The Bullpen
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Playoff Misery 101October 8th, 2008
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Pity the poor fans of the Chicago Cubs. After a great regular season where they were arguably the most dominant team in the National League, they go out and get bounced from the playoffs after only three games. The Dodgers win two at Wrigley and one at Chavez and the loveable Cubbies’ span between World Series titles will be at least 101 years now.
After watching the Red Sox and the White Sox both erase decades-long World Series title droughts/generation-crushing curses, the overwhelming opinion was that it would be the Cubs turn to lose their identity and host a parade. So a baseball nation mourns as the Northsiders losing streak continues. Can any franchise match that kind of futility?
Oh, wait, maybe I can think of one. Read more
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Post SeasoningSeptember 30th, 2008
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I’ll be honest, I’m no math whiz. But when I tried to figure out what the Rangers’ Magic Number was earlier today, the computer suggested something about a Mr. Peabody and a WayBack Machine. That doesn’t sound promising. But there will be time for an in-depth analysis and name-calling session about the 08 Rangers in a couple of weeks. Right now, with the playoffs bearing down on baseball fans, the most important thing is to figure out who you will cheer for this year.
(By the way, I checked my calendar from last year AND for next year. They are lying to us. There’s not only one October. I call for a full apology.)
Part of the danger in jumping in with a team at this point of the season is the very real chance that they’ll go three and out and then you have to start all over again. I don’t recommend buying a cap or jersey for your new post-season ride. Over the years, I’ve developed a simple system, with points assigned for various categories. Then I decide who I am cheering for and, more often than not, who I am cheering against. (Die, Yankee Scum!) And while a carefully weighted system of pluses and minuses would be ideal, again, no reason to stress the limited math resources available in my head. As such, here you go: Read more
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More Random RangernessSeptember 4th, 2008
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Finally, the Rangers get the 3-game sweep they’ve been looking for all year, knocking off the really, really, really, really awful KC Royals. This is not only the Rangers first 3-0 series of the season, it’s their first EVER 3-0 trip to Kaufmann Stadium. Of course, the sweep would have meant more if it had come in April, May, June, or July, or if the Rangers hadn’t preceded the whitewash with a 3-14 streak that wiped out three months of hard work, but who are we to complain?
Speaking of complaining, in a battle, when one army is beaten and surrenders, they will wave a white flag. In wrestling, a beaten foe can ‘tap out’ on the mat. After aerial combat for mates, the losing male of the Asian Red-Billed Sparrow will show submission by laying prone on the ground in a silhouette of the American Bald Eagle, similar to the back of a U.S. Quarter. (I might have made that last one up…) I just mention this because the Rangers called up Nelson Cruz this week.
Speaking of Nelson Cruz, I’ve actually been very impressed by the Rangers this season. While Cruz was destroying the pitchers in Triple A, Texas passed over him several times as they needed outfield help. I don’t know whether this was a conscious effort to give guys like Brandon Boggs an audition, a signal to Cruz that they’ve seen what he can offer, or an attempt to shake Nelson into believing that he needed to mentally toughen up, but it was refreshing. Maybe the next 30 games will give us a chance to see if Cruz can handle the majors or if he is the Latin Crash Davis.
Speaking of the last month of the season, it should be interesting to watch, if for no other reason than to see if Michael Young can extend his streak of consecutive 200-hit seasons to six. 45 hits in 30 games is an awful lot to ask, but do you want to bet against the man? If Ian Kinsler can come back and if Josh Hamilton can stagger to the finish line of his first full major league season, Michael could have an outside shot at it. And it gives us something to cheer for.
Speaking of cheering for the Rangers, ESPN’s “Baseball Tonight” poll to determine the greatest player for each franchise surprised me when they rolled through Texas. Dollars to donuts, I would have bet that it was Nolan Ryan in a landslide. But out of more than 41,000 votes cast, Pudge Rodriguez squeezed him out, 35% to 33%, even if he’s a Yankee now. (I still haven’t gotten over that. I would rather watch “The Thin Red Line” again than see Pudge in pinstripes…) Juando got 12%, followed by A-Rod, Frank Howard, Raffy, and Michael Young. Charlie Hough, Buddy Bell, and Ruben Sierra rounded out the list with less than 1% of the vote apiece. Read more
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A View From The RavineAugust 26th, 2008
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Finally the curtain has come crashing down on the Rangers 2008 season. And while it was fascinating and gruesome, like a terrible highway accident that you couldn’t take your eyes off of, everyone did just that. They were all watching the Olympics, specifically Fishboy, Michael Phelps. I don’t want to go all Cary Lowry-Big Brown here, but if you will, indulge three quick points:
First, I get that he won a lot of medals, but they were all for the same thing. He swam really fast. Shouldn’t that be the point? I mean, Carl Lewis never had the chance to win 8 medals for running fast. He didn’t get a chance to go for the 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash, high jump, 400-meter relay, 100-meter backwards dash, 200-meter left footed hop, 100-meter dash w/book on head, and 400-meter handstand relay.
