Cards from John.

A short while back reader John H. told me he was going to send me a few cards I might need. Yesterday I got an envelope in the mail from John. Inside was a note and 17 Rangers cards.

One of those cards was this 2004 National Trading Card Day #DP-4 card of Alfonso Soriano. Not sure if this is a Donruss Classics card or part of a set all its own but it's a great card.

Also in the envelope was a note from John saying he hoped the cards he sent would fit my want list. Well, the Soriano card was a great start as I didn't have it. All told there were 13 more cards that filled holes in my collection. 14-for-17 is an awesome average not matter if you're at bat or sending cards to a fellow collector.

Thanks for the great package John, it made my day. I hadn't had a package arrive in awhile and I really appreciate it.

Also arriving yesterday was another card package that will be reviewed in the near future and a long-awaited through the mail autograph request.

Tom's Terrific!

Got a nice surprise in the mail this morning from Tom over at The Angels, In Order. Of course, it's always nice to hear from Tom but he outdid himself this time.

Just because he's a nice guy, Tom sent me a nice assortment of Rangers cards and team issue cards. Since I have only been to one FanFest in my life I really appreciate those kind of issues. It's surprising how hard they are to find on the secondary market.

What really made my day was that quite a few of the team issue cards were signed. Nine to be exact. Not often I open a package and fine nine Rangers autographs. A day to remember for sure.

One of the signed ones was this ballpark view card signed by former Ranger Ellis Valentine. Ellis was a Ranger for only a few weeks so it's hard to find any cards showing him in a Texas uniform. A card like this answers the purposes of obtaining an autograph nicely.

Thanks for the package Tom. I really appreciate it and it adds a lot to my collection.

Looking like a bad hand.

Putting baseball players on playing cards isn't anything new. It probably wasn't new when Will Clark appeared on this four of Diamonds in the 1995 Baseball Aces deck. Cards like this always cause a flashback to my childhood. We played cards quite a bit as a family. Not poker but bluff, hearts, and other such games. I remember my Dad telling me and my brothers that you don't always have a say in the hand you're dealt, just how you play it.

With the injuries mounting, it is looking more and more like the Rangers don't have a say in the hand they're being dealt for the upcoming season. Derek Holland's knee injury and Joseph Ortiz's broken foot in the off-season certainly were not harbingers of good fortune.

In the last couple of days Texas has lost Geovany Soto to knee surgery and Jurickson Profar to a torn muscle in his shoulder. Profar won't need surgery but he's going to be out for 10-12 weeks. Soto is also looking at missing 10-12 weeks. Elvis Andrus and Shin-Soo Choo are still dealing with sore arms and are restricted as far as throwing. To top it all off, Yu Darvish is dealing with stiffness in his neck and may miss his Opening Day start.

These are not the cards a club wants to be dealt to start off a winning season. It's not like the front office could have done much though, they made the best roster they could and now it seems to be falling apart. I guess that's why it's a gamble every season as to how things turn out. Right now it's all hands on deck with every option on the table to cover the losses. Hopefully someone will step up and help the team play the hand well.

Best Seasons: Don Lock - 1963.

Closing in on the end of T.R. Sullivan's list of the Top 50 Seasons in Rangers History. Today we are at number 48, Don Lock's 1963 season. As you can see from his 1963 Strat-O-Matic card, Lock played for the Washington Senators that year.

Lock was the franchise's first real star but his overall stats were more in the vein of Pete Incaviglia than a super-star. He never played in an All-Star game and received MVP consideration just one season, in 1964. He was the for-runner to Frank Howard though and for a few years was about all the power the Senators had.

In 1963 Don made 611 trips to the plate. He posted a .252 batting average and a .338 on-base percentage. Neither of those are particularly compelling numbers and neither was even best on the team. His 20 doubles were tied for most on the team. His 27 home runs, 82 RBI, and 70 walks were all team bests.

What gets Don Lock onto the list is not his numbers viewed in abstract. You have to take a look at those numbers while remembering that the Senators lost 106 games in 1963 and were outscored by their opponents 812-578. In light of that information it becomes surprising that Lock saw anything to hit once it became known he could.

Spring Training and a new MLB rule.

