By Patrick Despain
I had the pleasure of attending Newberg Night at Rangers’ Ballpark in Arlington last night thanks to Will Batt, @wtbatt on Twitter. My many thanks to him for the ticket and you should give him a follow for the SDI donation. It was a great event, attended by myself, Peter Ellwood and a couple hundred knowledgeable Ranger fans. It was a great event, and one I hope continues for years to come. I’ll let Peter Ellwood recap it for you, but one thing came to mind that I thought we could discuss.
By Peter Ellwood
The 48 hours leading up to this year’s Newberg Report Night were not the brightest of the Rangers’ season, much less the franchise’s history. A July slump had formed a cloud around the team’s on-field performance, culminating in back-to-back losses to the White Sox in which the offense sputtered to produce a combined one hit in 21 at-bats with runners in scoring position over the first two games of the series. The Angels had just bolstered their already formidable starting rotation by acquiring Zack Greinke. The Athletics pulled to within 3.5 games of the division lead after beating Baltimore to improve to 18-3 in the month of July. The never-moving, fast-approaching July 31st non-waiver trade deadline continues to loom large, and the perceived pressure for the Rangers to make a move to answer these growing instigators of doubt was seemingly mounting by the hour. Yet, stepping into the auditorium in the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame museum was like stepping into a sanctuary, in which foundational beliefs were affirmed, and fear was replaced by a renewed pride in the organization and refreshed confidence in its leadership.
by Ben Wertz
Scott Feldman pitched eight shutout innings and Texas took advantage of a key Chicago defensive miscue as the Rangers beat the White Sox 2-0 on Sunday night to salvage one game of the weekend series. As the trade deadline is approaching, Feldman is making one last case to stay in the starting rotation.
by Jeff Johnson
“Never stop just because you feel defeated. The journey to the other side is attainable only after great suffering.”
― Santosh Kalwar
As the Texas Rangers continue to struggle through the month of July, there is a collective feeling among the fans and the media that the end is near. Their reign as AL West leaders is soon ending and tears of sadness and disappointment are all that remain in the 2012 season. The recent booing of Josh Hamilton highlights the anxious feelings of this fan base; anxious to win that elusive World Series title and dismiss the Buffalo Bills comparison forever. The fan base has been left to ask several questions about their team:
by Ben Wertz
One of the most popular words to describe the Texas Rangers lately is “inconsistency.” Sure there is some truth to that, but after taking two out of three from the Red Sox earlier this week, the Rangers have now won seven straight series at home and are 10-2-1 in their last 13 series overall. Not to mention the Rangers have a five game lead in the AL West and only trail the Yankees by ½ game for the best record in the AL.
Eddie Middlebrook and Jeff Johnson join host Patrick Despain to discuss Wash's comments on Michael Young, Rangers trade rumors, and is Josh broken?- Is Wash wrong on his MY statements?
- Is Josh Johnson or Zack Greinke coming here?
- And is what is wrong with Hamilton?
- (and a technical difficulty)
by Eddie Middlebrook
“You either die a hero or live long enough see yourself become the villain” –Harvey Dent
In a perfect world, the Rangers win the World Series last year and Michael Young walks off into the sunset after a 2011 slash line of .338/.380/.474. Since we live in an imperfect world, the Rangers failed to win the WS and Young still has another year on his contract that sees him being paid $32 million these final two years.
by Chris Kautz
I freely admit I have a problem with commitment. No, not like you're thinking...I'm a married man. I have a problem committing to favorites. If you ask me my favorite food, movie, or song, I'm going to give you a bunch of qualifiers with my answer. It will probably depend on the time of day, what kind of mood I'm in, and who is asking. However, I think I've nailed down my favorite Ranger.
by Bob Bland
What first appeared to be a second trip for Colby Lewis to the disabled list with forearm tendonitis, just one start after his previous DL stint for the very same ailment, turned out to be a full-blown season-ending injury. Meanwhile, Roy Oswalt was scratched from his latest start, due to a recurrence of his chronic back problems. Lewis won’t return to the mound until 2013 at the earliest (possibly not even until after next year’s All-Star break), and though Oswalt’s situation is likely not season-ending, who knows when (or if) his aging body will fully recover.
