Subject: Ian Kinsler

• Pick Your Pleasure (or Poison)

  October 6, 2006

• The Texas Strangers

  May 4, 2006

• Root, Root, Root for the Home Team

  April 17, 2006

• A Star Is Boring

  April 18, 2007

• The Rangers are No Hit. Literally.

  April 19, 2007

• Play Ball! Notes from Texas Rangers Spring Training, Thus Far.

  February 27, 2008

• Now That Basketball Season's Almost Over, Guess It's Time For Baseball. Joy.

  March 31, 2008

• Arm-Chair Managing in the Hours Before Ron Washington's Fired

  April 25, 2008

• The Rangers are Sending a Pitcher to the Mound Tonight. Duck!

  June 3, 2008

• Your Rangers Officially Don’t Suck

  July 1, 2008

• God Bless America. And Sports.

  July 3, 2008

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

  July 3, 2008

• Yeah, Bunt I Wouldn’t Have Bunted

  July 11, 2008

• The Texas Strangers

  July 16, 2008

• Guess We Can’t Blame Mark Connor After All

  August 19, 2008

• We’re No. 2! We’re No. 2!

  September 9, 2008

• 10 Steps to Fixing Your Texas Rangers

  October 2, 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

• Wrapping Up Jon Daniels' Third Year As Rangers GM

  Armando Galaragga was the only thing of value Jon Daniels was able to get from the Alfonso Soriano trade. Then he gave him away for a player the Rangers released. Whoops. You want more hot-stove baseball talk from Sam? Merry Christmas ... As mentioned yesterday, Jon Daniels is entering his fourth year as general manager. He started off with a bang in year one, trading Alfonso Soriano in his first move and dealing Chris Young and Adrian Gonzalez less than two weeks later. Unfortunately, he re

  December 19, 2008

• You Could Use Some ... Baseball?

  Has there ever been a better team player in the history of Metroplex sports?Approximately 5,000 fans braved freezing temperatures and decades of losing at Saturday's Rangers Fan Fest in Arlington. I was one of them. The highlights: *General manager Jon Daniels says he's recently talked to shortstop third baseman Michael Young and that their relationship is on the mend. "If we have a 15-year marriage with only four bad days in the middle, we'll be doing all right. Everything has

  January 26, 2009

• We Have an Elvis Sighting!

  How's this for Elvis Andrus' Major League debut? A two-out double down the right-field line, with reigning American League Cy Young winner Cliff Lee on the mound and former President George W. Bush in the TV booth offering his thoughts on Fox4. Not bad, I say. Especially for a 20-year-old - third-youngest Ranger to start on Opening Day - heralded for his defense. Just for fun, he did help turn a first-inning double-play as well. Sandwiched around Andrus' hit in first big-league at

  April 6, 2009

• After a Dynamic Season Opener, Rangers Fans are Seeing Red

  The Rangers' debut was shockingly accessorized by pitching, defense and, don't look now, relevance.

  April 9, 2009

• The Hapless Texas Rangers Turn to their Farm System

  February 5, 2009

• Texas Rangers' Up and Comers

  After a decade of patience, Rangers' fans again believe they're about to be rewarded

  January 29, 2009

• Status Woe

  Insane Rangers again take similar path to identical destination

  October 2, 2008

• Home On the Rangers

  July 24, 2008

• Plan See

  With blueprints A and B trashed, the Rangers have stumbled onto a visually stimulating development

  July 17, 2008

• Can Nolan Ryan Save the Texas Rangers? Again?

