Thanks HHD. I also parked in M so it looks like that will not change. I go down Bush to Division to Collins to Road to 6 Flags around the circle and a right to the parking lot. I thought for a while that you were going to bring luck to the Rangers.
^Viper, I tried. The Rangers had a lead, but couldn't hold it. My next game is in June - I'm thinking the roof will be closed then. BTW, I went to a game in Seattle a few years back when we were visiting friends as part of our tour of Oregon and Washington. The game was Mariners vs. Rangers. When we got to the stadium, the roof was closed. They decided to open it for the nice weather, so I got to watch their roof in operation - pretty quiet, took about 15 minutes to open it fully. Hope the roof at the new Rangers ballpark works as well.
M worked well - it was a long walk to the ballpark and back, but getting out to go west on Randol Mill was a breeze.
I looked at the layout after your message and M seems to be the best choice for us. We have made it from our house in Addison to M in 30 minutes, but nevet longer that 45 minutes.
Don't look now, but Gibson has found his pitching rhythm - another nice outing, giving up nothing to the Orioles over 8 innings (4 hits, no walks, 6 K's). Bullpen came through and the offense finally managed a run in the bottom of the 10th to walk it off, 1-0. Off to Anaheim!
Taking bets on if Gibson will be at the team at the end of the season? I am sure they want his hot start to continue as trade bait toward mid-season. I sometimes feel I'm getting too old for rebuilds. My dad took me to sit in right field to see my favorite player Jeff Burroughs in the 70's and I would like to see this team win a world series before I leave this earth.
LHABSOB, I'm not quite sure yet. IMO, it depends on how quickly (a) the young players on the ML roster gel and (b) how quickly the pitchers at AAA are ready to move up. If the management thinks it will be 2023 before they're ready to compete, then Gibson becomes trade bait. If management thinks they can compete in 2022, then maybe they keep him and buy another quality starter in free agency in the off-season. It's too early to tell on the young players on the ML roster - they haven't yet experienced the grind of a 162-game season; we'll know more come mid-July, when the grind starts to show. I'm with you - I'd sure like to see a World Series Championship sometime soon.
Rangers continue to be surprisingly watchable. They are 9-10 overall 6-4 in their last ten. While they wont even sniff .500 for the year I am beginning to slowly but surely think 70 wins is on the table and maybe even 75 which would be incredible. Of course a 19 game sample early in the year is way too small but my Ranger optimism is certainly tingling a little. Meanwhile down in Houston........
^The Rangers are off to a decent start, and they're doing it with surprisingly good pitching. Throw in some more offense (such as some power for Gallo) and it could get interesting. No, they won't contend this year - but 70+ wins is on the table. But I repeat my earlier admonition - we need to see how it goes as the grind of the 162-game season begins to wear on the younger players.
I moved to the Windy City last August and my Rangers come to town this weekend. Got 4 tickets behind their dugout for Saturday. Hope the rain holds off and they win this series from the Sox!
LHABSOB, I hope you have a very enjoyable day at the game. And I also hope you cheer hard enough to cause a win for the Rangers!
Still, a lot of games to be played, including the bulk of Division play, but if the Rangers can get t 75 wins this season Woodward deserves a like-long contract extension. I am attempting to decide if the walk and single Gallo is better than the K or HR Gallo.
And the Rangers have rewarded my optimism with a four game losing streak and they are looking uglier and uglier with each passing game.
It was worse than that - cannot hit and last night could not field. Globe Life will be full this weekend with the Red Sox coming in, but if the play does not pick up (which Taveras to the minors will not solve), there is going to be plenty of social distancing in all sections.
Don't look now, but the Rangers won 3 of 4 from the Sawx this past weekend - and played pretty decent baseball. And they have a better record than Minnesota, Detroit, Atlanta, Miami, the Cubbies, and Colorado. Probably shouldn't start printing World Series tickets yet, but they're playing better than the pundits thought they could.
Only to be followed by a loss to the Twins. Now 5 games behind the A's. Most disturbing is the continued issues with fielding.
As the calendar is into May, I still think 70 wins is on the table and at the beginning of the year I thought 63 was an optimistic number. Any win total over 70 is a successful season in Arlington.
The trade deadline is going to be interesting. Assuming current trends continue, someone is going to value Gipson, Allard, Calhoun, Lowe, Solak, and IKF very highly. FW, a season-ending injury to any 5 of the 6 listed above (Calhoun not so much) will probably kill any hope for 70 wins. 55 wins on 01 September means they will have to win half of their September games. September/Oct (number of wins to get to 15): Rockies - 1 (home) (20% - Would be zero if played in Denver) Angles - 7 (4 away; 3 home) (3 out of 7) D-Backs - 3 (away) (2 out of 3) A's - 3 (away) (zero) Astro's - 4 (home) (3 out of 4) White Sox - 3 (home) (2 out of 3) Yankees - 3 (away) (1 out of 3) Orioles - 3 (away) (2 out of 3) Indians - 3 (home) (October) (2 out of 3) 60 wins on 01 September seems to be a better starting number.
Viper, I'll be very disappointed if the Rangers trade Solak and IKF (and probably also Lowe, maybe Allard). We were told to watch this team to see the young players develop into the Ranger starts of the future - and to me that definitely includes Solak and IKF. If the team trades these developing, affordable young players, from whence comes the future? IMO, the team needs to stick with these youngsters, focus on player development in the minors, and draft well - if that takes another 2-3 years, so be it. Recall the Atlanta Braves of the late 1980s. They traded away every veteran who had any trade value for prospects, sucked at the MLB level for three years while developing talent in the minors, then rode that concept to 14 of the next 15 NL East titles. Sounds to me as though that's the path the Rangers are starting on.
HHD, I think Calhoun and Gipson are the most vulnerable especially if the offer is a prized SP prospect.
^Viper, I'll go with you on that. If those two are performing well at the trade deadline and each can command a good prospect in return, pulling the trade trigger would be a smart thing to do. The other youngsters are (at least for now) part of the future, and the team should stick with them while they learn on the job at the big-league level. On a bright note, the Rangers went into top of nine last night in Minnehaha trailing 3-1. They scored two in the ninth to tie it, then three in the top of tenth to win 6-3 over the Twins. Nice comeback!
Rangers win again tonight and sit at 15-17. I tend to agree that Solak and Kiner Falefa should be off table along with Gallo. The rest are all trade bait dependent on what they might bring in. This team is two to three years away from being playoff competitive but only if they know what is wheat and what is tradeable chaff.
^FWHORN, I'd like to see how the young pitching prospects develop, especially at AAA, before the Rangers trade away any starting pitchers from the Big League club. It could well take 2-3 more years for the players to develop and progress through the minors. Ideally we'd like to see the team have a reliable pipeline in their minor league system - capable of developing a steady stream of major-league-ready talent (like the Braves of the 1990s).
As long as the Rangers don’t finish dead last in the division, that would be ok with me for this year. Hope I’m not setting the bar too high.
Rangers wake up on Mother's Day at 17-18. The trend line to 70 wins shows 76 wins so FW's 70 win season is still in good shape.
Rangers leading Seattle 9-2, bottom of the seventh. If the Rangers hang on to win this game, they will be at 18-18 - a .500 record!!! I wasn't sure they'd ever see .500 this year, so to be at .500 in mid-May is a pretty decent start.
Dominating type win over Seattle today to even their record to 18-18! (Edit). Garcia had a huge 3 RBI HR today. I have not posted here much on the good guys but I like the grit and fire of this very young team. Go Rangers!
