Best Seasons: Sierra - 1989.

I was going to wait and post on tonight's game. Alexi Ogando got knocked out in the third inning though and James Shields was brilliant. Looks like the Devil Rays are going to win this one. Time for the next installment in T.R. Sullivan's fifty best seasons in Rangers history list.

Number six on the list is Ruben Sierra's 1989 season. Sierra, shown here on card number 165 of the 1990 Sports Illustrated for Kids set, was 23 years old in 1989 and had been in the Majors for three years. In 1989 his speed and power came together.

Ruben led the league in games played with 162. He also led the league in triples (14), RBI (119), slugging percentage (.543), and total bases (344). He led the team in doubles (35), home runs (29), runs scored (101), and hits (194). His .306 batting average was the best he had posted to that point in his career and was second only to Julio Franco's .316 on the team. His 14 triples are still a team record.

Sierra's season did not go unnoticed. He came in second in MVP balloting. He was also named to the All-Star team and won a Silver Slugger award. This was the season that the Rangers and their fans had been hoping for from Ruben since he tore up through the minors and onto the Major League roster. It would easily be the best season of his career.

Checking in.

Checking in on the 2011 season that is. Kind of a mixed bag over the last few days but at least the Rangers seem to have come out of their slump.

With just two games separating the two teams going into last weekend, the Rangers welcomed the Angels to Arlington. Momentum seemed to be in the Halos favor. To be frank, I was expecting to two clubs to flip-flop in the standings before the series was over. That was not too be. The Rangers suddenly woke up and took two of three from the Angels to come out of the series with a three game lead. They then picked up an additional half a game yesterday when the Mariners managed to beat the Angels while Texas took the day off.

Nice to see the guys pick up a little ground on Anaheim. They're not out of the woods yet though. While the Angels are playing a couple of fourth place teams in the next week the Rangers will be facing off with the Devil Rays and Red Sox. That with Nelson Cruz going back on the Disabled List today with a hamstring injury.

With Tampa Bay coming to town I must confess to being less than impressed to hear that Scott Feldman, shown here on card number 259 of the 2010 Allen and Ginter set, was starting tonight. It's not that I dislike Scooter, it's just that I don't care to see him start a big game. Ron Washington didn't ask me though so Feldman got the start. Good thing he did. He just left the game with a two run lead. In six innings he gave up just two hits and held the Devil Rays scoreless. Very nice work to see from a spot starter. If Texas doesn't hold on to this game it won't be Scott Feldman's fault.

Minor League Monday - Ronaldo Romero, 1989 ProCards.

Texas signed young Ronaldo Romero, shown here on card number 1016 of the 1989 ProCards set, in 1987. In 1988 he would play for the Sarasota Rangers in Rookie ball. With an ERA of 3.05 Ronaldo showed enough promise to get promoted to Single A the next season.

With the Gastonia Rangers in 1989 Romero would post a 4.82 ERA and a 1.679 WHIP in 84 innings. He would start 15 of the 22 games he appeared in and would end with a 5-5 record. Ronaldo did struggle with his control as he walked 60 batters while striking out 62.

That performance wasn't enough to get Romero bumped up to Double A. At 18 years old there was time for improvement though. Another season at Gastonia was in order.

Romero started off the 1990 season like a house afire. By the time he appeared in his eleventh game on May 14th he had a 1.35 ERA. Something had clicked it seemed. Ronaldo got off to a rocky start that night and gave up an uncharacteristic seven runs in the first two innings. Sitting in the dugout in the top of the third he began to have trouble breathing and complained that his heart was fluttering. As emergency personnel responded, his heart stopped. CPR was initiated and he was transported to the local hospital. At 2045, a half an hour after his collapse, he was pronounced dead by the emergency room doctor. At age 19 Ronaldo Romero's career and life were over.

An autopsy later determined that Romero suffered from an enlarged heart and that was likely what led to his fatal heart attack. With that in mind, there was little that anyone could have done. Young people just don't survive heart attacks and there is usually little sign that they are coming until it is too late. Apparently that was the case here. Trainer Tom Tisdale later said that Ronaldo had told him prior to the game that he was feeling the strongest he had all season.

