2008 Rangers season thread

[Steven Tyler]

Thought it was about time to start a 2008 season thread since the Rangers have finally started to show a little life.

[deftones999us]

Having year after year of bad break, something has got to give.. this team has too much talent to stay 4th every single year..

[Steven Tyler]

Hard to believe the the Rangers have a record to rival the New York Yankees six weeks into the season.

[deftones999us]

they are still not all there, yes we won 6 series, but its amazing how we can't close out a sweep, not 1 sweep this year with exception of that 2 game series in Toronto.

[Imgran]

Gagne trade and Hamilton deal are all that's holding this team together right now.

[deftones999us]

Gagne trade and Hamilton deal are all that's holding this team together right now.

kason gabbard has been hurt most of the season, and david murphy was struggling for a while sinking his batting.. but david murphy beat out Ellsbury for rookie of the month of April.. but both are very talented.. take away that horrible 7 game losing streak we had in boston and detroit, and it's been a solid season compared to last year..

[randy]

Gagne trade and Hamilton deal are all that's holding this team together right now.

ehhhh...you might want to consider the signing of Bradley, Guardado, Ponson and the development of Feldman in there as well.

[Steven Tyler]

The next ten days on the road will help gauge the Ranger's progress for 2008.

Four with Minnesota.
Three with Cleveland.
Three with Tampa Bay. (who would have thought)

[Steven Tyler]

Where on where has all the pitching gone the last few days? Did everybody get injured all at the same time? Hitting is great. They just need to weather the storm, someway, somehow!

[randy]

Padilla and millwood each have to miss, throwing everyting into chaos. Add in a couple of meltdowns by Wright to get everyting else out of whack, and you get a total mess. Hopefully Millwood's outing last nite and a good outing by Padilla tonight will get things settled down.
Oh, and taking a guy(Tejada)who has proven his only hope of pitching well is as a starter, and bring him in in RELIEF with the freakin bases loaded. fit that square peg into that round hole, guys...

[Steven Tyler]

Four Rangers make the All Star team. Thirteen rookies have already been used. Nine with no Major League experience. Team started 9-18, the worst record in baseball. They had also scored 49 runs less than any team up to that time.

Now they are three games over .500 with one of the most productive offenses in baseball. The pitching is so often injured and overworked it's hard to sustain any real momentum to produce win streaks.

Ian Kinsler is a hot as they come right now. Milton Bradley had maintained his lofty numbers since the start of season. Josh Hamilton has had a power outage lately, but he is still driving in runs on a pretty regular basis. David Murphy looks like he could win the Rookie of the Year the way he's been playing. A lot of tough competition this year. Chris Davis may never come out the line up for Hank Blalock to play first. Marlon Byrd, Salty, Max Ramirez, Ramon Vazquez, and Herman Duran have provided excellent depth at crucial times this year.

Perhaps this year they will take off to a flying start after the All-Star break, and make life a little harder for teams in the American League, especially the Angels. All the pieces seem ready to come together for once. I sure hope so.

Anybody with something else to add?

[TheJourneyman]

Four Rangers make the All Star team. Thirteen rookies have already been used. Nine with no Major League experience. Team started 9-18, the worst record in baseball. They had also scored 49 runs less than any team up to that time.

Now they are three games over .500 with one of the most productive offenses in baseball. The pitching is so often injured and overworked it's hard to sustain any real momentum to produce win streaks.

Ian Kinsler is a hot as they come right now. Milton Bradley had maintained his lofty numbers since the start of season. Josh Hamilton has had a power outage lately, but he is still driving in runs on a pretty regular basis. David Murphy looks like he could win the Rookie of the Year the way he's been playing. A lot of tough competition this year. Chris Davis may never come out the line up for Hank Blalock to play first. Marlon Byrd, Salty, Max Ramirez, Ramon Vazquez, and Herman Duran have provided excellent depth at crucial times this year.

Perhaps this year they will take off to a flying start after the All-Star break, and make life a little harder for teams in the American League, especially the Angels. All the pieces seem ready to come together for once. I sure hope so.

Anybody with something else to add?

If their young pitchers can stay healthy the 2nd half they might be able to put together a short run. I like what I saw last night from Harrison, granted just the first start, and I like what little I have seen out of Hurley. If they can give them some innings and keep the pen a little more rested it might be interesting but I am not holding my breath cause that is a lot to ask for.

[deftones999us]

Michael Ballard was suppose to get called up today to pitch but Madrigal ended up starting. Does anyone know why Ballard was pulled? Doesn't make a lick of sense playing the whole game with a depleted bullpen...

[TheJourneyman]

Michael Ballard was suppose to get called up today to pitch but Madrigal ended up starting. Does anyone know why Ballard was pulled? Doesn't make a lick of sense playing the whole game with a depleted bullpen...

they had JD on during the game. He said they felt the pen could get the job done and were rested enough. Ballard was actually at the game in a suite with his agent. Sucks to get the call but not get the call. At least he didn't have to travel far and Frisco had the night off.

[Steven Tyler]

Another ugly win against the Mariners. Despite five errors and blowing a 6-0 lead they come back and win in the Ranger bottom of the ninth. If anything the Rangers don't make a fan want to leave early.

Good job guys. Way to fight to the end and not quit. My kind of ball team.

[Steven Tyler]

Those late inning rallies just keep getting better and better.

"It ain't over till it's over".

Even gained some ground in the wild card race...............:shhh:

[AutographCollector]

I listened to the game on xm driving home from work tonight (since the Mets were off ;) ) Marte walking 3 straight and allowing the grand slam sounded good on the radio. Who is your radio announcer?

[TheJourneyman]

I listened to the game on xm driving home from work tonight (since the Mets were off ;) ) Marte walking 3 straight and allowing the grand slam sounded good on the radio. Who is your radio announcer?

Eric Nadel
who is 10000000000000000000000000000x better than the idiots that call the games on TV.

[bailiff]

I agree. Tom and Josh drive me nuts.

[TheJourneyman]

I agree. Tom and Josh drive me nuts.

There was never a better combo than Nadel and Mark Holtz.

Victor Rojas and Nadel are a fine duo but TAG and Josh are MORONS!

[Steven Tyler]

I do believe with all the rash of injuries, the Rangers have officially derailed for the rest of the 2008 season. I seriously doubt .500 is in reach at this moment. Maybe with the expanded roster on September 1, they can play catch up with teams that are resting players, i. e., the Angels, Athletics and Mariners.