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Kent Alexander Carter
Position: LB
Height: 6-3 Weight: 235 lbs.
Born: May 25, 1950 in Los Angeles, CA
High School: Cathedral
College: USC (school history)
Drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 17th round (422nd overall) of the 1972 NFL Draft.
Weighted Career AV (100-95-...): 2 (11397th overall since 1950)
Promote your website or business by sponsoring this page for $5 on Pro-Football-Reference.com. Your message will replace this ad.


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This trapezoidal house in Toronto by LGA Architectural Partners features stark white interiors to frame its owner's art collections and create a projection screen for a light installation (+ slideshow). More »
LGA Architecture creates wood and cement
Franken Architekten engraves ghost timbers
into facade of Frankfurt house
Slabs of corduroy-textured concrete encase
a Spanish home by Muka Arquitectura
A tube of striped orange wood encloses
Max Pritchard's treetop studio
Home of Charles Dickens illustrator converted
by Sevil Peach into an artist's studio
FCC Arquitectura slots family home within
stone walls of dilapidated farmhouse
Andrew Maynard adds greenhouse-like extension
to a Melbourne home – but leaves it unfinished
This metal-framed extension to a clapboard house near Melbourne was left intentionally incomplete by architect Andrew Maynard to show off the "beautiful skeleton" of an unfinished building (+ slideshow). More »
CF Møller's Villa R features a sunken
storey for the clients' children
Alphaville's Dig In the Sky house is made
up of three blocks connected by bridges
Japanese studio Alphaville raised the base of this Osaka house up on crooked stilts, revealing the complex arrangement of rooms, bridges and lightwells contained within (+ slideshow). More »
Grillagh Water House by Patrick Bradley is
made up of four stacked shipping containers
A balcony shaded by steel fins projects from the upper storey of this house in Northern Ireland, which architect and farmer Patrick Bradley built using four used shipping containers (+ slideshow). More »
Mjölk Architekti's Carbon house
features a burnt wood exterior
City rooftop cabin offers an alternative
to the primitive forest hut
Crescent-shaped pool skirts cylindrical
house by Fran Silvestre Arquitectos
Wooden trusses support new mezzanines inside
remodelled stone building by Corpo Atelier
Architecture studio Corpo Atelier has restructured an old stone outbuilding in a rural area of northern Portugal, adding a bulky wooden framework behind its thick masonry walls (+ slideshow). More »
House in Sang-an by Studio GAON designed
to suit a couple with three dogs
This South Korean home designed by Studio GAON for a couple and their dogs features a rooftop meditation garden, a lounge that doubles as a home cinema, and a kitchen overlooking a mountain landscape (+ slideshow). More »
Ageing stone walls frame concrete structure
of E/C House by SAMI Arquitectos
Box House in Kuwait contains a trio
of apartments with private courtyards
The homes of three families are contained behind the smooth stone facade of this building in Kuwait by local architecture studio Massive Order. More »
Cerise walls frame rooftop garden
of housing block by Pietri Architectes
Pietri Architects has driven a deep pink ravine through the heart of this apartment complex in southern France, creating a protected rooftop garden for residents (+ slideshow). More »
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subset: commoncrawl


text: Allotment of vacant seats for M.Pharm. courses being conducted by government and self-financing colleges will be made at the LBS Centre for Science and Technology here on Tuesday. An official press note said here that the details of the vacancies were available on www.lbscentre.org and www.lbskerala.com. Eligible candidates could participate in the allotment through others using authorisation forms.


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Reader's Digest ReviewsReader's Digest 94
"The positive changes are finally having an impact "
- Comp & Benefits
- Work/Life Balance
- Senior Management
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
I have been working at Reader's Digest (more than 8 years)Pros
A good place to be if you like to be part of a turn-around
Great people
Clear vision of what we need to accomplish
Tremendous commitment by senior managementCons
Lots of hard work and heavy lifting to fix the challenges of the past and of the industryAdvice to ManagementAdvice
Recognize your top performersRecommendsPositive Outlook
Reader's Digest Interviews
Interview Experience
Interview Experience
Getting an Interview
Getting an Interview
Interview Difficulty
- Application Details
I applied through a recruiter – interviewed at Reader's Digest.Interview Details
I was contacted by a recruiter on LinkedIn (with whom I had prior contact with to interview for other positions). After a phone screen which consisted of the recruiter just reading the job description to me (I knew this because I had a copy in front of me as well), he asked me questions about my content writing experience as well as SEO. I wasn't totally confident that he even knew what he was talking about.
He told me they wanted to move quickly with the position and I contacted him a week after, then 2 weeks later and he never even responded to let me know they had filled the position. Unbelievably unprofessional and just plain rude.Interview Questions
No OfferNegative Experience
- I wasn't really asked questions, I pretty much just had the job description read to me over the phone. Answer Question
Reader's Digest Awards & Accolades
Additional InfoUnlock Profile
One undersized magazine targets an oversized audience. The Reader's Digest Association (RDA) publishes the general-interest magazine Reader's Digest, which has 50 editions and is translated into some 20 languages. In addition to publishing its flagship title, RDA operates about 80 branded websites. It uses its extensive consumer database of more than 130 million names to market books (Reader's Digest Select Editions, how-to guides, cookbooks), special-interest magazines, music, videos, and financial and health products in some 80 countries. Suffering from a heavy debt-load... More


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Fuyu Persimmon rooting but no leaves
Hi, I'm from Miami, FL (10b) and I got a young, 3 foot Fuyu tree last year, and planted it in the ground during May (I think.) There's been no growth at all. I just want to explain whats going on to see whether my tree is acting normally.
During December and January, the leaves slowly turned red and fell off. The temperature dropped to roughly 43F on and off for about two weeks, but it consistently went back up into the high 50s - low 70s during the day.
I scratched the bark around the tips of the branches and it's green underneath, so the tree is still alive. Still, I was worried that the intense Miami sun might be too much for a Fuyu so I thought of moving the tree to a cooler part of the yard.
I stopped digging when I realized it has developed a massive black root that's grown out at least a good 6 feet from the trunk. I didn't dig too much to find out more, but the roots are almost as thick as the trunk itself and there might be other large ones growing in different directions.
Still no buds and no leaves, though. I'm reading that young persimmons can be unpredictable, but has anyone experienced anything like this? What should I look out for?
Also, I'm not sure if expecting good fruit from a Fuyu in 10b is just wishful thinking. I'm not sure whether it accumulated enough chill hours.
This post was edited by Levar on Mon, Feb 3, 14 at 19:36
Persimmon leaf out late no matter where grown. So even in your location this seems early for growth. Give it until it no longer passes the scratch test.
You may well not get enough chilling. Only time will tell.
It won't hurt to move it now. But persimmon are well adapted to sun and heat. If anything does it in it's more likely the lack of chilling, not heat.


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Gov. Terry E. Branstad signs SF 209;Provides funding for indigent defense, health and public safety; Uses item veto to insist on broad tax reform
Gov. Terry E. Branstad signs SF 209;
Provides funding for indigent defense, health and public safety;
Uses item veto to insist on broad tax reform
Gov. Terry E. Branstad today signed Senate File 209, which provides supplemental funding for indigent defense, Department of Human Services, Department of Public Safety and Department of Corrections, Department of Public Health and community colleges.
The governor also used his item veto authority to insist on broad tax relief, vowing to work with both parties in both chambers to build a tax relief package that promotes economic growth in Iowa.
"I am pleased to sign Senate File 209 to provide indigent defense funding, funding for the Department of Public Safety, Department of Human Services and Department of Corrections," said Branstad. "I commend the House and Senate for making these supplemental appropriations in areas where the cuts would have adversely affected the health and safety of Iowans."
In a letter to Senate President Jack Kibbie, Branstad stated:
"I am unable to approve the item designated as Division I. […] Any temporary economic stimulus effect of bonus depreciation is primarily accomplished through the federal tax code. Iowa should instead focus its energies on improving our state's long term competitive tax position for new job creation. With our limited budget, that is best accomplished by reducing our commercial property taxes which are second highest in the country and our marginal corporate tax rate which is the highest in the nation.
"I am unable to approve the item designated as Division II.
"As earlier indicated, it is my desire to approach tax policy in a comprehensive and holistic manner. As such, I urge members of the House and Senate to continue to work with my office on an overall tax reduction package that both fits within our sound budgeting principles while reducing those taxes that are impeding our state's ability to compete for new business and jobs."
Branstad also said, "I am pleased we could reach this agreement to fund our shared priorities in public safety, public health and indigent defense. I look forward to continuing our discussions on job creation and tax changes as we move forward toward adjournment."
Gov. Branstad and Lt. Gov. Reynolds continue to work with leaders in both the House and the Senate to develop a plan that fits Iowa's long-term needs, while maximizing effectiveness by creating jobs, growing the state's economy and putting Iowa on a path to fiscal prosperity.
Gov. Branstad used his item veto authority in accordance with Amendment IV of the Amendments of 1968 to the constitution of the State of Iowa to item veto Divisions I and II of Senate File 209.
For more information, please visit www.Governor.Iowa.gov.


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Laporte accordionist recovers from deadly cancer to continue entertaining audiences
LAPORTE -- Carol Doke says her husband, 68-year-old Russell Doke, is a living miracle.
"I believe that," she said. "God saved him to make the people happy with his music."
In 2007, Russell was diagnosed with stomach cancer and underwent massive surgery.
"They took out his stomach and his pancreas and part of his spleen and, later, his gall bladder," Carol said.
