Texas Rangers.....

lukin2006

I wonder if the Texas manger used up his bullpen the the Detroit series...did any stater go longer than 5 in the Detroit series in the first five games? Did not look like the same bullpen.

SatansFuton

lukin2006 wrote:

I wonder if the Texas manger used up his bullpen the the Detroit series...did any stater go longer than 5 in the Detroit series in the first five games? Did not look like the same bullpen.

I don't know for sure, but I don't think they were "used up". I think they were just inconsistent. Wilson was supposed to be their ace, and he had a mediocre (at best) post-season. Alexi Ogando had been their "secret weapon" (as the media called him) but St. Louis just figured him out. St. Louis gassed their bullpen pretty well also. So if the Rangers were used up, they need to work on their stamina. Carpenter managed to pitch 3 games in the series and look fresh as a daisy.

norm

SatansFuton wrote:

because apparently Cruz has a well-known fear of the wall. He's careful not to go smashing into it and as opposed to giving up or not trying, sort of balks. Kind of like a flinch or something

wtf?? if this is the case, why is he in the outfield? or playing baseball at all?? :? :roll:

SatansFuton

norm wrote:

SatansFuton wrote:

because apparently Cruz has a well-known fear of the wall. He's careful not to go smashing into it and as opposed to giving up or not trying, sort of balks. Kind of like a flinch or something

wtf?? if this is the case, why is he in the outfield? or playing baseball at all?? :? :roll:

Well, "fear of the wall" is the way people are putting it now that they're angry at him. If they took their emotions out of it I'm sure they would describe him as being "cautious" or "mindful" of the wall. After all, there have been some pretty bad injuries as a result of colliding with the wall. Such a thing would probably never even be discussed all that often, had it not been for that factoring in to possibly the biggest mistake of his career on such a huge stage. That fuck up is going to haunt him forever. Especially if the Rangers don't win a World Series here pretty soon. I've already seen people comparing him to Bill Buckner.

I just saw this on another message board as a suggestion for an ESPN 30 for 30.

lukin2006

SatansFuton wrote:

lukin2006 wrote:

I wonder if the Texas manger used up his bullpen the the Detroit series...did any stater go longer than 5 in the Detroit series in the first five games? Did not look like the same bullpen.

I don't know for sure, but I don't think they were "used up". I think they were just inconsistent. Wilson was supposed to be their ace, and he had a mediocre (at best) post-season. Alexi Ogando had been their "secret weapon" (as the media called him) but St. Louis just figured him out. St. Louis gassed their bullpen pretty well also. So if the Rangers were used up, they need to work on their stamina. Carpenter managed to pitch 3 games in the series and look fresh as a daisy.

They did not look like the same bullpen...of course the tigers offense is no where near as good as St Louis offense is. Still thought overall the rangers were the better team going in...but that's not how it worked out.

It'll be tough for the rangers to get back to a 3rd straight ws.

Flagg

Ugh.

Not going to lie. This hurts. But last night really didn't matter. The Series was lost in Game 6. Last night was just a formality.

Let's see. Nelson Cruz isn't the best outfielder in the wall. No one goes to Rangers game to see him play defense. You go to see how may homers he will hit and how many clutch RBIs he will get. Still, you run through that wall. This is the World Series and Cruz is going to have to live with being one of the reasons it was lost. But he wasn't the only reason.

CJ Wilson - our supposed "Ace" was awful yet again in the post-season. He is a free agent and the Rangers need to let him go. I am tired of his douchey attitude and only caring about himself. He is the Tony Romo of the Rangers. Great in the regular season, but a failure when it matters. How do you come in and hit a guy with the bases loaded in Game 7? He was just awful this post-season and last year too. Let some other team overpay him, but buyer beware.

Michael Young - I love Michael Young. I do. But I think this relationship has to be over. He is brutal on defense. Multiple errors in Game 6. He is a complete liability in the field. His bat is hard to give up though. He had his best year ever at the plate. But we cannot have that kind of defense out there when it matters.

Matt Harrison - Oh man. He was so awesome during the regular season, but he just betrayed us in the World Series. In Games 3 and 7 he had no command. And when he gave up the tying runs in the bottom of the 1st last night, it sucked the life right out of the Rangers. He is young, and under contract, and a pretty good lefty, but that wasn't what we needed.

