Late night bat bit.

Got invited out at the last minute tonight and just got back. Since it's late and I have to work early in the morning I will leave you with this 2005 Topps Turkey Red Red bat bit card of Hank Blalock. Not a bad looking card if you ask me. Definitely better than tonight's score.

Shooting down the Astros.

Well, the Rangers road woes took a hiatus last night with a 7-3 win in Houston. Nice to see the offense come alive again. Part of that offense was pitcher C.J. Wilson, seen here on card number C299 of the 2008 Topps Heritage Chrome set. C.J. went 1-for-3 at the plate. His hit was a triple and he ended up scoring a run. Not too shabby for an American League pitcher. Ian Kinsler, Josh Hamilton, and Mitch Moreland also had good nights at the plate.

Along with the offense Wilson was back in form as the staff ace. He went seven innings while allowing just two runs. That in spite of taking a batted ball off his leg and his throwing hand. Hung in there though and got the well-deserved win.

Glad to see the win. I know Houston has been struggling but the Rangers have had a rough time on the road recently. Ian Kinsler in particular is night and day at the plate on the road and at home. Good to see him put together a good game away from Arlington. Maybe that will help him relax and get the train back on track.

1975 Topps - Jim Bibby.

Jim Bibby leads off the 1975 Topps team set on card number 155. Jim's got the blue-green combination going here. As a blatant promotion of another blog, I would encourage anyone interested in the 1975 Topps set to check out Night Owl's 1975 Topps blog. It's a good read.

Jim had suffered through a pretty lackluster year in 1974. If he was looking to rebound in 1975 he was going to be disappointed.

In 12 starts with Texas Bibby would toss 68.1 innings and end up with a 2-6 record. That wasn't better than the year before, in fact it was worse. Jim's ERA would also get worse as it surged up 1.12 points to an even 5.00. His WHIP climbed almost ten points to 1.478. In addition Jim had walked 28 batters while striking out just 31. Not a good ratio.

Clearly Jim was struggling. With the numbers he was putting up something had to give. On June 13, 1975 something did give as the Rangers traded Jim to the Indians. Along with Bibby the Indians got Jackie Brown, Rick Waits, and $100,000. In return the Indians sent Gaylord Perry to Texas.

Minor League Monday - Eric McCray, 1989 ProCards.

Good thing the Rangers aren't playing tonight. They've been off the past couple of days. At least they won't lose if they don't play. Hopefully the day off will help them get rested and ready to rumble in the drive up to the All-Star break. Since there's no game I thought it would be a good time to take another trip down to the farm.

The Rangers drafted Eric McCray, shown here on card number 1008 of the 1989 ProCards set, in the 1988 draft. He was their 10th selection in the draft.

Texas started the lefty at Rookie ball in 1988. He posted a 1.44 ERA in 56.1 innings as a starter. That was good enough for a promotion to Single A Gastonia for the 1989 season.

McCray's success would continue at Single A. His ERA climbed a bit but was still a nice 2.52. His WHIP inched up to 1.233 but that was still acceptable as well. In the 22 games he started for Gastonia he more than doubled his innings pitched to 121.2 and posted a 7-7 record for the season. He struck out 110 while walking 55. He could stand to lower the walk totals but for a lefty in just his second season of pro ball he was doing well.

All in all Eric's first two pro seasons had gone well. The tenth round pick had been a pleasant surprise and would be promoted to Double A for the 1990 season. Here is where the real climb to the Majors would begin. McCray would have to translate his early success to the higher levels of play if he wanted to pitch in Arlington.

Senators Saturday - Jim King, 1962.

Today's shelling by the Mets was ugly. Very ugly. Not something I really want to talk about. Time for another Senators Saturday.

Jim King, shown here on card number 42 of the 1962 Topps set, was in his second season with Washington in 1962. After making a fair bid for a starting outfield spot in 1961 he was hoping to get and keep a job in 1962.

Jim would appear primarily in right field but would put in some time in left as well. The 605 innings in right was enough for him to be considered the starting right fielder though. All told Jim would play 778 innings in 101 games in the outfield in 1962. He would see 191 chances and would handle all but four of them without an error. Interestingly he was also involved in four double plays as well. His .979 fielding percentage was just one point below the league average.

Jim would slip a bit on offense from the previous season. He would have 90 more plate appearances than in '61 for a total of 396. That would net him ten more hits (81) and three more doubles (15). His home run output would remain the same at 11. King would see his batting average drop 27 points to .243 and his on-base percentage slump ten points to .353. In spite of the drop the on-base percentage was the best in the starting nine.

Jim's main problem following the 1962 season would be making himself stand out. The Senators outfield could be a crowded place for a decent defensive player with middling offensive skills. Jim would need to work on one or the other in order to carve out a permanent spot for himself.

Best Seasons: Jenkins - 1974.

A while back I started a series of posts on the top 50 decisions in the first 50 seasons of Rangers' history that have shaped the club. I am basing that series of posts on a list compiled by MLB.com writer T.R. Sullivan. Since I started that series T.R. has released two more lists to mark fifty years of Rangers baseball. The second list was the top 50 strange occurrences in franchise history. The third was the 50 best seasons turned in by individual players. I am intending to do a series of posts on both of these lists while continuing with my original series.

To kick off the Best Seasons series we find Ferguson Jenkins at number one with his 1974 season. I've talked about this season in a previous post but it could bear a second look.

Over the years Texas has been known as an offense heavy club. Jenkins' 1974 season is the opposite and is by far and away the best by any Rangers pitcher ever. A recap of the season really isn't necessary but a look at the numbers is in order.

In his first year with Texas, Fergie would start 41 games. He won 25 of those starts while losing 12. Amazingly he completed 29 games, 6 of those were shutouts. All that pitching totaled to 328.1 innings for Jenkins on the season. He struck out 225 batters while walking just 48 - three of those walks were intentional. His ERA for the season was 2.82 and his WHIP totaled to 1.008.

Those numbers are incredible. I just can't see the innings total, wins, and complete games ever being matched by another Texas pitcher. In putting them together Jenkins put the Rangers into contention as they finished second in the American League West.

Vote Stanley.

Saw an article today from MLB.com updating the All-Star voting totals. Made me consider casting some votes.

Anyone else considering voting for Mike Stanley to start at catcher? Mike's a former All-Star and played for the Red Sox and Yankees. Sterling credentials there and the ones that seem to be truly important. In addition he has only appeared in 14 fewer games than Joe Mauer has this year and Joe's in third place in the balloting with over a million votes.

Let's go Mike!