B, for BORING! Fast in a straight line is okay, protected from the vicious French and the nasty Belgians by plastic lane dividers. But why don’t we smear him in steak sauce and let a couple of sharks loose in the pool. Now, that’s how you decide who’s fast and who’s not.
Third, I love that idea. Americans are watching “So You Think You Can Dance?” and “I’d Eat That For A Buck” in record numbers. Wouldn’t you tune in to a reality show called “Is Michael Phelps Faster Than A Shark?” I’d watch, every single week….
But back to the point, the Ranger’s bus finally teetered over the edge after driving Speed Racer style on the rail for the majority of the season. And April’s bullies, the Tigers and the Red Sox, helped finish it. So now the club is left to play spoilers, messing with the various pennant races while finding out which young prospects can play. The only problem is that Texas has been doing that all season long.
If you are keeping track, (and seriously, you shouldn’t be. Seriously.) the Rangers will be employing player number 52 sometime this weekend. That’s more than two full rosters worth of baseball. We’ve seen Red Hawks and Rough Riders and even a few LumberKings. Really, if you didn’t get called up at some point, you might want to start rethinking career options.
Still, there are a number of questions that need to be examined and addressed over the next five weeks. Among them: Is Chris Davis a 3rd baseman or a 1st baseman? And vice versa on Hank Blalock. And where do you put Ramon Vazquez to keep him in the lineup? The middle of the infield is a little easier with two All-Star, thundering bats in Young and Kinsler, but what about the defense? Is there any way to improve that without sitting someone?
The outfield looks to be settled with Byrd breaking out of his early slump, Bradley proving to be a valuable threat, Boggs and the injured David Murphy maturing nicely. The only question is the Rangers’ ability to sign MVP-Worthy Josh Hamilton to a nice, fat, long-term deal. They simply can’t let him get away.
Behind the plate? Laird is Laird, Salty is less, and Max and Taylor are waiting in the wings. But what about next year? Does anyone feel like one of those folks is the answer at catcher right now?
Luckily we’ve seen about every pitcher in the organization. Unluckily whoever the club hires to be a pitching coach won’t have. He’ll have to waste valuable time judging their strengths and weaknesses for himself. (I’ll help. Strengths: Ability to swivel head 180 degrees repeatedly. Weaknesses: Pitching.) And then he’ll have to figure out if the hurt ones are always going to be hurt. And rebuild the bullpen. And find a reliable long-term solution at closer.
It’s going to be a dangerous looking off-season for Ron Washington and company. Honestly, I’d rather be the guy forging birth certificates for Chinese gymnasts than trying to sort this mess out. Or so I hear. I can’t really say, because I was off watching baseball.
ADDED NOTE: There still may be time to vote for the greatest Rangers player of all time on Baseball Tonight’s online poll. It closes August 24th at 1 a.m. You can vote for Nolan, Ruben, Young, Pudge, Bell, Juan, Raffy, A-Rod, Frank Howard or Mr. Knuckler, Charlie Hough. I tried to write in Curtis Wilkerson and Will Clark, but it wouldn’t let me. If its not too late, go to http://sports.espn.go.com/chat/sportsnation/story?page=bbtnfranchisegreats and cast your vote.
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Why the Wildcard WorksAugust 26th, 2008
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Baseball purists believe the Wildcard rule is untraditional. After all, a pennant is a pennant is a pennant. But I’m here to say, it works. As a Ranger fan, my hopes for post season glory would have been over long ago with the high flying Angels ruling the AL West roost. But instead, there has been hope……possibly dashed recently by losing 10 of 14, but still it is there…..just a mere 10.5 games away. Hopeless? Yeah, probably. Worth watching still? Yeah, definitely.
The Argument Against:
1. Winning the division doesn’t mean anything anymore - I think it still does, since there’s only ONE wildcard team against THREE division winners. 75% of the teams making the MLB playoffs have to win their Division. Compare that to 67% for the NFL, and 38% in the NBA.
2. Wildcard teams are winning World Series - True in the case of Boston, St Louis and Florida have turned the trick recently. But is this bad?
