Subject: Boston Red Sox

• Oh and 162?

  April 5, 2007

• So Here's To You, Mr. Robinson

  March 26, 2007

• Cold Stove Rangers

  November 29, 2006

• Strong Arm? We Shall See.

  November 13, 2006

• Mario Brothers, Meet Bill Buckner

  April 14, 2006

• Hello, Larry

  April 3, 2006

• Are They Real or Fake?

  When it comes to your Texas Rangers, we're about to find out. Starting tonight at Yankee Stadium, the Rangers play their next 13 games against baseball's best teams - New York, the Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers. Each of those teams is at least five games above .500. Against similar opponents this season, Texas is 2-10. In other words, come June 15th the Rangers will either still be in first place in the AL West, or the countdown to Cowboys' tr

  June 2, 2009

• A-Rod = A-Fraud

  May 30, 2007

• And Gagne He Goes

  July 31, 2007

• Are You World Serious?

  October 26, 2007

• A-Rod? A-gain?

  October 29, 2007

• Three Dots and a Cloud Of Dust …

  February 13, 2008

• Another Former Rangers’ Pitcher Conspires to Make Jon Daniels Nauseous

  June 10, 2008

• The Rangers' Milton Bradley, the Hot-Head with a Hot Bat, Has Gotta Go

  June 12, 2008

• Past the Halfway Mark, the Rangers Look Like Contenders and Pretenders

  July 3, 2008

• Red Sox 19, Rangers 17

  August 13, 2008

• Q&A With Street Dog And Pilot Point Resident Marcus Hollar

  September 12, 2008

• Last Night: The Walkmen At House Of Blues’ Pontiac Garage

  October 12, 2008

• A Christmas List for Jon Daniels

  Here in The Sportatorium, every now and then we like to talk baseball. I mean hard-core, balls-and-strikes baseball. By "every now and then" I mean this morning. And by "we", of course, I mean seamhead colleague Sam Merten. Sam, the floor is yours: For those of you distracted by Sean Avery's antics, the format change at Live 105.3 FM and the drama at Valley Ranch, Rangers' GM Jon Daniels and his colleagues spent most of last week in Las Vegas for baseball's Winter Meetings. Daniels has be

  December 18, 2008

• A managers memories

  October 5, 1995

• "Oil Can" Boyd Would Like a Do-Over

  Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd's big-league career ended, where else, in Arlington. About halfway through 1991 season, the Texas Rangers acquired the pitcher from the Montreal Expos -- only to see the righty go 2-7 in 12 starts and toss out a 6.68 ERA, highest in his career. After that, he was out of the majors. But at 49, Boyd's looking to make a comeback, insisting that he's now throwing in the mid-90s while on his way to becoming this generation's Satchel Paige.He's been tossing the ball at Boston Red

  February 18, 2009

• The spring of our discontent

  March 25, 1999

• The Top 10 Best Current Rivalries in Sports

  Tonight's the next chapter in one of sports' best rivalries. That's right, I said best.To be a true sports rivalry - more than just a plethora of games between teams in close proximity (see Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis Cardinals) - the meetings between opponents must: *Take place at an advanced level, with championships on the line. *Feature sustained excellence by both teams over a period of time. *Include some form of contentiousness, be it physical alternations or trash-talking

  February 24, 2009

• Letters from the issue of March 13, 2003

  March 13, 2003

• Bolton No More in ’04

  January 15, 2004

• The Hapless Texas Rangers Turn to their Farm System

  February 5, 2009

• Dropkick Murphys' Al Barr Talks World Series and Oscar Wins

  March 6, 2008

• DVD Releases for the Week of December 11

  December 13, 2007

• Boy Blunder

  Is baseball's youngest general manager man enough to rebuild the Rangers?

  July 12, 2007

• Cheaters Never Win?

  Don't whisper a word to the children, but hell yeah, of course they do

  June 7, 2007

• Play It Again, Sammy

  Can the Rangers' oldest rookie leave his diva days behind and deliver?

  March 29, 2007

• Helluva Swing

  Game 6 redeems Michael Keaton after he almost fouled out

  April 13, 2006

• The Curse of Sucking

  Is this the year the Texas Rangers finally...? Nah.

  March 30, 2006

• For Love of the Game

  The Farrelly brothers swing straight and hit the sweet spot

  April 7, 2005

• What, Them Worry?

  The Rangers seem happy. It must be a plot.

