PLEASE TELL ME THE RANGERS GAME IS BEING BROADCAST IN TEXAS

I saw a TV listings of the national Fox games and they did NOT list the A's/Rangers game today.

And it didn't list a local channel either.

If the Rangers win they will win their first Division Title since 1999.
PLEASE tell me that Rangers fans can... you know... watch their team win a championship.

You'd think that would be a big deal, even for Rangers fans.

A. L. West... you blew it

Back in late June, I pointed out that the history of the Texas Rangers contain one gigantic summer swoon after another as the team melts in the heat.

I said that I wasn't buying them until they make it through the summer.

And guess what?

They had a bad August.

With today's loss (and Cliff Lee's latest meltdown... he had better turn it on in October or else he is costing himself millions of dollars!) the Rangers finished August 13-15.

Guess who else had a lousy August?

THE ENTIRE AMERICAN LEAGUE WEST!!!

Oakland finished 13-15.

The Angels finished 11-16.

Seattle, a non factor, wrapped up the month with a win to improve to 13-14.

The entire division finished below .500 for August. The Rangers started the month with an 8 1/2 game lead, played sub .500 ball and finished the month with an 8 1/2 game lead.

Had the A's or the Angels played winning ball this month, there might be a pennant race in the West. There might be a little suspense.

Instead we are all but certain to have a Division Series in Texas which, by the looks of things, will mean they would get whipped by the Rays or the Yankees... unless of course Cliff Lee turns things around.

Either way, the Rangers gave you an opening... and the rest of the division just stared at their toes.

I don't have a horse in the A. L. West race. I want it to be competitive.

With the A's folding and the Angels trading away their closer, it doesn't seem like it will be.

Thanks... thanks a lot.

I wasn't wrong about the Rangers

Back on June 21, I wrote that I wasn't buying the Rangers.

I had seen this story before... the Rangers get off to an amazing start, everyone starts thinking they are for real. Then the summer kicks in and they wilt away.

In late June as the Rangers finished an 11 game winning streak (and won 14 out of 15) they opened up a 4 1/2 game lead over the Angels and looked for real.

Since then they've had a losing record (23-25) and in August they've lost 10 of 16 games and 8 of their last 11 games... just as they've ALWAYS done in August.

They've lost 4 straight (including a sweep by the Rays) and it's been nearly 2 weeks since they've won 2 in a row.

In other words my prediction was right.

Here's what I DIDN'T predict... the rest of the Division would be such garbage.

Actually the A's have been good. They've played 6 games over .500 since the Rangers winning streak.

Here's the problem... they were 6 games UNDER .500 then.

Meanwhile the Angels have collapsed to a 20-27 record since and the Mariners? Yikes... they are just 18-31 (and a fired manager) since.

It helps to win a Division when the rest of the teams have to have winning streaks to reach break even.

There's about 3 more weeks until Labor Day.

Can the Rangers blow a 7 game lead? Just ask the Mets if that is possible.

It's still hot in Texas, and I haven't been wrong yet.

Hey Texas! You want to win dressed like THAT?

I wrote back on June 21st that I am not buying the Texas Rangers.

I've seen too many Rangers teams over the years look damn good until Arlington Texas turns into a kiln and suddenly the pitching staff turns into Shrinky Dinks.

And they finished the first half of the season on a 4 game slide including a sweep by the lowly Orioles.

However, they are making short work of my Red Sox since the All Star break.

They are up by 6 games in the loss column over the Angels.
They picked up Cliff Lee who should give the team a boost (not to mention the bullpen a rest).

They COULD win this Division.

And let's say Cliff Lee wins a pair of games in the Division Series and Colby Lewis or someone steals another game. (As of now the Rangers would play the Rays in the Division Series and have home field advantage.)

And what if they make it to the ALCS for the first time and their powerhouse line up propels them past the Yankees and into the World Series.

