2,000!

Lots going on in the last couple of days with the Rangers. First off, a comeback win last night against the Indians bullpen to hang on to first place in the American League West. Great to see the team not give up and pull out the victory.

In last night's game Michael Young, seen here on card number 110 of the 2005 Leaf Century Collection set, went 2-for-4 at the plate. Not too bad a night. It was the second hit though that stirred the most reaction from Rangers fans. Michael's infield hit didn't score a run but it was hit number 2,000 for his career. All 2,000 hits have come in a Rangers uniform. That puts Young in some pretty nice company career-wise and cements his status as the player with the most hits all-time as a Ranger. Congratulations Michael Young. It would be nice to see number 3,000 come in a Rangers uniform.

Some bad news for Arthur Rhodes this morning. After signing with Texas in the off-season he experienced some early success. Then came the struggles and the addition of Mike Adams to the bullpen. Following that trade Rhodes was designated for assignment. Less than a week later the team has placed him on release waivers. That means he becomes a free agent on Wednesday. Tough ride for Arthur.

Former Rangers pitcher Kenny Rogers had a smoother ride. On Saturday he was inducted into the Rangers Hall of Fame. I missed his speech but apparently it was pretty well done. Congratulations to The Gambler.

Spoke too soon.

Apparently I should have held off on last night's post. The game came to quite a different conclusion than I thought that it would.

When I posted the Indians were leading the Rangers 7-3 in the top of the sixth inning. The Cleveland lead was due mostly to an early meltdown by Derek Holland. Dutch gave up 6 runs in 1.2 innings. Scott Feldman then took over. He managed to shut the Indians down for the most part as he gave up just one run in 3.1 innings. That left the score at 7-3 in the the middle of the sixth.

Shortly after I posted Texas began to claw their way back into the game. They picked up two runs in the sixth to run the score to 7-5. There it stayed until the bottom of the ninth.

In the bottom of the ninth Josh Hamilton, seen here on card number OPC-33 of the 2009 Upper Deck set, managed to get on base. With two outs Michael Young then launched a two-run homer to tie the game. Into extras.

Nothing happening in the tenth or the top of the eleventh. Bottom of the eleventh Elvis Andrus bunted his way on and then went to second on a wild pitch. Up came Josh Hamilton. He hit a weak infield hit to score Andrus. From second. On an infield hit. Incredible. Rangers win!

Best Seasons: Ryan - 1989.

Nothing positive to say in the sixth inning of tonight's game. Looking like a pretty bad loss shaping up. As such we will move on to number four on T.R. Sullivan's Fifty Best Seasons list.

Nolan Ryan was 42 years old in 1989 - his first season with the Rangers. Like card number 49 of the 1989 Sports Illustrated Covers set says, he seemed like a miracle man.

Nolan started 32 games for Texas and won 16 of them. He completed six games and tossed two shutouts. Four potential no-hitters died in the eighth inning or later. His ERA was 3.20 for the season and his WHIP tallied to 1.086.

In the 239.1 innings that Nolan pitched in 1989 he struck out 301 batters. That total was the best in the American League. In comparison he walked just 98 batters unintentionally. Roger Clemens was second in the strikeout totals with 230. One of Ryan's strikeouts was number 5,000.

As a result of his performance Ryan was named to the All-Star game and got some Cy Young consideration (5th). Not bad for a pitcher who was old enough to be retired from playing the game.

Hanging on.

Well, the Rangers won today to hold on to at least a one game lead in the division. Good thing the Twins beat the Angels last night or there could have been a tie this morning.

Alexi Ogando went 6.1 innings and gave up two runs in the 5-2 victory. While he didn't go particularly deep in the game he did strike out seven while not allowing any walks. New Rangers Koji Uehara and Mike Adams both appeared out of the bullpen with better results than last night. Darren Oliver got his man as well and Neftali Feliz struck out two to get the save. Nice to see some good pitching again.

On the offensive side of the ledger nobody was a one-man wrecking crew but eight of the starting nine got at least one hit. Andres Blanco was the only hitter to get an 0-fer. Nice to see such an even distribution of offense. Even nicer to see Ian Kinsler with a walk, a clutch hit, and a RBI. Kinsler's been struggling lately and this is hopefully the beginning of the end of his slump.

Since today is Thursday I took a look to see what I could come up with in the way of an autograph or game-used card for this post. Turns out that I have very little in the way of current players that I haven't already posted. Nothing that really fit in with this game. As such I will leave you with this signed 1992 Fleer card of Kenny Rogers. The Gambler is supposed to be inducted into the Rangers Hall of Fame before Saturday's game so there is a tenuous connection to today's post.