The bullpen - I think they were tired. They were overworked due to the starters inability to go deep. Remember, the Rangers have played 180 games or so two years in a row with almost the same exact players. To me, their arms looked dead in Games 6 & 7. Ogando had no answer for the Cards. Oliver is 137 years old. Seriously, he started a playoff game for us in 1996!! Mike Adams is a badass but just couldn't contribute. Feldman has been dependable all year. Not here though. And Feliz. Wow. That poor kid. One strike away. He just need to pitch one more 99 mph fastball up out of the strike zone.

Ron Washington - He made some iffy calls here and there but nothing that cost them the Series. They players play hard for him and I welcome him back. He made a couple of miscues in Game 1, but really, he didn't make the errors, he didn't misplay the ball in right, he didn't give up at the plate last night.

Finally, not to place blame or make excuses, but the Rangers were riddled with injuries. Josh Hamilton with a torn groin, etc. Napoli and his ankle. Cruz and his groin. Hey, it isn't an excuse, but it does matter.

And then there is this. You all know the record of the Cards and Rangers when Jerry Fucking Lane is behind the plate. Last night, 82.3% of missed calls were in favor of the Cardinals. Inexcusable. http://www.brooksbaseball.net/pfxVB/zon ... vDate=1028

But, close the deal in Game 6 and that doesn't happen.

On the bright side - This team will be back. There are only 3 unrestricted free agents. CJ, Oliver, and Mike Gonzales. Everyone else is back. And you can bet they will address the defensive issues and make a big run at Prince Fielder and hope CC opts out. We need an ace. STL had an ace. That was the main difference.

They won back to back AL pennants, pretty much dominating the AL along the way. I'm very happy with that and I don't see the Angels or anyone else in the division catching up next year. They won the most games in franchise history this year. It was a very, very wild ride.

Lastly, most people are not aware that the Rangers made a blockbuster TV deal with Fox late last year. It kicks in after the 2014 season. It is worth $1.6 billion over 20 years. They aren't going anywhere folks.

Congrats to the Cadinals - truly amazing what they were able to pull off after being written off by everyone multiple times. They clearly deserved it.

lukin2006

Flagg wrote:

Ugh.

Not going to lie. This hurts. But last night really didn't matter. The Series was lost in Game 6. Last night was just a formality.

Let's see. Nelson Cruz isn't the best outfielder in the wall. No one goes to Rangers game to see him play defense. You go to see how may homers he will hit and how many clutch RBIs he will get. Still, you run through that wall. This is the World Series and Cruz is going to have to live with being one of the reasons it was lost. But he wasn't the only reason.

CJ Wilson - our supposed "Ace" was awful yet again in the post-season. He is a free agent and the Rangers need to let him go. I am tired of his douchey attitude and only caring about himself. He is the Tony Romo of the Rangers. Great in the regular season, but a failure when it matters. How do you come in and hit a guy with the bases loaded in Game 7? He was just awful this post-season and last year too. Let some other team overpay him, but buyer beware.

Michael Young - I love Michael Young. I do. But I think this relationship has to be over. He is brutal on defense. Multiple errors in Game 6. He is a complete liability in the field. His bat is hard to give up though. He had his best year ever at the plate. But we cannot have that kind of defense out there when it matters.

Matt Harrison - Oh man. He was so awesome during the regular season, but he just betrayed us in the World Series. In Games 3 and 7 he had no command. And when he gave up the tying runs in the bottom of the 1st last night, it sucked the life right out of the Rangers. He is young, and under contract, and a pretty good lefty, but that wasn't what we needed.

The bullpen - I think they were tired. They were overworked due to the starters inability to go deep. Remember, the Rangers have played 180 games or so two years in a row with almost the same exact players. To me, their arms looked dead in Games 6 & 7. Ogando had no answer for the Cards. Oliver is 137 years old. Seriously, he started a playoff game for us in 1996!! Mike Adams is a badass but just couldn't contribute. Feldman has been dependable all year. Not here though. And Feliz. Wow. That poor kid. One strike away. He just need to pitch one more 99 mph fastball up out of the strike zone.

