Best Seasons: Jose Guzman - 1991.

Ok, moving on in T.R. Sullivan's list of the Top 50 Seasons in Rangers history. At number 30 is Jose Guzman's 1991 season.

Guzman, appearing here on a signed 1988 Topps card, started 25 games for Texas in 1991. He finished five of them, one a complete game shutout, and compiled a 13-7 record. In the 169.2 innings he pitched he tallied a 3.08 ERA and a 1.391 WHIP. He struck out 125 batters and allowed just 10 home runs.

Those numbers may not seem super and they probably aren't. What makes them noteworthy is that Jose had not pitched in the Majors in 1989 or 1991 after suffering a devastating shoulder injury. There was some doubt that he could come back at all, much less be effective. He did both though and won the 1991 American League Comeback Player of the Year Award.

Odd Moments: #41-#45.

 Time for the next group installment from T.R. Sullivan's list of the Top 50 Odd Moments in Rangers history.

#41 The reign of the Tahitian warlord - Doug Rader's entire two plus years as manager were strange. He clashed with umpires, opposing players, media, fans, and his own players. He also crashed his car into the same tree every day in Spring Training.

#42 Hondo's Nestle Quik commercial - T.R. says you can find Frank Howard's Nestle Quik commercial on YouTube. If you can let me know. I spent almost an hour looking for it before I gave up.

#43 The wrong guy - During a game against the Orioles in 1992 the Rangers were looking for revenge because Glenn Davis had spiked Ivan Rodriguez the night before. In came reliever Danilo Leon, shown here on card 387 of the 1993 Donruss set, in the sixth inning to settle the score. He got the wrong guy though and hit Cal Ripken Jr. rather than Glenn Davis. Not like they looked different, wore different numbers, and had their names on their uniforms!

#44 R.A. Dickey - There are some who would claim Dickey is just one long bizarre moment. What Sullivan is referring to here though is the Rangers using their number one pick in 1996 to take a pitcher without an ulna collateral ligament.

#45 Hart's winter - The Ranger's first Winter Meetings under General Manager John Hart resulted in trades for Carl Everett and John Rocker. Those two guys qualify as strange to be sure.

1977 Topps - Bert Campaneris.

On November 17, 1976 The Texas Rangers signed Dagoberto Blanco Campaneris to a five year contract. The team hoped Bert, shown here on card 373 of the 1977 Topps set, could bring some speed to the team and improve the defense. With the acquisition of Campy, Toby Harrah moved from short to third and displaced Roy Howell.

Campaneris was not known as a slugger or heavy hitter. Prior to coming to Texas he had not hit .300 in a season. That trend would continue with a .254 batting average and a .314 on-base percentage in 648 plate appearances in 1977. Both numbers were a slight drop from the previous season but nothing disastrous. Bert also led the league with sacrifice bunts, he laid down 40. Slightly concerning was Campy's performance on the bases. He stole 54 bases for Oakland in 1976. That was a spike for him and he dropped back down in 1977 with 27 thefts. Disturbingly, he led the league in caught stealing with 20.

In the field Campaneris logged 1284.1 innings at shortstop over 149 games. He didn't play any other position. Bert saw 777 chances at short and handled all but 25 of them without a problem. That gave him a .968 fielding percentage, five points higher than the league average. He also had much more range than most other shortstops in the league. That increased range probably accounted for some of his errors.

Bert Campaneris definitely filled a hole for Texas at shortstop. His defense was all that it was advertised to be and he was a steadying influence on rookie Bump Wills. His bat was light but that was expected. What was the concern was the drop in speed. Not only did his stolen base numbers drop but he was getting caught more often. That was something for Texas to keep an eye on going forward.

For the time being though Campaneris was doing well. He was selected to the All-Star team. Unsurprisingly, he played in the game but didn't bat.

Senators Saturday - Don Blasingame, 1964.

Don Blasingame appears on card 327 of the 1964 Topps set to continue the Senators Saturday series.

In July of 1963 the Senators purchased Blasingame's contract from the Reds. Coming into 1964 he looked to replace Chuck Cottier and his weak bat at second base.

Blasingame apparently succeeded in displacing Cottier. He would play in 143 games for the Senators and spend 1054 innings at second base. In fact, all the time Don spent on defense was at second. He made 14 errors in 609 chances for a .977 fielding percentage. That was below the league average .980 but close enough to be acceptable.

