The Elysian Fields Ten - Outrageous under a full moon

TR: I'll always remember Roger Moret's catatonic state. (If these are moments NOT to cherish, that is.)

Also, Lenny Randle decking Frank Lucchesi comes to mind.

Lastly, when management shucked "Ranger Red" into the history books, after our ONLY winning run in the late '90's. Who made that call anyway? The Angels adopted it and went right on to winning the World Series. Not to be superstitious, because I'm not, but I want Ranger Red. Let's get on the bandwagon good bloggers.

Last bad memory, even if a flippant one: Stadium personnel confiscating people's sack lunches of fried chicken, tuna sandwiches, etc...and later found to be eating it themselves. Ranger management later reversed their decision to let the masses eat their fried chicken in peace INSIDE the Ballpark. What a win for society!

Just some random comments about the list.

10 cent beer night had to be #1 in my book. Glad to see you had it there, TR.

A little surprised a Billy Martin story is not mentioned somewhere.

For the bizzare, what about Doug Rader running off fan-favorite Jim Sundberg? Sunny suffers through the poor treatment, and goes through Milwaukee to KC and wins a World Series. One of my all time favorite baseball stories - Sunny perserveres using a positive attitude, really helps the development of a young rotation in KC and is rewarded with a ring. After all that he comes full-circle and goes to work for the Rangers organization. GREAT story in my book.

I remember getting tired of seeing replays of Canseco's header.

Speaking of Canseco pitching, remember Roger Clements picking up a bat and being told "no way" before he could get to the on-deck circle?

I have never seen a guy run to the mound and put their face in someone's armpit as fast as Ventura did. I didn't get tired of replays of Nolan putting knots on his head.

Thanks for the reminder bingo of the stadium personnel taking food. Had forgotten that, but remember now how mgt was really put in a bad position and had to allow fans to byo.

Also, I'll be glad to support the Ranger Red crusade - I still have the gear, too. In fact, I wore my red Ranger cap to the game last night.

1. Why dishonor Red. It was a symbol of what was good about this franchise. The switch to blue is symbolizes all the changes they made for the worse. Stick to blue.

2. TR's last note suggested at such: a player hitting a manager is not outrageous, it is criminal, just like throwing a chair in the stands or attacking a defenseless cameraman.

Only in Cleveland would they have 10 cent beer nights.

I'm changing the subject - it appears that the Twins have put Santana on the market. This is bad news for those of us who would like to see him in Texas, recognizing the low odds of this happening. Minnesota will obviously want a bunch of prospects and maybe some cash, too. Whichever team is willing to do this would almost certainly ask for the right to negotiate an extension during the trade talks - and have to pay FA money for the years of the extension, so it is highly likely that Santana will not become a FA next year.

This leaves the Rangers in the position of either signing second-tier pitchers (see Padilla, Wright, Chen, et al) again or waiting on pitchers in the farm system to develop. Waiting on the farm system means not coming close to winning the division 2009, either. This timetable does not work for JD and Wash, since their contracts run out in 2009 - they need to win or come close in 2009 to stay employed here, in my humble opinion. I have said in previous posts that I didn't think the Rangers would do much this off-season, but after considering the GM and Manager contracts coming up in 2009, I have changed course. Job security for these two and the 2007 team's mediocre performance is going to require that the Rangers do more than sign a CF. The team needs to add another starter and big bat. Maybe this is why Wash had such a long list (which should have only been shared with JD).

We've discussed the fact that there are no sure-fire FA pitchers out there, so can JD put together a trade to get one? Let's have some trade discussions, TR. I'll throw one out there. It's time to package Salty, Arias, Littleton, and Francisco (or pick a couple other relief pitchers) together and try to make a trade for a starting pitcher this winter(if there's any interest in this discussion I'll do more homework and come up with a couple of trading partners). If we could get someone who could go more than 5 innings, we could stand to give up part of the bullpen - acknowledging that you have to give up quality to get quality. I say Salty because as Evan Grant has noted, Taylor Teagarden is on his way to Arlington in 2009, if not before the end of 2008. Salty also has a lot of value, and the Rangers are catching rich right now. Laird could stay here until Teagarden is ready.

I know this is a departure from the homegrown strategy, but if JD could trade without having to give up pitching, I think it makes sense to try to complement the growth strategy with trades. Anyone else think 2009 is big for JD and Wash, and it's time to start dealing?

Gerald Laird and Kameron Loe to the Cubs for Sean Marshall.

Here is one that should have made your top ten list. But, i won't hold it against you TR since it happened today. And i quote, " I give myself an A." Ronald Washington. I think we just found out why the elementary teachers are not letting the students grade themselves. They can't be trusted to evaluate themselves fairly. While this should be expected from children, it should not be with a 55 year old manager. Question, how do you trust a manager who can't be trusted to evaluate himself fairly? And then entrust him to evaluate players and the baseball club. Answer is you don't. No one else does. I give him a C-. He clearly over evaluated his team and failed to prepare them at the start of the season out of spring training. If he does this next year he will be gone by the All-Star break, even with his contract extension. In my book he also appeared to be in over his head as a manager at the start of the season. He clearly adjusted however, and this is the only reason that he gets a C-. Now i still don't understand why David Murphy isn't playing everyday and some of his other moves are questionable. The main thing i don't like about the guy is he is starting to let the pressure get to him and is being hostile towards the media. He should have said, look i made mistakes, i learned from those mistakes and this organization and ball club will be better for it. Just wait until next year, a familiar phrase heard in these parts. 17 Managers in 30+ years is a great thing.