Ron Washington - He made some iffy calls here and there but nothing that cost them the Series. They players play hard for him and I welcome him back. He made a couple of miscues in Game 1, but really, he didn't make the errors, he didn't misplay the ball in right, he didn't give up at the plate last night.

Finally, not to place blame or make excuses, but the Rangers were riddled with injuries. Josh Hamilton with a torn groin, etc. Napoli and his ankle. Cruz and his groin. Hey, it isn't an excuse, but it does matter.

And then there is this. You all know the record of the Cards and Rangers when Jerry Fucking Lane is behind the plate. Last night, 82.3% of missed calls were in favor of the Cardinals. Inexcusable. http://www.brooksbaseball.net/pfxVB/zon ... vDate=1028

But, close the deal in Game 6 and that doesn't happen.

On the bright side - This team will be back. There are only 3 unrestricted free agents. CJ, Oliver, and Mike Gonzales. Everyone else is back. And you can bet they will address the defensive issues and make a big run at Prince Fielder and hope CC opts out. We need an ace. STL had an ace. That was the main difference.

They won back to back AL pennants, pretty much dominating the AL along the way. I'm very happy with that and I don't see the Angels or anyone else in the division catching up next year. They won the most games in franchise history this year. It was a very, very wild ride.

Lastly, most people are not aware that the Rangers made a blockbuster TV deal with Fox late last year. It kicks in after the 2014 season. It is worth $1.6 billion over 20 years. They aren't going anywhere folks.

Congrats to the Cadinals - truly amazing what they were able to pull off after being written off by everyone multiple times. They clearly deserved it.

Prince Fielder? Thought they might go after Pujols if the Cards don't resign him.

SatansFuton

I was somewhat impressed last year by the overall goodwill that people had towards the Rangers after losing last year. People were just surprised/happy over making it to the World Series, and so they celebrated that feat rather than moaning about the loss. But I don't think it will be the same this year. Especially from what I've seen. There isn't that overall sense of "whoa, can you believe we made it to the World Series?" It's more anger over making it again and then not winning, again. The novelty of just getting to the World Series has worn off, and results were expected.

I think Tim Cowlishaw's colum from today's Dallas Morning News pretty much sums it up:

"They spent last winter as reigning American League champions. It was a good time to be a Texas Ranger, the greatest time ever.

Following a 6-2 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals in Bush Stadium on Friday night, they will spend this winter as World Series losers. It is, technically speaking, the same thing.

And yet nothing about it will feel the same.

World Series losers. World Series chokers. Baseball's Buffalo Bills.

Call them whatever you want, and the Rangers can do nothing but sit there and take it. You lose your first World Series, and everyone says you're a team on the rise.

You go back and lose another one, and you do it in the fashion in which the Rangers just met their demise, and, right or wrong, people are going to laugh."

josevolution

Flagg wrote:

Ugh.

Not going to lie. This hurts. But last night really didn't matter. The Series was lost in Game 6. Last night was just a formality.

Let's see. Nelson Cruz isn't the best outfielder in the wall. No one goes to Rangers game to see him play defense. You go to see how may homers he will hit and how many clutch RBIs he will get. Still, you run through that wall. This is the World Series and Cruz is going to have to live with being one of the reasons it was lost. But he wasn't the only reason.

CJ Wilson - our supposed "Ace" was awful yet again in the post-season. He is a free agent and the Rangers need to let him go. I am tired of his douchey attitude and only caring about himself. He is the Tony Romo of the Rangers. Great in the regular season, but a failure when it matters. How do you come in and hit a guy with the bases loaded in Game 7? He was just awful this post-season and last year too. Let some other team overpay him, but buyer beware.

Michael Young - I love Michael Young. I do. But I think this relationship has to be over. He is brutal on defense. Multiple errors in Game 6. He is a complete liability in the field. His bat is hard to give up though. He had his best year ever at the plate. But we cannot have that kind of defense out there when it matters.

Matt Harrison - Oh man. He was so awesome during the regular season, but he just betrayed us in the World Series. In Games 3 and 7 he had no command. And when he gave up the tying runs in the bottom of the 1st last night, it sucked the life right out of the Rangers. He is young, and under contract, and a pretty good lefty, but that wasn't what we needed.

