Subject: Derek Holland

• Dwarfed by the Cowboys' New Stadium, the Rangers Spiffy Up Their Park

  March 26, 2009

• 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

• Bad Rangers' Pitching News and it's Only Friggin' January

  From the same team that lost Adam Eaton in spring training 2006 just hours after general manager Jon Daniels announced his starting rotation comes news that top pitching prospect Eric Hurley has undergone rotator cuff surgery and is out for the 2009 season. In news that will surprise no one: Rangers = Snakebit. Hurley, the team's first-round pick in '04, showed flashes at the big-league level last season, going 1-2 with a 5.47 ERA. Flashes, I said. His loss isn't devastating news, but it ain't

  January 22, 2009

• Play Ball! 5 Players the Rangers Need to Have a Good Spring Training

  Spring has sprung. Look out your window. And turn on your radio. Not only is it supposed to hit 80 degrees here today, but the Texas Rangers make their Spring Training debut on new weekday home 105.3 The Fan in, oh, about three hours. I know yesterday was the unofficial official opener in Arizona and I realize the Rangers have already crashed three homers, but there's nothing like Eric Nadel in the afternoon to announce the door has finally been slammed on winter. Kevin Millwood g

  February 26, 2009

• The Hapless Texas Rangers Turn to their Farm System

  February 5, 2009

• Texas Rangers Have Given Their Fans Something to Cheer About, Entering June With The Second Best Record in Baseball.

  June 4, 2009

• Did Mike Jacobs Save Ron Washington's Job?

  Because the Kansas City Royals couldn't catch the ball, the Texas Rangers hung on to their manager. For now. After a 3-0 start that feels like months ago, the Rangers are 5-7. Not good, especially considering nine of those 12 have been at home and half against the lowly Orioles and Royals. But as they tonight begin a seven-game road trip against the Toronto Blue Jays and the best pitcher in baseball (Roy Halladay), they have some momentum, and their manager. Barely. Rangers' management

  April 21, 2009

• So, Which Are They: Real or Fake?

  Two weeks ago I said that on June 15 - hello! - we'd know if the 2009 Texas Rangers were authentic or artificial. A pinch here. A jiggle there. Couple of healthy squeezes. And, of course, the taste test of a 5-7 stretch against some of of baseball's best teams and the verdict is ... Real. I think. I mean, the Rangers are still in first place by 2.5 games. But those ominous sounds in the distance are the Angels charging and Rangers optimism melting. Didn't see a lot of Rangers' gam

  June 15, 2009

• Rangers Win Game, Lose Potential Owner?

  Getting cold feet?Talked yesterday afternoon to David McDavid , he of the best odds to buy the Texas Rangers from Tom Hicks. Nothing definitive, but the auto tycoon has cooled slightly on the idea of owning our baseball team to the point where he said he is - for now - "leaning against it." McDavid also echoed team president Nolan Ryan's stance from last week: That any change-of-ownership won't happen until after this season. So plenty time - fingers crossed - for him to change his m

  July 8, 2009

• Feliz Navidad!

  Ladies and gentlemen, the future. Well, at least part of it.​And now you know why I didn't exactly shed a tear that the Texas Rangers decided against acquiring Roy Halladay in exchange for a package that included one Neftali Feliz. In a word: WOW! Merry Christmas, Rangers fans. The 21-year-old righty made a spectacular Major League debut last night in what turned out to be a kick-to-the-crotch 3-2 loss to the Oakland A's, striking out the first four batters he faced and routinely touchi

  August 4, 2009

• Rangers’ GM Jon Daniels Has Matured Into One of Baseball’s Best Brains

  August 6, 2009

• Rangers 2, Angels 1

  ​How you get shut down by Gio Gonzalez and then light up John Lackey I'll never know, but your Texas Rangers deflected the dirt from their coffin in Anaheim this weekend. I still don't think they'll catch the Angels or make the playoffs, but taking two of three in California keeps baseball relevant past mid-August. For the year before the year, it's an amazing season. Derek Holland was devastating in yesterday's complete-game, 7-0 shutout win. His fastba

  August 10, 2009

• Whitt's End: 8.14.09

  ​Whether you're at the end of your rope or merely the end of your week, welcome to Whitt's End: *Lots of you asking for a breakdown of the latest Arbitron PPM radio ratings for July. Not worth a separate item these days because - yawn - The Ticket's dynasty just rolls on. Dunham & Miller and The Hardline have the equivalent of four-touchdown leads in morning and afternoon drive. The battle for No. 2, however, just got interesting. While The Ticket (No. 1 in the market) still dominates

  August 14, 2009

• The Texas Rangers and Their Holland Tunnel

  Now isn't the time for potential. It's the time for production. Right?​The Rangers' past is sucky and their future is murky. There are frightening skeletons in the closet and financial potholes down the road. The present, however, smells delicious. That's why Derek Holland should be taken out of the starting rotation and replaced by Dustin Nippert. Love Holland. He's 23 with tremendous potential. But with the Rangers throwing meaningful pitches in September for only the fifth time

  September 8, 2009

• Neftali Feliz is a fireballin’ pitching phenom who has brought the surprising Texas Rangers Christmas in September.

  September 10, 2009

• Texas Rangers: The Hits Keep a Comin'

  Neftali Feliz likes him. So should you.​I have no idea who or what Omega El Fuerte is. But if it's good enough for Texas Rangers' fireballin' phenom Neftali Feliz, it's good enough for me. When the ridiculous rookie enters a game over the weekend in a crucial series against the Seattle Mariners, he'll be serenaded by cheers from frenzied fans and by the pulsating sounds of Omega - a hot Latin artist from his Dominican Republic - courtesy of Rangers' in-game entertainmant guru

  September 10, 2009

• Entrance Music: The Texas Rangers Have Hits and Ice Cream.

  Over on his Sportatorium blog this morning, Observer sports columnist Richie Whitt checks in with the head of the Texas Rangers' in-game entertainment, Chuck Morgan. Uh, why care? Well, 'cause of this: Morgan's the guy who runs the music at the Ballpark, and he helps the players decide what songs they're going to come up to bat or approach the pitching mound to. And today, Morgan's been kind enough to provide Richie with a list of players and the songs to which they enter the game. 

  September 10, 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

• What's Next, Kevin Millwood on Waivers?

  ​Buddy of mine took his 9-year-old to the Rangers game Monday night in Arlington. Kid, not surprisingly, wanted some ice cream. In one of those cool, plastic Rangers helmet cups. One problem: "They didn't have any Rangers helmet cups," my buddy tells me. "They had run out. They told us they only had Dodgers and Astros. I asked if they were getting Texas cups in and it was like 'Uh, not until next season.' They just shrugged. It was like a going-out-of-business sale and all the good stuff

  September 16, 2009

• The Rangers May Be Out But They Are Not Down--Not Come Next April

  October 8, 2009

• Wowboys 38, Seahags 17: My Top 10 Observations.

  AP​10. Ten. That's how many Cowboys caught passes Sunday. Of the players eligible to be a receiver, only Tashard Choice got shut out. 9. Halloween hangover. The end of Daylight Savings Time. Whatever. Something weird was going on at Cowboys Stadium, for I coulda swore I saw Bobby Carpenter make a play. A sack even. His first in 37 games. 8. From their neon green uniform trim, to open receivers falling down, to back-to-back defensive offside penalties to having 12 men in the huddle, the

  November 2, 2009