Tampa Bay Rays

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 >>

Breaking Down the Texas Rangers Offseason Plans in the Wake of Coming So Close

Photos courtesy Texas RangersNo need to place all of the blame on Nellie. There are plenty of other folks at fault for losing the World Series.​No matter how hard you try to find a scapegoat, the story of the 2011 World Series doesn't have a chapter about its version of Bill Buckner, nor shoul ... More >>

Forgetting About Last Night and Entering Must-Win Mode: Texas Rangers-St. Louis Cardinals World Series Game 4 Preview and Open Thread

St. Louis CardinalsAlbert Pujols joined Babe Ruth and Reggie Jackson as the only players to hit three home runs in a World Series game. He also became the third player to have six RBI and the second player to have five hits in a World Series game. Oh, and he set a record for total bases as well with ... More >>

Rangers-Rays Game Four, the Open Thread

​Back, by popular demand, is today's ALDS Game 4 open thread as the Rangers try to finish out the Rays following last night's epic nail-biter -- so nerve-wracking even Nolan Ryan said it was "as stressful a game as I've sat through." Before we get to first pitch, once more we turn our attention to ... More >>

Begin 2011's Post-Season Play By Reliving Texas Rangers' 2010 World Series Run in MLB Spot

​Thanks to my 8-year-old son's intense but not at all unpleasant love affair with baseball, I've spent way too many evenings in recent days glued to the MLB Network watching Tampa Bay and/or Boston slug it out to see which team lands the American League wild-card spot. Because if the Rangers beat ... More >>

Time For Y'all to Admit It: C.J. Wilson is a Bona Fide Ace

​No doubt Kenny Rogers is the Rangers' best all-time left-handed pitcher. But is C.J. Wilson already No. 2? He further helped his cause Tuesday night in Tampa, somehow resisting his stupid, "instinctive" urge to bare-hand comebackers long enough to shut out the Rays in a complete-game, 8-0 v ... More >>

Rangers-Angels Take Baseball's Center Stage. Or at Least They Should.

​There are only two division races in baseball. And only one with playoff implications. As we play the regular season's final month the Tigers, Phillies, Brewers and Braves each have leads of at least 7 games with only 20 remaining. In the AL East the Yankees lead the Red Sox by 2.5, bu ... More >>

The Curious Case of Alexi Ogando

​I know it's dangerous to knee-jerk in baseball, but suddenly Rangers' pitcher Alexi Ogando is disappearing faster than Benjamin Button. And from what we've seen the last two night I'd lean more toward giving the ball to Scott Feldman than the team's early-season ace. Thanks to the lowl ... More >>

A Rangers Repeat? History Suggests Odds Are Long.

One Hit Wonders

Ten Items Worth a Look-See: Mavs, Stars, Cowboys, Rangers and Fox News Pundit Says Michael Vick "Should Have Been Executed"

The fans gave him a break, and even President Obama applauded Vick's return to the NFL. Tucker Carlson of Fox News? Not so much.​10. Mark Teixeira says teammate Andy Pettitte's "probably leaning toward retirement," which is good news for the Texas Rangers and everyone else aiming to win the AL pen ... More >>

Dear Santa: Please Put a World Series MVP Under the Tree. Pretty Please?

Matt Garza's widely considered to be the best starter available, but could a better pitcher be had for the right price?​It's almost Christmas, and the Texas Rangers haven't done anything to address the hole in the rotation left behind when Cliff Lee signed with the Philadelphia Phillies and th ... 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 >>

You Like the Texas Rangers More than Las Vegas

​Witnessed lots of folks outside Rangers Ballpark last night who believe in their baseball team. The Rangers Rally was a warm hug on a chilly night and the theory goes like this: The present belongs to the San Francisco Giants, but the future belongs to the Texas Rangers. You buyin' it? ... More >>

The Top 10 Best Moments From the Texas Rangers' 2010 Playoff Run

​And what a ride it was ... 10. After an generous incorrect no-call on a check swing, Michael Young blasts a three-run homer to center field on the next pitch as Texas races to a 5-0 lead in Game 2 of the ALDS en route to a 2-0 series lead in Tampa Bay. 9. Presidents Bush and Dubya ... More >>

2010 World Series - Rangers vs. Giants: Position by Position Breakdown

​I called Rays in 5 in the ALDS and Rangers in 7 in the ALCS. Why stop while I'm ... tied? Got in to the City by the Bay last night and this place is in a baseball frenzy. There's a pervasive baseball buzz. Lots of similarities between the San Francisco Giants and your Texas Rangers in the Wo ... More >>

Reflections of a sportswriter on being a Texas Ranger fan... pretty much since birth.

2010 ALCS - Rangers vs. Yankees: Game 4 Preview

​The Texas Rangers lead the ALCS over the New York Yankees, 2-1. In Monday night's Game 3 they waltzed into fabled Yankee Stadium and laid an 8-0 whupping on the Bronx Bombers. The Rangers have dominated the series, out-scoring New York 20-8 with five of the Yankees' runs coming in that epic ... More >>

On An Unprecedented Sports Sunday in Arlington, It's Not Just The Rangers Who Go Down Swinging.

