Texas Rangers Year-in-Review

Remember the other day when I attended the Cowboys and Chicago Bear's game and said it had been AWHILE since I was that embarrased? Yeah, that lasted a whole two and a half days. In case you weren't aware, the Texas Rangers lost the American League west division to the Oakland Athletics yesterday in the last game of the season 12-5. I'm sure a good amount of people probably stopped watching the Ranger's for a bit towards the end of the season thinking it was probably a "done deal". Texas at one point was up thirteen games on the Oakland A's. The comeback is the biggest deficit overcome by a team to win a division. I would've been at least a little bit understanding if it was the Angel's who made this comeback. I mean they have Trout, Pujols, and probably one of the most stacked rotations in baseball. But no, now I'm going to have to spend this weekend chugging mini Crown Royal's, and buying eighteen packs of Coors Light at a time to try and figure out what the hell happened.

I do know this, the Rangers went 3-7 the last ten games of the season. The A's went 8-2. We held our own destiny in the entire season-ending series' with the A's and we couldn't defeat them once. Here's why I'm pissed.
1. We lost to a team from California.
2. We not only lost to a team from California, we lost to the historically bottom-feeding OAKLAND ATHLETICS.
3. We didn't want it near as bad as the Oakland A's did.

If you watched the game yesterday, you know what I mean when I say they wanted it more. Texas had no swagger whatsoever. The A's got FIRED UP after every strikeout. They were playing with a passion that you usually only see in college. We have Josh Hamilton making little league baseball errors, Dempster just taking a fat deuce on the mound every time he pitches in a big game, and Napoli more than proving that he's a one-hit-wonder. The Ranger's are a great team on paper. But right now, I would take the Cleveland Brown's to beat them in one game. No one except Beltre has been hitting consistently all season. If it wasn't for Cabrera hitting for the triple crown, or Trout putting up one of the best seasons ever by a rookie I would pick him to be the A.L. MVP. And then we get to a guy that I used to love for Texas. Ian Kinsler, what can you say about him? He has consistently been one of the best players for Texas for the last few years and even before their playoff appearance two years ago. He was consistently a 30-30 member, hitting for thirty home runs, and stealing thirty bases. However, he probably had one of his worst years as a Ranger this year. He hit .256 in the regular season with nineteen home runs and twenty-one stolen bases. Probably not the best average for someone who is your lead-off hitter. He also led the league of 2nd basemen in errors with eighteen. You saw him yesterday make a careless error on a routine double-play. I have also recently noticed about Ian over the past few years that he thinks he is "the man" on the Texas Rangers. I remember when he would get a hit and spring no matter where he hit it. Now, he jogs or barely trots and gives that smirk on his face that makes you think it's not his fault.

The Rangers play the Baltimore Orioles in the American League Wild Card game tomorrow night at the Ballpark in Arlington. I'm not even going to put a pick in on this game. With Darvish pitching you never know what will happen. Also a baseball team can come out of a funk at any point. They have dominated the Orioles all season long so it could be a favorable match-up. Logically, I don't think the Ranger's have a chance in hell of winning. Fan-wise I will be watching and cheering them on, and no matter what, if they let me down at least it won't be in the World Series for a third straight time.

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