Ivan Rodriguez

Mount Modano

A Glove Story

Mean Guys Finish First

Scattershooting ...

Looks Like I Picked A Good Night To Blow Off Hockey

Byrd Watching

Black and white

Madonna isn't a failed icon; she's a failed artist

Getting to first base

Everyone's a contender during spring training, but can Will Clark and the Texas Rangers come back from last season's disappointments?

Senor baseball

Luis Mayoral's job with the Rangers isn't all brown and white

Breaking balls

Opening week proved the Rangers can be the best and worst team in baseball

Your Texas Rangers: The Steroid Sluggers

Wow.Part of the shrapnel from the *A-Roid bombshell: Not that it manifested itself in any sort of team success, but there's no denying that the Texas Rangers now have more big-name stars linked to performancing-enhancing drugs than any professional team this side of a European cycling club. R ... More >>

Juan for all

Gonzalez's RBI record doesn't mean a thing unless the Rangers win the West

1998 Best of Dallas

Sports

The spring of our discontent

Raphael Palmeiro is hurt. Johnny Oates is grumpy. Pudge Rodriguez is acting like a spoiled brat. Lee Stevens just wants to play baseball. Welcome to Texas Rangers spring training.

Best Beat Writer

Gerry Fraley

Best Texas Ranger

Rick Helling

Buzz

Don't have a cow

Best Sports Columnist

Gerry Fraley, The Dallas Morning News

The Young and the Peerless

Baseball's best-kept secret plays in your backyard

Heaven Help Us

When watching sports, is God a passive observer or a meddler?

The Curse of Sucking

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

Just Kidding

Plus: Checkup; Ch-ch-changes

Ay Caramba!

Catcher Einar Diaz must take over for Pudge and educate our columnist

Upon Further Review

Our human blooper reel looks back at some questionable calls

Drug-free in '03!

And 149 other things I swear I'll do next year

Fools Rush In

Who needs a pitcher when you don't have a catcher?

Positive reinforcement

The Rangers and their fans continue to see the team's glass as half full

The Top 10 All-Time Texas Rangers in the History of Ever

Very cool moment last night: The greatest player in Texas Rangers history - now a Houston Astro - smacks a 5th-inning homer and receives a standing ovation. Stay classy, Arlington. On a day when Toby Harrah and Ruben Sierra were elected into the Rangers' Hall of Fame, Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez rem ... More >>

BREAKING NEWS: Pudge a Ranger, Again!

​Wow. The greatest all-time Texas Ranger is coming home. Despite Kevin Richardson's two-hit debut in last night's win, the Texas Rangers are this close to trading for catcher Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez. The deal, according to a team source I just got off the phone with, would send two "mid-level" ... More >>

Rangers Fans Set to Party Like It's 1999

eBay​Ruben Sierra had two comeback stints with the Texas Rangers. Juan González and Sammy Sosa, one. Now, it's 37-year-old Ivan "Pudge" Rodríguez's turn to return to Arlington. Hit it, Prince.

Houston Cries For Pudge, Claims Its Music History Beats Dallas'

​Our ears were burning, so we went ahead and checked out what our counterparts at the Observer's sister paper in Houston, the Press, was up to on its music blog lately. And, sure enough, it's all Dallas all the time down in H-Town these days.(OK, not really, but two posts over the span of a week? ... More >>

Dallas' Fantasy Roster

No. 12 in your football program ... No. 12 on our fantasy roster.​When I say No. 22, who comes to mind? Do you immediately think of the Dallas Cowboys' all-time best runner? Or their all-time best rusher? Or perhaps instead the second-leading all-time scorer in the history of the Dallas Mav ... More >>

Pudge Over Potential

​I realize Pudge Rodriguez was brought here with the understanding he'd be a backup. But less than a week into his second coming, scuh-roo that! If starting Pudge throughout the three-game series against the Yankees that starts tonight in New York hurts Taylor Teagarden's wittle feewings or m ... More >>

The Texas Rangers, With A New Owner And A New Season, Prompt A New Emotion: Hope

​I realize Pudge Rodriguez was brought here with the understanding he'd be a backup. But less than a week into his second coming, scuh-roo that! If starting Pudge throughout the three-game series against the Yankees that starts tonight in New York hurts Taylor Teagarden's wittle feewings or m ... More >>

Mady By the City, In the City

​I realize Pudge Rodriguez was brought here with the understanding he'd be a backup. But less than a week into his second coming, scuh-roo that! If starting Pudge throughout the three-game series against the Yankees that starts tonight in New York hurts Taylor Teagarden's wittle feewings or m ... More >>

Whitt's End: 4.2.10

​Whether you're at the end of your rope or merely the end of your week, welcome to Whitt's End: *Major Near catastrophic computer meltdown this morning at 8:19 a.m. Outta nowhere, the dreaded blue screen. Bottom line: Whitt's Dead End. $%^&*$#!! Expect, fingers crossed, re-constructi ... More >>

End of an Era? The Top 10 "Players" in the History of Dallas Sports

If this was Dallas and we needed 10 sports faces, who ya got?​I'm pretty sure one is retiring and one is staying put. But what if in the last month we witnessed the final games in Dallas of icons Mike Modano and Dirk Nowitzki? Modano is likely done as a player for the Dallas Stars, soon to ... More >>

If Dirk Nowitzki and Mike Modano Are Indeed Gone, Where's Their Place in Dallas Sports History?

