Staying positive.

Another Rangers loss last night. An overworked bullpen coughed up the lead as Texas lost the series to Oakland.

In an effort to keep focused on the positive I am posting this 2008 Allen and Ginter game-used card of Michael Young today. As a note on the card, it is in excellent condition. What appears to be a crease on the right side is a scanner anomaly. Young is slated to be enshrined in the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame before the Saturday game. Many congratulations to Michael Young on this recognition of his fine career.

Hopefully by Saturday I will have a Rangers win to write about.

Powering up!

Today we have former Ranger Hank Blalock featured on card ST-HB of the 2005 Fleer Showcase Swingtime set. The card includes a piece of one of Hank's jerseys and is numbered 56/610. Other than picturing a power hitter, it has little to do with today's post. That's what happens when I'm about out of game-used or autographed cards of the current roster.

Last night the Rangers played game three of four in Oakland. The A's are always tough at home and since Sonny Gray was on the mound I figured it was going to be a rough night for Texas. It was for most of the game.

Opposing Gray was the recently unpredictable Derek Holland. Dutch is becoming more and more like the Mother Goose rhymes girl with a curl in the middle of her forehead. When she was good she was very very good; but when she was bad she was horrid. Holland was good through two, allowing no A's runs. However, he fell apart in the third as the A's put up three. Two more Oakland runs in the fourth convinced Jeff Banister to pull the plug before it got worse. Five runs, four earned, in 3.2 innings counts as horrid. In came the bullpen. That's been a portent of doom for Texas this year, but not last night. Martin Perez hurled 2.1 scoreless innings. Matt Bush, Jake Diekman, and Sam Dyson all followed with a scoreless inning each.

Meantime the Rangers offense took on the task of coming back from a 5-0 hole with Sonny Gray still on the hill. Sonny kept the Texas bats quiet until the sixth inning when a five run outburst drove him from the game. Interestingly, the Rangers scored those five runs on just twenty pitches. Part of the comeback consisted of home runs by Rougned Odor and Robinson Chirinos. Robinson's was a solo shot while Rougie's was a two-run blast. The uprising tied the game.

In the seventh inning Chirinos hit his second home run of the game to give the Rangers a 6-5 lead, the first lead they had all night. Not to be outdone, Odor hammered his second shot of the game in the eighth to take the tally to 7-5. That's where it sat when the Rangers recorded the 27th out to end the game and take the win.

All in all it was a wild night. Nothing like a pitching melt down and a dramatic comeback against to make for a good night in the end. While Holland is concerning, it was very nice to see the bullpen manage 5.1 innings of scoreless ball. It is also great to see Odor and Chirinos powering up. Now to get the rest of the offense on board this afternoon to back Colby Lewis as he finishes out the series.

Ouch!

Well, the Rangers lost 3-1 to the Houston Astros last night. It was the first Houston win in seven tries at Arlington this season. Fortunately Texas had a cushion in their lead over Seattle in the American League West.

To add injury to loss, the Rangers saw Yu Darvish leave the game in the after five innings. He experienced tightness in his right shoulder. A preliminary exam didn't reveal any damage to the shoulder and Yu said he felt like he could play catch today. There will undoubtedly be a follow-up exam though so nothing is certain yet.

In the eighth inning another potential disaster struck. Adrian Beltre, shown here on card GMR-AB of the 2014 Gypsy Queen Relics set, called for a trainer after running from first to second. He ended up being taken out of the game with tightness in his left hamstring. He will be reevaluated today, which was supposed to be his regular day off anyway.

Jeff Banister was non-committal on the injuries, saying he was waiting to see how the follow-up evaluations went before making any comment. Hopefully his comment will be that both players are fine and just needed a little extra loosening up. The Rangers really need both Beltre and Darvish at this point in the season. For Rangers fans still suffering nightmares from 2014, the potential injuries are triggering concerns.

Looking for a win.

Two losses in a row to the despised Blue Jays. Ouch! Hopefully the boys can get it together and take the series finale tonight. That would at least give them a split with Toronto. A split wouldn't be the best but at least it keeps the Jays from chattering.