Blasingame made 556 plate appearances for Washington in 1964 and posted a .267 batting average and .320 on-base percentage. In typical middle infielder style for the time, he didn't have much power. His lone home run, two triples, and 17 singles attested to that.

Don Blasingame's 1964 season hadn't been calculated to blow the doors off. On the other hand, with what the Senators had been getting from the middle infield, it was within the acceptable range. That would do for now but wouldn't cut it long term. The Senators needed to improve and holding down a starting job would become more difficult as the minor league depth stabilized.

Best Seasons: Jeff Zimmerman - 1999.

Even though I am zipping through T.R. Sullivan's other lists, the Top 50 Seasons in Rangers history will remain one entry at a time. Seems only fitting to give a guy his due for a great campaign.

Number 29 on the list is Jeff Zimmerman's 1999 effort. Zimmerman, seen here on card 447 of the 2000 MLB Showdown set, had his career cut short due to injuries but that was still in the future in 1999.

The 26 year old rookie blasted into Major League baseball in 1999 as the setup man for Rangers closer John Wetteland. He appeared in 65 games and pitched a bullpen leading 87.2 innings. His ERA totaled to 2.36, the lowest on the pitching staff. His 0.883 WHIP was a team best by far. His strikeout to walk ratio was 2.91. Even serving as a late-inning guy he ended up with a 9-3 record.

I wasn't paying much attention to baseball when Zimmerman made his arrival but I remember hearing about him. My grandfather was impressed and mentioned him several times as "the new kid in the bullpen." Apparently he wasn't the only one impressed. Jeff made the All-Star team and came in third for the Rookie of the Year. Not too bad for a reliever.

Moving into the off-season.

The Cleveland Indians head home after losing last night to the Tampa Bay Rays. Both Wildcard games are complete and this post-season is still not catching my interest.

The Rangers off-season moves have started. The team fired long-time bench coach Jackie Moore and first base coach Dave Anderson yesterday. No word on replacements but it would seem that Double A manager Steve Buechele, shown here on a signed 1990 Score card, is an early candidate for one one of the positions. I wouldn't mind that. Boo was a fan favorite during his playing days and would definitely be an asset on stressing defense.

Of course defense isn't what Texas is expected to focus on this winter. Offense is where they are looking to upgrade. There are several free agents out there who might add some pop to the lineup. The question is, how much should the club spend on an established player and how much should be invested in young talent? The eternal quandary for Major League clubs in the era of free agency and big contracts. Nolan Ryan says this could be a very challenging off-season. Hopefully he and the rest of the front office can meet the challenge.

Decisions: #33 - #37.

So the Pirates sent the Reds home last night and either the Rays or Indians will go home tonight. For some reason I just can't get too into these early playoff games.

Decided that the quick walk-through of the remaining items will work for the Top 50 Decisions that shaped the Rangers as well as the Top 50 Odd Moments. Here's the next few decisions from T.R. Sullivan's list:

#33 The Turnover - The Rangers won 95 games in 1977 and finished second in the American League West. Over the next two years they made a dizzying array of trades and free-agent signings to try and get over the top. Bert Blyleven, Gaylord Perry, Toby Harrah, and Mike Hargrove were among the players who left. Buddy Bell, Al Oliver, and Jon Matlack were some of the arriving players. It didn't work and Texas went into decline.

#34 The Merger - After Tom Hicks bought the Rangers, he merged the Stars and Rangers into one entity called the Southwest Sports Group. The SSG sold off property, introduced Ameriquest Field as the name of the Ballpark in Arlington, and changed the red uniforms. Perhaps the only good part was the uniforms.

#35 Hicks buys Liverpool - After creating SSG, Tom Hicks bought the English football (soccer) team at Liverpool. Not sure exactly what led to his fortune evaporating but it seemed to accelerate when he ventured into overseas sports.

#36 Ryan's Return - When Nolan Ryan, shown here on card 686 of the 1991 Score set, was named club president in 2008 it seemed to stabilize things. That gave the club some of the leadership it needed going through the trouble that lay just ahead.

#37 Selig supports Greenberg - Bud Selig's support for the ownership group headed by Chuck Greenberg seemed to sway the outcome of the 2010 bankruptcy sale. Otherwise it seems likely that Mark Cuban would have ended up with the team.