A’s. There was much doubt coming into this game whether or not the Rangers had “lost it”. We had a really bad funk against a bunch of teams we should have crushed. We lost most of those games, and some (myself too I admit) were wondering if the Rangers were just going to back into the playoffs with no spirit. That was certainly answered with a vengeance tonight!
Sele pitched very well, allowing only 1 run (unearned) over 7 innings and allowing only 5 hits. He looked again to be our best pitcher this year, and that worries me a bit, as he only signed a 1 year deal after last season, and is our highest paid pitcher. I really hope we make a big effort to resign him for 2000 (and possibly 01 and 02, too), otherwise we’ll have even more pitching problems in the off season.
It was a fairly quiet game through the first four and a half innings. The A’s had scored an unearned run in the top of the second, but that was it until we broke through in the bottom of the fifth. We busted out with four runs that inning, capped by a Juan Gonzalez two run home run. That was nice, but not as nice as what happened in the 6th. After putting the A’s down, we went back out on offense in a big way by hitting two more two run home runs (one by Royce Clayton, and a second one by Juan Gonzalez). That put us up 10-1, and pretty much that was the game. We scored one more run in each of the 7th and 8th innings, and Oakland scored 3 in the final two frames, but the game was over after the sixth. One of these other runs was a third home run by Juan Gonzalez, the first time he’s had a 3 home run game since 1993 – 6 years ago! It was awesome to watch – Juan even came out of the dugout to wave to the fans.
A great start to this series, winning 12-4. Perhaps Rafael Palmeiro’s little speech got the team going. Doesn’t matter what got them going, they got it going! :)