1986 ProCards - Don Welchel.

Texas lost last night to the Twins 5-3. Josh Hamilton was responsible for all of the Rangers' RBI. Spiff Jr. was at the ballgame with Grandpa and called this morning to tell me that Hamilton's home run "went a long way." Fortunantly the Angels also lost so Texas is still only two games out of first. Other than that the main news seems to be that David Murphy has been taking some infield practice at first base. Apparently he is an emergency back-up.

With the slow day it seemed like an opportune time to take a look at a minor league card and play "Whatever happened to that guy?" Today's subject comes to us from the 1986 ProCards Eighty Niners team set. Pitcher Don Welchel.

Don played one year in the Rangers' organization. In 1986 he started 25 games and went 12-9 on the year while posting a 3.99 ERA. He never got the call with Texas and went to the Royals for two years in the minors before the end of his career.

Don did play in the majors though, for Baltimore in 1982 and 1983. He appeared in a total of 13 games in those two seasons, all in relief. His career Major League ERA stands at 5.81 in 31 innings pitched. Perhaps Kevin over at Orioles Card "O" the Day has some more information on Don's time with Baltimore.

All told Welchel put in part or all of eleven seasons in the minors between 1978 and 1988. During that time he spent parts of two seasons in the Bigs. A lot of work for a couple of cameo appearances. I wonder if Don ever regretted hanging on as long as he did.

1972 Topps - Paul Lindblad.

The Rangers go back into action tonight two games behind the first place Angels. Hopefully the guys can come out of the break firing on all cylinders. Supposedly Texas is talking to the Blue Jays about Roy Halladay. They are apparently a long shot. That doesn't bother me since I am still not sure about the idea of giving the Jays what they will probably ask for Halladay.

Since there isn't a lot to report, I decided to take another look at the 1972 Topps team set. As an aside, I just recently completed this set and am now planning on concentrating on 1973. Anyway, Paul Lindblad puts on an appearance today on card number 396. Paul appears to be punching the photographer. Perhaps that is why he was allowed to keep his cap on.

Paul joined the Senators in May of 1971 in the same trade that brought in Don Mincher and Frank Fernandez. Paul put up decent numbers out of the bullpen for Washington in 1971. That winter he made the move to Texas with the rest of the team.

In 1972 Lindblad would appear in a league leading 66 games and toss 99.2 innings. In that span he would post a 2.62 ERA and save nine games while finishing 33. The save to finish ratio wasn't necessarily a reflection on Paul though, he was 5-8 on the year. Being a Ranger pitcher in 1972 was just plain rough. The team lost 100 games and managed only 54 wins. Hard to get many save opportunities in that type of situation.

Royce's writing.

Ok, so we'll move on past Ian Kinsler and his failure to make the All-Star team. At least Nelson Cruz made it and turned in a respectable Home Run Derby performance. Hopefully that won't throw his swing off.

With not much else going on today in baseball I decided to take a look in the auto and game-used box. This 1999 SP Signature Edition card of Royce Clayton is what I came up with for today's card.

I like this SP set. The background colors match the uniforms and there is a nice space beside the player's picture for the autograph. At the same time the player's picture is a nice size as well. The autograph actually being on-card is icing on the cake. At first I couldn't quite tell what is going on in the picture. I finally settled on Royce preparing to flip his bat towards the dugout after taking a walk. That seems better than him looking back at the umpire in disbelief after being called out on strikes.

Hopefully this card is a good sign for the rest of the season. Royce played on two of Texas' three post-season teams in two and a partial seasons with the team. In his time with the Rangers he played in 333 games and turned in a .267 batting average. I really don't remember Royce in a Ranger's uniform since that was during my time away from the game and collecting. I do remember when he came up with the Giants and was big news.

The kase for Kinsler - Pena.

Today we see Ian Kinsler on card number 175 of the 2008 Upper Deck Baseball Heroes set. After Ian had lost to Dustin Pedroia and Brandon Inge in the fan voting it appeared that Kinsler's chances to take part in yesterday's game were dead. Then Dustin Pedroia withdrew from the game to be with his wife during a difficult pregnancy. A wise decision by Pedroia. Immediately speculation began that American League manager Joe Maddon would choose Kinsler to replace Pedroia. He did not, he chose his own first baseman, Carlos Pena. Was Pena a better choice than Kinsler? Let's take a look.