With ongoing computer issues and no wins to talk about, I decided to go with a random game-used card for today. Thinking maybe this 2001 Fleer Platinum Clubhouse Collection card of former Ranger great Ivan Rodriguez might bring the team luck. At least it won't hurt. Looking forward to the guys getting the ball rolling again so I will have something more to post on.

Squeaker.

So, former Ranger Alexi Ogando doesn't have anything to do with last night's win over Houston. However, I don't have any game-used or autograph cards of the key players from last night. Alexi was part of one of the best Ranger bullpens ever. There is a connection there as the win last night was in large part due to the bullpen.

Cole Hamels took the hill last night looking for his tenth straight win. Pitching in and out of trouble, Hamels lasted 6.2 innings and allowed just one Astros run - a long ball in his last inning of work. A lot of Cole's success was attributable to nice defensive work behind him.

Meanwhile, the Texas bats were largely ineffective against 'Stros starter Doug Fister. Rougned Odor was an exception to the rule though. In the second inning Rougie parked a ball in the right field stands to score two runs. That would be it for the Rangers.

Hamels left the game after hitting a batter in the foot in the seventh, it was his third hit batsman of the game and a career high for him. None of the hit batters appeared to be intentional. Sam Dyson came in and finished out the seventh with no runs. Dyson started off the eighth before giving way to Jake Diekman with one out. Diekman fanned both batters he faced to send the game into the ninth still 2-1. Shawn Tolleson gave up one hit in the ninth but otherwise shut Houston down to pick up his fifth save of the season as Texas came out on top by a hair.

Great to see the guys secure the series win and string together three wins in a row for the first time this season. Also extremely encouraging to see the bullpen back to clicking after their early struggles and hold the lead in a squeaker. This pen was projected to be one of the best in baseball this year and, if Texas is going to go anywhere, they are going to need to live up to their potential.

New catcher checks in.

Well, after a great start to the Rangers 2016 season, the team seems to have stumbled a bit. The bullpen blew games on Tuesday and last night to drop to club to 1-2 on the infant season. While the guys in the pen were doing their part to lose, there were some positive points.

Yesterday new Rangers backstop Bryan Holaday made his debut. Acquired only a few days back from Detroit, Holaday had spent his time trying to get up to speed on the Rangers pitching staff and playbook. Apparently he was able to do so as he worked well with starter Colby Lewis. Bryan also threw out two base runners attempting to steal on him. Overall a nice intro for Holaday.

Not surprisingly, I don't have any cards of Bryan Holaday in a Rangers uniform. Former Ranger Ivan Rodriguez is going to stand in for him on this 2002 Fleer Flair Power Tools card that features a piece of one of Pudge's bats. Not that Holaday is to the caliber of Pudge, but the Rangers could use all the luck they can get right now.

Another bright spot in yesterday's game was Prince Fielder. He hammered a two run homer for his first long ball of the season. That's a good sign since Prince had average but didn't seem to have much power the first few weeks of last season. Of course, the Mariners hit nine home runs during the three game series so Fielder was definitely out-gunned.

At least the series is over. Time to move on to Anaheim for a series with the Angels. It would be good to see the guys put the opening series loss behind them and take the Angels.

Trades.

It's been a long time since I did any trading but over the past week I had two packages come in. The first was a nice lot of recent Rangers courtesy of a Facebook trade on a group for through the mail autograph collectors. I must admit I was a bit leery of the deal at first but it turned out great and filled quite a few holes in my collection.

The second package was from Matt over at Bob Walk the Plank. Matt always sends great stuff and this time was no exception. Included in the package was this 2007 Topps Heritage Clubhouse Collection game-used card featuring Mark "Money Man" Teixeira and a piece of one of his jerseys. Also in the lot were game-used cards of Rafael Palmeiro and Michael Young along with autographs of Marlon Byrd and Mitch Moreland. A very nice assortment that all hit wants in my game-used and autograph collection. Thanks Matt! I'm running low on Buccos but I'll see what I can cobble together for you in the near future.

