1975 Topps - Don Stanhouse.

Don Stanhouse, shown here on card number 493 of the 1975 Topps set, did not pitch for Texas in 1975.

Part of the Rangers return for trading Denny McClain, Don had spent three seasons with Texas. On December 5, 1974 the Rangers traded Stanhouse and Pete Mackanin to the Expos for Willie Davis.

Davis would play part of the 1975 season for the Rangers before being traded to the St. Louis Cardinals on June 4th. In return the Rangers got pitcher Tommy Moore and shortstop Ed Brinkman. Proving that it's a small world, Ed was one of the players the then-Senators gave up to get Denny McClain. Brinkman's homecoming would last one game and then he was sold to the Yankees on June 13th.

Minor League Monday - Tony Scruggs, 1990 Best.

Tony Scruggs, seen here on card number 19 of the 1990 Best set, had been drafted twice. Both times he had been drafted in the 7th round of the draft and had eventually signed with Texas in 1987.

In 1987 Scruggs had played Rookie and Single A ball. In 1988 he had again played Rookie and A ball. In 1989 he had played at Single and Double A.

1990 would be no different for Tony than his previous seasons. He would play in 75 games for Single A Gastonia. In 309 plate appearances he would post a .307 batting average and a .380 on-base percentage. He would hit eight home runs and 16 doubles. He also struck out 57 times while walking just 26 times.

Scruggs would also play in 53 games for Double A Tulsa. He got 215 plate appearances there and actually raised his batting average to .344 while bumping up his on-base percentage to .392. He also hit four home runs, six triples, and five doubles. Ominously, he struck out 50 more times while picking up just 14 walks.

Tony Scruggs had turned in a decent season in 1990. He had managed to climb another rung in the Rangers farm system and had an eye on Triple A for the 1991 season. The strikeout to walk ratio was a problem though. Tony needed to cut down on the whiffs and practice some more patience at the plate. If he could do that and keep his offensive numbers up he would be on the right track.

Senators Saturday - Jim King, 1963.

I have no idea what it is about this copy of card number 176 from the 1963 Topps set but my scanner keeps cutting off the top border. Well, at least it doesn't cut off any of the picture of Jim King.

King was in his third season with Washington in 1963 and functioned as their primary right fielder. In 136 games he spent 990.2 innings in right field and only 13 innings in left field, the only other position he played. Jim committed just three errors in right and his .987 fielding percentage was seven points higher than the league average.

Jim also made 511 plate appearances in 1963. With his .231 batting average and .300 on-base appearance he was the lightest-hitting member of the Senators regular outfield. His bat did have a some pop in it though as he homered 24 times, tripled five times, and hit 16 doubles. The 24 long balls were good enough to rank second on the team behind center fielder Don Lock.

With the added thunder in his bat and his defensive performance, Jim King was working hard at hammering down a permanent spot for himself in the Washington outfield. What he needed to do for 1964 was cut down on his strike outs, work more walks, and raise both his on-base percentage and batting average.

Odd Moments: Williams v. Allen.

Up to number 15 on T.R. Sullivan's Top 50 Bizarre Moments in Rangers history. For today's post we have to go back to Washington. In 1970 Ted Williams was in his second season as the Senators manager. He was also not very popular among his players.

On August 2, 1970 the Senators were playing the A's in Oakland in the first game of a doubleheader. By the third inning the Senators led the game 3-1. To start off the third the A's pulled their starting pitcher. In response Williams began to revamp his lineup.

By the time Bernie Allen, the starting second baseman, was due up with two outs one batting substitution had already taken place. Williams proceeded to send Tim Cullen to the plate to bat for Allen. Cullen then flied out to end the half inning.

I'm not sure if it was being pinch hit for so early in the game or if it was the result but Bernie Allen didn't like being pinch-hit for. Apparently he lost it and it took six other people to restrain him from going after Williams in the dugout.

Take a look at Allen's 1971 Strat-O-Matic card. The card shows his 1970 stats. Seems like a stretch for a .234 hitter to get riled at Teddy Ballgame for lifting him. Of course Williams sent in Tim Cullen who batted .214 on the season. Cullen was also the player that Williams called one of the dumbest hitters he had ever seen. That leads to what was probably the real reason for the blowup.

Ted Williams and his players never got along well. Williams didn't have much patience with his position players and he hated pitchers on principle. That doesn't endear a manager to his men. Bernie Allen was one of the players representatives and personally didn't care for Williams. Probably the mixture of Williams attitude, Allen's attitude, and the perceived slight became explosive as under the pressure of another losing season.

Decisions: Trading Juan.

Number 19 on T.R. Sullivan's list of the top fifty decisions that have shaped the Rangers history is the trade of Juan Gonzalez on November 2, 1999. Sullivan states that the trade brought an end to the successful Melvin-Oats run and the return did not have the desired effect.

Of course Juan wasn't the only player involved in the trade. Texas also sent Danny Patterson and Greg Zaun to the Tigers. In return Texas received Bill Haselman, Frank Catalanotto, Fransisco Cordero, Gabe Kapler, Alan Webb, and Justin Thompson.

So how best to evaluate the trade? Well, let's start with Alan Webb. He was a career minor league pitcher who never made it above Double A in the one season he pitched in the Rangers system. A non factor.