3. Too many teams in the hunt at the Trade Deadline stymies the chance at “the great trade” - While more teams are in it, it certainly didn’t stop big names from changing hands in 2008. Manny Ramirez, Griffey, Bay, Sabathia, among others. Besides, why is it such a good thing to see half the league basically GIVE UP in July and dump their roster? Read more
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When Bad Things Happen To Good PeopleJuly 31st, 2008
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Pudge in pinstripes? That doesn’t just look wrong. That looks “Ramon Vazquez moustache” wrong. That looks “Solid Gold Brett Favre Commemorative Retirement Coin” wrong. That looks “Rosanne-Barr-in-a-thong” wrong.
Like Julio Franco, Pudge is one of our guys, even if the Hall of Fame plaque has a Tigers or a Marlins cap on the man. He grew up here, he was our hero, and he was a main cog on the best teams the Rangers ever trotted out there. For a little while, we were all sure that he was going to stay with Texas, finding a way to finish his career here, ending up with what the purists call a “clean” baseball card, only one team listed on the back.
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Wild Card FeverJuly 27th, 2008
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American League - Wild Card Standings
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Team |
W |
L |
PCT |
GB |
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59 |
42 |
.584 |
- |
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60 |
43 |
.583 |
- |
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56 |
45 |
.554 |
3.0 |
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55 |
46 |
.545 |
4.0 |
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52 |
49 |
.515 |
7.0 |
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52 |
49 |
.515 |
7.0 |
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52 |
50 |
.510 |
7.5 |
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51 |
51 |
.500 |
8.5 |
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48 |
53 |
.475 |
11.0 |
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46 |
57 |
.447 |
14.0 |
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44 |
56 |
.440 |
14.5 |
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38 |
63 |
.376 |
21.0
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That’s right. Read it and weep. If you are watching the scoreboard, you already see the future. Here come the Rangers, out of the gate after the All-Star break like a “Ron Paul for President ‘08″ campaign wagon. After crushing the Twins and the WSox, taking one out of three in each series, Texas is sitting right where they want to sit, on the fringes of the Wild Card race, lulling the 8 teams in front of them into a false sense of security and waiting to pounce. Read more
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Red Sox Roadkill: Boston Flattened Away From Fenway … Again and Again (Part 1 of 3)July 23rd, 2008
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Inherent in the game of baseball are streaks of both good and bad luck. The everyday aspect of the sport often blinds us from these small sample size flukes that ebb and flow throughout the course of a long, marathon season.
And even though, at the zenith or nadir of these streaks, it doesn’t seem like anything will ever change, a trend in baseball can take a sharp turn in the opposite direction after just one at-bat, one start, or one game.
As such, also inherent in the game, due to these streaks of fortune, is irrationality.
A week or two of poor plate appearances from an overmatched rookie will leave us speculating on whether he’s ready for the major leagues. A series of grotesque pitching lines from a past-his-prime starter will cause us to look for greener pastures down on the farm. That is, until, said young, stud hitter or wily, veteran pitcher finds a groove, leaving our week-ago doubts long forgotten in the dust of today’s success.
You know, sort of like Alan Greenspan’s forewarning of irrational exuberance, only on a baseball scale instead of an economical one.
The same, of course, applies to teams. There are those seemingly unstoppable winning streaks where everything goes right. And then, conversely, there are those dreaded spate of L’s bunched closely together across the schedule—games in which everything that could have gone wrong, did go wrong.
But, as the saying goes, things are never as good or bad as they seem. And in baseball, a team’s record—despite all the highest of highs and lowest of lows—more often than not ends up where it should based on the talent level of an organization and the year-end total performance of that talent. Or, in simpler phrasing, how many runs a team scores and allows over the course of a season.
There are, as always, exceptions. After all, games are played in ballparks, not in computer simulations. Sometimes the end results simply don’t match all the components. And sometimes that goes well beyond good and bad luck. Often, in these cases, it may just come down to poor roster construction—or, rather, a team with very strong strengths offset by very weak weaknesses.
With this in mind, meet the 2008 Boston Red Sox—a very talented club that plays nearly unbeatable baseball at home, yet a bipolar bunch on the road that usually finds a way to lose despite component numbers suggesting better outcomes.
Following yet another road sweep—their sixth on the season in totality—at the hands of baseball’s best in the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, the Red Sox own the worst road record among American League playoff hopefuls at 21-32—a winning percentage of .396 away from Fenway, an inexplicable mark placing the team closer to the Seattle Mariners’ level of (in)competence on the road.
Of course, it’s been a strange baseball year overall. Runs are down, the AL is out-pitching the pitcher-friendly NL, and the Tampa Bay Rays are still in first place as the baseball season inches its way towards August.
The oddity that is the ’08 season continues when looking at home and road records across the board. No team in the AL, outside of the Angels, is excelling on the road—in fact, the Halos possess the only above-.500 road record in the AL as of July 21.