Apparently I wasn't the only one trading. Texas GM Jon Daniels was busy as well. On Tuesday the Rangers traded catcher Bobby Wilson and minor league pitcher Myles Jaye to Detroit for backstop Bryan Holaday. Holaday is now slated to start the season as backup to Robinson Chirinos. That leaves Chris Gimenez looking at starting the season in the minors. Gimenez can refuse an assignment to the minors and become a free agent but Texas is hoping he won't and will clear waivers. As for Holaday, I don't know about his defense but he hit decently as a backup for the Tigers last season and looks to be an offensive upgrade.

Random Card and Thoughts.

Not much to report today. Only one through the mail return in this week. Rusty Greer though, so it made the week. Many thanks to the Red Baron for taking the time to sign and return a couple of cards that will fill holes in team sets I am working on getting signed.

Opening Day is creeping ever closer. The rosters keep contracting and Texas has announced that Cole Hamels will make the start when the Rangers open the season on April 4th. He'll be the seventh Opening Day starter for the Rangers in as many years. The results have been mixed. Hopefully Cole will do well against the Mariners. Seattle looks to potentially be a sleeper this season. It will be interesting to see how their recent moves work out.

Don't have any cards of Hamels yet. As such, I will leave you with this random Rangers game-used card for today. This particular card is a 2002 Fleer Box Score Amazing Greats jersey swatch card of Ranger great Ivan Rodriguez. Nothing better than a Pudge card to help pass the time until the season kicks off. Looking forward to it.

Random GU and Recent Signing.

Only one return this past week from my through the mail requests. Former Rangers backstop Mike Stanley signed and returned two cards to fill two holes in team sets I am working on getting signed. I really appreciate Mr. Stanley taking the time to sign and return the cards, I just haven't had the time to get them scanned in for this post.

Since I haven't scanned the latest through the mail returns, I decided to post a game-used card today. Been awhile since a certified autograph or game-used card made an appearance. The random selection from the game-used box today is this 2005 Bowman Sterling card of former Ranger Hank Blalock. The card is number BS-HB in the set and features a bit of one of Hank's bats embedded in it.

Speaking of bats, the Rangers brought a new bat on board on Monday. The club inked former Washington National Ian Desmond to a one-year deal. Desmond has played almost exclusively at short stop during his Major League career but he agreed to move to left field prior to signing with Texas. The signing is projected to give the Rangers a bit more power in the lower half of the batting order. Jon Daniels said he expects Desmond to play left field for the entire season, not just until may when Josh Hamilton is supposed to be back. That presents an interesting situation. It is possible that Desmond will play the first part of the year in left field, then occasionally be spelled by Hamilton and in turn, spell Elvis Andrus at short after Hamilton returns from the disabled list. Unless the Rangers are concerned Josh might not be back at all this season. Either way, the signing gives Texas some depth and options. Should be very interesting to see how it works out.

Random day.

Lots of random today, starting off with this random Rangers game-used 2005 Leaf Cornerstones card #CM6. The card is numbered 25/50 and supposedly features swatches from the uniforms of then Rangers Mark Teixeira and Hank Blalock. I have to admit, I do like the tri-color piece for Tex.

The Rangers have seven players who filed for arbitration. Normally Texas does not get to the hearing process with any of their players but there are one or two I might be tempted to try it with this go round. The list of Rangers filing includes Shawn Tolleson, Jurickson Profar, Jake Diekman, Tanner Scheppers, Tom Wilhelmsen, Mitch Moreland, and Robinson Chirinos.

How Profar can expect his salary to do anything other than go down is a mystery to me. Tolleson, Moreland, Diekman, and Chirinos probably deserve raises. Scheppers was pretty bad last season. Not sure how Wilhelmsen stacks up. Regardless, the Rangers will likely try hard to reach agreements with all these players before the arbitration. The last player they went to arbitration with was Lee Stevens in 2000.

Texas pitchers and catchers report on February 18th. The whole squad is due in Surprise on February 24th. Baseball is just around the proverbial corner. Wahoo! Strat-O-Matic is a great game but it doesn't really replace the real deal during the long winter months. I am ready for some baseball.