Rangers-Rays: GAME 5 Preview

​History isn't on the Rangers' side. But everything else is. When the Texas Rangers face the Tampa Bay Rays tonight at 7:07 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, they'll do so knowing they've never won a playoff series and that no 5-game baseball series has ever been decided via five wi ... More >>

Do-or-Die in Dallas: How Our Teams Fare in Elimination Games

​To the Texas Rangers, tonight's do-or-die game is unprecedented, uncharted territory. But as metroplex sports fans, we're accustomed to these elimination scenarios. And, you know what? We're pretty damn good at them. While the Rangers take their pathetic 3-11 playoff pedigree into toni ... More >>

GAME 5 - Rangers 5, Rays 1: My Top 10 Observations

For all of those who suffered through losing seasons in this joint ... here's to us!​10. Antlers > Rays. Ironic that the Rangers - who for years and decades floundered playing feast-or-famine baseball founded on the home run - scored their first three runs via speed. Think about it, the ... More >>

Why Are We Harder on Tony Romo than Josh Hamilton?

​In the aftermath of a stinging season-ending loss in Philadelphia in 2008, Dallas Cowboys' quarterback Tony Romo shrugged his shoulders and infamously offered: "If this is the worst thing that ever happens to me, well, then I will have had a pretty good life." In the wake of a stinging pla ... More >>

GAME 3 - Rays 6, Rangers 3: My Top 10 Observations

​ ​10. 'Twas an occurrence about as rare as Halley's Comet this afternoon out here at Rangers Ballpark. In the Rangers' 39-year history they've played 3,092 home games in Arlington. Game 3 was only the fifth playoff contest. Texas is 0-5 all-time in home playoff games. 9. In ... More >>

Rangers-Rays: Game 2 Preview

​We waited 5,100 days in between Texas Rangers' playoff wins. Might we suddenly get two within 24 hours?   As dominant as Cliff Lee was in the Rangers' 5-1 Game 1 victory on Wednesday, I like the matchup of C.J. Wilson over Tampa's James Shields even more in Game 2 today at 1:37. You ... More >>

Arlington Mayor Bets Barbecue on Rangers' Playoff Chances

City of Arlington staffers are looking forward to feasting on coconut shrimp and grilled mahi mahi if the Rangers stay ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays. ​Mayor Robert Cluck this week made his second-ever edible sports wager, offering the mayors of Tampa, Clearwater and St. Petersburg a dinner from ... More >>

Game 2 - Rangers 6, Rays 0: My Top 10 Observations

​10. I know the Rangers banged two more homers and generally roped the ball around the park, but I think Josh Hamilton set the tenor with his back-to-back superb catches -- one diving -- in the second inning. 9. As expected, Tampa starter James Shields was, well, James Shields. In the third i ... More >>

Rangers-Rays Game 1: This is Why Texas Traded for Cliff Lee

​Though they didn't pop the champagne in Oakland until Sept. 25, the Rangers clinched the AL West on July 9. That day changed a season. Changed a franchise's credibility. Changed October plans. That day, of course, brought Cliff Lee. The Texas Rangers now have a post-season polished pitching ... More >>

Rangers 5, Rays 1: My Top 10 Observations

​10. Going up 1-0 in a best-of-five series is always nice, but an even better sign to me was the effective, aggressive play of Josh Hamilton. He singled in his first at-bat, cut loose a throw ambitiously behind a runner after a fly ball and even stole second base with a head-first slide. If h ... More >>

Texas Rangers v. Tampa Bay Rays: An ALDS Preview

​Be careful what you ask for. For the most part, seems like baseball fans in our parts feared the New York Yankees. Household names like Jeter and A-Rod and Pettite and Rivera and the 27 World Series have a way of intimidating opponents. Oh yeah, and the 1-9 playoff history against the Bronx ... More >>

The Texas Rangers' Magic Number: ZERO!!!

​Usually by the time we start feeling fall, your Texas Rangers have long since raised the white flag. But I'll be damned, tonight in Arlington they're going to raise a championship banner. Cue Prince, it is indeed time to party like it's 1999. When Nelson Cruz nabbed a lazy fly ball to s ... More >>

Who You Want: Yankees or Rays?

​I spoke too soon. Maybe you thought it too. It seemed like a foregone conclusion that if and/or when the Texas Rangers made the playoffs they'd face the New York Yankees. NY would win the American League East, the Tampa Bay Rays would win the Wild Card and the Minnesota Twins the Central. A ... More >>

While We Rip the Rangers, Let's Praise Ron Washington

​I was thinking the other day - after another mindless, rambling post-game press conference - at how Texas Rangers' manager Ron Washington was deteriorating into weirdspeak. He not only trips over simple subject-verb conjugation, but recently his synopsis has read like a play-by-play review. ... More >>

Baseball Saying Yes to No

Ah, the good ol' days. Are they here again?​Tampa Bay Rays' pitcher Matt Garza tossed a no-hitter last night. It was the fifth this season in Major League Baseball, most since 1991. Funny thing is, now the San Diego Padres and New York Mets are the only current teams wit ... More >>

Have You Seen Enough of Rich Harden?

​Tommy Hunter is a bulldog. A scrappy fighter of a pitcher who throws strikes and in his first start of the season hurled a complete game at the Tampa Bay Rays in Saturday's sweltering heat. Rich Harden is a, well, I dunno honestly. I never seem to have the patience to see his starts through. ... More >>

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 W ... More >>

Seattle Showdown

The Texas Rangers Are in the World Series! Sort Of!

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

Hump Day for the Rangers? Almost.

Scattershooting ...

Who's On First?

You Know Who Could Use Some Baseball? The Stinkin' Texas Rangers.

How the West Was Lost (Hint: It Rhymes With "Suck")

Yo-ho-ho

Hey, sailor, wanna give some money to a good cause?

Durham Bull

In The Rookie, a middle-aged man throws heat but leaves us cold

Celebrity du Jour

Big-name chefs saturate an uncertain market

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.

Night & Day

April 16 - 22, 1998