And then let's say the 2010 Texas Rangers does the unthinkable and takes out their National League counterparts.

Let's say they do it... and win the World Series.

Do they REALLY want to be crowned champions in these dull uniforms?

Look at them!

Just "TEXAS" on each uni? Really? OK, fine if you want to wear the road grays or dark blue top with Texas, that's fine.

But the HOME jersey with just a boring "TEXAS" across the chest? No "RANGERS"?

That's the most dull uniform decision since the Oakland A's just printing "OAKLAND" in block letters across their jerseys in the mid 1980s.

Now the Rangers have had a checkered past in their uniforms. They have a few entries in my "Most Forgettable Uniforms of the past 30 Years" entry.

And their two main uniform designs before this one are not my favorite.

This uniform with the wild west "Home on the Range" font never did anything for me...

Even someone as bad ass as Al Oliver couldn't make this uniform look good.

Plus, name one memorable moment that happened in these unis that call for nostalgia.

Can't do it, can you?

Nolan Ryan looked awesome in the 80s and 90s throwing no hitters in his Rangers uniform...

Unfortunately he also looked like a Dodger! Those threads are just a little too much like the L.A. home unis for my taste.

So I am clearly not advocating going back to THOSE styles.




This alternate uniform worn by Mark Teixeira in 2006 is cool.

The "T" to the side reminds me of the old English D for the Tigers but it isn't the same font or color scheme.

Plus I am a sucker for the sleeveless jerseys.



But the best home uniforms they ever had were from their only Division Title years, 1996, 1998 and 1999.

The red hats. The red piping. The cool wild west font.

Sure it feels a little like the Red Sox uniforms, but the all red motif sets it apart.

Plus they WON in those uniforms. They had 3 MVPs. And they fit the incredibly juiced up bodies of those Rangers clubs.

Bring those back for the second half of the season. Tell Selig it will help sell more jerseys. There's no way he could say no to THAT!

So come, Rangers. If you want to BE a champion, it helps to LOOK like one.

Write it in ink... the Angels are winning the division

I don't care that the Rangers have a 3 1/2 game lead, currently the biggest lead in the bigs.

I don't care that Kendry Morales ended his own season.

I've been saying this for the past month and a half and I stand by it.

The Rangers will wither, the A's are a few horses short and the Mariners are waving the white flag.

I am sick of the Angels in the post season too but it is going to happen whether we like it or not.

The Rangers and A's each impressed me tonight

I have to say, I really thought the Angels were going to pound the Rangers... and instead it was Texas winning a pair of come from behind games against the Angels.

And while the Mariners aren't exactly the 1927 Yankees, the A's did what they needed to do including an extra inning win tonight and getting back to .500.

Only 2 games separate the two teams and the race is looking more and more like it is a three horse derby (the Mariners are sinking fast.)

Not sure what it will mean in the long run... but it is worth a tip of the cap tonight.

The Third Place Angels have clinched the West

How can I look at a team that is currently in third place and sub .500 and say they are a lock for the post season?

Easily.

First of all I picked the Angels to win the West... which they have done in 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2009.

They are in a division with the recently swept Rangers (who always fade in the summer when heat overtakes their pitching), the A's (who have dropped 5 in a row since taking a share of first place and have been playing above their heads all year) and the Mariners (whose clubhouse seems more tense and divisive than District 9).

If any one of those three teams went on a tear in the first month and a half of the season, I would say the Angels would be in trouble.

But none of them did. And now Mike Scioscia has shook up the line up and they have responded with a better offensive attack. And now their pitching is turning around.

Even Joe Saunders, a person I mocked last week, has started to show off the stuff that made him an All Star.

So it won't be long before the Angels emerge as the team from a mediocre pack. They could be the only team of this bunch to finish about .500 when all is said and done.

You missed your shot, AL West.

I expect a Cinco De Mayo celebration in Oakland this afternoon!

I'm serious, A's fans... I want to see some embracing of this team.