Speaking of getting ready, Spiff Jr and I are dusting off the sharpies and getting ready for Rangers FanFest 2015 on January 23rd. So far I haven't seen a listing of the players appearing but, if the past two years are any indication, it should be a great list of guys. This will be our third year going out to the ballpark for the FanFest and it's becoming a tradition. If you are planning on attending and want to meet up, let me know.

Closer than the FanFest, tomorrow actually, is the eighth anniversary of Texas Rangers Cards. I started this blog on January 15, 2008. Eight years later I'm still learning and having a great time. I enjoy every comment and all the support the readers of the blog have given over the years. Hope you will continue to hang around and I look forward to sharing more Rangers cards with you.

HOF musings.

Well, the Hall of Fame ballot results came out yesterday and there are sure to be some critics. Ken Griffey Jr set an all time vote record with only three voters leaving him off their ballots. Mike Piazza also made the cut. Just missing were Jeff Bagwell, Trevor Hoffman, and Tim Raines.

Of course, there will be much discussion about the exclusion of Raines, Bagwell, and Hoffman. The only one I really have heartburn about being left out is Bagwell. I wouldn't consider either of the other two unworthy though.

Things should get interesting next year. Bagwell, Hoffman, and Raines will still be at the threshold. Vladimir Guerrero, Manny Ramirez, and Ivan Rodriguez will headline the first-timers on the ballot. Potentially six inductees. I doubt Ramirez makes it with the way his career ended under PED suspension. Hoffman will have to go from fifth place this year to get over the mark and HOF voters take time to warm up to most relief pitchers. Bagwell and Raines stand an excellent chance. The issue with Guerrero will be if his extended stay at DH hurts him. That leaves Pudge, shown here on a 2002 Ex Essentials card bearing a piece of one of his cleats.

Rodriguez has never been conclusively linked to PED usage but played in the era and was on the same team with distributor Jose Canseco. Of course, Mike Piazza also played during the same era and his election casts a new light on I-Rod. Like Pudge, Piazza was suspected of PED use by some but was never conclusively linked or named in any investigations. On the field there is no doubt he was never the player Rodriguez was. Offensively he was better but that was it. I-Rod ran circles around him in every other area and stayed pretty close at the plate as well. That seems to bode well for Pudge come voting time next winter. Perhaps we will see another Rangers cap in the Hall in the near future.

Odd and ends.

Sorry about the lack of posts this past week. Had some things come up that needed to be taken care of and that created a time squeeze. Back to business now though and keeping up with the World Series and the Rangers off season. Here's a random Rangers game-used card of Hank Blalock from the 2006 Bowman Sterling set for today.

After a truly epic Game 1 win and a blow-out last night, the Kansas City Royals are up 2-0 as the series heads to New York for Game 3 tomorrow. The Mets have got some ball to play if they want to get back into things. They've shown in the past they can though so the Royals better not let up.

Meanwhile in Texas, the Rangers off-season continues. The club is saying Adrian Beltre's thumb surgery went well and he should be ready for Spring Training. That's extremely good news. The Rangers also activated the still rehabbing Jurickson Profar and sent him to Arizona to play Fall Ball. He's apparently doing well. Prince Fielder was named the Sporting News Comeback Player of the Year for his 2015 campaign. Glad he won that, he worked hard to get back from his neck surgery.

On the other side of the ledger, the team assigned catcher Carlos Corporan to Triple A. He declined the assignment and is now a free agent. That reduces the team's depth behind the plate and leaves Robinson Chirinos as the clear front-runner for the starting job. It appears unlikely the club will pick anyone up via free agency since front line catching is at a premium in the Majors right now.

Rangers done and out.

Well, the Rangers post season run is over after their League Division Series game five loss to the Blue Jays last night.

I really didn't expect Texas to win the series but the two wins to start things off gave me a sense that there was a possibility they could do it. Then came two losses at home and the final loss in Toronto. That was a sudden stop and the way the team gave away game five with four unearned Toronto runs just added to the pain.