Quick rundown of the news out of Spring Training.

Matt Harrison is good to go but not too good to go. He probably won't be ready for Opening Day but should be in the rotation shortly thereafter. He has been cleared by a doctor though and there's no sign of a physical problem.

Ron Washington likes prospect Rougned Odor. He thinks Odor needs to slow down a bit but figures that will be addressed by the end of camp. Apparently Rougned tends to rush to make the plays. Ron's opinion is that this is a result of youth and will resolve itself with seasoning.

Washington may get a chance to manage Odor when he hits the Majors in a few years if things keep going well. Texas extended Ron's contract as manager through the end of the 2015 season. That seems like a good deal to me. I'm a big fan of continuity. As long as it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Major League Baseball has finalized the new rule concerning home plate collisions. Most aren't as one-sided as the one shown here on card number 59 of the 1993 Cardtoons set and there has been some noise about trying to protect catcher. The play at the plate will not go away but the new rule is supposed to minimize the serious injuries to players. I'm a little conflicted on this one. I don't like the idea of trying the make the game risk free. I do like the idea of keeping players from flattening the catcher when there's no need. Going to have to turn rule #7.13 over in my mind a bit more. Will be interesting to see how it looks in action during the 2014 season.

Best Seasons: Darold Knowles - 1969.

Coming down the home stretch on T.R. Sullivan's list of the Top 50 Seasons in Rangers History. Today Darold Knowles comes in at number 43 in recognition of his 1969 season.

As you can see from his 1969 Strat-O-Matic card, Knowles was a reliever, and a good one at that. He started no games in 1969 so all of his 53 appearances were out of the bullpen. In 84.1 innings pitched he posted a 2.25 ERA and a 1.233 WHIP. He struck out almost twice as many as he walked with 59 K's and 31 walks.

Darold ended the season with 13 saves. He also got selected to the All-Star team for the only time in his career.

Best Seasons: Dick Bosman - 1969.

Today's card is not a baseball card in the strict sense of the word, it's Dick Bosman's card from the 1969 Strat-O-Matic set. If you haven't ever tried Strat you should. Just be forewarned, it can be addictive.

Couple of quick notes before we get on to number 38 in T.R. Sullivan's list of the Top 50 Seasons in Rangers history. First, the Senators invade the bottom portion of the list. Dick Donovan appeared just two spots ago and there are two more Washington players before after Bosman before we get to number 50. With the limited number of Senators cards in my collection and the need to have cards to post on Senators Saturdays I will have to be creative and post things like this Strat card. That leads to the second note. As you can see, this particular card is mis-cut. The angle of the printing is not the scanner's fault. In the early days of Strat the cards came in nine card sheets that had to be cut apart for play. The result was a lot of mis-cut cards. Today the cards still come in nine card sheets but are perforated to eliminate the mis-cutting.

Ok, on to Dick Bosman's 1969 season. The Senators who eventually moved to Texas were pretty bad. 1969 was the best pre-Texas year with the team posting an 86-76 record. A large part of that was probably due to the pitching staff, much to manager Ted Williams' dismay. Bosman was the crown jewel of the starting rotation.

Dick made 31 appearances for Washington in 1969, 26 of those were starts. He ended the season with a 14-5 record. Over 193 innings pitched he compiled a league-leading 2.19 ERA and a team best 1.010 WHIP. He struck out 99 batters while allowing just 39 walks. That worked out to a career best 2.54 strikeout to walk ratio. That performance garnered the 25-year-old some MVP consideration but he didn't get a trip to the All-Star game.

Bosman's 1969 season was a good one. It looks even better when you consider that Major League Baseball lowered the mound between the 1968 and 1969 seasons. More than a few pitchers struggled with the adjustment. Apparently Dick Bosman got it figured out pretty quick.

Senators Saturday/Best Seasons: Dick Donovan - 1961.

Going to kill two birds with one stone here. Today we have Dick Donovan appearing on card 73 of the 1962 Post set. He'll be filling the dual role of Senators Saturday and being number 36 on T.R. Sullivan's list of the Top 50 Seasons in Rangers history.

