Los Angeles Dodgers

42 Reviewed: Trying to Make Flesh-and-Blood of a Baseball Hero

Major League Baseball's Screwball Economics

As another season begins, MLB faces an unsustainable future -- and you’re picking up the tab.

Five Key Holes the Rangers Need to Fill This Winter, and How They Should Fill Them

Just a few days after the 2012 MLB season kicked off in Japan, one of the elite players scheduled to become a free agent in the coming offseason took himself off the market. The Giants enticed Matt Cain to stay in San Francisco, signing him to a six-year, $127.5 million contract extension -- the mos ... More >>

Why (and How) the Rangers Should Go All In as the Trade Deadline Looms

What a week for Your Texas Rangers. Nolan Ryan and Ron Washington took turns publicly ripping Josh Hamilton for the alarming lack of discipline he's displayed at the plate, increasing the likelihood that he'll be headed elsewhere this offseason. Fans booed the slumping slugger at home for the firs ... More >>

The Gay Selma

Schools ignore gay bullying at their own peril

If Signing Yu Darvish and Prince Fielder Are Mutually Exclusive, The Texas Rangers Might Be Better Off If Darvish Returns to Japan

As Wednesday's 4 p.m. deadline nears in the negotiations between the Texas Rangers and Yu Darvish, the most significant hang-up is reportedly the 25-year-old's request for a five-year contract and the team's preference for a six-year deal, according to Yahoo! Sports' Jeff Passan. Understandably, Dar ... More >>

Best Films of 2011: Why You've Never Heard of Margaret

And nine more choice flicks.

After Club Signs Nathan, Moves Neffy to Rotation, Rangers Offer Wilson Arbitration

​My bad. Been meaning to get back in here and post something, anything, of note, and there's been plenty in recent days. And as Josh's Broken Groin notes, it's been way too long. So then, to today's Breaking, or Broken, Rangers News: The club has offered salary arbitration for next season to C.J. ... More >>

You Don't See These Auctioned Off Every Day: Signed Dallas Eagles Balls, From '55 and '57

​I almost hate to tell you about this auction; I'd like these balls all to myself ... wait, that didn't come out right. But I've been watching 'em for the past, oh, week or so, and the prices aren't climbing like they oughta for such rare commodities as these: signed baseballs from the 1955 and '5 ... More >>

Stealing the Mojo: Rangers-Cardinals World Series Game 3 Preview and Open Thread

Texas RangersIan Kinsler completes the best defensive play I've seen in my 25 years watching the Fall Classic -- a diving stop by Elvis Andrus and flip to Kinsler with his glove to end the fifth inning of Game 2. Just spectacular athleticism displayed by Andrus.​If you've read my piece about S ... More >>

Albert Pujols Better Than Joltin' Joe? Say It Ain't So!: Texas Rangers-St. Louis Cardinals World Series Preview and Game 1 Open Thread

Texas RangersGives you that warm, fuzzy feeling inside, doesn't it?​It's finally here. Pinch yourself. Your Texas Rangers are back in the World Series, and this time feels much different than last year's playoff run. There's a confidence flowing through my body that just wasn't there before, a ... More >>

Ten Career Suggestions for Justin Timberlake, Since He's No Longer That Interested In Music

"I'm totally posting this on Myspace later."​The word has gotten around quickly: Justin Timberlake was indeed among the investors that bought a stake in floundering social networking site Myspace this week. According to the press release from Specific Media, Timberlake's partners in this ventur ... More >>

Check That, Neftali Feliz Now Wants To Be a Starting Pitcher

​After watching Neftali Feliz hurl an impressive first four innings of Monday's 5-4 exhibition win over the Los Angeles Dodgers here in Surprise, Arizona, I sat down with general manager Jon Daniels to find out exactly where the 22-year-old fireballer fits in this season. Closer? Or starter? ... More >>

Surprise, Surprise. Chuck Greenberg is ... Poof.

​And just like that, the man who saved Nolan Ryan's job with the Texas Rangers has been replaced. By Nolan Ryan. I heard rumblings about this a couple weeks ago. Even hinted in a Whitt's End and on 105.3 The Fan that there were - seemingly out of nowhere - cracks in the foundation of the re ... More >>

Don't Mess With Success: Rangers Should Resist Moving Neftali Feliz Into Rotation

Mark GrahamNeftali Feliz in early 2009​In the comments of yesterday's blog, commenter "sporty" posed the question of whether Neftali Feliz should be moved into the rotation since we both agree the Texas Rangers rotation needs help desperately. He said the "transition makes a lot of sense." I d ... More >>

On Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, I Have A ... List. Of the Best Black Athletes in the History of Ever

​While a lot of you are off work today, take time to remember and refresh the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. The rest of us? Let's commemorate MLK Day with an impossible task: Selecting the world's all-time greatest black athletes. First step, choosing the criteria. Sheer athleticism? ... More >>

