Holland halts skid.

Derek Holland stopped another losing streak last night. Dutch has gotten much more consistent this season and appears much more confident. That's good for the Rangers. Especially so with Colby Lewis and Neftali Feliz still some time from returning. Unfortunately I realized I have no signed Derek Holland cards I haven't posted. I'm on that and sent out a card to Derek this morning. In the meantime you'll have to settle for a signed 1989 Upper Deck card from Rangers great Charlie Hough. Can't go wrong with Charlie.

Holland went seven innings and gave up just one run against the Brewers in Milwaukee. He struck out six and avoided the base on balls bug. Somehow he also coughed up ten hits. It's a testament to his nerve that he didn't give up more runs than he did.

Holland's performance was enough to allow the offense to put the game away. Mitch Moreland in particular did well as he went 2-for-4 with a home run. Nice to see Moreland hitting well. Extra nice he is able to do so against lefties. Joining Moreland were Ian Kinsler, Elvis Andrus (both 3-for-5), and Adrian Beltre (2-for-4). Great to see the offense looking like it's coming around.

With the A's losing on a controversial home run review that gives Texas a 3.5 game lead over Oakland. It's early in the season to be watching the standings but, as we found out last season, every game counts and the A's won't go away. It's never too early to build a big lead over Oakland.

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.

1977 Topps - Mike Bacsik.

Yesterday was the second Monday in a row the Rangers were scheduled off. A make-up game in Chicago against the Cubs spoiled that plan. They still took the day off and ended up getting smacked around in ChiTown.

Moving on in the 1977 Topps team set we come to card number 103, Mike Bacsik. This would be the elder Mike Bacsik.

Texas signed Bacsik as an amateur free agent in 1973. He got a look with the big club in 1975 and saw some serious work in 1976. By 1977 he was hoping to land a spot in the bullpen.

That wasn't going to happen. Mike spent most of the year at Triple A Tuscon. In 30 games he pitched 115 innings as a reliever and swing man. Whether starting or relieving Mike got hammered. He allowed 16 home runs and 96 earned runs. That helped tally his ERA to an unsightly 7.51 and his WHIP to 1.930.

Somehow Mike got a cup of coffee with the Rangers. I'm not sure if it was at the beginning of the season or due to an injury to another player but he appeared in two games for Texas. Mike's 2.1 innings of relief made his minor league season look like a walk in the park. Opposing teams scored five runs off him for a horrific 19.29 ERA and a bloated 3.857 WHIP.

1977 pretty much sealed the deal for Mike Bacsik. He would spend 1978 in the minors. In December of 1978 Texas dealt him to the Twins for Mac Scarce.

That Pop-Up scored a run.

Well, the only teams claimed in the spare card giveaway were the Red Sox and the Angels. That saved several cards from an untimely end. Most of the rest of the teams are still available if you missed it and want in. Nothing needed in return.

Bert over at Swing and a Pop-Up shot me a note that he wanted the Red Sox. That was a team I didn't have a large number of but I cobbled together a small package for him and off it went. He mentioned he wanted to send a few cards in return. Bert's got a great blog but he has trouble understanding the word "free". I like guys who have that trouble and I really liked the nice package Bert sent my way. Among a treasure trove of wantlist hits was this 1993 Select Jose Canseco, number 364. This card finished off my 1993 Select set. It was one of three or four sets Bert put to bed. If you get a chance you ought to send Bert free cards, he just might send you back some free cards. I think that's a trade and it's definitely something I'm going to try again sometime.

In to snag the Angels was reader Jeff. Jeff's easing back into the hobby after a layoff of several years and thought the Halos I was off-loading would be a help. Off they went to California. Taking a cue from Bert, Jeff returned several hits from my wantlist in a nice package. (Any package containing multiple Sportflics is nice.) Glad you enjoyed the cards Jeff, I'll let you know when I get some more Angels built up.

What both Jeff and Bert did helped remind me that it's been awhile since I updated my wantlist. Almost a year in fact. Not that it was terribly inaccurate. It just didn't have some of the more recent releases included. That spurred me to spend part of this afternoon updating it. It's still not perfect but at least it's updated and I feel like I'm back in business. Next up: the tradelist.

One of those days...

It's one of those days. The Rangers lost to the White Sox last night. It's a game they should have won.

Overnight the temps dropped from the 80's to the 40's. Supposed to get into the 30's tonight. That could cool off the offense and increases the risk of injury.

On the injury front it's more of the same. Matt Harrison's back surgery seemed to be working. Yesterday the team announced he would be needing a second surgery because his disc herniated again. Looking at an August return now if he makes it back this season at all. Of course with his back appearing to continue to break down, his long-term future now comes into question.

Meanwhile in Triple A Mike Olt is on the sidelines. Olt finally told the club he has been having vision problems. Not sure yet what the problem is but tests are being run.

Ok, time to get things back on track. Jake Peavy for the Palehose tonight and Jason Grimm for the home team. Hopefully this 1996 Leaf Signature Series auto from former Ranger great Rusty Greer will bring the guys some luck.

1977 Topps - Doyle Alexander.

With the Rangers having the day off yesterday I figured it was as good a time as any to get started on the 1977 Topps team set. Doyle Alexander leads off on card number 254.

Alexander's wearing airbrushed duds because he was signed by Texas as a free agent on November 23, 1976. The Rangers expected Alexander to be a solid starter and give the team a lift down the stretch.

Doyle served only as a starter in 1977, making 34 starts and pitching a career high 237 innings. That tied him with Gaylord Perry for starts and put him one inning behind Perry for the team lead. While Alexander's 3.65 ERA and 1.278 WHIP were not team bests, his 17 wins were. This in spite of a career high number of walks.

All in all the Texas Rangers got what they wanted when they signed Doyle Alexander - a solid starter they could run out on a consistent basis. As far as the stretch help, Alexander won four of his last five starts with the Rangers in contention.

In 1977 Doyle Alexander was one of those rare free agent signings that work out as expected. His increased walks were a concern but if he could get them back down to his previous numbers he could be a solid piece of the rotation for several years.

Minor League Monday - Doug Cronk, 1990 Charlotte Rangers Star.

Two losses in the last two days. Not good. At least the Rangers are still in first. The day off today can't hurt and tomorrow they are at home. Time to get on another roll.

Figured this would be as good a time as any to get back to Minor League Monday. Today we have Doug Cronk appearing on card number 5 five of the 1990 Star Charlotte Rangers set.

Texas promoted Doug to Charlotte after he spent the 1989 season at Gastonia. The jump from A to A+ was probably at the same time in spite of, and because of, the high number of strikeouts he had in 1989. He moved up anyway but didn't get to Double A.

Cronk appeared in 106 games and made 390 plate appearances for the Charlotte Rangers. His batting average tumbled 65 points to .186 while his on-base percentage dipped 50 points to .301. He hit just four home runs as compared to 22 in 1989 and struck out 91 times. His fielding percentage remained the same at .989.

Those weren't good numbers for any player trying to make their way up the minor league chain. Especially not for Doug Cronk. 22nd round picks usually don't get a lot of second chances and Cronk didn't get one. 1990 would be his last season in pro ball.