If this was Dallas and we needed 10 sports faces, who ya got?​I'm pretty sure one is retiring and one is staying put. But what if in the last month we witnessed the final games in Dallas of icons Mike Modano and Dirk Nowitzki? Modano is likely done as a player for the Dallas Stars, soon to ... More >>

The Top 10 Greatest Players in the History of Your Texas Rangers

​If you watched Sunday's 7-2 win in Milwaukee, you'd think Texas Rangers pitcher Colby Lewis (two hits, including a key two-run single) is a better hitter than first baseman Justin Smoak (0-5 with five strikeouts). If you've been watching forever, you're convinced it's time to ... More >>

Mike Modano: OUR Star Could Become THEIR Star

​After saying that he's 75-percent leaning toward not retiring and playing hockey again next season, all-time star of the Dallas Stars Mike Modano is now thinking the unthinkable - putting on the sweater of another team. Mike Modano, Detroit Red Wings? Criiiiiiiiiiinge. It's still a situ ... More >>

Mike Modano: The Face of the Franchise

​Still trying to wrap my tiny, admittedly perverted sports brain around the Dallas Stars without Mike Modano. Or, even weirder, Modano in another team's sweater. He is now - and perhaps forever - undoubtedbly, undeniably, unequivocally the face of the franchise. Right? Unless, of course, ... More >>

Oct. 1, 1996: Where Were You When the Rangers Won Their Playoff Game? Their Only One.

​The defending Super Bowl champion Dallas Cowboys were 2-3 under Barry Switzer and on their way to a playoff loss to the Carolina Panthers. The Dallas Mavericks were embarking on a season that started with head coach Jim Cleamons and the Three Js -- Jason Kidd, Jim Jackson and Jamal Mashburn ... More >>

Hey, Look, it's a UFO! No, Actually, it's an Even Weirder Sight: Mike Modano, Detroit Red Wing

​Hell hath officially frozen over. In Arlington, the Texas Rangers are still playing baseball. And in Dallas, Stars fans are now cheering for the Detroit Red Wings. Well, at least one of them. The Stars, off to a 2-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0 start or whatever the hell it is these days in the NHL, play ... More >>

Rangers vs. Yankees: The Mismatch is, Ironically, a Mismatch

​As expected, this thing is a blowout. Not even close. Think about it: The New Yankees entered the American League Championship Series with 41 AL pennants; the Texas Rangers 0. The Bronx Bombers play in Yankee Stadium; the Rangers in a ballpark once controlled by broke-ass bum Tom Hicks. The ... More >>

Josh Hamilton Should Win AL MVP Today. Right?

​For months I've been saying that Rangers' outfielder Josh Hamilton is the best player in baseball. Today he'll at least be validated as the Most Valuable Player in his own American League. Around 1 p.m. Hamilton should win AL MVP, joining Jeff Burroughs (1974), Juan Gonzalez ('96, '98), Ivan ... More >>

Attention incoming sports fans: If you're going to embrace our city during Super Bowl week, the first step is recognizing our Super Heroes.

​For months I've been saying that Rangers' outfielder Josh Hamilton is the best player in baseball. Today he'll at least be validated as the Most Valuable Player in his own American League. Around 1 p.m. Hamilton should win AL MVP, joining Jeff Burroughs (1974), Juan Gonzalez ('96, '98), Ivan ... More >>

My Top 21 Texas Rangers in the History of Ever

​C.J. Wilson was superb in last night's much-needed win over Seattle. Pedro Strop is gone. Mark Lowe is back (uh-oh). Tommy Hunter and Nefali Feliz are getting close. And dazzling Cuban defector Leonys Martin is fast-tracking our way.In the middle of a very transitory Rangers season I was ... More >>

A Fan's Legacy

​C.J. Wilson was superb in last night's much-needed win over Seattle. Pedro Strop is gone. Mark Lowe is back (uh-oh). Tommy Hunter and Nefali Feliz are getting close. And dazzling Cuban defector Leonys Martin is fast-tracking our way.In the middle of a very transitory Rangers season I was ... More >>

Sure Mike Modano Has a Spot on Dallas' Mount Sportsmore. Well, Doesn't He?

Mike Modano is on Facebook. And out of hockey. The legendary Dallas Star used social media  to announce his retirement from the NHL yesterday, ending a 21-year career as one of the sport's all-time greatest skaters and its most prolific American-born scorer. Feels like we've delivered th ... More >>