1975 Topps - Jackie Brown.

In this last of the pre-recorded posts we see Jackie Brown on card number 316 of the 1975 Topps set. You can tell this is a vintage card by the chaw of tobacco in Jackie's cheek. Can't have that anymore. Could be a bad influence on the kiddos.

Jackie started the 1975 season doing long relief and spot starting for the Rangers. All told he would appear in 17 games for Texas. Seven of those games were starts. Interestingly he completed two of his starts. Not something you would expect out of a spot starter/long reliever. One of those complete games was a shutout.

All told Brown pitched a total of 70.1 innings and allowed 33 earned runs for an unsightly 4.22 ERA. He struck out 35 of the 305 batters he faced while walking 37. Two of those walks were intentional. Jackie's WHIP was 1.493.

Fergie Jenkins, and Steve Hargan, needed some help in the rotation. Jackie's chances of landing a starting gig were slight. His ERA was also higher than everyone else in the bullpen other than Clyde Wright. Wright was a lefty and Jackie threw right. Apparently that made him expendable. On June 13, 1975 the Rangers traded Brown, Jim Bibby, Rick Waits, and $100,000 to the Cleveland Indians for Gaylord Perry.

Minor League Monday - Doug Cronk, 1989 ProCards.

Doug Cronk, shown here on card number 1013 of the 1989 ProCards set, was the Rangers 22nd selection in the 1988 draft. In 1988 he played for the GCL Rangers in Rookie ball. In spite of some struggles there he was moved up to Single A for the 1989 season.

In 1989 Doug would play in 133 games for the Gastonia Rangers. He would make 562 plate appearances during the season. His batting average would total to .251 and his on-base percentage to .351. The on-base percentage was helped by the 74 walks he worked and the three times he was hit by a pitch. Cronk had some power. 22 of his 120 hits were home runs and 17 more were doubles. Three were triples. He also knocked in 77 RBI. Unfortunately Doug struck out like a power hitter might - a lot. 132 times in 1989.

In addition to the strikeouts Cronk also struggled a bit in the field. His 14 errors during the season contributed to his .989 fielding percentage. Not real good for a first baseman.

1989 was not a good season for Doug Cronk. His defense could be improved with work. The high number of strikeouts and low batting average were big red flags - especially at Single A. Apparently his swing had a hole in it and even at that level of play the opposing pitchers had found it. Doug needed to find and close it quick if he wanted to move on up the ladder to Arlington.

Senators Saturday - Chuck Hinton, 1962.

Chuck Hinton was the Senators go to guy in 1962. Hinton, shown here on card number 347 of the 1962 Topps set, had more plate appearances and appeared in more games than any other position player on the team.

Chuck played all three outfield positions, second base, and even a couple of innings at shortstop. In total Chuck put in 1,138 innings in the outfield. He saw 243 chances and handled all but three of them successfully. That gave him a .989 fielding percentage - well above the league average .980. At second base Chuck handled 55 of the 56 chances he saw in 90 innings for a .982 fielding percentage. That was two points above the league average .980. Chuck's two innings at shortstop were more of a cameo appearances than anything else. He didn't even get a ball hit to him.

Hinton was also a workhorse at the plate. His 598 plate appearances, 168 hits, 25 doubles, 75 RBI, 28 stolen bases (2nd in the league), .310 batting average (4th in the league), and .361 on-base percentage led the team. He also tied for first on the team in home runs with 17 and triples with 6. He was second in walks with 47.

That performance made Chuck one of the few bright spots for the Senators in 1962 and even generated some MVP consideration. It also brought into question Jim Piersall's role with the team in 1963.

1,000!

This weekend is a very busy one for the Spiff household. As such I have scheduled today's post as well as the posts for the next few days. Hopefully I am only missing commenting on positive happenings for the Rangers.

For post #500 I posted a Jon Matlack card. For #1,000 I decided to go with Matlack again. This time he appears as a new Ranger on the cover of the third issue of the 1978 Sports Quarterly. Gotta love the headlines. "The Texas Menace" and "Pittsburgh Rises Again". Guess it's time for a repeat.

Post number one on this blog was a welcome post followed the same day by the Rangers rookies card from the 1972 Topps set. That was in January of 2008. A little over three and a half years later here we are at #1,000. It's been a fun time for the most part, even if there were moments of frustration with the Rangers and a lack of inspiration with the blog. Hope you have gotten a little enjoyment from it as well. A few of the highlights to this point:

• Comments and feedback from those who have taken the time to read the blog.
• Trades with new friends, fellow bloggers, and readers.
• Willie Lozado commenting on the blog and graciously granting me an interview.
• Joe Wardlow's comment on a post.
• Getting a free Strat-O-Matic game and being able to give away free games to readers.
• The stint at the top of Google search results for Texas Rangers Cards.
  