A quick comment on today's card before we go too much further. This card is the perfect example of the dangers of food company employees who don't know baseball writing copy for baseball cards. "The Senators were happy to acquire Donovan because of his sparkling 16-6 lifetime record against them." Really? The Senators grabbed Donovan in the 1960 expansion draft and hadn't played a game yet as a franchise when he first donned the Washington uniform. Pretty impressive that he was able to compile a 16-6 record against a team that he joined as part of its inaugural squad. Now, if you were going to run up against the Twins, he was probably your man.

Anyway, on to the main point of the post. Donovan's 1961 season has been covered but a recap is in order. Donovan made 22 starts and one relief appearance for Washington in 1961. He pitched a total of 168.2 innings and ended the season with a 10-10 record. That was more of an indicator of how much he wasn't supported than anything else. Dick's 2.40 ERA and 1.026 WHIP led not only the team but also the league. He walked just 35 batters while striking out 62 for a 1.77 strikeout to walk ratio. Not bad for anyone but especially impressive for a pitcher on an expansion team. The performance garnered Donovan a trip to the All-Star game and some MVP consideration. It also raised his trade value and helped the Senators move him in October of 1961 in an attempt to improve the club.

Here and there.

Well, there hasn't been much going on for the past couple of days. At least for the Rangers. Work for me has been another matter and that's my weak excuse for the lack of posts. Work got in the way of blogging. Anyway, despite the lack of any big news there has been a few things going on here and there.

Texas did sign utility infielder Adam Rosales to a one-year deal on the 14th. You may remember Rosales as the player who went back and forth between Texas and Oakland several times in the last part of last season. The move provides some cheap backup if it's needed.

On November 13th the Cy Young Award winners were announced. Detroit Tiger Max Sherzer won the American League award. Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish came in second.

The Rangers still seem to be pursuing Brian McCann. I guess the thinking is he could play at first and catcher and DH. Not sure I like the idea of signing him to a long-term contract but it's looking like Texas is serious.

Apparently Texas may or may not be serious about dealing either Ian Kinsler, Jurickson Profar, or Elvis Andrus. There are some rumblings the mention of their availability may be a message to Kinsler that he needs to consider a move to either the outfield or first base. Of course, if he doesn't mind changing teams, the message probably won't get through.

MLB.com's Hot Stove blog is reporting the Padres are interested in acquiring a left-handed bat to help them against right-handed pitching. A trade is the preferred method but David Murphy, shown here on an Academy Sports playing card, is also on the radar. Murph's disappointing season last year might parlay into a lower contract. That could help the Padres get in with their limited budget. Also, if Murphy takes a shorter contract he could try to get his bat on track before free agency hits again. That might be a better option for him than a long-term fire sale contract.

Gloomy week.

Not a good news week for the Rangers or their fans.

Started off with Nelson Cruz being on a list of 20 players looking at PED suspensions. That will hurt the Texas offense but it's needed. If MLB is serious about getting steroids out of the sport it is going to have to toe the hard line.

Next up was news that Colby Lewis suffered a set back in his rehab. Now he's been taken off his rehab assignment all together. No firm timetable as to his return now.

Two losses to the Reb Sox. One a shelling and the other a Michael Kirkman melt down. Should stop commenting on Kirkman melt downs and only mention the effective outings - they're rare.

While the team was losing to Boston, the A's kept winning. Texas now has a half a game lead in the standings only by a mathematical fluke. The Rangers have one less win than the A's but two less losses so they stay on top. That's not very encouraging.

Mitch Moreland is on the Disabled List. He was having a great year defensively and seemed to be moving right along at the plate. The injury stint will slow the team down. hopefully it won't slow him down.

Two small bright spots amid the gloom. First is Alexi Ogando. He returned strong from the DL and helped pitch the Rangers to their lone win against the Red Sox this past week. Good to finally see some re-enforcements arrive.

The second bit of good news was the election of former Ranger Ivan Rodriguez, shown here on card BBC37 of the 1992 Baseball Cards Magazine set, to the Rangers Hall of Fame. I personally doubt Pudge stayed away from PEDs his whole career but he was a long-time and much loved player who was something special before anyone ever thought of steroids. Congratulations Pudge.

Odd Moments: Fingers.