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size of chandelier in a 2 story foyer
we are starting to pick our light fixtures for our build and are sort of stumped on the size of our 2 story chandelier. looking for some help and here's what we're dealing with:
2 story foyer (6 feet wide, 8 feet deep, 19 feet height)
foyer is open to great room
foyer window measures 48" x 48"
we're looking in the 32" x 32" range right now (give or take a few), but not sure if that's too big? too small?
hopefully someone with more knowledge than me can give some good advice. thanks to all in advance!
try this link?
Here is a link that might be useful: chandy height
I actually facing the same dilemma. I have the entry window that is 64 by 70 and entry size is almost your size and right now think I will order this chandelier 45 in diameter by 55.
Would like to hear from other people experience as well. Thank you.
i just got through doing this too. it was super difficult to find because you need a pretty tall chandy to look ok in the two-story, but then most of the tall ones would look too massive for a foyer!
i went with an inverted two tier chandy (with the base being smaller than the top) so that it would feel less heavy when you enter the house. i think my chandy was slightly larger than the rule of thumb recommended width, but it was ok since the larger width was up high and not down low where it would feel more heavy.


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Posts Tagged by exemption
Big Holes In a Sales Tax
|May 23, 2013
|Posted by Staff under Taxes
|May 23, 2013
|Posted by Staff under Taxes
This Australian documentary, that has won praise from professionals in the field, highlights how real estate distorts the rest of the economy.
Visit the rest of our Video Collection.
How economies work – and don't
suitable for framing by Green Parties. When Greens began in Germany two decades ago, they defined themselves as neither left nor right but in front. Geonomics fits that description. The Green Parties have their Four Pillars; geonomists have four ways to apply them:
- Ecological Wisdom. Want people to use the eco-system wisely? Charge them Rent and, to end corporate license, add surcharges. To minimize these costs, people will use less Earth.
- Nonviolence. Want people to settle disputes nonviolently? Set a good example; don't levy taxes, which rely on the threat of incarceration, to take people's money. Try quid pro quo fees and dues.
- Social Responsibility. Want people to be responsible for their actions? Don't make basic choices for them by subsidizing services, addicting them to a caretaker state. Let people spend shares of social surplus.
- Grassroots Democracy. Better have grassroots prosperity. Remember, political power follows economic. Pay people a Citizens Dividend; to keep it, they'll show up at the polls, public hearings, and conventions.
in part the Great Green Tax Shift maxed out. Economically, taxing pollution and depletion does reduce pollutants and extracts – and thus the tax base; plus such taxes are regressive, requiring a safety net. On the other hand, collecting site rent is progressive and generates a revenue surplus payable as a dividend to residents, which can serve as the safety net. Environmentally, taxes on waste and extraction do not drive efficient use of land, as does getting site rent.
a way to connect the dots. Making the cyber rounds is "The Cavernous Divide" by Scott Klinger, from AlterNet (posted March 21): "As the number of billionaires in the world expands, so does the number of those in poverty." Duh. The yawning income gap is not news. Nearly every issue of our quarterly digest carries a similar quote. Yet the connection was worked out long ago by one of America's greatest thinkers, Henry George, who labeled his masterpiece, Progress and Poverty. Techno- and socio-advances always enrich few and impoverish many. Yet progress also pushes up location values – the geonomic insight (is Silicon Valley cheaper now or more expensive?). Instead of taxing income, sales, or buildings, society could collect those values of sites, resources, EM spectrum, and ecosystem services via fees and dues, which would lower the income ceiling, and instead of lavishing corporate welfare, pay out the recovered revenue via dividends, which would jack up the income floor. Dots connected.
about the money we spend on the nature we use. It flows torrentially yet invisibly, often submerged in the price of housing, food, fuel, and everything else. Flowing from the many to the few, natural rent distorts prices and rewards unjust and unsustainable choices. Redirected via dues and dividends to flow from each to all, "rent" payments would level the playing field and empower neighbors to shrink their workweek and expand their horizons. Modeled on nature's feedback loops, earlier proposals to redirect rent found favor with Paine, Tolstoy, and Einstein. Wherever tried, to the degree tried, redirecting rent worked. One of today's versions, the green tax shift, spreads out of Europe. Another, the Property Tax Shift, activists can win at the local level, building a world that works right for everyone.
a manual. The world did not come without a way for people to prosper, and the planet to heal and stay well; that way is geonomics. Economies are part of the ecosystem. Both generate surpluses and follow self-regulating feedback loops. A cycle like the Law of Supply and Demand is one of the economy's on/off loops. Our spending for land and resources – things that nobody made and everybody needs – constitutes our society's surplus. Those profits without production (remember, nobody produced Earth) can become our commonwealth. To share it, we could pay land dues in to the public treasury (wouldn't oil companies love that?) and get rent dividends back, a la Alaska's oil dividend. Doing so let's us axe taxes and jettison subsidies. Taxes and subsidies distort price (the DNA of exchange), violate quid pro quo by benefiting the well-connected more than anyone else, reinforce hierarchy of state over citizen, and are costly to administer (you don't really need so much bureaucracy, do you?). Conversely, land dues motivate people to not waste sites, resources, and the ecosystem while rent dividends motivate people to not waste themselves. Receiving this income supplement – a Citizens Dividend – people can invest in their favorite technology or outgrow being "economan" and shrink their overbearing workweek in order to enjoy more time with family, friends, community, and nature. Then in all that free time, maybe we could figure out just what we are here for.
a POV that Spain's president might try. A few blocks from my room in Madrid at a book fair to promote literacy, Sr Zapatero, while giving autographs and high fives to kids, said books are very expensive and he'd see about getting the value added tax on them cut down to zero. (El Pais, June 4; see, politicians can grasp geo-logic.) But why do we raise the cost of any useful product? Why not tax useless products? Even more basic: is being better than a costly tax good enough? Our favorite replacement for any tax is no tax: instead, run government like a business and charge full market value for the permits it issues, such as everything from corporate charters to emission allowances to resource leases. These pieces of paper are immensely valuable, yet now our steward, the state, gives them away for nearly free, absolutely free in some cases. Government is sitting on its own assets and needs merely to cash in by doing what any rational entity in the economy does – negotiate the best deal. Then with this profit, rather than fund more waste, pay the stakeholders, we citizenry, a dividend. Thereby geonomics gets rid of two huge problems. It replaces taxes with full-value fees and replaces subsidies for special interests with a Citizens Dividend for people in general. Neither left nor right, this reform is what both nature lovers and liberty lovers need to promote, right now.
a neologism for sharing "rent" or "social surplus" – the money we spend on the nature we use. When we buy land, such as the land beneath a home, we typically pay the wrong person – the homeowner. Instead, since land cost us nothing to make and is the common heritage of us all, rather than pay the owner, we should pay ourselves, our neighbors, our community. That is, we should all pay land dues to the public treasury, then our government would pay us land dividends from this collected revenue. It's similar to the Alaska oil dividend, almost $2,000 last year. Indeed, the annual rental value of land, oil, all other natural resources, including the broadcast spectrum and other government-granted permits such as corporate charters, totals several trillion dollars each year. It's so much that some could be spent on basic social services, the rest parceled out as a dividend, as Tom Paine suggested, and taxes (except any on natural rents) could be abolished, as Thomas Jefferson suggested. Were we sharing Earth by sharing her worth, territorial disputes would be fewer, less intense, and more resolvable.
an answer for Jonathan of the Green Party (Nov 7): "What does 'share our surplus' mean?" Our surplus is the values that society generates synergistically. It's the money we spend on the nature we use: on land sites, natural resources, EM spectrum, ecosystem services (assimilating pollutants). It's also the money we pay to holders of government-granted privileges like corporate charters. We could share it by paying for the nature we use and privileges we hold to the public treasury then getting back a fair share of the recovered revenue. Used to be, owners did owe rent ("own" and "owe" used to be one word). And presently, some lucky residents do get back periodic dividends: Alaska's oil dividend and Aspen Colorado's housing assistance. Doing that, instead of subsidizing bads while taxing goods, is the essence of geonomics. Jonathan: "Is local currency what you mean?" Editor: It's not. Community currency is a good reform, but every good reform pushes up site values. That makes land an even more tempting object of speculation. Now, any good will eventually do bad by widening the income gap – until you share land values.
shaped by reality. In the 1980′s, the Swedish government doubled its stock transfer tax. Tax receipts, however, rose only 15%, since traders simply fled to London exchanges. Fearing a further exodus, the Swedish government quickly rescinded the tax altogether. (The New York Times, April 20) That willingness to tax anything leads us astray. Pushing us astray is that unwillingness to pay what we owe: rent for land, our common heritage. Assuming land value is up for grabs, we speculate. We cap the property tax on both land and buildings and the rate at which assessments can go up; while real market values rise quicker, assessments can never catch up. Our stewards, the Bureau of Land Management, routinely sell and lease sites below market value, often to insiders, says the Government Accounting Office. Once we grasp that rent is ours to share, we'll collect it all, rather than let it enrich a few, and quit taxing earnings, which do belong to the individual earner. That shift is geonomic policy.
a scientific look at how we divvy up the work and the wealth, how some of us end up with too much or too little effort or reward. That's partly due to Ricardo's Law of Rent, showing how wasteful use of Earth cuts wages. And it's partly due to how a society's elite runs government around like water boys, dishing out subsidies and tax breaks. While geonomists look political reality right in the eye, without blinking, conventional economists flinch. When Paul Volcker, ex-chief of the Federal Reserve, moved on to a cushy professorship at Princeton cum book contract, the crush of deadlines bore down. So Volcker asked a junior associate to help with the book. The guy refused, explaining that giving serious consideration to policy would ruin his academic career. The ex-Fed chief couldn't believe it and asked the department chair if truly that were the case. That head honcho pondered the question then replied no, not if he only does it once. And economics was AKA political economy!