Odd Moments: A night in Oakland.

Ok, so the past two nights in Detroit have been frustrating. Enough to get me a little wound up. Not as wound up as several Rangers players got in a bizarre incident in Oakland in 2004. That's the next installment in T.R. Sullivan's 50 Strange Occurrences list.

September 13, 2004. Texas was in Oakland to play a set at the Coliseum.

One thing that's important to know about the Coliseum and A's fans - the razzing of visiting teams. C.J. Wilson commented on that on his blog a season or two ago. During the 2001 season my brother was stationed at Monterrey, California. He is a big A's fan and took advantage of the situation to go to the Coliseum. Even he commented on the fans giving the visiting bullpen a hard time during the games. In 2003 a fan threw a cell phone and hit Ranger Carl Everett on the back of the head.

The stage appeared set for confrontation. Manager Buck Showalter would later complain of the lack of security and state that the Rangers had always had trouble in Oakland.

During the game the fans taunted and harassed the Rangers bullpen as per the normal routine. By the ninth inning nerves were wearing thin. What happened next though was totally unexpected. Pitcher Doug Brocail, shown here on card number 112 of the 2005 MLB Showndown Trading Deadline set, claimed that a fan began to taunt him about his recently stillborn child. The fan, Craig Bueno, later got a lawyer and refused to comment on what he might have said. Dave Rinetti, A's vice president of stadium operations said that the fans never swore or yelled racial slurs at the players. Don't have to do that to get into a stillbirth. Whatever was said, Showalter claimed that it, "went over the line."

Brocail lost his cool (understandable if his account was accurate) as did several other members of the bullpen. A scuffle broke out and the dugout cleared. During the melee Frank Francisco picked up a plastic chair and threw it into the stands. The chair hit Jennifer Bueno, Craig's wife, in the face. The blow broke her nose and left a cut that took stitches to close. Doug Brocail was restrained by coach Mark Conner and several teammates as he screamed at a male fan (probably Craig Bueno). Security quickly rushed to the area and ended the altercation.

Frank Francisco was arrested the next morning on a $15,000 bond. The Buenos would later file a civil suit that was settled out of court for an undisclosed amount in 2007. Tom Hicks apologized for the players actions. The A's finally beefed up security. Commissioner Bud Selig wasn't happy. Frank Francisco received a 16 game suspension that was later reduced to 15 games. He also pled no contest to the criminal charges and had to attend anger management counseling. Doug Brocail was suspended for six games. Carlos Almanzar was suspended for four games. The incident effectively gutted the Rangers bullpen for the remainder of the season.

1975 Topps - Pete Broberg.

Looking at card number 542 in the 1975 Topps set today, Pete Broberg.

By the time the 1975 season rolled around Broberg was no longer with the Rangers. On December 5, 1974 Texas traded Pete to Milwaukee for Clyde Wright.

The pitcher who so impressed Ted Williams was no longer a Ranger.

Minor League Monday - Trey McCoy, 1989 ProCards.

So the Rangers seemed to have shored up their bullpen just at the trading deadline. Don't really know enough about the two prospects they gave up to get Mike Adams but I am glad they got him instead of Heath Bell.

Since I really can't analyze the trade and since I have no other ideas for a post it's time to take another look at the past down on the farm.

Today we see Trey McCoy on card number 1012 of the 1989 ProCards set. Trey's legal name is Homer Claude McCoy. Think I might go with Trey if I were him. Trey was the Rangers 9th round selection in the 1988 draft and played that year for Butte in Rookie ball. McCoy's .357 batting average and .458 on-base percentage is what probably got him promoted to Single A for the 1989 season.

In 1989 Trey would get 549 plate appearances in 130 games for the Gastonia Rangers. His batting average would drop to .280 and his on-base percentage to .377. Both drops were significant but not fatal. Trey's strikeouts rose to 81 but his walks also went up to 72. Those numbers really aren't that bad considering that he was developing into something of a power hitter. In 1989 he had 18 home runs, two triples, and 31 doubles. He also knocked in 89 RBI.

While McCoy's hitting seemed to be developing nicely his defense was another matter. In 42 games in the outfield he saw 52 chances and committed eight errors for an abysmal .846 fielding percentage. He did better in the 21 games he played at first base as he saw 155 chances and committed just one error for a .994 fielding percentage.

All in all 1989 hadn't been a bad season for McCoy. As a ninth round draft pick he probably wasn't expected to rocket through the minors. His offense had dipped a bit with his promotion and he needed to work on his defense. Probably for those reasons he would start the 1990 season by returning to Gastonia for more work and seasoning.