One week ago today … you know, I can’t even. So. I’ll just say this: Moments ago the Texas Rangers sent word detailing $11.5 million in improvements that’ll be made to the Ballpark in Arlington over the off-season, beginning immediately. They’re detailed after the jump, for those who can bear…
SMU is inching closer to admission into one of college football’s hallowed BCS conferences, which will mark the latest milestone on what the school and its alumni hope is the road back to football relevancy. It’s certainly been a long road, starting with the death penalty in ’87 and winding…
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 should it. Buckner only dominates the narrative of the 1986 World Series because media and fans ripped out the other chapters. With…
As I’ve written before, I fell in love with the game of baseball in 1986 — the first year I watched every inning of the World Series. Although I had no rooting interest in the match-up between Boston and New York, I couldn’t help but feel absolutely heartbroken for Red…
I’m having a rough day; from the sound of it, many of you are too. On the drive in to work today, this version of Peter Gabriel’s “Don’t Give Up” came up on the iPod, randomly shuffled. I had to pull over. I asked Jamey Newberg: “How do Rangers fans…
The intellect of one of the best managers and greatest players in baseball history short-circuited at the worst possible times for the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 5 of the World Series, but Monday night’s match-up wasn’t won or lost on brain farts by Tony La Russa and Albert Pujols…
Those following along with our World Series open threads — and, programming note, Sam’s Game Six’er opens at around 6 — know by now that my 8-year-old’s favorite present-day Texas Ranger is Ian Kinsler, who he stuck with even during that awful 1-fer mid-summer slump. But after the jump, courtesy…
Spent the better part of last night re-re-re-re-re-reading Mike Shropshire’s Seasons in Hell, about the ’73 to ’75 Texas Rangers, which wasn’t really the worst team in baseball, though it makes a great story. (The ’74 Rangers finished second in the AL West, behind Oakland, which went on to win…
Livin’ The Dream: Derek Holland from MLB Players on Vimeo.Found these on Vimeo this morning: behind-the-scenes glimpses into the lives of Mike Na-po-li! and Derek Holland. They were produced by the Major League Baseball Players Association, part of a post-season web series titled “Livin’ the Dream,” but appear to have…
This morning’s New York Times looks at the NBA lockout and wonders whether all the owners — those from small markets, those with big payrolls, those losing money, those winning titles — are on the same page when it comes to demanding givebacks from their players. Long story short: Yes…
I expected Derek Holland to finally realize his potential as a top-of-the-rotation arm in the American League Championship Series. That, of course, didn’t happen. But it turned out the Rangers didn’t need him to be great to win his Game 2 and Game 6 starts, as the Texas offense racked…
Your World Champion Dallas Mavericks were supposed to take on the Indiana Pacers tonight at the American Airlines Center, the sixth of eight preseason games leading to November 1’s regular-season opener against Chicago at the AAC. But with each passing day, it’s looking more and more like the lockout will…
Well, that didn’t last long. One day, the Texas Rangers and their fans are basking in the glow of a dramatic ninth-inning comeback win against the St. Louis Cardinals to tie the World Series at 1-1, with the next three games to be played at home in Arlington. The next…
If you’ve read my piece about St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, you know that the first time I had a really good, strong sports cry was Game 1 of the 1988 World Series. As a fan of La Russa and the Oakland A’s at the time, Kirk Gibson’s…
Sometimes the worst managerial moves are the ones that weren’t made, but the focus tends to be on the ones that were. The vast majority of media and fans across the country agree that Tony La Russa out-managed Ron Washington in Game 1 of the World Series last night, which…
The video you’ll find after the jump was posted two days ago by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York. So far it’s been viewed 60 times. In it, John O’Dell, curator of history and research, provides a brief tour of Rangers artifacts in the…
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, and I suspect the players feel the same way. Don’t get me wrong…
For whatever reason, my relationship with baseball went from casual to deeply committed bordering on obsessive during the 1986 baseball season. Like most kids growing up in North Texas, my father taught me to love the Dallas Cowboys, Texas Rangers and Dallas Mavericks (in that order) — if for no…
Not so long ago, Minnesota Twins backstop Joe Mauer was the consensus pick as baseball’s best catcher. But the 2009 American League MVP, four-time All-Star, three-time Gold Glove winner and .323 career hitter had another injury-plagued season in 2011 (missing significant time for “leg weakness” of all things) and in…
After the Texas Rangers fired Buck Showalter following the 2006 season, general manager Jon Daniels interviewed five candidates. Of course, there was Ron Washington, a longtime third base and infield coach for the American League West rival A’s who wasn’t interviewed for Oakland’s managerial vacancy. Then-Rangers bench coach Don Wakamatsu,…
On Wednesday, the Pittsburgh-based Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights issued a report titled Dressing Babies in Sweatshop Clothing: Dallas Cowboys, Ohio State and a Creepy Business, in which it alleged that the Cowboys are having team-branded clothing made in “gross sweatshop conditions at the Style Avenue factory in…
As the trade deadline approached in July 2006, it seemed inevitable that Jon Daniels would make a bold move to bolster a mediocre offense in his first season as general manager. He targeted the best hitter on the market — Carlos Lee, an established 30-HR, 100-RBI slugger. And Lee was…