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No one wants advice – only corroboration.
Freedom is nothing but a chance to be better.
A man must not deny his manifest abilities, for that is to evade his obligations.
When I was a boy I was told that anybody could become President; I'm beginning to believe it.
The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.
Be who you are and be that well.
If all economists were laid end to end, they would not reach a conclusion.
Even if you're on the right track, you will get run over if you just sit there.
It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare.
It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly American criminal class except Congress.


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Banepa, Nepal Hiking & Trekking - The trek offers the spectacular mountain scenery along with charming villages inhabited particularly by the Gurungs & Magars, dense rhododendron forests full of birds and deep sub-tropical valleys, all set below the Annapurnas...
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Kathmandu, Nepal Hiking & Trekking - Third Eye Adventure is a private tour company situated in Kathmandu Nepal. We organise sightseeing trips around UNESCO world heritage sites in the Kathmandu Valley, as well as multi-day hiking trips through the Himalayas of Nepal, Tibet & Bhutan.
Bagmati, Nepal Hiking & Trekking - Trekking in Nepal Himalayas Nepal Trekking A trek in Nepal is a special and rewarding mountain holiday. Nepal's geographical conditions make for some of the most exciting and breathtaking trekking the world has to offer. Nepal i
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Go hiking & trekking on your vacation. Enjoy the outdoors, get some fresh air and view the beautiful scenery on our Nepal hiking trips. Our trekking tours are a great way to see the natural landscape. Guided hiking trips are a fun activity for people of all ages and abilities. Experienced guides will help you identify the native plants and animals in the area on our Nepal hiking tours. Our trekking trips are great for backpacking adventures. Hike through the forest with a small group on our guided treks and meet people who share the same interest in activities. Browse our Nepal hiking and trekking and plan your adventure today!
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Lowe Alpine Capricorn S/S Shirt Mens
- £39.99
- Our Price
- £31.99
This stylish short sleeved shirt is a master of all trades, you can wear it on a safari trek and its Desert Weave high-wicking material will keep you cool and dry, yet it's smart enough to wear round town later in the holiday. So save weight and space in your luggage, instead of taking two different shirts, just get one of these.
- Brand
- Lowe Alpine
- Who should use it - and why
- For trek or safari this short- sleeved shirt is not too loud and will keep you cool.
Other products you might be interested in...
Rab Alpine Trek Shorts
The Alpine Trek Shorts from Rab are a lightweight pair of...
RRP £39.99 £34.99offer
Rab Aeon Tee Mens
Weighing in at only 95 grams, the Rab Aeon tee is the perfect...


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In Pictures: Yahoo, you're dead! 8 services in Yahoo's graveyard
More casualties of Yahoo's attempts to narrow the focus
More casualties of Yahoo's attempts to narrow the focus
Tim Cook admires Macs running Windows. Mark Zuckerberg flop-sweats. Marissa Mayer fancies herself a graphic designer. The bigger the names, the bigger the embarrassment when things go awry.
Salesforce.com's annual Dreamforce conference will kick off next week in San Francisco, and with a reported 120,000 people registered to attend in person and virtually, it will be the cloud software vendor's biggest shindig yet.
Apple, Microsoft, Google and Cisco are flush with cash, and so are many other tech companies
Yahoo is closing its only remaining office in China and laying off between 200 and 300 employees there, news reports said on Wednesday.
Nintendo and DeNA team on mobile games...Opponents to spar at H-1B Senate hearing Tuesday...Apple said to have online TV service plans...and more tech news.
In an effort to simplify authentication for its services, Yahoo has introduced a new mechanism that allows users to log in with temporary passwords that are sent to their mobile phones.
With the backing of Google and Microsoft, the FIDO Alliance wants to kill passwords through biometrics like fingerprints and eye scans. Yahoo, however, is trying a different approach--one that looks a lot like the two-factor authentication we have no...
BlackBerry teams with Samsung, IBM on a secure tablet...Alibaba shows face recognition for payments...Yahoo adds encryption to email... and more tech news.
Question-and-answer sites like Yahoo Answers may offer a quick way to ask questions and get answers, but they tend to be plagued by wisecracks, poor spelling, and generally low quality. On the other hand, a new site targeting this niche, Quora, is go...
Politics collided with the world of technology this year as stories about U.S. government spying stirred angst both among the country's citizens and foreign governments, and the flawed HeathCare.gov site got American health-care reform off to a rocky...
Thanks to iCloud, syncing an iPhone with a Mac is a piece of cake. But Mac users who don't buy into the whole "one vendor to rule them all" thing will find that syncing an Android phone with OS X isn't quite as easy. That said, it isn't terribly diff...
Screw Android 2.2. Forget the new iPhone. Nokia and Yahoo have some news.
When life seems confusing it is only logical that we should turn to the Internet to get all the answers. Unfortunately, for some people who pose questions on Yahoo! Answers, an answer isn't all they need. Get ready for a laugh as we count down the to...
Microsoft and Yahoo, I now pronounce you husband and wife.
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First impression on unpacking the Q702 test unit was the solid feel and clean, minimalist styling.
For work use, Microsoft Word and Excel programs pre-installed on the device are adequate for preparing short documents.
The Fujitsu LifeBook UH574 allowed for great mobility without being obnoxiously heavy or clunky. Its twelve hours of battery life did not disappoint.
The screen was particularly good. It is bright and visible from most angles, however heat is an issue, particularly around the Windows button on the front, and on the back where the battery housing is located.
My first impression after unboxing the Q702 is that it is a nice looking unit. Styling is somewhat minimalist but very effective. The tablet part, once detached, has a nice weight, and no buttons or switches are located in awkward or intrusive positions.


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All Tour of Flanders: Page 1
Eight Tour of Flanders wildcard picks announced
- By VeloNews.com
- Published Feb. 13, 2015
Tour of Flanders unveils 2015 route
- By Matthew Beaudin
- Published Nov. 25, 2014
- Updated Nov. 25, 2014 at 4:59 PM EDT
The Tour of Flanders route will look very similar to its 2014 running. What's that mean for Cancellara, Boonen and company?
Injured Flanders spectator out of coma
- By VeloNews.com
- Published May. 7, 2014
Sixty-five-year-old injured in collision with Johan Vansummeren is awake and moving in a Belgian hospital
In the News: Hoste denies selling Flanders to Boonen
- By VeloNews.com
- Published May. 1, 2014
Michael Barry claims the 2006 Tour of Flanders was set up
No dominators: Spring classics 2014 were waged on parity
- By Andrew Hood
- Published Apr. 28, 2014
- Updated Oct. 30, 2014 at 5:36 PM EDT
Simon Gerrans' victory in Liège-Bastogne-Liège capped a spring classics season that was wide open and unpredictable in the peloton
Van Avermaet wants Roubaix revenge following Flanders runner-up
- By Andrew Hood
- Published Apr. 10, 2014
The Belgian wants to pour the frustration of being close to victory at Flanders into his pedals for another strong ride at Paris-Roubaix
Pro Power Analysis: Michael Hepburn's big day at Flanders
- By Dirk Friel
- Published Apr. 9, 2014
TrainingPeaks staff analyzes the power profile of Australian Michael Hepburn at the Ronde van Vlaanderen
Gallery: Inside the Ronde van Vlaanderen
- By BrakeThrough Media
- Published Apr. 8, 2014
- Updated Oct. 30, 2014 at 5:35 PM EDT
BrakeThrough Media captures the emotion and energy of the Tour of Flanders, from Brugge to Oudenaarde
Phinney gains cobbled experience in Flanders debut
- By Gregor Brown
- Published Apr. 7, 2014
The American finished 4:12 behind winner Fabian Cancellara in his Tour of Flanders debut
Cancellara taps into monument experience for historic Flanders win
- By Andrew Hood
- Published Apr. 7, 2014
The Swiss rider made the right moves at the right times before sprinting to victory


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Results tagged ' Adrian Beltre '
A Team Takes Shape
One week from Opening Day and the Opening Day roster is starting to take shape for the Texas Rangers.
Gone are non-roster veterans Ryan Ludwick and Nate Shierholtz. Nick Tepesch and Anthony Ranaudo will not appear in the starting rotation. At this point, only the utility infield position is available on the offensive side and three bullpen slots are open.
Here's what the Rangers are looking like so far:
1B Prince Fielder
2B Rougned Odor
SS Elvis Andrus
3B Adrian Beltre
C Robinson Chirinos
C Carlos Corporan
DH Mitch Moreland
LF Ryan Rua
LF Jake Smolinski
CF Leonys Martin
RF Shin-Soo Choo
OF Delino DeShields, Jr.
The only minor surprise here is DeShields making the team as the 5th outfielder. A Rule 5 pick who's never played above Double A, DeShields' speed ended up being the deciding factor that sent the more powerful Ludwick and Shierholtz to pondering what to do next with their careers.
The only remaining offensive position open is utility infielder. Adam Rosales is still the favorite to get that slot. He's had a good camp and was a good complementary piece a year ago. Yet there are still 4 utility infield candidates still in camp: Rosales, Ed Lucas, Elliot Johnson and Tommy Field. Field has been a slight surprise. The former Texas State athlete has played in just about every game in spring training and shown some pop with two home runs. Field has had a couple of cups of coffee in the bigs with Colorado and the LA Angels, but got released by both the Angels and the Pirates last year. I still don't think Field makes the club but will instead be the starting second baseman at AAA Round Rock. I do think if Rougned Odor has a sophomore slump that Field would become a consideration as a starting replacement instead of Rosales, who would stay in a utility role. Lucas and Johnson? They'll probably be released and signed just before Opening Day by another club.
