1980 Topps - Mike Jorgensen.

Mike Jorgensen appears here on card 213 of the 1980 Topps set. One of the victims of the early 1980's Rangers roster upheaval, he would not appear in a Rangers uniform in 1980.

Following Pat Putnam's beating Jorgensen for the first base job in 1979, the Rangers traded for Willie Montanez from the New York Mets on August 12, 1979. The Mets were to receive the ever popular players to be named later.

That left Texas with three first basemen: Putnam, Jorgensen, and Montanez. It was not a situation that could long continue but it would last through the end of the season.

On September 18th the Rangers sent Ed Lynch to New York to partially complete the trade for Montanez. On October 23rd Mike Jorgensen got his ticket to the Big Apple as the second player the Mets received for Montanez. The trade that took three and a half months to complete was finished.

Minor League Monday - Brian Romero, 1991 Line Drive.

Coming off a great 1990 season, Brian Romero was trying to continue his climb up the Texas farm system ladder in 1991. Romero, shown here on card 594 of the 1991 Line Drive set, had been a pleasant surprise for a 50th round draft pick who missed his first season due to injury. He would start the 1991 season with the Double A Tulsa Drillers.

Primarily a starter, Romero saw significant relief action for the first time in his career in 1991. In the 23 games he appeared in for Tulsa, only 14 were starts. The season didn't take long to get rough. Over the 94 innings Brian pitched he posted a 4.98 ERA and a 1.532 WHIP. Both were extreme increases from 1990. The 52 walks Romero issued didn't help his cause but at least the 79 times he whiffed opposing batsmen outnumbered the free passes. Romero stayed with Tulsa for the entire season and ended the year with a 6.5 record and one save, the first (and only) of his pro career.

1991 was a rough season for Brian Romero. His impressive climb towards the Majors came to a screeching halt. At least the Rangers did not demote him. They really didn't have that kind of time for a 50th round pick, even a left-hander. Romero would make good, or he would not. Either way, he would do so at Double A. The Rangers left Brian assigned to Tulsa for the beginning of the 1992 season. Time to pull it back together.

Senators Saturday - Tom Grieve, 1971.

Tom Grieve, shown here on card 167 of the 1971 Topps set, missed the franchise's last season in Washington. After taking a look at Grieve in 1970, the club decided to leave their 1966 1st round pick in the minors for more seasoning in 1971. He would not make it back to the Majors until 1972.

Grieve appeared in 93 games for the Triple A Denver Bears in 1971 and made 364 trips to the plate. He put up a .272 batting average and a .365 on-base percentage. Perhaps most eye-catching to the power-starved Senators was the fact that he hit 14 doubles, five triples, and 19 home runs. That came with an 81 strikeout price tag but sluggers always strike out a lot. What remained to be seen was how much of that power was the result of the thin Denver air and how much would translate to the Majors. Tom worked 37 walks as well. He scored 64 runs and bumped in 61 RBI.

Grieve played in the outfield in 85 of the games he played in for Denver. In the course of the season he committed three errors to end up with a .984 fielding percentage.

While Tom Grieve hadn't blown the doors off at Triple A, he had put up a good season. Good enough to warrant a return to the Bigs in 1972, this time as a Texas Ranger. Starting then, he would have to be good enough to win a full-time job in the Rangers outfield.

Getting ready for the fest.

Well, here we are two days out from the Rangers 2016 FanFest. Spiff Jr is busy getting his cards pulled and a sharpie set aside to go autograph hunting. We did well last year, scoring autographs from 19 former Rangers. Bump Wills was one of the players signing that day and he inscribed this 1980 Topps card for me. I'm big on asking for autographs through the mail but getting them in person is much better.

So far I have only been to two FanFests but both have been great and I am looking forward to getting back again this year. Just wish the team would post the list of players attending a little earlier than they do.

Anyone else planning on attending the Rangers FanFest, or one for another team? Let me know if you've already been to one for another team and what you thought of it. As always, if you are planning on attending this year's Rangers FanFest and would like to meet up in person, just drop me an email (or a comment with your email address) and we can work out the details.

1980 Topps - John Henry Johnson.

John Henry Johnson, shown here on card 173 of the 1980 Topps set, came to Texas from Oakland on June 1979. The A's got utility infielder Dave Chalk, minor league catcher Mike Heath, and some cash in return for the young starter.

Befitting his name, Johnson was known for his fastball. He did not disappoint in his first two appearances for the Rangers. In his first start for Texas, John Henry struck out ten Angels over five innings before leaving the game with a sore ankle. He picked up the win there and in Oakland when he made his second start. The bottom fell out from there though and Johnson ended the season 2-6 for the Rangers with a 4.92 ERA. Apparently he needed some work. Texas decided to focus on helping him develop a curve ball and changeup.

John Henry was impressive in Spring Training in 1980, but his secondary pitches still needed work. Texas assigned him to Triple A Charleston to start the season. Johnson made 11 starts for the Charlies and seemed to be continuing his troubles from the previous season. He struggled to a 4.55 ERA and a 2-8 record before the higher-ups decided a change needed to be made. John Henry moved to the bullpen and found his niche. His ERA dropped to 2.25. The improvement was enough that the Rangers called him up in early July as their bullpen crumbled.

The young lefty made 33 appearances out of the bullpen for the Rangers in the remainder of the 1980 campaign. He posted a 2.33 ERA and an 1.086 WHIP over the 38.2 innings he pitched. The fastball was still live as he struck out 44 while walking just 15. John Henry ended the season with a 2-2 record.

1980 had been a season of progress for John Henry Johnson. He appeared to have found his role as a reliever. The Rangers would be looking to the fire-balling left-hander to help solidify the bullpen in 1981. If Johnson could continue his success from the latter half of 1980, he might be able to nail down a permanent job.

Senators Saturday - Jim French, 1971.

Jim French appears in a classic catching pose on the front of card 399 in the 1971 Topps set. He does not seem all that thrilled though. Perhaps he had reason.

French had been a backup each of the previous six seasons he played for the Senators. That assignment would continue in 1971 as he started the season as backup to first-string catcher Paul Casanova.

Jim appeared in 14 games for Washington, all at catcher. Over the 115.1 innings he caught, French committed just one error. With his limited playing time it was enough to drop his fielding percentage to .985. That wasn't too far off the league average .988. French was known for his ability to control the running game and that continued in 1971. He caught four of the eight runners who tried to steal on him and his 50% caught stealing rate was well above the league average 39%.

Jim's defense had never been a problem. His bat is what plagued him. That also continued in 1971. In 49 trips to the plate French posted a light .149 batting average and a dismal .271 on-base percentage. He hit just one extra base hit, a double. Jim walked and struck out seven time for an exact balance. He scored six runs while bumping in just four RBI. Even though he was not known as a good hitter, these numbers were distressingly low.

Casanova had the starting job locked down. Unfortunately for French, rookie Dick Billings was making a push to unseat Casanova. In the process he also unseated French. Following an 0-for-4 game on May 14, 1971, the Senators sent Jim down to Triple A Denver. He played just six games there and was lent to the Braves for 53 games at their Triple A affiliate before ending the season in the minors.

On September 27, 1971 the Washington Senators released Jim French. It marked the end of his playing career and made this card his last.

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.