Most Popular
-
DISD In the Hole Teachers get axed and parents fret as Dallas' school leaders scramble to cover a budget hole
-
Polygamy and Me Seven months have passed since the polygamist raid in Eldorado, but for one mainstream Mormon, the effects linger
-
Beer Is Good Texas law stifles state's craft brewers
-
How To Piss Off A Member Of Weezer Brian Bell isn't so hot on comparisons between past Weezer records and the latest
-
DISD's Confederacy of Jerks Extremely pushy parents—Latino, black and Anglo—must rise up to save DISD from itself
Recent Blog Posts
Kind of Blu-ray, or: Blockbuster Will Do Whatever it Takes to Crush Netflix
Mon Dec 1, 4:13 PM
For $15,000, You Too Can Move Your RV Into TMS' Burnout Alley
Mon Dec 1, 3:26 PM
The Bright Were Totally Featured On Last Week's Episode Of The Hills
Mon Dec 1, 4:47 PM
D-Town Boogie: The Do It Ourself Video
Mon Dec 1, 3:55 PM
Jonestown Coliseum Taking Prisoners, er, Applications
Mon Dec 1, 11:00 AM
Don't Mess With Texas. Oh Crap, Too Late.
Mon Dec 1, 7:30 AM
How 'Bout Them Knockers: Yumi To Go
Mon Dec 1, 11:51 AM
Burning Question: How Much Time Do Chefs Spend In The Kitchen?
Fri Nov 28, 11:48 AM
National Features >
Riverfront Times
The Pope of Pork
Old-school hog farming makes a comeback, thanks to some fine swine from Frankenstein.
By Kristen Hinman
Broward-Palm Beach New Times
The Lost Season
Here's how you become one of those people who screams at his kid's coach.
By Bob Norman
SF Weekly
Border Crossers
Transgender hookers with rap sheets are successfully fighting deportation--by asking for asylum.
By Lauren Smiley
Houston Press
Deadly Evidence
First, Houston's DNA lab became a laughingstock. Then its controversial director was murdered.
By Randall Patterson
Plan See
Continued from page 1
Published on July 16, 2008 at 2:00pm
If not for injuries to veteran starters, the Rangers would've never relied upon refreshing rookie pitchers Harrison and Eric Hurley. Injuries to Hank Blalock (replaced by Ramon Vazquez) and Gerald Laird (Max Ramirez) and the flameout of Broussard (Chris Davis) inadvertently gave young players opportunities and presented fans with a glimpse of an enticing future that doesn't look half bad as the present.
-
Ronald Martinez/NEWSCOM
Just as the Rangers welcomed Josh Hamilton's walk-off homer against the Angels last week, local sports fans are enthusiastically embracing the Rangers' brand of winning baseball.
Subject(s):
Texas Rangers, baseball, Ron WashingtonWhich brings us to my reality casserole. I hate to spoil a picnic that has seen the Rangers on the cover of Sports Illustrated and engaging in mosh-pit celebrations after game-winning homers, but this team isn't yet a legit contender.
Even with 20 of 26 games at home starting July 28, you'd have to be dopey enough to peer into John Wiley Price's version of a black hole to believe this pitching can hold up. Despite being baseball's best-hitting outfit, the Rangers can't survive into September with a current, crappy pitching staff whose combined ERA soars well above gas prices.
Trotting out starters like Harrison and Hurley and Scott Feldman and Warner Madrigal—who?—and the second coming of Mitch Williams (C.J. Wilson) as the closer, the Rangers would have to keep scoring 10 runs a game to catch the Angels. That's not realistic.
Which is why, like it or not, the Rangers should again be sellers come the July 31 trading deadline. This isn't the year. It's the year before the year.
Daniels should part with veterans such as Bradley, Guardado, Vicente Padilla and Blalock, guys who won't be a part of the pennant-chase proceedings come 2010. After considering Ramirez's clutch hitting and his "Double Play of the Year" against Anaheim in which he survived a violent home-plate collision and recovered to throw out a runner at third, the Rangers should commence an auction on either Laird or Jarrod Saltalamacchia.
Not that the rest of this season won't be captivating. That Washington still has his job, that the Rangers are above .500 and that this town will be talking baseball into August is remarkable.
Planned or not.
Dallas Observer Insiders
- Local food, music and news blasts
- Free Stuff
Now Click This