Ugly game last night. At least for the Rangers. The Red Sox seemed to enjoy scoring 17 runs. The A's probably also enjoyed moving to within a half a game of Texas. About the only bright spot for the Rangers was David Murphy's eighth inning of scoreless relief.

Probably a good day to take a break from the current team. Got a three part installment in the 50 Top Odd Moments in Rangers history. On to T.R. Sullivan's selections.

Number 32. Injured fingers - Charlie Hough started the 1986 season on the disabled list due to a broken pinkie finger. Charlie was saying goodbye to a friend at a bar near the end of Spring Training. The finger fractured during the final handshake. Oddibe McDowell, shown here on card number 23 of the 1986 Fleer League Leaders set, missed several games after he sliced open a finger at the 1987 Welcome Home Luncheon. Kevin Brown did the same reaching into his shaving kit for a razor.

Number 33. Sticky fingers - The Rangers hosted the All-Star game in 1995. The Arlington Police Department was on top of the scalping issues. Unfortunately one of the suspected scalpers cuffed by the PD was Rangers pitcher Ed Vosberg who was trying to resell tickets for a relative.

Number 34. Getting the thumb - for two long years Chuck Greenburg did the heavy lifting to put together a group to buy the Rangers from Tom Hicks. He finally got it done and saved the team from bankruptcy in mid-season 2010. Seven months later during Spring Training 2011 he resigned and sold out his share of the ownership group. The departure was unforeseen and unexplained.

Decisions: David Clyde.

Another flat performance by the offense last night as the Rangers fell to the Brewers. At least the A's also lost and couldn't make up any ground. Back to the Top 50 Decisions that have made the Rangers what they are today.

Number 29 on the list is the David Clyde saga. Clyde, shown here on card number 76 of the 1999 Sports Illustrated set, was the number one draft pick in 1973. An extremely talented lefty, he had scouts and sports writers predicting a Hall of Fame career.

Unfortunately David was drafted by a team in serious financial trouble. Rangers owner Bob Short moved the team to Texas in 1972 because he was going broke in Washington DC. In the meantime some of his other investments were falling through. With cash drying up, Short needed to sell the team. When you're last in the American League and putting just 6,000 fans in the seats per game, selling becomes a difficult proposition.

Somebody, some say Short, some say Clyde, proposed David make two starts before heading off to the minors. On July 27, 1973 David Clyde made the jump from high school to the Major Leagues. Clyde lasted five innings and beat the Minnesota Twins. He also attracted over 35,000 fans and sold out Arlington Stadium for the first time since the Rangers came to town. His second start came against the Tigers and was another win.

Bob Short overruled manager Whitey Herzog and declared Clyde to be a permanent member of the team. With Billy Martin replacing Herzog as manager, the last protection for the young arm was gone. So was Clyde after just two seasons and one appearance in 1975.

David Clyde never reached his full potential with the Rangers or with any other team. In large part that was due to Bob Short holding him in the Majors and Billy Martin over using his arm. Without the seasoning and instruction in the minors Clyde was not prepared to face Major League hitting.

What Clyde did do was sell tickets. When he pitched in 1973 he drew 20,000 fans on average. That was well above the norm for a team that lost over 100 games that season. The revenue enabled Short to convince Brad Corbett that baseball in north Texas was a viable business. That got the team sold and Short out of baseball. That was good news.

Clyde also influenced the Rangers and baseball in another way, the way young prospects are treated. Promotion from high school to the Majors is almost unheard of and young players are expected to spend some time in the minors. The way the Washington Nationals have handled Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg is a good example. The refusal of the Rangers to rush young pitching in recent years is another. Even with financial and contention pressures arguing for quick promotion, the specter of David Clyde's ruined career exerts an opposing pressure. Nobody wants to be responsible for the next David Clyde.

Josh hammers himself.

Ok, so I have been keeping up with the Rangers for the most part, even if I haven't been keeping up here. One of the major off-season stories was the signing of Josh Hamilton, shown here on the eight of spades from an Academy Sports playing card deck. Well, in Anaheim the story may have been the signing of Josh. In Texas it was the failure to sign Josh. While I understand Josh signing with another team and I understand Arte Moreno's compulsion to be just like George Steinbrenner, I do have a couple of thoughts.