They are playing the Rangers this afternoon. Do you know what happens if the A's win?

If Trevor Cahill and his sparkling 10.80 ERA beat the Rangers, Oakland would be one game over .500.

And they would also be in first place all by themselves.
They could look at Cinco De Mayo as the day they moved in all by their lonesome. Yeah, they got off to a fast start in April... but this is first place in May.

And the Angels are scuffling... and the Mariners can't hit... and once it heats up the Rangers won't be able to pitch.

Suddenly the A.L. West is potentially winnable for a young and too dumb to know differently team like the A's!

Maybe my enthusiastic A's prediction was a year early!

I am not expecting a big crowd in Oakland tomorrow... just a festive one. I want good solid A's fans who want to celebrate their team possibly moving into first place by themselves. And if the A's do win, I want the fans to look around and take stock at which of their fellow A's devotees were there on Cinco De Mayo... before the playoff bandwagon got crowded.

Hey A’s fans… show up to the game tomorrow

I’m serious. The Rangers are coming into town and do you know what happens if the A’s win on Monday?

They’ll be in first place… BY THEMSELVES… and it isn’t April.

Yeah I know that nobody will confuse this team with the Charlie O’Finley mustache gang of the mid 1970s… or the Bash Brother/Dave Stewart/Tony LaRussa A’s… or even the Moneyball A’s with the 20 game win streak in 2002…

But this team was supposed to be no good. And truth be told, they aren’t.
They are a .500 team.

But .500 means they are only ½ a game out of first!
They can go into first place in May and try to win a suddenly very winnable division.

This is the time of the year when teams are still wondering “is this better than I thought start a fluke or are we good?”

Maybe a better than expected start could mean a team is like the 2006 Tigers or the 2008 Rays… an out of nowhere pennant winner.

Or maybe they are like the Blue Jays last year, who flopped after a red hot start.

All I know is this could be one of the few highlights for the A’s this year, or it could be the beginning of a magical year.

Either way, a win would be cool

And I expect more than 10,000 at the game tomorrow.
Come on! Show up! Support your pennant contenders!

I know Don Marquez’s family will be there, but let’s see a few more wearing green and gold.

Heck, your team could be in first place by the time tomorrow ends. Savor it!

April Didn't Exist for the AL West

It’s May 1, 2010.

Usually you can’t tell anything after one month in the baseball season… but in the AL West that is literally true.

All 4 teams are tied in the loss column.

All 4 teams have lost 12 games.

And nobody has a winning record.

Technically the A’s and Angels are tied for first because they have also WON 12 games while the Mariners and Rangers have only won 11.

If I were the general managers of each of those I would take a look at whatever their biggest weakness is and address it NOW. If the goal is to make the playoffs, then one month in… everyone has a shot.

I’m dead serious. If I ran an AL West team, I’d be chatting with the Astros about Roy Oswalt. If I had a phenom in AAA right now, I’d call him up.

If there’s a spot open in the rotation, I’d give Jarrod Washburn a flier.

(And why is Washburn still unemployed for that matter?


Sure the Angels are still the team to beat, but their pitching has been disappointing.

The A’s have pitched well but their lineup is truly mediocre.

The Rangers have had surprisingly effective pitching yet they haven’t been getting All Star contributions from the likes of Josh Hamilton and Michael Young. And keep in mind once the weather heats up, their effective pitching will wilt.

The Mariners have stuck in Cliff Lee to their rotation and tonight threw 7 shutout innings… but the M’s were shut out themselves.

Might be time to look for a new bat as the team has fewer homers than Paul Konerko at this point.

(I guess the Milton Bradley experiment hasn't been a smashing success... might be time to designate him for assignment.)

Seriously… patch the holes and play in October. There seems to be good seats available for each of these teams. Heck, in Oakland, there are entire decks of empty seats.

So make a run for it, AL West. By the looks of it, 83 wins might get you October revenue.