  March 31, 2005

• The Hustle

  Why the biggest deal at Sundance was no big deal at all

  February 3, 2005

• Rained Out

  No refunds, Rangers fans, even though the dark clouds of the A-Rod trade threaten the entire season

  March 18, 2004

• 'Boys Gone Wild

  And other tall tales of 2003

  January 1, 2004

• White Heat

  As a white player on a black baseball team, C.C. Risenhoover saw both sides of the racial divide

  April 3, 2003

• The Buck Starts Here

  New Texas Rangers manager Buck Showalter makes the team much better. Problem is, he can’t hit leadoff, play center field or pitch.

  March 6, 2003

• Say Goodbye

  Like most people who cancel their newspaper subscriptions, I have my reasons

  July 26, 2001

• Rangers Win Again; Chris Davis Finally Loses

  Who will we see in Arlington next: Him or Justin Smoak?Let's play three strikes with your Texas Rangers. Your first-place Texas Rangers. Yes, I am surprised. And impressed. Steeeriiiike One - Chris Davis demoted. Davis is a good guy with a great glove, but the Rangers could afford to be patient with him no longer. You can swallow a .200-hitting Gold Glove catcher, but not a first baseman. When the Rangers headed for Anaheim last night for a fun three-game series with the Angels,

  July 6, 2009

• Neftali Feliz: Deal or No Deal?

  Mark GrahamShould Feliz and his 100 mph-plus heater be headed to Arlington or Toronto?While Ian Kinsler's bat - the first player with both a lead-off and walk-off homer in the same game - last night gave the Texas Rangers a momentary pulse, let's talk about the future of a dominant arm down on the farm. Sam, take it away ... On his blog yesterday, ESPN's Buster Olney made the case for the Blue Jays to deal ace Roy Halladay before the trade deadline if GM J.P. Ricciardi wants to maximize the

  July 20, 2009

• Yeah, But What If Baseball Went To The European Football Table?

  I know the Texas Rangers swept the previously mighty Boston Red Sox and we're all atwitter about the American League West division race heading into August ... September ... maybe even October? But what if baseball were governed according to, say, European football standards? You know, the top teams rewarded with international play and/or advancement and the worst facing relegation to the league below. I can see the initial extended excitement. Actually a reason to watch Pirates-Nationals a

  July 23, 2009

• Whitt's End: 7.24.09

  Whether you're at the end of your rope or merely the end of your week, welcome to Whitt's End: *Once upon a time Walter Cronkite was the "most trusted man in America." His death got me wondering who wears that crown today? The answer hurts: Oprah. *Sure smells like the Dallas Mavericks - who lost Marcin Gortat at the altar - are going to start the 2009-10 season with Erick Dampier jumping center. Can we possibly take them seriously? *On consecutive nights at Rangers Ballpark, the Red Sox ba

  July 24, 2009

• Balls Deep

  August 13, 2009

• The Resilient Rangers

  Now that's more like it.​Okay, I'm impressed. Friday night's kick-to-the-crotch loss to the Boston Red Sox felt like that moment. Big game. Big crowd. Gigantic implosion. Frankie Francisco's blown save - six runs - felt like the big-bang instant in which a demoralized, gutted bunch of Texas Rangers' youngsters starts sinking in the standings, inexorably chained to the weight of an emotional defeat. I likened it to a guy going to a club, catching the eye of an extremely hot, outta-his-le

  August 17, 2009

• The Closer

  For the first time in a long time, your Rangers have a better option than Kyra Sedgwick​After Friday's monumental, six-run implosion in a gut-wrenching loss to the Boston Red Sox, I heard lots of calls for Frankie Francisco's job - if not his head. But give Texas Rangers' manager Ron Washington credit. The guy is an unflappable optimist. At times to a fault, he trusts his players. "Frankie's never been quite right since an early-season visit to the DL." "He can't pit

  August 18, 2009

• Rangers 7-0, Mariners 2-5

  C'mon Mr. Sunshine, we need you more than ever.​Uh-oh, another faceplant by Derek Holland. After a doubleheader split the Rangers trail Boston by 4 in the Wild Card and Anaheim by 6 in the West with 20 games remaining. If the Red Sox (who swept a doubleheader) and Angels (who never ever never lose) maintain their .600 paces they'll each go 12-8 down the stretch. To catch tie Boston, Texas would need to finish 16-4 and to catch Anaheim the Rangers would have to go 18-2.

  September 14, 2009

• American Baseball, the European Way

  ​Even if European soccer owner Tom Hicks convinced Major League Baseball to inject the same screwy tables that govern soccer into America's pasttime your Texas Rangers wouldn't be a playoff team. But, alas, they wouldn't be relegated, either. If baseball were run according to European soccer standards--top teams earning international play (or advancement, in the case of minor league squads), the worst facing relegation to the league below--the woeful Pirates, Orioles and Nats would be pla

  October 8, 2009