Josh Hamilton was one of the most popular players in recent Rangers history. His story was inspirational and his playing amazing when he was on. He constantly used his platform to witness for Christ. That's almost all gone now. The popularity is long dried up and blown away. Josh himself torched the rapport with the fans and sadly, razed his witness as well. How did it all happen?

Josh (or his agent) told the Rangers they would get a chance to match any offer made. The first Jon Daniels heard of the Angels offer was the announcement that Hamilton signed with them. That's shady at best, dishonest at worst. Hamilton didn't want to sign with Texas because he got booed towards the end of last season as the team collapsed. That's fine. Just say so from the get go.

Katie Hamilton didn't help ease the fans' pain with her comments at the signing announcement about how the Rangers didn't really love Josh and didn't really try to resign him. That doesn't square with the $100 million four-year deal they offered shortly before Josh signed for $125 million for five years. Looks like Texas offered about what he accepted. As for if they would have matched, see above paragraph.

Hamilton showed up for the Angels' spring training full of vim and vinegar - and apparently bitterness. In an interview he famously stated the Dallas-Fort Worth area is not a baseball town. Well, if he meant that the NFL is more popular than MLB, he is right. He clarified his remarks though by stating the fans don't support the team and are "spoiled" by recent successes. Predictably, things took an ugly turn. Jerseys were burned and plans made to greet him when the Angels showed up for the home opener. Current Rangers players wisely denied knowing what Josh was talking about. Team management was suddenly not at fault for not signing him.

Home opener on Friday and the Angels showed up. Prior to the game the score board welcomed ballpark visitors to "Baseball Town." Tremendous booing for Hamilton. Every strike, out, and misplayed ball was cheered. Boos every time his name was announced. Chants of "Baseball town, baseball town." Ok, the fans got their licks in. Time to move on, right? Wrong.

At the post-game press conference Hamilton's arrogance and cluelessness was on full display. He remarked he was proud to be the source of the booing as it was the loudest he had ever heard the ballpark. If he could finally be the spark to put life into Rangers fans he was glad to help. A total load of horse manure there. Josh must have been asleep during the 2010 post-season and the 2011  post-season. Life and noise abounded.

As if that wasn't enough, Josh referenced Scripture when talking about the booing. He stated it was kind of like Jesus being rejected in His hometown. A prophet without honor and all that. Of course Josh forgot to mention what Peter says in 1 Peter 2:20 - there is no profit or glory if you suffer for your own faults.

That's the sad part. Almost all this animosity, name-calling, and bad blood has one source - Josh Hamilton's actions and words. Josh isn't some paragon of virtue returning to play against a team who scorned him. He's an immature arrogant ballplayer who can't seem to keep his mouth shut when he desperately needs to.

Rangers All-Time Team (40th year in Texas).

The Rangers announced their All-Time team today and there were a couple of surprises. The first is that more players were named to each position than voters were allowed to select on their ballots. Makes sense I suppose as it decreases the chance of a tie. The second surprise is that a couple of players made the team in more than one position. Should have left them where they got the most votes and knocked them off the second position. If you want to compare the results and see how far off my ballot was you can see the way I voted in this post.

Here is the team and a few of my comments.

Starting pitchers: Nolan Ryan, Charlie Hough, Kenny Rogers, and Ferguson Jenkins. No problem with Nolan, even though his best years were not in Texas. Charlie deserves to get in for hanging in there during the down years of the 1980's. Rogers is in for his perfect game. Jenkins is probably in for 1974. Overall I think the voters got it right but I would still take Jon Matlack over Rogers for a lefty.

Relievers: John Wetteland, Neftali Feliz, and Jeff Russell. Wetteland and Feliz deserve to get in. Good to see Russell getting some love as well. Pen seems a bit thin though and I think that a couple of more guys could have been considered.

Catcher: Ivan Rodriguez and Jim Sundberg. Perfect.

First base: Rafael Palmeiro and Will Clark. No arguments here.

Second base: Ian Kinsler and Michael Young. Shame to see Bump Wills left off. Young will do but his best years were not at second.

Shortstop: Michael Young and Elvis Andrus. This is probably where Young should have landed but I would have left him at second anyway and added Toby Harrah, shown above on a 1978 RC Cola iron-on.