The bullpen - I think they were tired. They were overworked due to the starters inability to go deep. Remember, the Rangers have played 180 games or so two years in a row with almost the same exact players. To me, their arms looked dead in Games 6 & 7. Ogando had no answer for the Cards. Oliver is 137 years old. Seriously, he started a playoff game for us in 1996!! Mike Adams is a badass but just couldn't contribute. Feldman has been dependable all year. Not here though. And Feliz. Wow. That poor kid. One strike away. He just need to pitch one more 99 mph fastball up out of the strike zone.

Ron Washington - He made some iffy calls here and there but nothing that cost them the Series. They players play hard for him and I welcome him back. He made a couple of miscues in Game 1, but really, he didn't make the errors, he didn't misplay the ball in right, he didn't give up at the plate last night.

Finally, not to place blame or make excuses, but the Rangers were riddled with injuries. Josh Hamilton with a torn groin, etc. Napoli and his ankle. Cruz and his groin. Hey, it isn't an excuse, but it does matter.

And then there is this. You all know the record of the Cards and Rangers when Jerry Fucking Lane is behind the plate. Last night, 82.3% of missed calls were in favor of the Cardinals. Inexcusable. http://www.brooksbaseball.net/pfxVB/zon ... vDate=1028

But, close the deal in Game 6 and that doesn't happen.

On the bright side - This team will be back. There are only 3 unrestricted free agents. CJ, Oliver, and Mike Gonzales. Everyone else is back. And you can bet they will address the defensive issues and make a big run at Prince Fielder and hope CC opts out. We need an ace. STL had an ace. That was the main difference.

They won back to back AL pennants, pretty much dominating the AL along the way. I'm very happy with that and I don't see the Angels or anyone else in the division catching up next year. They won the most games in franchise history this year. It was a very, very wild ride.

Lastly, most people are not aware that the Rangers made a blockbuster TV deal with Fox late last year. It kicks in after the 2014 season. It is worth $1.6 billion over 20 years. They aren't going anywhere folks.

Congrats to the Cadinals - truly amazing what they were able to pull off after being written off by everyone multiple times. They clearly deserved it.

Well you do know your team and yes they will be back ...you make all great points ..

SatansFuton

I've seen that PitchFX chart about 50 times today (thanks to all the Rangers fans on Facebook) and you can't put too much weight in that. That PitchFX tool is not set in stone, it isn't official, and it doesn't factor in all variables. brooksbaseball.net even says that it isn't the gospel and it is mainly to give people an idea. There were bad calls both ways, but I don't think either team got hosed.

There is one thing about that chart that is very telling though...

Wobbie

SatansFuton wrote:

I've seen that PitchFX chart about 50 times today (thanks to all the Rangers fans on Facebook) and you can't put too much weight in that. That PitchFX tool is not set in stone, it isn't official, and it doesn't factor in all variables. brooksbaseball.net even says that it isn't the gospel and it is mainly to give people an idea. There were bad calls both ways, but I don't think either team got hosed.

There is one thing about that chart that is very telling though...

my head would explode if I tried to figure that thing out

that said....I was watching in a bar, so it's not like I was hanging on every pitch or heard anything tim or joe said (a good thing ) but I did see some clearly blown ball/strike calls that went against TX. I love the drama an ump gives to a game but the difference between 1-2 as opposed to 2-1 (or 2-2 vs. 3-1) can be game changing. wasn't it feldman who walked a guy he had really struck out :? ? it sucks when a pitcher makes his pitch (as feldman) did and then gets fucked.

I'd like to see some kind of laser thing for inside-outside and just let the umps worry about high-low.

Flagg

Yeah that is why I didn't want to seem like I was blaming the umps. That was just me factor of many.

I forgot to mention the other huge positive. Derek Holland. If he builds on his starts from this year, especially Game 5, he is going to be something special.

Rangers said today they intend to pick up the option on Colby Lewis for $3.25 million. That has to be considered a bargain.

I expect them to make a solid offer to CJ and then let him walk when he turns it down.

SatansFuton

Flagg wrote:

Yeah that is why I didn't want to seem like I was blaming the umps. That was just me factor of many.

I forgot to mention the other huge positive. Derek Holland. If he builds on his starts from this year, especially Game 5, he is going to be something special.

Rangers said today they intend to pick up the option on Colby Lewis for $3.25 million. That has to be considered a bargain.