Over to the pitchers. Here's your Rangers rotation:
Yovani Gallardo
Derek Holland
Colby Lewis
Ross Detwiler
Nick Martinez
Martinez won the 5th starter slot on the basis of a strong spring 0.84 ERA, capped off by six scoreless innings in his last start. He ended 2014 strong and came out firing bullets in '15. Tepesch, who also spent most of last season in Texas, showed the same tendencies that have dogged him in his career thus far. Great the first time through the order, considerably more hittable the second and third times through. He still has a shot at making the team in long relief, where he'd only need to face a line-up one time through.
The bullpen is more problematic. There are seven openings and thus far, these are the only sure bets:
Neftali Feliz (closer)
Tanner Scheppers (8th inning)
Shawn Tolleson (7th inning)
Sam Freeman
Freeman is a southpaw just picked up from the Cardinals. Before his acquisition, rookie Alex Claudio was the only lefty remaining in camp and he was starting to have troubles against left-handed batters in games. Freeman has a few years in the bigs under his belt and has a bullpen slot even though he just joined the team.
As for the other three slots? It's anyone's guess. A good case can be made for rookie Keone Kela, who has yet to give up a run in 8.1 innings this spring. He's allowed only two hits and struck out 10. Other candidates are Tepesch (10.38) ERA, Jon Edwards (1.69, 17 K's in 10.2 IP), Phil Klein (9.00 ERA), Kyuji Fujikawa (1.35 ERA), Lisalverto Bonilla (9.00 ERA) and Anthony Bass (9.00 ERA). Ross Ohlendorf (0.00 ERA, 1 hit and 11 K's in 5.1 IP) will have a role with the Rangers, but minor injuries will keep him off the active roster Opening Day. Rangers brass hope he'll be ready by May.
The bullpen doesn't sound very impressive, but most teams don't know how good their bullpen truly is for at least the first third of the season. You can also bet at least one waiver claim will bring someone new to the roster and at least one other slot becomes interchangeable with a shuttle going back and forth from Arlington to Round Rock.
Seven days left to Opening Day. It can't get here soon enough.
Looking Ahead To 2015: Center Field
There's an insurance commercial that airs down in this part of the country that shows a guy driving an ice cream truck when it gets a flat tire. As he gets out and disgustedly looks at the tire, he hears a bell ring and realizes he's broken down right in front of a school just as they're dismissing for the day. The announcer then says, "Now THAT's a pleasant surprise!"
That's kind of the feeling as it applied to Leonys Martin for the Texas Rangers. No, he didn't put up MVP type numbers, He didn't lead the league in hitting. It was just a pleasant surprise that he was about the only Rangers regular who WASN'T injured in 2014.
As a result, the Cuban immigrant played in 155 of a possible 162 games and posted a .277/.325/.364 slash line with 7 home runs and 40 RBI. He added a team leading 31 steals, 17 bunt singles in 29 attempts and was second to Adrian Beltre in runs scored.
While it was a decent enough offensive year, defense is where Martin shines. Blessed with a cannon for an arm, Leonys got credit for 11 outfield assists and assisted on three double plays. He threw out eight runners at home. His arm was so respected that of the 22 times a fly ball was hit to him with a runner on third and less than two outs, the runner stayed on third 7 times. With a runner on second and less than two outs, the runners stayed put 22 out of 40 times. The American League is well aware of the strong, accurate arm of Leonys Martin. Thanks to that defense, Martin compiled a 4.6 WAR by Baseball-Reference, a 3.5 WAR by Fangraphs. Both were second among Rangers offensive players to Adrian Beltre.
So yes, 2014 was a pretty good year for the almost 27-year-old outfielder, especially considering he was also dealing with the trial of a man who essentially kidnapped him in Mexico after he defected from Cuba. This year, pretty good needs to be even better.
There's a lot of pressure on Leonys, more pressure than he's ever had. This year, he won't bat near the bottom of the order as he has in the past. This year, Leonys Martin is the Rangers' lead-off hitter.
To thrive in that role, Martin is going to have to do two things: improve his walk rate and cut down on his strikeout rate. A decent lead-off hitter should have an OBP of around .345. Martin a year ago was at .325. His walk percentage was 6.7% and he struck out 19.6% of the time. By contrast, Coco Crisp of the A's walked 11.8% and struck out only 12.4% of the time. Better contact, better understanding of the strike zone, cut down on the caught stealing (he got nailed 12 times in 2014), all while continuing to play superior defense. That's what the Rangers need Martin to accomplish this year.
GM Jon Daniels doesn't believe Leonys has reached his ceiling yet as a player. I'm not convinced he'll be able to top last year's offensive output. Besides the walk and strikeout rates, he needs to improve his numbers against southpaws. While he hit a respectable enough .250 against lefties, his OBP was only .287 and his Slugging Percentage .294, compared to .337 and .388 respectively against righthanders.
If Martin maintains the same WAR in 2015 as he did in 2014, it's a sign he and the team did okay in 2015.
Texas Rangers Fan Fest 2015
I recently relocated from the Rio Grande Valley to the Austin area, so naturally when I had the chance, I somehow managed to bypass going to the Rangers' Winter Caravan stop in Round Rock, just a 45 minute drive away. Instead, I chose to make the 3 hour plus drive to Arlington to attend the annual Rangers Fan Fest with my son, who lives in the area.
This was my second Fan Fest, having attended the 2011 gathering at the Arlington Convention Center just three months after the Rangers' first ever World Series appearance. Fan Fest has gotten so big now that the Rangers have moved it to Globe Life Park, opening up the entire stadium to the fans.
Being among the first 5,000 in line (waiting over an hour in 36 degree "comfort"), we each received 5 scratch-off lottery tickets for the chance to get an autograph from the Big 5: Prince Fielder, Shin-Soo Choo, Elvis Andrus, Adrian Beltre and Pudge Rodriguez. Unfortunately, only 750 of the 25,000 tickets distributed were winners. As you can see, I was not one of the lucky 750. My son, however, had a winner and got Prince Fielder's autograph. His impression? "That guy has some GUNS!"
There were plenty of other autograph opportunities but they weren't announced until just a few minutes before the session. I was originally in a line to get autographs from Rangers prospects Chi Chi Gonzalez and Spencer Patton but then saw an announcement that propelled me to leave my current location and go halfway around the ballpark (sorry Chi Chi and Spencer!). Thus I was fortunate enough to get Nick Tepesch to sign my Rangers cap and Matt Harrison to ink my 2010 AL Champions T-shirt.
Then it was on to a Q&A session with Rangers GM Jon Daniels. It was still early so I got a front row seat and even got to ask him a couple of questions. First one: How many calls and texts does it take to complete a trade such as the one that netted the Rangers Yovani Gallardo from the Brewers? Answer: Sometimes just a few, sometimes a lot. Gallardo was just a few… and Daniels says Brewers GM Doug Melvin doesn't text much, he prefers talking directly to people. Second question: With hundreds of players in the minor league system, how do the Rangers communicate with them? Is there an employee newsletter or something? Answer: Not really. The managers, coaches and scouts grade every player in every game and share the info with each other but the players usually only know what's really going on by following each other on social media to find out who's moving up, getting traded, released, etc. Interesting tidbit: No matter how many people are in the room, Daniels looks the person who asked the question in the eye throughout his answer. Impressive!
It was good to get to Fan Fest early because after a couple of hours, it became clear to us there would be no other autographs to get. At 11:30 more than 200 people were in line at one location for a 2 pm autograph session and the same held true at all the autograph locations. Thus we decided to walk around and see the other sites.
The home clubhouse was open but the line was too long. There was no waiting to get to the hitting cages, though. There we saw this "Hitter's Prayer" on the wall and a couple of cracked batting practice bats, including this custom Adrian Beltre model.
We also attended a Q&A with new Rangers skipper Jeff Bannister. He's not the charismatic rah-rah type like Ron Washington, but he's just as passionate about the game. He's a little more sabermetric oriented than Wash and, unlike his predecessor, is unlikely to bunt a lot in the early innings. The cancer survivor Bannister's mantra, which got a lot of crowd applause, was "Never Ever Quit!"
Other items of interest. As I was walking out of the Rangers Hall of Fame, I suddenly realized the newest member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, Rangers radio announcer Eric Nadel, was right behind me. Nadel stands 6-1 or 6-2 so I told him he was taller than I expected. His response: "I sound shorter on the radio."
In the gift shop, we noticed then Rangers still have shirts for one of their minor league players who likely will never face major league pitching, or minor league pitching for that matter: current Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson.
Strangest sight of all: I'm used to seeing tarp over the infield grass and dirt during a rain delay but, due to the mid-30's early morning weather, I don't think I'd ever seen tarp over ALL of the grass on the field!
Now the only bad thing is there's still over two months to go before the Season Opener. Thanks to Fan Fest, I'm ready NOW!
It's Time
I started this blog in 2010, the year the Rangers first went to the World Series. The original name of the blog was "The Futility Ends Here". After about a week, I knew it wasn't a very catchy title so I changed it to "World Series 40 Rangers Fan 0″. Much better. And it made it sweet when the season ended with the Rangers going to the World series for the first time in my then 40 years of Rangers fandom. For the Rangers, their marketing slogan for the 2010 season was, "It's Time." A more prophetic baseball slogan was never made.
Flash forward five years. Here at the All-Star break, the shell that remains of the Texas Rangers hobble into the break with baseball's worst record. Where once I wrote of the exploits of Josh Hamilton, Michael Young, Adrian Beltre, Elvis Andrus, Nelson Cruz and even David Murphy, now all that remains is Beltre, Andrus, Rios, Choo and a bunch of young and/or underperforming offensive players. A pitching staff that once included Cliff Lee, CJ Wilson, Derek Holland, Matt Harrison, a younger Colby Lewis and one of the top relief corps in baseball is now composed of Yu Darvish at the front end, Joakim Soria at the back-end and very little of consequence in between.
