Random Thoughts

Its been a while... some thoughts off the top of my head:

-Josh Hamilton is all that is man. Some might call it "country strong". His derby display has been covered ad nauseum, so my only thought (courtesy of Evan Grant) is that the most important thing about the whole thing was that its going to help put the Rangers back on the map.

-Signing Diop to the MLE at $5 mil a year is about as underwhelming as it gets. Generally I'm of the opinion that GMs jobs are tough and while its easy for us to sit here and question moves, I'm sure there is plenty of thought that goes into every decision they make (except for maybe Al Davis). Having said that, seriously?.... come on.

-If the US doesn't win gold they need to stop talking tough every time the Olympics or world championships come around about how determined they are to win it all.

-CJ, I love you. But you make it so damn hard.

-A part of me is relieved the Rangers are quickly falling out of the playoff race. Any thought that this team was a playoff team was just an illusion disguised as offensive fireworks. They're close but not close enough where any rash moves need to be made.

-I've about had it with Kevin Millwood.

-I've about had it with ESPN and its soap opera coverage of the Brett Favre crisis of 2008.

-I've about had it with ESPN's coverage of sports in general. Its sports news reporting for sports idiots.

-Last but not least... Cowboys training camp. Can't wait for the season. This team is stacked but that discussion will have to wait for another day.

-Super Bowl.

Baby Steps

Feel that franchise momentum.






Love Jamey Wright's face here.


And again. Gerald has a sweet pose going too.




Ian's excited.


Hero.

Watch the 9th inning here (click on the bottom of the 9th inning in the linescore).
Or you can watch just the highlight of the home run here.
Eric Nadel's call on the radio here.

I can only imagine what this would feel like if it were September or October. But as stated above, we're taking baby steps.

Rangers sunshine

I've always been a Rangers fan but my passion for the club has increased greatly the past several years for no viable reason if you look at the on field product. Much of my increased interest can be attributed to the Newberg Report and my oft-referenced man crush on Jon Daniels. I think the long suffering Rangers fan is slowly being rewarded. Bandwagoners and Rangers naysayers can stay off the wagon. This team has 9 rookies on the roster right now. Nearly 2 out of every 5 players. Regardless of how this season's result, I think it will end up being classified as a successful one. 85-90 wins I would be happy with. You can feel that organizational momentum building. Outside of the 9 rookies on the roster, theres still plenty of talent top to bottom in the minors. You have to feel good about where this is headed. If they play their cards right, the Rangers will be competitive and playoff contending in 2009 and could be scary good in 2010. Baseball is rewarding in that way. If you keep track of it, you can see it coming long before it hits.

P.S. Ian Kinsler is really good.