I expect them to make a solid offer to CJ and then let him walk when he turns it down.

I can't speak for everybody, but most everybody I've talked to were more than a little peeved with CJ. Especially when he seemed so blasé about losing the World Series. And I'll never forget the look on Nolan Ryan's face (although to be fair he always looks pretty grumpy when the Rangers are down) after CJ came out and hit a batter on his first pitch.

I haven't watched just a whole lot of Rangers games (so I might be way off about this) but from what I've seen I would suggest they try and diversify their offense. They don't appear to have a very good small ball game. It's either swing for the fences or lose. I'm not saying they had no base running at all, but they seem to rely on power. It might be good to get some speedy players, some batters who aren't always swinging for the third deck, guys who can steal bases, etc. Their power game works great when it works, but when it doesn't they don't do a whole lot. They did do a pretty good job in Game 2, but didn't do well on that front otherwise. That power game works well until they come up against some of the aces they've come up against in the past 2 years like Lincecum and Carpenter.

Like I said, I could be wrong about that.

themessenger

SatansFuton wrote:

Flagg wrote:

Yeah that is why I didn't want to seem like I was blaming the umps. That was just me factor of many.

I forgot to mention the other huge positive. Derek Holland. If he builds on his starts from this year, especially Game 5, he is going to be something special.

Rangers said today they intend to pick up the option on Colby Lewis for $3.25 million. That has to be considered a bargain.

I expect them to make a solid offer to CJ and then let him walk when he turns it down.

I can't speak for everybody, but most everybody I've talked to were more than a little peeved with CJ. Especially when he seemed so blasé about losing the World Series. And I'll never forget the look on Nolan Ryan's face (although to be fair he always looks pretty grumpy when the Rangers are down) after CJ came out and hit a batter on his first pitch.

I haven't watched just a whole lot of Rangers games (so I might be way off about this) but from what I've seen I would suggest they try and diversify their offense. They don't appear to have a very good small ball game. It's either swing for the fences or lose. I'm not saying they had no base running at all, but they seem to rely on power. It might be good to get some speedy players, some batters who aren't always swinging for the third deck, guys who can steal bases, etc. Their power game works great when it works, but when it doesn't they don't do a whole lot. They did do a pretty good job in Game 2, but didn't do well on that front otherwise. That power game works well until they come up against some of the aces they've come up against in the past 2 years like Lincecum and Carpenter.

Like I said, I could be wrong about that.

In terms of small ball, we stole game 2 b/c a stolen base and small ball type play. Besides that though it was definitely missing from the Series. Most of that is due to the Cards catcher Molina who has the strongest arm I've ever seen. I think we were scared to run or get too far base b/c he could quickly pick you off the base or catch you stealing. Another part of the problem is 3 of our best hitters in the WS were Napoli, Beltre, and Cruz who all aren't great contact hitter. We couldn't string together hits enough and left too many people on.

And yeah, make CJ an offer but I would be very surprised if he's around next year. He seems destined for the Yankees I think.

neilybabes86

please resign CJ wilson so my yankees don't

Wobbie

neilybabes86 wrote:

please resign CJ wilson so my yankees don't

then you'll have burnett v. 2.0

Who Princess

When it comes to the Rangers, Flagg always says things 1000 times better than I could. So long, CJ. Holland was grace under pressure personified, can't wait to see what he does in the future.

As bummed as I am, I've got to say this was an amazing season. Having been a fan since the team arrived, I've seen so many years when they weren't regarded as much more than everybody else's farm team. Like so many I never dreamed I'd see them reach the World Series and now I've seen it 2 years in a row! It feels sort of like Sally Field's "You like me! You really like me!" speech.

Like Flagg said, these guys ain't going anywhere. Looking forward to next season.

Flagg

Painful read. Ugh.

http://t.co/VnZQ6hAn

Wobbie

pretty funny speech. too bad it didn't work. :oops:

http://vimeo.com/31675320

Flagg

imalive wrote:

pretty funny speech. too bad it didn't work. :oops:

http://vimeo.com/31675320

Yeah, I remarked about that in the MLB thread. Hilarious stuff. You can see why the players love him so much. I can just imagine him with an afro and a black suit like Sam Jackson in Pulp Fiction.