So bad the Rangers situation has become, they limp into the All-Star break losers of 19 of their last 22 games. Texas (and the Washington Senators that preceded them) has had some pretty bad teams in their 53 years of existence but NONE of them have been as bad as losing 19 of 22 games. Honestly, if I didn't know it from reading the box scores every day (it's become too painful to even watch more than a handful of games on TV), I wouldn't believe it possible. After all, even without all the injured players, the Rangers still have talent on this team: Beltre, Andrus, Alex Rios, Shin Soo Choo, Leonys Martin, Darvish and Soria. There have been historically bad teams in baseball for whom you'd be hard-pressed to find even two names worthy of putting on the list of talented players. For example, can anyone name more than two Houston Astros from 2o12-2013 worth mentioning? Still, this is where the Rangers find themselves.
Having a bad team does not make it harder to write about a team. Sometimes it can lead to more story ideas than a winning team provides. Among the thoughts I've had in recent weeks: spinning an old Paul Simon tune into a treatise on 50 Ways To Lose A Ballgame ("Give up a slam, Sam, Walk in a run, Son…"), wonderful words about the defensive work of catcher Robinson Chirinos, asking if should Jon Daniels get the blame for 2014 or is this a fluke season, talking about the newest Ranger to make his big-league début, Jake Smolinski, riffing on how great the Rangers farm system has been record-wise in 2014, opining whether Ron Washington should pay the price for the poor season, talking up minor league prospect Joey Gallo (who made headlines at the All-Star Futures game), scattershooting trade possibilities at the July deadline, etc. See? No shortage of ideas here.
Instead, I'm going to borrow a phrase from that 2010 Rangers marketing campaign. It's Time. Time to retire the blog that I've devoted so much time to for the past five seasons. It isn't because the Rangers are losing now. It's because coming up with 500+ words to say on a regular enough basis to keep readers coming back is getting more and more difficult to do. Life has a way of throwing things in the way of the things you like to do in your spare time and my spare time has had an "S" added to it: spare has become sparse. I'm in the process of relocating to a different part of the state (and job hunting is part of that process). The desire to write about the Rangers hasn't abated. The time to do it has.
So, rather than put out a piece once every two or three weeks, I'm just going to shut it down for the rest of the season. Maybe I'll have more time to devote to Rangers writing in 2015. My devotion to the team will not change, only the writing about it. You can still find me on Twitter (@Rangersblogger) where I'll send out in-game comments when I can. This space, however, is going dark for the foreseeable future.
I thank everyone who has been a regular reader of this space, including The Angels Ace and This Is A Very Simple Game; The Wrigley Regular; all the Rangers fans who have followed me; and especially my son Erik, who has shared in my love for the Texas Rangers since childhood and it remains a constant source of conversation between us. To you and all the others I haven't mentioned (and never got a chance to know), I'm grateful you took the time to read my sometimes meandering prose.
Post All-Star break will see the returns of Geovany Soto, Jim Adduci and Derek Holland. Hopefully that makes the season's second half better than the first. Whether it does or not, I still say: GO RANGERS!!!
Texas Rangers Stars Of The Week: 6/2-6/8
Every Monday, this space names the Texas Rangers Stars of the Week. These are the guys who went above and beyond during the previous week. Each week two position players and one pitcher get special mentions. For position players, there's a Star of the Week for a full week's performance and one recognizing an outstanding single game. The pitching Star of the Week could be either.
Position Player Star of the Week (Single Game and Full Week):
Nobody in the Rangers line-up is more necessary offensively these days more than Adrian Beltre. The Rangers must rely on the unquestioned leader of the clubhouse and team now that most of the potential power in the line-up has been lost to injuries. Over the past week, Beltre has not disappointed. Adrian gets the Star of the Week for the full week on the basis of a 6-game split of .478/.458/.957. Beltre scored six of the Rangers 27 runs for the week and claimed responsibility for 8 of Texas' RBI for the week. Adrian also gets the Star of the Week for a single game for his exploits during the Rangers 6-5 loss to the Orioles. Beltre accounted for all 5 Texas runs on two home runs, a 3-run shot off the Orioles' Bud Norris in the first inning, followed by a 2-run poke in the 5th off Norris again. If anyone keeps the Rangers contending over the long hot summer to come, Beltre's your guy. Here are Beltre's two bombs from Wednesday's game:
The week turned out miserably for the Rangers pitching staff. Joe Saunders led the starters in ERA at 3.18 but also gave up 17 hits in only 11 1/3 innings. Yu Darvish had a gritty performance on a night when his stuff wasn't great but still allowed a 3-run home run for the first time in his MLB career. Even the bullpen had it rough. Tanner Scheppers returned from the DL and gave up home runs in each of his first two appearances. Robbie Ross Jr. had one great relief appearance against the Orioles but then had a rough outing against the Indians. Through all this, there was one picture of steadiness on the Texas pitching staff: the old veteran Jason Frasor. The former Blue Jay appeared in four games over the past week and the 38-year-old allowed only a single hit and no runs in four innings of work. For the year, Frasor has the lowest ERA on the pitching staff at 1.64 over 22 innings and 25 appearances. He hasn't given up a run since May 17th and hasn't allowed an earned run since May 14th.
The Week That Was & The Week That Will Be
Another week, another injury or two, another way to look at this team and say, "Is this REALLY the Texas Rangers? Come on, Donnie Murphy is your starting first baseman? And Joe Saunders is your #2 pitcher? This is a joke, right?"
Rangers fans wish it was a joke. But this is what the Rangers are going to look like pretty much the rest of the year, so we might as well get used to it. The players on the DL are better than the players actually participating in the games. Here's your DL line-up now:
OF Jim Adduci
OF Engel Beltre
SP Martin Perez
OK, we're missing a shortstop, an outfielder and an entire bullpen but you get the picture. The 2014 Texas Rangers are going nowhere fast and, seeing that the Houston Astros are starting to make a little noise, it's now totally conceivable for the Rangers to finish in LAST place in the AL West. Let that sink in. LAST PLACE. The last time the Rangers were cellar dwellers was 2007, the first year of the Ron Washington era. I know, I know. The Rangers are a respectable 31-32, only a couple of games out of the Wild Card berth. True, but you can see the train wreck coming from a mile away. Wash is a great motivator of talent. He'll get them to play at a very high level but eventually, the talent level shows. It happened a year ago when Nelson Cruz got suspended for the last 50 games. Texas came out like gangbusters at first but whimpered through September and were lucky to force a one game added regular season playoff with Tampa Bay for the right to play in the Wild Card game. This team is considerably worse than that team, talent-wise. The starting pitching is Yu Darvish and 4 guys who are, at best, #4 in the rotation pitchers. And that's being kind. Derek Holland will return after the All-Star break but there's no guarantee he'll look like a #3 from the first start.
With the latest injury, Mitch Moreland's ankle, Texas truly has no options at first base. There are a couple of guys at AAA being worked out at first base but none with regular experience there: Brad Snyder, Jim Adduci and J.P. Arencibia. Adduci just jammed the finger he broke and was rehabbing from so he's not available right away. Arencibia had a very offensively unproductive month and a half with the Rangers and Snyder, while a power hitter, is also a strikeout machine. On the big league level, Murphy played the corner Sunday, while catchers Chris Giminez and Robinson Chirinos have both played first in the minors. None of these are very good options. I'm reasonably sure Jon Daniels is going to have to work out a trade with someone and he's going to give up more than they should because the other GM's know they've got him over a barrel. I suppose longtime fans could hold out hope for Michael Young to come out of retirement and man first base the rest of the year. Even if that were to occur, Young would need to ramp up and wouldn't be available until the All-Star break at the earliest. Even then, as inconsistent as the offense has been, I honestly think Texas needs starting pitching help even more. You can't have any hope of winning when four of your five starting pitchers are giving you only a hair more than 5 innings per start.
So, the Rangers got through the last week at 2-4, dropping two of three to the Orioles followed by winning only Yu Darvish's start in three weekend games with the Indians, all at home. This week isn't any better. After closing the 4-game set with Cleveland on Monday, Texas closes out the homestand with two against the surprising Miami Marlins. Then it's on the road again for the West Coast swing that likely will seal the fate of the Rangers for 2014. It starts with three in Seattle against the third place Mariners, followed by three in Oakland against the first place A's and ending with three in Anaheim with the second place Angels. Meanwhile, the resurgent Astros have their next two weeks filled with the Arizona Diamondbacks (last in the NL West), the Washington Nationals (3rd in the AL East) and 7 games with the Tampa Bay Rays (last in the AL East, worst record in the AL). It's not a far out thought that the Rangers could be in the AL West cellar two weeks from today.
Scoreboard watching has definitely lost its flavor to me this season.
Final Reminder: A Father's Day Gift Idea
Back in my college days as a Radio/TV major, I had the pleasure of knowing a classmate who went on to portray a character who, while only spending a few short minutes on the screen at the end of the movie, left an indelible mark with many baseball fans. His name is Dwier Brown and he portrayed Kevin Costner's father at the end of the classic "Field of Dreams." I recently discovered Dwier has published a book called "If You Build It- A Book About Fathers, Fate and Field of Dreams". He is now on a Midwest book tour, appearing a minor league stadiums and the like. It's both memoir and stories people have told him through the years about what the movie meant to them and their own relationships with their fathers. One of my fellow Baseball Bloggers Alliance members, The Hall of Very Good, has done a 2-part interview with Dwier about the movie and the book. You can read both parts of the interview here:
The book sounds like a great Father's Day gift as well. You can order it at his website, dwierbrown.com.