But, in Red Sox land, that’s not an excuse nor should it be. After finishing as the AL’s best team on the road a season ago, the Sox, given their talent level, shouldn’t be mirroring the Mariners’ road winning percentage.
The question, then, is why? Although a simple query, the answer appears to be far more complex and multifarious.
However, the CliffsNotes version breaks it down into three distinct problem areas: a difficult road schedule, inefficiency on offense, and a bullpen bursting with arsonists.
O’Fer Southern California, Canada, and Florida
As mentioned, if the majority of the AL is struggling on the road, it goes without saying that most of the contenders are playing exceptional baseball at home. In turn, the Sox have played most of those contenders on the road.
If we separate the Sox road opposition thus far into two groups—above and below .500 teams—here’s how things shape up:
Against above .500 teams away from the friendly confines of Fenway Park, the Sox sit at 9-20—a lackluster standing that includes two winless trips through Tampa Bay and the aforementioned Mickey Mouse weekend in SoCal to kick off the second-half of the season.
Versus below or at .500 teams on the road, Boston fares a bit better with a 12-12 record—a tally worsened, and somewhat deceiving, due to an early April sweep by the Toronto Blue Jays, which came on the heels of the opening-season jaunt through Japan.
Now, this isn’t groundbreaking news. A good team will outplay the bad ones more often than the equally talented clubs. Then again, even Boston’s end results against the lesser road teams haven’t been all that inspiring, either.
Nonetheless, a possible silver lining may exist in the form of weaker road opponents the rest of the way. With 28 away games left—equating to nine series in all—the Sox will face off against only three teams with records significantly above .500 (Chicago White Sox, New York Yankees, and the Rays).
What then remains on the away schedule includes a single tilt against the Texas Rangers and a pile of sub-.500 teams in the Kansas City Royals, Baltimore Orioles, Blue Jays, and the heavily picked upon Mariners.
As a result of, literally, an easier road ahead, ground can be made up away from home. But getting to 40 road wins will require a 19-9 run, which, at this point, seems like an unattainable goal for the Sox unless two specific road trends—offense efficiency and late-inning lead protection—take that sharp turn in the opposite direction.
In part two of this three-part breakdown of Boston’s wayward ways on the road, a deeper look at an otherwise productive offense reveals its warts when hitting away from Fenway.
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All Star Break: Back and ForthJuly 20th, 2008
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While Back-and-Forth would certainly be an accurate description of the Rangers to this point, a team written off for dead before April was over (at least twice…check our columns…) that has clawed its way back to the fringe of the playoff picture without sweeping an opponent yet. But this column is Back and Forth as Cary and I take turns looking at Texas topics for the second half. Cary’s answers will be in bold. Mine will be intelligent.
KEN: So, I’ll start this by tossing you a softball. (Just don’t hit it back at me….we both know I can’t field it…) Who is the Rangers’ MVP so far? The two-time player of the month, or are you going to avoid the obvious answer? Read more
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Split? Yes. Even? Maybe not.July 17th, 2008
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So after 4 games in Arlington with the Angels of WhereEver, each team takes 2 wins and the Halos keep the seven and a half game lead. The Rangers didn’t gain any ground, so the series was an even split, right? Maybe not. On paper, (where the games are rarely played because of the way the cleats tear it up), the Angels should have come in and crushed Texas. The 4 pitching match-ups in the series looked more like bows-and-arrows vs. F-16’s. Heck, on Wednesday night, the Rangers didn’t even have a starter, using the bullpen from the first inning.
What did we learn from the series? The Rangers aren’t afraid of the Angels. Texas can win a close game like the Tuesday night, one-run victory in a low scoring affair. They can beat K-Rod, as Josh Hamilton so eloquintly proved with his bomb on Wednesday night. The Texas offense is never done, racking up 20 hits while taking Thursday night’s game to extra innings after being down 10-4 in the 7th. Catcher Max Ramirez is not going to drop the ball at home no matter how hard you hit him. The Rangers aren’t going to go away. And maybe, just maybe the Angels know that.
Seven and a half back is still a lot to overcome, especially since Texas has to pass Oakland in the standings before they can really take sight on the Angels. And there are less than 70 games left in the season, so time is going to start playing a bigger and bigger role. The Rangers need to get their first sweep of the season sometime soon, then maybe add a few more. Because while you can reach 100 victories by winning or splitting every series, you can’t do that if you take the month of April off. But for the moment, it looks like the Rangers are going to be doing more in the second half than just trading players away. Sometimes a split isn’t just a split, and sometimes a team doesn’t walk away from it even.
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