Up to this point in the season Carlos Pena has appeared in 88 games, played 758.2 innings, and appeared at the plate 379 times. Ian Kinsler has made 85 games, played 756 innings, and appeared in the batter's box 395 times. The three additional games might give Pena a slight advantage in durability but that is probably balanced by Kinsler's 16 additional plate appearances.

On offense Pena spends most of his time in the number four slot. He leads Kinsler in on base percentage .364 to .327. He has more walks, 60 to 39. He also has four more homers at 24 and three more RBI at 58. Both players have scored 62 runs and have 19 doubles. Pena is the only player that he lost out to that Kinsler leads in average, .250 to .228. He also has 61 fewer strikeouts than Pena's 111 and one more triple. Ian has swiped 17 more bases than Pena (18-1) and has only been caught one time more (2-1). It seems that Kinsler leads in average and speed while Pena has the pole as far as power and patience at the plate. Looks like an overall tie.

Once again, defense is hard to compare since the two players man different positions. Kinsler has six errors on the season while Pena has eight. Depending on your view of the difficulty of playing second as compared to first, this might be of importance. Pena does beat Kinsler in fielding percentage with a .989 average as compared to Kinsler's .987. Pretty close though. Looks like another tie.

So, should Maddon have taken Kinsler instead of Pena? Well, it depends on what kind of game he was planning on playing. Over all the two players are comparable and it makes sense for Maddon to take the one he was familiar with. As much as I hate to see Ian left out, I can't blame Joe Maddon for this one.

The kase for Kinsler - Inge.

Ok, so it is understandable why Dustin Pedroia beat Ian Kinsler out of the second sacker spot for the All-Star game. I don't feel that it was the correct decision by the fans, but I can agree to disagree on that one. In the vote for the final spot though Ian lost out to Brandon Inge. Here are how the two compare.

As noted yesterday, Kinsler has played in 85 games this year and logged 756 innings in the field. Inge has appeared in 86 games while putting in 749.1 innings. Pretty close at first glance. Looking a little closer we find that Ian has 395 plate appearances while Inge has 345. Considering innings played and plate appearances, slight edge to Kinsler in durability.

At first glance Inge holds the edge in offense with a .268 average compared to Kinsler's .250. Not a very significant difference though when one considers that Kinsler is a leadoff man and Inge spends most of his time in the six hole. Inge also holds the edge in on base percentage with a .360 as compared to .327, that is significant. After that Brandon begins to lose ground. Inge has struck out 85 times as compared to Kinsler's 50 and has 35 walks to Ian's 39. He is seven hits behind Ian, 87-80 and has scored eleven times less 62-51. Some of the runs scored may be accounted for by batting order but Inge's lead in RBI (58-55) should be greater as well. Once on base, Kinsler has swiped 18 bags and only been caught twice while Inge has two steals and has been snagged himself four times. Ian has grounded into five double plays while Inge has kicked off eight twin killings. The power numbers also seem to favor Kinsler. He has 19 doubles, 2 triples, and 20 home runs. Brandon answers with 9 doubles, 1 triple, and 21 home runs. I'll trade one homer for 10 doubles and a triple any day of the week. In speed and power Kinsler holds a clear advantage over Inge. Offensive advantage: Kinsler.

Defense is a little harder to compare since Kinsler is a second baseman and Inge plays third. As such, the comparison may be flawed and the difference in positions must be remembered. Kinsler leads in errors with six to Inge's ten. Double plays are not important because middle infielders will always have more than a third baseman. Kinsler's .987 fielding percentage seems to be way ahead of Inge's .959 though. (By comparison, Michael Young is carrying a .968 in his first year at third.) I am not sure that range factor can fairly be compared. Based on errors and fielding percentage Kinsler beats Inge handily.

Kinsler comes out with a slight advantage in durability but seems to pull away in offense and defense. It seems to be pretty clear that the fans made a mistake on this one.

The kase for Kinsler - Pedroia.

As I write this the All-Star Home Run Derby is in progress. The players taking part in the game tomorrow are in St. Louis for the festivities. One player who was at the game last year but isn't this year is Ian Kinsler, seen here on card number 341 of the 2005 Topps Heritage set.