Texas Rangers Stars Of The Week: 5/26-6/1
Every Monday, this space names the Texas Rangers Stars of the Week. These are the guys who went above and beyond during the previous week. Each week two position players and one pitcher get special mentions. For position players, there's a Star of the Week for a full week's performance and one recognizing an outstanding single game. The pitching Star of the Week could be either.
Position Player Star of the Week (Single Game):
These days, when Texas gets some offense it's coming from all sources. Thus it's hard to come up with a single game Star of the Week at times. The biggest RBI day came from Shin-Soo Choo, who knocked in the first three runs of one game against the Twins with a second inning bases loaded double. While impressive on the face, I'm giving this week's award to a guy who knocked in only one run and qualifies as another of those unlikely stars we'll see from the Rangers this year. Donnie Murphy started the season as part of the second base platoon with Josh Wilson. Then in one fell swoop, Murphy went on the DL, Wilson got demoted to Round Rock and they got replaced by Rougned Odor and Luis Sardinas. Murphy got activated from the DL when Prince Fielder was lost for the season and Sunday, he had to do something he's never done before: play first base on the major league level. Murphy not only played the position flawlessly, he had three hits batting behind Adrian Beltre at 5th in the order (!) and knocked in the key insurance run in the 8th that gave Yu Darvish a little more of a cushion to work with. The three hits brought his season average up to .238.
Position Player Star of the Week (Full Week):
Overall, the Rangers bats have been a bit warmer of late, with the exception being the power numbers that remain better than the Kansas City Royals but hardly anyone else. Sunday's Leonys Martin homer over the right field wall in Washington was the Rangers first in seven games. In other words, it was the only round tripper the Rangers hit ALL WEEK! Still, there were no fewer than six Texas players who batted .300 or better over the week. The overall Star of the Week goes to catcher Chris Giminez, a player who only joined the Rangers organization at the end of Spring Training, so close to the start of the regular season that Texas had to place him on the Opening Day roster without ever appearing in a Rangers uniform during the exhibition season. Giminez got sent to AAA Round Rock in short order and didn't appear in a game for the Rangers until his recall two weeks ago to replace a completely ineffectual J.P. Arencibia. Over the past week, Giminez has garnered seven hits in four games, which is one less hit than Arencibia managed in 20 games with Texas. Overall, the stat line for Giminez was .438/.438/.625 with three doubles and 3 RBI. Giminez has also become the personal catcher when Yu Darvish is on the mound and it's pretty clear Yu doesn't have any problems with that arrangement. The proof is coming next.
If there's a Rangers fan who doesn't love Yu Darvish, then they are a fan of the New York Rangers hockey team. Meanwhile, Texas Rangers fan love Yu just fine, thank you very much. Sure, there's the occasional debate of whether he's earned "Ace" status yet and we sure don't like the number of times he has a stiff neck and gets scratched from a start. When he takes the mound, though, any start begins with the possibility of magic happening. He's flirted with no-hitters on several occasions and he leads the majors in double-digit strikeout games over the past three seasons. Sunday, Yu's assignment was to slow down a Nationals offense that had battered Rangers pitching for 19 runs in the first two games of the series. Darvish was more than up to the task, going eight strong innings on only 102 pitches, giving up only five hits and two walks while striking out a dozen Nationals. Had the game not been played in Washington, where the pitchers come to bat, Darvish likely would have gone out for the 9th and attempted to finish off his first complete game and first career shutout. But, since Texas only had two runs on the scoreboard in the top of the ninth, Ron Washington decided to send up a pinch hitter for Darvish to try to score an insurance run. Joakim Soria secured the save and Darvish had his fifth win of the season.
The Week That Was & The Week That Will Be
Until Darvish spun his gem on Sunday, the weekend got off to a miserable start when the Nationals won Friday's game 9-2 and added a 10-2 thumping on Saturday. Still, there's nothing for Rangers fans to complain about. They finished the week 4-3 and they finished their longest road trip of the season going a combined 7-4 against the Tigers, the Twins and the Nationals. Yeah they're still only a game above .500 and as close to last place as they are to first in the AL West (5 1/2 games), but they're only a game out of the Wild Card at this point so there's plenty to hope for.
This is a team with a lot of deficiencies: outside of Darvish, the four other starters are as likely to give you less than 5 innings as they are to even get to 6, the defense is still not anything close to what Rangers fans are used to seeing and the always aggressive running game has resulted in way too many caught stealings. A great case in point is right fielder Alex Rios. By all accounts, Rios is having a good season, hitting .320 and leading the Rangers in RBI with 29. Still, while Rios has 11 steals to his credit, he's been caught an ugly seven times already. He may own the Rangers RBI lead but he's also MLB's leader for grounding into double plays with 15 at just the 1/3 mark of the season. And though he's a far better right fielder defensively than his predecessor Nelson Cruz, he has three errors on the season and should have had a fourth on the missed pop-up that got changed to a David Ortiz hit that broke up a Yu Darvish no-hitter.
After 11 games on the road, the Rangers get a day off Monday, then spend the week at home against the Baltimore orioles and the Cleveland Indians. That has more than passing interest to Rangers fans, since the Orioles boast ex-Rangers Cruz, Chris Davis, Darren O'Day and Tommy Hunter (not to mention ex-manager Buck Showalter), followed by an Indians team whose uniform is worn by ex-Ranger David Murphy. Cruz would have been more than happy to stay a Ranger but Jon Daniels wasn't willing to pony up the money to make it happen. Too bad because Cruz is having a career season for the Birds so far this year. Even Murphy has more RBI than Rangers team leader Alex Rios. Record-wise, all three teams are bunched together. The Rangers are 29-28, the Orioles 28-27 and the Indians 27-30. The Orioles get the benefit of not having to face Darvish. With no help coming to the roster via trade in the foreseeable future, a 3-3 record on the week is about what we might expect from a team that has played at about a .500 level all season.
A Father's Day Gift Idea
Back in my college days as a Radio/TV major, I had the pleasure of knowing a classmate who went on to portray a character who, while only spending a few short minutes on the screen at the end of the movie, left an indelible mark with many baseball fans. His name is Dwier Brown and he portrayed Kevin Costner's father at the end of the classic "Field of Dreams." I recently discovered Dwier has published a book called "If You Build It- A Book About Fathers, Fate and Field of Dreams". He is now on a Midwest book tour, appearing a minor league stadiums and the like. It's both memoir and stories people have told him through the years about what the movie meant to them and their own relationships with their fathers. One of my fellow Baseball Bloggers Alliance members, The Hall of Very Good, has done a 2-part interview with Dwier about the movie and the book. You can read both parts of the interview here:
The book sounds like a great Father's Day gift as well. You can order it at his website, dwierbrown.com.
Texas Rangers Stars Of The Week: 5/19-5/26
Every Monday, this space names the Texas Rangers Stars of the Week. These are the guys who went above and beyond during the previous week. Each week two position players and one pitcher get special mentions. For position players, there's a Star of the Week for a full week's performance and one recognizing an outstanding single game. The pitching Star of the Week could be either.
Position Player Star of the Week (Single Game):
The Rangers have both the youngest and the second youngest players in the big leagues and they're platooning at second base. Luis Sardinas is the second youngest but he only plays about 25% of the games at second base. The other 75% goes to the youngest player in the majors, Rougned Odor. While he did wow Rangers fans with an upper deck shot for his first major league home run a couple of weeks ago, he was still hovering at the Mendoza line at the start of the week. But oh what he did on Saturday gave fans their first real inkling why the kid with the funny name (and the younger brother with the same funny name) is one of the top prospects in the Rangers' system. In the top of the fourth inning, with the Rangers leading 2-1, Odor smacked a line drive that went just over the glove of Miguel Cabrera and down the right field line. By the time the Tigers' Torii Hunter got it back to the infield, Roogie was standing on third base with a triple and two RBI to make it 4-1. Three innings later, Odor faced highly touted rookie Corey Knebel, making his major league début. With the bases full of Rangers, Odor went deep to right, just missing a home run and ending up with the same result, a triple. This one plated three runs. In the ninth, Odor blooped a double to left off knuckleball throwing utility player Danny Worth and came home to score on a Michael Choice double to close out a 12-2 Rangers victory. Odor's final line: 4 for 5 with a run, an infield single, a double, two triples and 5 RBI. Meanwhile in Arizona, injured second baseman Jurickson Profar must have felt a chill go down his spine. Here's the video of Odor's big day:
Position Player Star of the Week (Full Week):
For the first time in three weeks, there was some competition for the Offensive Player of the Week. The middle of the line-up, Alex Rios and Adrian Beltre, both performed in above average fashion, hitting above .400 with an OPS above 1.000. Still, there's a lot to like about how the bottom third of the Rangers order hit and even more to like about the change made at catcher. At the start of the week, the Rangers optioned J.P. Arencibia to AAA Round Rock after only managing to accrue eight hits in 60 at bats over the course of 20 games. Even for a player with power potential, a .133 average isn't going to cut it in the big leagues, especially if you add two passed balls, seven wild pitches allowed, two errors and just an 18% caught stealing rate. Texas recalled Chris Gimenez, a journeyman catcher playing for his fourth big league team in five years. All Gimenez did was get five hits in his first three games, 62.5% of the total Arencibia managed in 20. While Rios and Beltre played more games with bigger success in all departments, Giminez added instant offense to a position that woefully lacked all season long, getting 5 hits in his first 13 at bats with a double and two RBI. Gimenez got himself a lot of new fans and Twitter followers over the past seven days.
