This past weekend I was blasted by my Fantasy Football friends for choosing Adrian Peterson as my keeper just a few hours before his arrest. So, until this all gets squared away with Houston PD I don’t want to talk football. Let’s just ignore the fact that my fantasy team is already on shaky ground and take a look at the Rangers.
Thankfully, Ron Washington finally switched up his lineup after a lengthy five game losing streak. Moving Nelson Cruz to fifth and Michael Young to the sixth spot was the change that gave the team an edge in Game 2 against the Twins. Let’s be honest Young is having a tough time. Last year he hit .351 in his old spot and this year he was at .273 and sinking. I doubt Washington will make the change permanent, but hopefully it’s enough to help him awake from this slump.
The offense didn’t need another challenge but on Friday Josh Hamilton left the game with back spasms. He recovered and was back in the line up the next day, but he said the pain scared him because he felt immediate weakness in his legs. Of course, they iced him down and he improved, but this is a problematic way to enter the rest of the season.
Even though this rough patch has been stressing out fans, there’s still a lot to look forward to. The 83rd All-Star Game featured eight of our very own Rangers. Thanks to amazing attendance records and diehard fans, North Texans may have actually decided to watch the game this year. Ian Kinsler, Joe Nathan, Mike Napoli, Yu Darvish, Adrian Beltre, Matt Harrison, Elvis Andrus, and Hamilton joined Washington and his coaching staff in Kansas City for the game.
Sending eight players to the All-Star game is a club record for the Rangers and three more than the next closest team. This is huge. The combination of Nolan Ryan helping to secure the funds, and John Daniels’ ideology to build from within, the organization has grown and become a first rate competitor in every way.
Daniel’s support of rebuilding the farm system has been so important in the club’s back-toback AL pennants. Key players stepped up and committed the financial resources to make sure that the Rangers were leaders in the development of players and scouting.
So I know this is all well and good, but you’re only reading team reports to determine if there’s still a World Series win in our future. Once everyone heals up and finds their groove, it’s likely that the Rangers will be on track to play some serious ball going into October. After decades of struggle the club is smack dab in the middle of their heyday. Instead of wringing our hands and making ourselves sick, let’s enjoy the comfort of knowing that our team deserves to be among the elite in the league. The days of merely being good enough are over. The Rangers are a team of All-Stars and this year they can still make it happen.