Yo, Adrian! Rangers Officially Ink Beltre to Six-Year, $96 Million Contract

Photos by Sam MertenJon Daniels, Adrian Beltre, Ron Washington and Scott Boras celebrate Beltre's new contract. Nolan Ryan, Chuck Greenberg and Thad Levine were also on hand for the occasion.​As we speculated on the night Cliff Lee agreed to his contract with the Philadelphia Phillies, the Tex ... More >>

Let's Get This DH Situation Addressed: Rangers Should Re-Sign Vladdy or Risk Getting Worse

Sam MertenVladimir Guerrero​While the Texas Rangers waited for Cliff Lee to make up his mind, the best options to fill the team's hole at designated hitter flew off the board. The Chicago White Sox snatched up the two best fits, re-signing Paul Konerko for three years at $12.5 million per season a ... More >>

Rangers and Yanks Both Lose Cliff Lee Sweepstakes as Southpaw Heads Back to Philly

Sam MertenThanks for the memories, Cliff.​After much procrastination, former Texas Rangers ace Cliff Lee has decided to return to the Philadelphia Phillies, according to MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan, with Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweeting that the deal is for five years and approximately $ ... More >>

Werth It? Doing the Rangers' Math as Fat Contracts Swirl Around MLB Winter Meetings.

Photos by Sam MertenDamn. If Jayson Werth commands a seven-year, $126 million deal, how much is this guy worth?​Prior to the beginning of baseball's winter meetings yesterday at Walt Disney World Resort, a flurry of activity resulted in big-name players dealt and fat contracts inked. Predictab ... More >>

Found, Finally: One Team Photo Of the 1953 Dallas Eagles, Champions of the Texas League

​There was a time -- 12 years ago, say -- when I could have named each man in this photo by sight. Even, at the far right in the middle row, PR man Jerry Doggett, ex of WRR and, after his stint in Dallas, the longtime voice of the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers (with, natch, Vin Scully). But, se ... More >>

2010 World Series - Rangers vs. Giants: GAME 5 Preview

Cliff Lee vs. Tim Lincecum: Do or Dead. Nolan Ryan has seven no-hitters. Fergie Jenkins is a Hall of Famer who produced a 25-win season in Arlington. Kenny Rogers hurled a perfect game at Rangers Ballpark. But if I could pick any pitcher to be on the mound for the Texas Rangers in an eli ... More >>

Fat Lady May Be Warming Up, But Rangers Haven't Won The West ... Yet

​I'll say it, Texas Rangers' fever is at an all-time high. Sunday night's 6-4 win improved Tommy Hunter to 8-0, allowed the Rangers to win three of four from the Anaheim Angels and pushed their lead to seven games with 63 remaining. More than 160,000 fans went to Arlington Thursday-Sunday. Wi ... More >>

DCT's Most Valuable Player Swings For The Fences; T3 Tunes UP [title of show]; One Thirty Productions Presents Its Favorite Austin Playwright

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 ... More >>

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 ... More >>

Lights Out!

Welcome to the dark side.Over on The Ticket, Mike Rhyner (aka "Baseball Jesus", the cockiest nickname in the history of sports, by the way) is quick to identify the "catastrophic moment." The play/incident/injury/whatever that signals the beginning of the end each Texas Rangers' season. Over ... More >>

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

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 ab ... More >>

The Top 10 Greatest Black Athletes in the History of Ever

Mission Accomplished Impossible. In honor of February's Black History Month, I set out to pinpoint a pristine list of the world's all-time greatest black athletes. But using what criteria? Sheer athleticism? Popularity? Accomplishment? Social activism? Transcendence? All of the above? ... More >>

Andruw Jones: Yay or Nay?

Your Texas Rangers have signed outfielder Andruw Jones to a minor-league contract. Ideally, I wish they would sign guys at their peak instead of with one foot in the grave, but I'm cool with the transaction. If Jones is good, he'll be the team's best center fielder since, I dunno, Garry Ma ... More >>

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 ... More >>

Ask A Mexican

Fanatics tend to be rude, no matter where they're from—except maybe St. Louis

Just How Did Josh Hamilton Wind Up the Texas Rangers' Savior, Anyway?

Texas Rangers Making Contingency Plans In Case This Uptick is a Mirage

Buck 65

Thursday, November 8, at the House of Blues Cambridge Room

Game Won

Small Ball, Big Balls

This Week's Day-By-Day Picks

Xiu Xiu and Devendra Banhart

July 17

Journeymen of summer

Root, root, root for the home team -- whoever they are

Born again

The Texas-Louisiana league claims it's about to resurrect the Fort Worth Cats

The Goal Line

If Blackie Sherrod's just another writer, then Wilt Chamberlain was just another center

Nowhere man

Settling into the relaxed paranoia of Henry Fool director Hal Hartley

Do over

Todd Van Poppel doesn't have to be great anymore, just good enough

The good fight

Thirty years ago, Curtis Cokes was the world-champion welterweight. Now, he trains young boxers and just wants to be recognized in his hometown.

A bush league of their own

Long before the Texas Rangers, major-league baseball was played in Dallas by a minor-league team called the Dallas Eagles

Stopped short

Kevin Elster was through with baseball once, but it was not finished with him

Letters

Letters