It's done though and there's no point in saying it should have turned out different. The team is still fairly young and, if everyone stays healthy, they look to have a good group next season. This season wasn't supposed to be a contending season and just the appearance in the LDS was a bonus. That thought and this 2002 Fleer Authentix game used card of Ivan Rodriguez should help cheer Rangers fans up. I don't know about you, but I'm still in. No renouncing the team as a co-worker of mine did. I have 32 years of following the club and can't see taking up another team. With that many next years in the past, one more isn't going to kill me.

Almost back.

Ok, last pre-scheduled post for awhile. I am planning on being back to regular posting after today.

Posting this 2002 EX Behind the Numbers game-used card of Ivan Rodriguez in hopes of keeping the Rangers luck running. Even though the card only shows a very small piece of Pudge's jersey, it's still a nice card.

Would love to see Pudge throwing out the first pitch again in another post-season series in Texas. In spite of my pre-season predictions, this might be the year. This team definitely didn't play the .500 ball I was expecting and that is a nice surprise.

So long, Yogi.

Hall of Famer Yogi Berra passed away this past Tuesday at the age of 90. Yes, Berra was a Yankee but, he was still a good guy. As a kid I remember being fascinated by his and Satchel Paige's remarks. He played a role in hooking me on baseball. He's probably also the reason I latched on to Pudge Rodriguez, shown here on card BB-11 of the 2002 Donruss Elite Back 2 Back Jacks set.

2002 Donruss Elite Back 2 Back Jacks #BB-11

2002 Donruss Elite Back 2 Back Jacks #BB-11

Always displaying a positive attitude, Yogi was there for some big moments. D-Day, Don Larson's perfect game, ten World Series championships. He played alongside Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford, Phil Rizzuto, and many other Yankee greats. In his first year of managing, he took the Yankees to the World Series. In typical Yankee fashion, they fired him immediately afterwords. He still came back years later and endured another firing before writing the team out of his appointment book. It took a lot to get to Berra though and he eventually forgave the team and returned to the fold.

The Yankees' loss was the Mets and Astros gain. They latched on to Yogi as if he had been part of their clubs. He led the Mets to an improbable World Series title. They didn't fire him immediately afterwords.

The world is a poorer place without Yogi Berra and we will never see his like again.

Rangers in first! Trying to pad lead.

Well, the Rangers won the last two nights. Night before was a tight game that ended in the bottom of the ninth on a Mitch Moreland sacrifice fly. Rangers - 6, Astros - 5.

Last night was the opposite type of game. Martin Perez started for Texas and went seven innings while allowing just one Houston run. Andrew Faulkner came on in relief and stumbled a bit, allowing to Astros to score two more. That was it for Houston as Luke Jackson worked a scoreless ninth for Texas.

While the Rangers pitching staff turned in a respectable game, American League ERA leader Dallas Keuchel took the mound for Houston. I figured it was going to be a long day for Texas batters. It was a long day, but not for the Rangers. They scored six runs off Keuchel in the first inning, one in the third, and two more in the fifth. Dallas left the game after 4.2 innings and nine earned runs. Reliever Michael Feliz finished the game up for Houston and didn't fare much better, five earned runs in the last 3.1 innings of the game. Final: Rangers - 14, Astros - 3.

Of course, there were some big moments for the Rangers bats during the game. Prince Fielder hammered two home runs as he went 3-for-5 with five RBI. Mike Napoli, Rougned Odor, and Bobby Wilson also got in on the fun as they all had one long ball each to bring the Texas home run total to five for the game. Shin-Soo Choo went 3-for-4 with a double and three runs scored to keep his bat hot. Adrian Beltre went 2-for-4 with a RBI and two runs scored. Elvis Andrus also joined in on the fun, going 2-for-5 with a double, a run scored, and a RBI. Most of the rest of the lineup got in on the action as well with Mitch Moreland being the only starter to have an 0-fer night.

The win last night lifts the Rangers to 1.5 games over the Astros in the American League West. It also means that, even if Texas loses the final game of the series tonight, Houston will leave Arlington in second place. Great to see. Of course, a win to start to open the gap would be nice as well.

Unfortunately, I don't have any game-used or autographs of Fielder, Nap, Odor, Wilson, Choo, Beltre, Andrus, or Perez. Since the whole scoring deluge put me in mind of some former Rangers teams and sluggers, I decided to post the 2003 Topps Finest Relics #FRJ-RP card shown above as a substitute. Rafael Palmeiro is one of those guys you expected to see involved in a night like last night.