  March 13, 2008

• One Kosher Statistic About Ian Kinsler's Hitting for the Cycle We'd Hate to Pass Over

  Now, Texas Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler doesn't necessarily identify himself as Jewish -- his dad is, his mom ain't, and the guy was never bar mitzvahed. Though, as he told ESPN.com last August, he knows he's beloved in the Jewish community: "If you have any kind of Jewish ancestry attached to your name, people are going to notice it. Whenever we're in New York, Boston or Chicago, I always get some kind of question about it."Which is why last night, shortly after the Rangers pounded the Or

  April 16, 2009

• Boy Blunder

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

  July 12, 2007

• Play It Again, Sammy

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

  March 29, 2007

• Washington Monument

  New Rangers manager injects hope and, yep, even optimism in Arlington

  February 8, 2007

• The Curse of Sucking

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

  March 30, 2006

• Doogie Howser, G.M.

  A young dog teaches the Rangers to forget old tricks

  February 16, 2006

• The Unnatural

  Jamey Newberg's a major-league hit with his minor-league reports

  July 22, 2004

• The Top 10 Most Impressive Individual Sports Achievements and 10 Cool Things I'd Like to See Achieved

  Even back in '05 we knew he could hit. But like this?Last night was one of those nights. In a season of 82 Mavericks' games and 162 Rangers' games, we'll remember April 15. For it was last magical night that we were treated to two - almost simultaneous - rare individual athletic feats in our own back yard: Jason Kidd's Triple-Double and Ian Kinsler's Cycle. At the time it had my remote control smoking. Now it has my head spinning, as in "Which one was more impress

  April 16, 2009

• O, Sweet Baseball

  May 7, 2009

• Mowed Down in Motown

  I Millwould've yanked Kevin in the 8th. You? Well, you were warned. Actually, the Texas Rangers played decent baseball in Detroit this week despite a three-game sweep. Just not so sure they played smart baseball. Especially in this afternoon's 4-3 loss to the Tigers, their franchise-record 11th consecutive defeat in Detroit. Nursing a 3-3 tie in the bottom of the 8th, Kevin Millwood allowed a two-out RBI single to Miguel Cabrera on his 119th pitch. The good news is that for the first

  May 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 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

• Glass Halfway Full? Or Empty?

  Well, that sucked.With one All-Star back in the lineup and another shoulda-been All-Star on the mound, the Texas Rangers began their crucial three-game series in Anaheim last night by promptly taking a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning. The next time there was good news for Josh Hamilton, Kevin Millwood and the Rangers - courtesy of an Ian Kinsler homer in the 7th - they trailed 9-2. Sometimes an All-Star snub motivates a player to a spectacular performance in his next game. So

  July 7, 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

• The Texas Strangers No More

  Chicks dig the long ball. We all love the fireworks. But nobody is connected to home runs like your Texas Rangers. I know they have 20 sacrifice bunts, 78 stolen bases and a committment to try and manufacture runs this season, but in the end - same as it ever was - seems the Rangers' offense is predicated on one big swing. Or, as was the case in last night's 6-3 win over the Red Sox, lots of them. On the heels of snapping a four-game losing streak thanks to Ian Kinsler's bookend h

  July 21, 2009

• Some Random, Frustrated Thoughts on Your Texas Rangers

  Yeah, he had some help. But he blew it.​*Catching and throwing the ball has rarely been a problem this season, but yesterday's 5-3 loss was hideously reminiscent of years gone by. First off, I blame C.J. Wilson. The worst thing you can do when protecting a 1-run lead is walk the leadoff man. Nelson Cruz made an error and Hank Blalock made a high throw and - considering they got only eight hits and scored only eight runs in three games at the Metrodome - the tiny margin fo

  August 31, 2009

• Batter Up

  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

• Sorry Rangers Fans, You Don't Deserve the Playoffs

  ​I raised the white flag a while back. Apparently you guys finally gave up, um, last night. With the Texas Rangers in the middle of a pennant race for only the fourth time in their 37-year history and Cy Young candidate Scott Feldman pitching against a very beatable opponent, an announced crowd of 13,669 showed up Monday night at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. I watched some of this on TV and it didn't look like more than 9,000. At one point I heard Ian Kinsler calling

  September 15, 2009

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

  October 8, 2009