Third base: Buddy Bell and Steve Buechele. Beltre hasn't been around long enough. If he stays and keeps playing the way he is, he will threaten Boo.

Outfield: Juan Gonzalez, Josh Hamilton, Rusty Greer, Ruben Sierra, Jeff Burroughs, and Nelson Cruz. No Al Oliver??? Not sure what happened here but the omission of Scoop is a travesty. I could live with him replacing Sierra or Cruz.

Designated hitter: Juan Gonzalez and Rafael Palmeiro. Another solution to the Oliver snub would be to leave Gonzo at DH and put Al in the outfield. If you leave Raffy at first you could put Larry Parrish in here. Of course you could also leave Palmeiro here and add Pete O'Brien at first.

Overall this team is ok and is a good representation of past and present Rangers teams. The omissions of Al Oliver and Toby Harrah are outrageous but understandable. Very glad to see that Alex Rodriguez got left off.
Anyone else care to share their thoughts?

Looking up.

Finally some good news after a four game losing streak. Of course the draft also starts today so there may be some more good news on that front as well.

First off is last night's game. Coming off a Ron Washington talk, the team took the field against the Angels in wherever it is that the Angels claim they are from these days. Matt Harrison got the start. He went 6.2 innings and allowed three runs. Hairy still got the win though, thanks in part to Nelson Cruz's two run homer in the seventh inning. MLB.com places the long ball at 491 feet - the longest this season.

Elvis Andrus and Mike Napoli both had excellent nights with the bat as well. Alexi Ogando had a bit of a rough time with the three Halos he faced but he, Mike Adams, and Joe Nathan managed to keep and Angels runs from scoring in the final 2.1 innings. Great to leave the Big A with a win, even if not with the series. Now if they can just keep that up as they go into Oakland tonight.

The second item of good news concerns Josh Hamilton, shown here on the eight of hearts from the 2008 Academy Sports set. Josh was named the American League Player of the month for May yesterday. That follows on his April award and makes this just the second time in the American League that a player has won back-to-back player of the month awards to start the season. The first player to do it? Josh Hamilton circa 2008.

Odd Moments: Mangers and Sportswriters.

Extremely busy day today. Going to have to leave you with this pre-scheduled installment from T.R. Sullivan's list of the Top 50 Bizarre Moments in Rangers history. Today we see two involving managers and one a sportswriter.

Number 24. Help for Oates - T.R. doesn't give a date for this incident but he does recall that it happened at the Ballpark in Arlington. An irate Johnny Oates left the dugout to argue a call with third base umpire Jim McKean. The argument was barely started when a young man hopped out of the stands to join the confrontation. Apparently he agreed with Oates. That didn't make any difference to the security guards though, he was still hauled off.

Number 25. Valentine suspended - September of 1986. Another confrontation between a manager and umpire. This time the players were Bobby Valentine, shown here on card number 1 of the 1991 Mother's Cookies set, and Larry Burnett. Valentine went way beyond being tossed however, he ended up suspended for four games. That was because he moved from arguing the call to accusing umpire Burnett of having bet on the game. Surely Bobby V. would never say such a thing.

Number 26. Do Ya Wanna Dance? - One of the reoccurring post-game concerts for the Rangers in the 1980's were the Beach Boys. Lots of fun and even some dancing. One particular night Star-Telegram writer Jim Reeves danced on the ledge in front of the press box, all the way down to owner Eddie Chiles' box. Not sure if that occurred during Little Deuce Coupe or California Girls.

Decisions: Jose Canseco.

Got class today and church activities this evening so this is a pre-scheduled post. Will be back tomorrow.

Number 23 on T.R. Sullivan's Top 50 Decisions that shaped the Rangers is the 1992 trade for Jose Canseco. In return for Jose, shown here on his 1995 Baseball Aces playing card, the Rangers sent Ruben Sierra, Jeff Russell, and Bobby Witt to Oakland.

I have expressed my views on this trade in a previous post. T.R. says it makes the list because it put the Rangers at ground zero of baseball's performance-enhancing drug scandal. That's true. Lots of the guys who played with Canseco in Texas later appeared in his books and in the Mitchell Report. Not good stuff. Kind of makes the bone-headed plays and blowing one's arm out while pitching look like kid stuff.