Ian led American League second basemen in fan voting until the last few hours and then lost to Dustin Pedroia in a late surge. He then finished second to Brandon Inge in the final roster spot voting. Pedroia bowed out and it was assumed that Kinsler would replace him. Instead Joe Maddon picked Carlos Pena to finish out the A.L. roster. All this made me want to see just how Ian compared to the guys who are going to the game instead of him.

Here is what I found for Dustin Pedroia v. Ian Kinsler so far in 2009. Kinsler has played in 85 games while Pedroia has kept pace with 84. In those games Kinsler has gone 756 innings while Pedroia has managed 745.1. Perhaps a slight edge in durability for Kinsler. Not enough to sway the decision though.

On offense Dustin seems to easily beat Ian. Pedroia has 393 plate appearances while Kinsler has 395, no significant difference. Pedroia pulls away in average at .303 while Kinsler checks in at .250. Dustin's on base percentage is .378 as compared to .327 for Kinsler. Kinsler has also struck out 50 times compared to 27 for Pedroia while Dustin has knocked 105 hits as compared to 87 for Ian. Clear advantage Pedroia in those four categories for Pedroia. Runs scored appear to be a wash with Ian scoring 62 and Dustin crossing the plate 65 times. Pedroia holds a clear lead in doubles 30-19. Triples are practically the same, two for Kinsler and one for Dustin. Ian is way out ahead in homers, 20-4 and leads in RBI as well, 55-40. He also has 18 stolen bases and has only been caught twice. Pedroia has 14 swipes with 5 arrests. Kinsler has avoided all but five double plays while Pedroia has grounded into 13. A point perhaps worth considering is that Kinsler spends most of his plate time leading off while Pedroia hits in the number two slot. All things considered, Dustin Pedroia seems to have the advantage in average and on base while Kinsler comes out ahead in power and speed. Seems reasonable to give Pedroia the nod on offense though.

On defense things might be different. Kinsler has 6 errors to Pedroia's 5 and a .987 fielding percentage to Pedroia's .986. Pretty close to identical. In range factor though, things change. Per nine innings Kinsler ranks at 5.32 compared to 4.26 for Pedroia. Per game the numbers run 5.26 and 4.20 respectively. Kinsler has turned 66 double plays as compared to Pedroia's 46. Advantage to Kinsler on defense.

So, what is the conclusion. Well, depending on what side to the plate you are standing on it is reasonable that Pedroia would beat Kinsler. He has the edge in defense and the durability is a wash. On defense Kinsler ranks but that isn't as attractive to fans as the bat. Of course, Kinsler has 16 more homers than Pedroia and chicks dig the longball. Perhaps the most important digit isn't even a number. When it comes to helmets and caps, Pedroia wears a "B" on the front of his as compared to Kinsler's "T". That may be the biggest difference.

Catching up.

Wow! A lot has happened the last couple of days. Sorry about not posting since Tuesday. Seemed like every time I started to post something would come up. Ok, on to the Rangers.

Wins on Tuesday and Wednesday put the Rangers out in front of the Angels by one game. A loss last night dropped them back to only a half game ahead.

Tuesday was Josh Hamilton and Hank Blalock's night. Josh went 3-for-4 with a walk, a stolen base, and run scored. Hank managed 3-for-5 with a double and a run scored. Neither struck out all night. Texas won 8-5.

Wednesday was the Jones and Padilla show. Vicente Padilla went six plus innings and allowed only one run. He rang up four strikeouts and only gave up one walk. Meanwhile Andruw Jones was on a romp. He went 3-for-5 with one strikeout. The three hits were all home runs and he got four RBI out of the deal. Those performances were good for an 8-1 Angels beating.

Tommy Hunter came out of the game last night a winner. In six innings he allowed no runs on four hits. Not bad for a spot starter. Darren O'Day did his part with a scoreless seventh. The Rangers pitcher for the eighth was C.J. Wilson, shown here on his 2008 Dr. Pepper card. Wilson gave up a hit and a walk before allowing a three run homer. Seattle over Texas 3-1.

Off the field things are starting to gear up for the Mid-Summer Classic. Michael Young and Josh Hamilton were named to the All-Star team. Hamilton as a starter. Ian Kinsler lost out to Dustin Pedroia in the initial vote and to Brandon Inge in the vote for the final slot. He may still go though since Pedroia is considering withdrawing from the game due to his wife's difficult pregnancy. This afternoon Nelson Cruz was named to the team as an injury replacement for Torii Hunter. No Rangers' pitchers made the team.