Next let's take a look at Bill Haselman and Greg Zaun. Both were backup catchers in 1999 and Haselman continued in that role in 2000. In 1999 Zaun hit .247 with an on-base percentage of .314 for Texas. In 2000 Haselman posted a .275 batting average and a .329 on-base percentage for the Rangers. Probably a slight advantage to Texas here.

Pitchers. There were three pitchers involved in the trade: Danny Patterson, Fransisco Cordero, and John Thompson. Thompson promptly tore his rotator cuff and missed the entire 2000 season. Four surgeries later he appeared in two games for Texas in 2005. He posted a 21.60 ERA in 1.2 innings before retiring. Cordero spent 6 plus seasons with the Rangers. After an ugly 2000 season he settled down and turned in a decent performance in 2001 and strong showings in 2002, 2003, and 2004. In 2005 he was good but not sparkling. A poor start to the 2006 season led to his being sent to the Brewers.

Patterson was a top prospect for Texas but never seemed to pan out. After being sent to Detroit he lasted five years without ever getting his ERA below three. He also had 72 saves less than Cordero did in the same time span. Slight advantage to Texas on the pitcher side of things.

Obviously the main player leaving in the trade was Juan Gonzalez. In 1999 Juan had played in 144 games for Texas. He had tallied a .326 batting average, a .378 on-base percentage, a .601 slugging percentage, 128 RBI, 39 home runs, 36 doubles, and 114 runs scored. In 2000 for the Tigers he would see his numbers drop to a .289 batting average, a .337 on-base percentage, a .505 slugging percentage, 67 RBI, 22 home runs, 30 doubles, and 69 runs scored.

In return Gabe Kapler, shown here on a signed 2001 Fleer Futures card, appeared in 116 games for Texas in 2000. He posted a .302 batting average, a .360 on-base percentage, a .473 slugging percentage, 66 RBI, 14 home runs, 32 doubles, and 59 runs scored. Cat appeared in 103 games for Texas in 2000. He ended up with a .291 batting average, a .375 on-base percentage, a .457 slugging percentage, 42 RBI, 10 home runs, 13 doubles, and 55 runs scored.

What Texas lost when they sent Juan Gonzalez to Detroit was power. The other players involved in the trade pretty much balanced each other out but Kapler and Catalanotto were just not able to replace the boom in Juan's bat. Of course Juan wasn't able to replicate his 1999 season either. After 2000 he had just five seasons left - only one of those would be even close to the Gonzalez who had powered the Texas batting order.

So, did the trade bring an end to the Rangers' success? Looking at the numbers I think it's hard to conclude that it did. Gonzalez just wasn't as effective after 2001 as he was before. Even bringing him back to Texas in 2002 didn't help.

Perhaps what the trade did was lower the curtain. The successful run was over, what Gonzalez's departure did was to confirm that in the minds of the fans. As to the return? Well, it obviously did not have the desired effect since the team did not return to the postseason with those players.

All right Mike.

Well, some of you might remember about a year ago when I called Michael Young, shown here on card 93B of the 2006 Topps CoSigners set, on the carpet for his attitude concerning being a super utility man. At that point I was disappointed to see him whining and carrying on about how his feelings were hurt.

The move seemed to have worked out though. Young actually played in more games in 2011 than he did in 2010. He also raised his batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage. That while leading the league in hits and getting above 200 in the season for the first time in four years. Good stuff.

Well, Mike's slated to be the super utility man for Texas again this season and once again he's talking to the media about it. Specifically MLB.com beat reporter T.R. Sullivan. This year though Young seems to be well aware of the importance of his role with the team and is embracing it. He says that he enjoyed the role last year and is looking forward to another season of it. Let me be among the first to say that this is a welcome change.

I am encouraged by Young's attitude. Much better start to the season than last year. True team leaders will have this attitude and will lead by example. One of the key roles on any ballclub is the utility man. Those players have to be among the most talented and versatile in the game. Young has this ability and it is good to see him use it. When you consider that the Rangers primary utility man is a player that made the All-Star game last year and that most teams would use to anchor their lineup the possibility of another postseason appearance seems reasonable.

Nice to have you back Mr. Young.

1975 Topps - Jim Spencer.

So far there is no major news out of the Rangers Spring Training camp. Time to take another look at 1975.

Jim Spencer appears here on card number 387 of the 1975 Topps set. 1975 was a pretty good year for Jim Spencer. He was able to hang on to the starting first baseman's job for the season.

In 132 games Spencer put in 770 innings at first. He also committed an unusually high number of errors with five on the year. That gave him a .995 fielding percentage - low for him but still five points above the league average.

Jim went to the plate 443 times in 1975. He would post a .226 batting average and a .327 on-base percentage. Those numbers would include 18 doubles, one triple, and 11 home runs.

While Jim had beat Mike Hargrove in the battle for first base in 1975 the victory would be short-lived. Spencer's glove was better than Hargrove's but his bat just couldn't keep up. With several utility players able to man first on occasion, Texas just didn't need two starting first basemen. On December 10, 1975 they traded Spencer and some cash to the Angels for pitcher Bill Singer.