Odd Moments: Group discount.

Making up some ground in T.R. Sullivan's top 50 Bizarre moments list. With one exception the next few moments really don't deal with any specific player. As such, I am posting this queen of diamonds card from the Academy Sports Outdoors deck that was a stadium giveaway a couple of years ago. Ok, on to the entries.

Number 18. The rain delay - On August 12, 1990 the Rangers were supposed to play the White Sox at Comiskey Park. First pitch was scheduled to go at 1:30 in the afternoon. Problem was, it was raining at that time. Rain delay. Eight hours later the White Sox finally called off the game because it was still raining. So much for not wanting to make the game up in Texas. League rules no longer allow clubs to wait that long before calling a game due to weather.

Number 19. Heading for Tampa Bay - On August 26, 1988 the Rangers issued a press release stating that the team had been sold and was relocating to Tampa, Florida. Apparently the deal would have gone through had not Edward Gaylord stepped in and exercised an option to buy the team. Of course, his purchase was not approved by the league and eventually future President George W. Bush ended up as part of the new ownership in 1989. (See number 13 on the Top 50 Decisions list) The team stayed put.

Number 20. With Juan Gonzalez sitting out the game due to a wrist injury, catcher Gregg Zaun was pressed into service in right field during the 1999 Hall of Fame Game. Zaun proceeded to call his own shot by pointing to the right field seats before hitting a home run. Babe Ruth must have smiled.

Number 21. Ameriquest Field. The big bell in left field was pretty strange. Even stranger when it abruptly disappeared during Ameriquest's bankruptcy. Repossessed?

Number 22. The paratrooper. The idea was to have U.S. Army Rangers land on the field prior to the 2010 home opener. Unfortunately one of them ended up hanging from a flagpole at the ballpark. Oops!

Number 23. Las Vegas Night. Larry Schmittou was the Rangers marketing VP in the 1980's and had several crazy promotions. One of them involved a drawing that sent a lucky fan to Las Vegas. Straight from Arlington Stadium. Not sure if they got to stay until the end of the game or had to leave midway through.

Minor League Monday - Dan Peltier, 1990 Topps Magazine.

One of the things about minor league cards is where they sometimes surface. Take this 1990 Topps Magazine card of Dan Peltier. I can't remember which trade I picked it up in but I never had a Topps Magazine subscription so I know I traded for it. The interesting thing about this card is that Peltier is listed as playing for the Butte Copper Kings, not the Rangers. The Rangers aren't even mentioned until several lines into the write-up on the back.

Even though he's pictured in his Copper Kings uniform, Dan was no longer in Rookie Ball by the time the card came out. After an astounding 1989 season he was promoted straight to Double A Tulsa for the 1990 season.

With Tulsa Peltier's numbers came back to earth. He played in 117 games for the Drillers and made 497 trips to the plate. He posted a .279 batting average and a .345 on-base percentage. He also hit 20 doubles, four triples, and 11 home runs. Not bad numbers but a definite dip from the previous season when he took batting practice off opposing pitchers.

In 110 games in the field Dan played outfield and posted a .958 fielding percentage.

Well, the Rangers super prospect was certainly struggling with the transition from Rookie Ball to Double A. Only time would tell if he would be able to make the adjustment and continue to climb the minor league ladder.

Odd Moments: Catatonic state.

The Rangers picked up pitcher Roger Moret from the Braves in the Jeff Burroughs trade in December of 1976. Rogelio turned in a decent 1977 season as you can see from the numbers on his 1977 Strat-O-Matic card.

On April 12, 1978 Moret was scheduled to start a home game against the Detroit Tigers. Before the game he was spotted standing in front of his locker holding a shower shoe. He was not moving and did not respond to his teammates. After some initial joking, the other players decided there was a problem and reported the situation to the Rangers medical staff.

Roger remained unresponsive as he was evaluated. After 90 minutes he was finally loaded up and taken to a psychiatric hospital. He was not released until the end of the month. In spite of a couple of comeback attempts, the episode was effectively the end of Rogelio's career.