The toughest part about the last couple weeks of Rangers baseball is knowing that beyond Yu Darvish, it is doubtful a Rangers starting pitcher is even going to make it to six innings, let alone seven. Colby Lewis, considering his age and the injuries he's coming back from, is probably six innings max on a good day. Robbie Ross Jr. was getting shelled and got moved back to the bullpen, Scott Baker got a start and will get replaced this week by Joe Saunders, Nick Tepesch just got recalled from Round Rock and hasn't yet established what we can expect from him. And then there's Nick Martinez. Following two early season starts, Martinez went to the bullpen for five games, then returned to a starting role due to the season-ending injuries to Martin Perez and Matt Harrison. His first two starts back in the rotation have been against two of the highest powered offenses in the American League. Against the Blue Jays May 18th, the rookie gave up only a single run in five innings of work. Saturday, he drew the start against 7-1 Rick Porcello and the Detroit Tigers, featuring three of the AL's top hitters in former Ranger Ian Kinsler, Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez. While Porcello was getting shelled for the first time this season, Martinez more than held up his end, going six strong innings and giving up just a single run. Martinez has yet to top six innings in any start but he's shown no fear of big league hitters despite never pitching above AA ball before this year. His performance Saturday was just one of the shots in the arm the Rangers have needed:
The Week That Was & The Week That Will Be
Talk about taking the bad with the good or the good with the bad. Just a few days ago most folks, including a high percentage of Rangers fans, were ready to write the season off after the announcement that Prince Fielder would be the latest Rangers player to miss the rest of the season due to injury. On the same day, Rangers brass announced Jurickson Profar had re-aggravated his shoulder injury and would miss significantly more time than expected and might not appear with the Rangers until 2015. Add them to the aforementioned losses of Perez and Harrison and you've got the makings of big trouble.
So what did the Rangers do? First, they made several roster changes. Gone was Arencibia, replaced by Gimenez. Fielder got placed on the DL and utility infielder Donnie Murphy got activated. Ross went to the bullpen, Baker was given his next start. And then, to the surprise of just about everyone but their manager, the Rangers started winning again.
It started humbly enough, gaining a split at home with the Mariners before heading out for the longest road trip of the season, 11 games starting with four a AL Central leading Detroit. Despite having been swept in Cleveland, the Tigers already had a big lead in the Central due to a strong starting rotation and an offense that could beat you with both power and speed. Despite long odds, the Rangers went into Detroit and not only took three of four from the Tigers, they beat them into submission by a combined score of 35-15. Along the way, they beat 7-1 Rick Porcello 12-2 and then followed it up by pounding Justin Verlander for nine runs en route to a 12-4 pasting on Sunday. The Claw and Antlers, a staple of the 2010 World Series team, appeared again in the series and Texas got incredible production from the lesser names like Gimenez, Odor, Leonys Martin and Michael Choice.
The road trip continues all this week with a four game set in Minnesota against the surprising Twins (and the original Washington Senators) followed by three in the Rangers' original home of Washington DC as the Senators reincarnated against the current team residing there, the NL East Nationals. The good news is the Rangers have three day games remaining in the week. Last week, all four of their wins came during the day and Texas is now 11-5 in day games following their Memorial Day win over the Twins to start this week. Texas only needs two more wins to garner a winning record for the road trip. If they manage that, which would put them at 3-4 for the week at the least, I think most fans would be happy considering the shape of the current roster.
Please. Make. It. Stop.
If you believe in forever
Then life is but a simple dream
If there's a Rangers DL list
You know you've got a hell of a team
Team, team
Martin gave us shutouts
Derek won Game 4 'gainst St. Loo
And Matty won 18 in two thousand 12
He was gonna mash 50 home runs
Remember Prince that way
They've all found a spot we rue
And that is on the shelf
If you believe in forever
Then life is but a simple dream
If there's a Rangers DL list
You know you've got a hell of a team
Team, team
(Sung to the tune "Rock and Roll Heaven" by The Righteous Brothers)
Just a few short days ago, my wish for the week was to get through the next seven days without another injury. No such luck. In one fell swoop Thursday, Rangers fans found themselves greeted with the news that 1) Prince Fielder is gone for the year because of a herniated disc that requires surgery; 2) Jurickson Profar is probably out for the year after re-aggravating his shoulder injury; and 3) 5th outfielder Daniel Robertson could be headed to the DL. And oh yeah, if Robertson DOES go to the DL it's partly Ian Kinsler's fault! It was the ex-Ranger's pop fly which resulted in the collision between Robertson and Alex Rios that took Robertson out of the game.
Nobody in baseball has used the disabled list more in 2014 than the Texas Rangers. In fact, one could make the case for the players on the DL being a better team than the one the Rangers now have on the field. Let's do a side by side comparison:
Texas Rangers
2B Rougned Odor
SS Elvis Andrus
RF Alex Rios
SP Yu Darvish
SP Colby Lewis
SP Nick Tepesch
RP Alexi Ogando
RP Robbie Ross
RP Neal Cotts
Texas Rangers DL
LF None
CF Engel Beltre
RF Jim Adduci
DH None
SP Martin Perez
SP Joe Saunders
RP Joseph Ortiz
We'd have to fill in the DL team with an outfielder and DH from AAA Round Rock, which could be Brad Snyder and Bryan Peterson. If Robertson hits the DL, he'd likely replace Snyder, since Snyder then would probably fill his roster spot on the Rangers. Still, while the healthy Texas Rangers offense, even without Prince Fielder, is the superior team to the Rangers DL offense, a case could be made for the Rangers DL pitching staff being stronger than the Rangers Healthy pitching staff. At the very least, three of the four member starting rotation would more than hold their own against the current healthy Rangers rotation.
What has happened to this team in 2014 is beyond comprehension. If there's any silver lining in the dark cloud, it is this: the Rangers, like every team, has insurance policies on all their players to cover such things. Thus, even though Matt Harrison and Prince Fielder by themselves command hefty salaries, the Rangers will recoup part of their salaries to the tune of over $10 million. Thus, it is not beyond reason the Rangers could make a play for one significant free agent still out there, Kendrys Morales. The former Angel and Mariner mashed 23 home runs and knocked in 80 runs for Seattle a year ago and has 10 homers in 32 games at Globe Life Park, the most home runs he has in any visitors park. Picking up Morales, a switch hitter, would allow him to DH when a right-hander is on the mound while playing first base against a southpaw so Mitch Moreland, a career .231 hitter against lefties, isn't exposed.
Of course, knowing the Rangers luck this year, Morales would come in and suffer a season-ending injury within a week, much like Kevin Kouzmanoff when he filled in during Adrian Beltre's early season DL stint. Speaking of which, I have a message for Adrian: DON'T DO ANYTHING THAT WILL AGGRAVATE YOUR HAMSTRING!!! I know you're going to want to play like Superman with Prince gone but you're 35 years old now. You can only do what you can do and if you try to do more, you just might join the Rangers DL team yourself.
On the good news side, the Rangers have won consecutive games for the first time since May 8th and 9th. They haven't had a three game winning streak since April 21st through the 23rd when they swept the first place Oakland A's, of all teams, in Oakland. The giddiness of that sweep seems so long ago now. To make it three in a row, Scott Baker has to better Anibal Sanchez tonight in his first start of the season. After that Nick Martinez, slated to start the season at AA Frisco, squares up against 7-1 Rick Porcello, while Colby Lewis draws Justin Verlander on Sunday. Let's just say the Rangers have their work cut out for them this weekend.
And as for the injuries, I repeat the headline today. Please. Make. It. Stop.
Texas Rangers Stars Of The Week: 4/28-5/4
Every Monday, this space names the Texas Rangers Stars of the Week. These are the guys who went above and beyond during the previous week. Each week two position players and one pitcher get special mentions. For position players, there's a Star of the Week for a full week's performance and one recognizing an outstanding single game. The pitching Star of the Week could be either.
Position Player Star of the Week (Single Game):
After the 3-game debacle that was the home series against the Oakland A's, it was beginning to look doubtful the Rangers would have ANY Star Players of the Week in ANY department. The offense wasn't hitting, the defense wasn't playing well and the pitching was woeful. Then the Rangers took to the road to play the Los Angeles Angels and all was right with the world again. In taking two of three from the Angels, the Rangers not only got back on the winning track, the offense showed a few signs of life again. Even J.P. Arencibia got into the act Sunday with a two-hit performance that raised his batting average up to a whopping .116 (his OPS went from .271 to .420 in the game). Still the Single Game Star of the Week goes to one of the rookies in the line-up, Michael Choice. In Sunday's 14-3 pasting of the Angels, Choice led a balanced offensive attack with two hits in five at bats, including a 3-run blast to left center that broke the game wide open. Choice ended the day with 4 RBI, giving him 12 for the season. The two honorable mentions for the week came from the same game as Choice's winner. Prince Fielder had his first 3-hit game as a Ranger, with two doubles and 3 RBI. And the aforementioned Arencibia came within an eyelash of hitting a grand slam his first time up, only to have the ball caught in a leaping grab at the fence. Had that one cleared, the Rangers catcher would have sat on a 3-hit, 2-home run, 6 RBI game. Baseball is a game of inches, though, and seeing as that first ball was inches short, Choice gets the award by inches.