Sorry for the rather downer post. Romero's card was simply the next to come up in the team set. I had no idea what I was about to uncover as I scanned it in and began to research. I suppose that's the thing to keep in mind here. Tomorrow is not guaranteed and nobody knows what the future holds. We all need to make sure that we are prepared to step into eternity at any time.

Senators Saturday - Joe McClain, 1962.

Joe McClain, shown here on card number 324 of the 1962 Topps set, had spent the entire 1961 season as a member of the Senators starting rotation. In 1962 he returned to the game with the goal of making that spot in the rotation his permanent home.

Things went badly for Joe from the word go. He got four starts in ten appearances and completed two games. He wasn't able to win a game though and got tagged with the loss four times. His ERA ballooned to 9.38 and his WHIP climbed to 1.833.

McClain was a control specialist and apparently his control had deserted him. The results were predictably not good. After just 24 innings the Senators had seen enough. They sent Joe down to Triple A to see if he could regain his 1961 form.

Joe pitched 113 innings in 24 games with the Syracuse Chiefs to finish out the 1962 season. He managed to get his ERA down to 4.62 and his WHIP to 1.513. His control was still a problem but at least he struck out more than he walked (59 to 36). Some improvement had been made but not enough, McClain ended his dismal season at Triple A.

Odd Moments: Knocking a hole in the wall.

Late in 1985 the Rangers obtained Pete Incaviglia, shown here on card number 20 of the 1988 Nestle set, from the Montreal Expos. Inky had yet to see Major League action. For Spring Training in 1986 the Rangers would be getting into shape in Florida. Pete was there along with the rest of the team.

During an exhibition game Incaviglia got a handle on a pitch and blasted it into the outfield. The ball rocketed to the wall and appeared to be ready to ricochet off the wall. To everyone's amazement that didn't happen. Instead the ball smashed a hole through the wall. Truly a spectacle of incredible strength!

Later investigation revealed that the wall at Pompano Beach Park was made of wood. That wood was rotting away. Such information didn't keep the Rangers from getting some great mileage out of the story. It would stick with Inky throughout his time with Texas. I can remember my Grandfather talking about it and hearing it referenced during broadcasts of Rangers games. Needless to say, the part about the rotted wood never seemed to make the story.

Best Seasons: Burroughs - 1974.

Another ugly night at The Ballpark in Arlington tonight. This will drop the Rangers down to a mere two games over Anaheim. That with the Angels coming into town and Texas on a skid. Starting to get frustrating. I think I am going to take a break from the 2011 season this weekend. Good time to try and get caught up on T.R. Sullivan's top 50 lists.

Number 5 on T.R.'s list of fifty best seasons is Jeff Burroughs' 1974 performance. I have already covered this season in detail here. To recap just how good Jeff's season was, at the time this 1986 TCMA All Time Rangers card was issued Burroughs was the only Rangers player ever to win the American League MVP award.

Hard to forget a 118 RBI season with a .301 batting average and 25 long balls. Amazingly it seems that a large number of Rangers fans have done just that.

Decisions: Three-for-one.

With the horrendous losses last night and tonight I decided to move on with T.R. Sullivan's Top 50 Decisions list. Two of the next three decisions deal with front office moves and one concerns a manager that I have already posted my only card of. As such I will bunch the three together in this one post with sticker number 450 in the 1989 Panini set serving to provide the Rangers team logo.

Number nine in T.R.'s list is the decision in 1973 to fire Whitey Herzog as manager of the Rangers. The gig was Herzog's first as a manager and he was given just 138 games before Bob Short fired him. Short should have let Herzog develop but he was impatient and committed one of the worst errors in team history. By 1975 Whitey was leading the Royals to a second place finish. By 1976 he was leading them to the first of three straight post-season appearances. Soon after that came his time with the Cardinals. Pure stupidity to let him go after such a short time.

Number ten is the 1994 housecleaning. General manager Doug Melvin and manager Johnny Oates were brought on board. Two years later the Rangers were in the post-season for the first time ever. Additional appearances in 1998 and 1999 followed.

Number eleven is also a housecleaning, this time in 1984 and 1985. Tom Grieve was hired as General Manager in 1984 and Bobby Valentine as manager in 1985. These moves didn't lead to a post-season berth but they did bring the franchise back from the steep decline it was in following the excitement of the mid to late 1970's. That would set the stage for Melvin and Oates to work their magic.