Rangers out to stop losing streak.

Well, the Rangers have been being hammered the past few days and are now four games behind first place Houston. Texas is 4-6 in their last ten games and is riding a four game losing streak. They are only a half a game ahead of the third place Anaheim Angels.

Tonight Colby Lewis takes the mound to try and salvage a win from the current series with the suddenly hot Oakland A's. Colby's had success in the past against Oakland so he might be able to cool them off a bit. The Rangers need a stopper to end this losing streak before it becomes crippling. Of course, the A's are sending Ranger killer Sonny Gray to the mound with his 1.95 ERA and 8-3 record. That means Texas had better bring their A game or it's going to be sweep time.

In order to help Lewis and the guys out, I am posting this 2002 Bowman Heritage  Jersey card of Ranger great Ivan Rodriguez. If Pudge can't bring a team some good luck and hard nose playing then I don't know what can. Against Sonny Gray you need all the luck and hard play you can get.

2x3 Greatness.

The past couple of weeks have been like a delayed Christmas for me. Surprise packages of cards arriving from awesome guys like Jeff over at 2x3 Heroes. A couple of days ago a bubble mailer arrived from Jeff. Inside was greatness.

Jeff sent me 23 Rangers cards ranging from the early 90's to 2014. The lot included some base cards, inserts, and even two game-used. One of the game-used was this 2010 Allen and Ginter Relics card of Nelson Cruz. The other was my first ever Adrian Beltre game-used card. It will be saved for an appropriate posting during the upcoming season.

All told I think Jeff hit holes in my collection with at least 14 of the cards he sent. If his White Sox can win games like he fills in other folk's collections, the rest of the league better watch out. Thanks a ton for the cards Jeff. I'll see what kind of return I can come up with sometime soon.

Huge surprise from Scott.

Last week was hectic, to say the least. You probably figured that from the lack of posts during that time period. I meant to post but it seemed I never had time. Between lawn care, baseball practice, a kiddo's birthday party, dinner guests, and schedule changes at work due to classes; things got jammed up.

In the middle of all the confusion I found a bubble mailer sitting on the dining room table one day about mid-week. Mrs Spiff told me it came that day and asked what I was expecting. Nothing. No pending trades or recent purchases.

The return address indicated the mailer was from Scott over at Bob Walk the Plank. Inside were several cards and a note from Scott saying he thought I might like them. The pictured 2008 SPx Winning Materials Hank Blalock card was one of the cards in the mailer. It's numbered 122/150 and features a dark blue uniform piece. Also included in the mailer were a second game-used card and three certified Rangers autographs. Wow! Thought I might like them? Of course I do. It was an awesome surprise package and I appreciate it more than I can say.

Of course, I would be low on cool Pirates stuff right now. I've been pondering how to respond and haven't yet come up with anything that seems to be close to appropriate. One thing I can do is say a public and very heartfelt thank you to Scott. You really made my week man and I can't say thanks enough.

Spring Training in full swing.

Well, so far Spring Training seems to be going well for the Rangers. The worst news to this point is that Jurickson Profar will be undergoing shoulder surgery and missing another season. The surgery is related to the same injury that caused Profar to miss last season. Looks like Roughned Odor will not have as tough a time as expected in nailing down the second base job.

The other news out of Surprise is related to how Matt Harrison is progressing and the fact that all players are now in camp. Of course, Yu Darvish is getting mobbed by the Japanese media again this year.

Michael Young, shown here his 2006 Upper Deck Artifacts AL Artifacts #AL-MY card, is also in camp. This time as an instructor rather than player. Ivan Rodriguez should also be putting on an appearance at some point to work with the catchers. A few other former Rangers will probably be in and out as well.

So far so good, it seems. I still have my fingers crossed but can't help hoping for a bounce-back season and possibly a contending team. Anything with the majority of the team healthy would be a welcome improvement though.

2006 Upper Deck Artifacts AL Artifacts #AL-MY