Position Player Star of the Week (Full Week):
In the series at Oakland, Shin-Soo Choo went down with a badly sprained ankle trying to beat out an infield hit and proceeded to miss the next six games. What Choo has done since returning to the Rangers line-up is nothing short of sensational. In the just-completed series with the Angels, Choo came to the plate 15 times and reached base 12 of those 15 times. That's an On Base Percentage of .800 over a 3-game stretch. For the week, Choo went 8-16 at the plate with a home run and 3 RBI. He also walked six times, two of those intentionally, was hit by a pitch twice, stole a base and scored four runs. For the week, Choo hit .500 with a .667 OBP and an OPS (On-Base plus Slugging Percentage) of 1.354. If The 2-3-4 hitters in the Rangers order (Elvis Andrus, Adrian Beltre and Prince Fielder) start producing the way they have in the past, this Rangers line-up will be plenty dangerous in the weeks and months to come.
After the Oakland series it was doubtful the Pitching Star of the Week was going to come from the starting rotation. Yu Darvish had the shortest outing of his MLB career on Monday and started his second start of the week against the Angels by giving up solo home runs to two of the first three hitters he faced. Previous 2-time winner Martin Perez came down to earth by a patient A's line-up that ballooned his ERA northward by over a run in a single outing. Robbie Ross Jr. had his second consecutive poor outing. Colby Lewis did prove pretty effective against the Angels but Matt Harrison laid an egg in his second start off the DL Saturday. The Rangers bullpen had to do an awful lot on the week, accounting for almost half of all the innings pitched for the week. Which brings us to another rookie making a name for himself with Texas: Nick Martinez. Coming into the season, Martinez had pitched only 32 innings as high as the AA level when he earned a starting nod in the Rangers' 5th game of the season. He returned to AA Frisco after the start, pitched two games and less than ten innings, then returned to the Rangers to fill in as the long reliever, at least until Joe Saunders returned from the DL. After the last week, the question is does Saunders have a place with the Rangers when he's ready to come off the disabled list? In two games this week against the A's and the Angels, Martinez threw 7.2 innings of shutout baseball, allowing only four hits and three walks while striking out four batters. The first game was especially welcome to Ron Washington. Yu Darvish had only gone three and a third against the A's in the first of a 3-game set. Any bullpen breakdown would put the Rangers at a major disadvantage for the rest of the series. After Aaron Poreda finished off the fourth inning for Darvish, Martinez came on and took care of the last five innings of work, allowing the A's only two hits. He followed that up by again relieving Darvish yesterday and taking care of the last two and a third, falling an out short of qualifying for the rare 3-inning save. Martinez could still find himself back in Frisco soon as the Rangers may prefer he get regular work instead of the inconsistent role of the middle reliever. For now, though, Martinez gets his time in the spotlight here.
The Week That Was & The Week That Will Be
Ending the week at 2-4 is probably more than most of us fans expected after Oakland decimated the Rangers in Arlington, outscoring the guys in the white hats (well, actually the red and sometimes blue caps) by a combined 25-4 score. In Arlington, no less. Texas then went on the road and righted the ship somewhat, taking two of three from the Angels to end the week in second place in the AL West, two games behind the A's. Had the Rangers lost Sunday's finale against the Angels, they would have fallen to third place, but a 14-3 smackdown ensured second place for at least another day.
This week just about everyone in MLB plays their "rivalry" interleague series. For the Rangers, this year's rivalry is with the Colorado Rockies. Texas plays two games in Denver, followed by two games in Arlington. The week ends with three games at home against the defending World Series Champion Boston Red Sox, including former Rangers Mike Napoli, Koji Uehara and A.J. Pierzynski.
The Rockies are a surprising 19-14 on the season and have a lot of offensive fireworks in their line-up, including Troy Tulowitski, Carlos Gonzalez, Justin Morneau and Charlie Blackmon. The Rangers also will have no DH in the first two games, relegating Mitch Moreland and Michael Choice to the bench. If there's a bright spot, I really like the way Wash had the starting rotation set up to enter this series. The games in Denver features starts by Martin Perez and Robbie Ross, Jr., two pitchers who get a lot of ground ball outs. In the rarefied air of Coors Field, Colby Lewis and Yu Darvish would find pitching at Coors more problematic. In terms of pitching, the rotation is set up for more success in Colorado. Lewis and Matt Harrison will face the Rockies in Arlington. Meanwhile, the Red Sox will have to face both Darvish and Perez. A 4-3 record or even a 5-2 record on the week is possible if the rotation is as successful as they've been set up for.
Elsewhere in the division, the A's are at home all week against the Mariners and Washington Nationals, the Angels have three at home against the Yankees followed by a 3-game set in Toronto, the Mariners travel to Oakland for 4 then return home for another 4-game set against the Royals, while the lowly Astros take to the road all week with four in Detroit and a 3-game set in Baltimore.
Texas Rangers Stars Of The Week: 4/21-4/27
Every Monday, this space names the Texas Rangers Stars of the Week. These are the guys who went above and beyond during the previous week. Each week two position players and one pitcher get special mentions. For position players, there's a Star of the Week for a full week's performance and one recognizing an outstanding single game. The pitching Star of the Week could be either.
Position Player Star of the Week (Single Game):
In six games, there was not a single over the top outstanding performance that warranted a Player of the Week (Single Game). From a "What's Going To Happen?" perspective, Michael Choice seems like a good pick this week. Shin-Soo Choo went down with a badly sprained ankle in the first of the 3-game set against the Oakland A's. It was up to the rookie Choice to not only fill Choo's shoes in left field but also replace his bat at the top of the Rangers order. Choo has already won over Rangers fans with his patience at the plate and finding ways to get on base. Could Choice do the job? That question got answered in his first game at the lead-off spot. In five at bats, Choice saw a total of 19 pitches, turning that patience into reaching base three times in those five plate appearances: two walks and a single. Choice scored the first run of the game in the first inning and drive in the winning run with a 9th inning single. I don't see Choice as quite ready for everyday playing status yet but he has been a more than adequate replacement while Choo's ankle mends.
Position Player Star of the Week (Full Week):
Choo, Prince Fielder and Adrian Beltre are the players expected to produce the most power. Elvis Andrus and Leonys Martin are in charge of the speed. It's easy to forget the Rangers have one guy in their line-up who provides a little speed, a little pop and pretty good defense as well. Alex Rios could quietly put up the overall best numbers of any Rangers player in 2014. Rios is on a hot streak right now. Over the last six games, Rios hit .375 with 9 hits in 24 at bats, including a double, a triple and a stolen base. Rios got a rap for being a lazy player when he came to the Rangers from the White Sox. When you watch him, what you eventually realize is Rios is fast. He's tall at 6'5″, so when he runs, he looks like he's taking it easy. The next thing you know, he's already taken the extra base. His defensive play in right field is a vast improvement over his predecessor, Nelson Cruz. Like his running, Rios may not have stats that stand out in most weeks but by season's end you'll look and realize he had a pretty darn good year. This week, he did good enough to lead the pack.
Unbelievable. Only four weeks into the season and Martin Perez has won 75% of the Pitching Star of the Week Awards. In consecutive weeks no less. Another week, another 3-hit shutout. Ho hum. This time, Perez tossed the gem against the Oakland A's, which is even more impressive than the 3-hitter he tossed against the White Sox his last time out. The A's are a notoriously patient team. Perez not only shut them down on only three hits, he finished his second straight complete game in just 109 pitches, an average of just 12 pitches per inning. He walked two, struck out three and only allowed one runner to get to second base. As usual, Perez had the double play ball working for him. Two of the A's five baserunners for the game were immediately erased thanks to ground ball double plays. Can Perez keep up the pace throughout the season? Maybe. Since August of last season, nobody has more wins in baseball than the 23-year-old. Thanks to his success, Texas now appears well on its way to a pretty formidable starting rotation.
The Week That Was & The Week That Will Be
All in all, nobody can complain too much about a 4-2 road trip, especially when it involves a 3-game sweep of your main rivals in their own house. An excruciating loss on Sunday to the Mariners only led to "What could've been…" thoughts. Still, it was a successful week and one in which the Rangers returned two big components to the line-up. Following the sweep of the A's, the Rangers activated Adrian Beltre from the disabled list. Two days later, Matt Harrison returned to make his first start in over a year on Sunday. Beltre still is treating his injured quad gingerly. He's not running at 100% speed but his presence helped the line-up immediately. The downside was Texas lost Beltre's more than capable replacement, Kevin Kouzmanoff, to back issues. The defending AL Player of the Week is on the DL and may miss significant time to a herniated disc. The Rangers should know soon whether Kooz requires surgery or not. In other words, Beltre now NEEDS to stay healthy as there's not much help available with some offensive pop at third base if he goes down again. Harrison was brilliant early and got through six innings in pretty good shape against the Mariners and was in line for the win Sunday until the Rangers' worst nemesis, Kyle Seager, launched a 3-run shot off Alexi Ogando in the 8th to propel Seattle to a 6-5 win and ended the Rangers string of four consecutive series won. Since the start of the 2013 season, Seager is hitting .381 against the Rangers in 105 at bats with 11 doubles, nine home runs and 22 runs batted in, including three homers and 7 RBI in 7 games this year. I don't actively dislike many players but Seager is really starting to bug me. I even fantasize about the Rangers signing noted headhunter Vicente Padilla to a contract the day before the Rangers face the Mariners and Seager again.
This week continues the Rangers AL West tour. Texas is home for a quick three game set against the A's, then it's off to California for the second time in two weeks, this time for a first look at the Los Angeles Angels. The A's will be looking for some payback after getting swept by Texas in Oakland a week ago. Still, even with the A's and Rangers tied atop the AL West, Oakland is reeling a bit, having followed up their sweep by the Rangers by dropping to of three in Houston to the lowly Astros. Plus, the A's have to contend with both Yu Darvish and Martin Perez in the series. The Angels have a lot of offense early and will pose a challenge to Texas pitching. Thus far, the Rangers have posted a 9-4 record within the division, the best mark in the AL West. They'll need to keep it up this week to keep the pressure on their rivals.