There are many more that I can't recall off the top of my head so the list is by no means complete. I have really enjoyed taking another look at my Rangers collection and appreciate all the comments and support from readers. If there is a post or series of posts that you have found particularly interesting or amusing I would love to hear about it. Thanks again for reading.

Odd Moments: Captain A-Rod.

Bummer on the loss last night. I guess at least the Angels lost as well so the Rangers didn't lose any ground. With Holland struggling and the team losing this might be a good time for the next installment in the Odd Moments series.

In January of 2004 the Rangers and Alex Rodriguez, shown here on card number 96 of the 2003 Donruss Estrellas set, were in what appeared to be the last stages of a nasty divorce. Rodriguez had publicly embarrassed the club by making it clear that he did not want to play in Texas. He had asked for a trade and even gotten involved in trying to set one up. Obviously it was just a matter of time before the club found a way to dump Alex.

Thus it was a bit of a shock when the Rangers and Rodriguez held a joint press conference. Something was up - Buck Showalter, Tom Hicks, and Alex were all in tuxedos. Only slightly more jarring than the attire was the announcement that was made. Alex Rodriguez was now the team captain (the first since Buddy Bell). The reaction was underwhelming. Alex made a situation appropriate comment when he said, "I'm probably pretty sure it will work out for the best." Tom Hicks said that the disputes and discord were past. Buck Showalter made confident noises.

Two weeks later Texas traded the newly minted captain to the New York Yankees.

Looking back on the incident it is plain to see that it was a farce from the word go. Tom Hicks had already been taken once by Rodriguez's agent, Scott Boras. In following Boras' suggestion to name Alex team captain he was taken again. Naming a lying, whining, selfish, immature malcontent to an official leadership role on the team wasn't going to help anyone. It wasn't going to help the team's finances, their relationship with Rodriguez or their win-loss record. It's hard to believe that Showalter honestly thought that it would. It's incredible to think that Hicks could be so naive. Obviously Rodriguez didn't buy any of it for a minute.

Captain or not, Alex wanted out. Two weeks later the team obliged.

Another comeback, another walk off.

Well, Alexi Ogando got slapped around a bit by the Mariners last night. Seems a little odd that anyone would get slapped around by the Seattle offense this season but that's what happened.

Fortunately the Rangers' bullpen was able to take over with two outs in the top of the third. At that point the Mariners had six runs to the Rangers three. The bullpen shut Seattle down though and they didn't score again. In fact, the Mariners got just three hits after Ogando left the game. Texas scored though. Two runs in the seventh and another in the eighth to tie things up.

In the bottom of the ninth Ian Kinsler worked a walk and Endy Chavez got aboard with a bunt. That brought up Josh Hamilton, seen here on card number SQ-46 of the 2009 Upper Deck StarQuest set. Josh laced a single and Kinsler scored from second for a walk-off win. Good stuff.

That kept the Angels a game and a half back but no further as they rallied late to beat the Yankees in New York. It would be nice to see the Rangers use this series with Seattle to pick up another game on Anaheim.

Harrison, offense top Seattle.

So the Rangers welcomed the Mariners to Arlington last night to kick off a series. Thanks to a great pitching performance by Matt Harrison and the Texas offense coming alive the Rangers were able to grab the 9-2 win and pick up half a game on the idle Angels.

Harrison went seven innings and gave up just two runs while striking out six. That was the total number of runs Seattle got and it was a good enough performance to give him the win.

Since I am running a little short on Harrison cards I am going to give the card of the day to Nelson Cruz. He appears here on card number TEX13 of the 2007 Topps Texas Rangers team set. Last night Nellie went 3-for-4 with a walk, a home run, and two RBI. Nice to see him heating up.

Mike Napoli and Yorvit Torrealba both continued their respective offensive runs. Mith Moreland also had a very good night at the plate. Very good to see some of the guys in the lower part of the batting order contributing.

Quick note on Matt Harrison's tenth win. That gives all five Rangers starters ten wins on the season this year. That's the first time the team has had that many pitchers with that many wins since 1996. It's the first time in team history that the team has had five starters with ten wins each. Awesome to see the rotation holding together this far into the season. Hope it continues.