Poor Toby's Almanac
Warning: this dog bites abusive and rude clubhouse attendants...
Michael Young has a 22-game hitting streak, a hairline fracture in the ring finger on his left hand and a strained groin muscle. Doesn't look like he'll play on Sunday.
Josh Hamilton just looks tired. He was 0-for-5 on Saturday. He looks like he needs a day off. The Rangers have the top three in runs scored in the American League but two could get the day off on Sunday.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia was called up on April 25. That's when he and Gerald Laird started sharing the catcher's duties. The Rangers are 14-7 in the 21 games that Laird has started and 10-10 when Saltalamacchia has started.
Milton Bradley leads the American League in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. The last guy to do that in a full season in the American League was George Brett in 1980. Other guys who have done it include Ted Williams, Ty Cobb, George Sisler, Nap Lajoie, Tris Speaker, Jimmie Foxx, Carl Yastrzemski and Frank Robinson.
Doug Mathis vs. Matt Garza today. The Rangers lineup will be interesting. The Rangers haven't been three games under .500 since May 11. But that was well before they ran into the Rays.
Big game. Again.
The Oracle of the Elysian Fields:
"It's not that maple bats break more, they just explode. Ash doesn't do that, they just crack. Maple just blows up but it's not a problem. Nobody's dead yet."
Rangers shortstop Michael Young
Toby's Top Five:
1. Jimmy Rollins - The NL MVP was taken out of a game on Thursday by Phillies manager Charlie Manuel because he didn't run out a pop-up that was dropped. After the game Rollins accepted the blame and backed his manager's decision.
2. Anybody notice they've won seven straight and are starting to put some distance between themselves and the crowd?
3. Urban Youth Academy - There were at least 18 players taken in the draft this week who have ties to Major League Baseball's complex in Compton, Ca.
4. Charley Pride - Now officially a Ranger.
5. Gerald Laird - The guy can pick at third.
Ex-Ranger of the Week:
Here's how Padres first baseman Adrian Gonzalez compares to Braves first baseman Mark Teixeira as of Sunday morning
Category Gonzalez Teixeira
Games 63 61
At-bats 255 232
Runs 39 35
Hits 75 64
2B 15 15
3B 1 0
HR 17 9
RBI 56 43
Avg. .294 .276
On-base .356 .367
Slugging .561 .457
Pitching matchup of the week: Dodgers rookie Clayton Kershaw, who is from Highland Park, faces Padres veteran Greg Maddux on Tuesday. They have 722 Major League starts between them: 720 by Maddux and two by Kershaw.
Birthdays: A couple of members of the fabled 1996 Rangers celebrate this week. Kevin Gross is 47 today and Damon Buford is 38 on Thursday. Former Rangers third baseman Scott Coolbaugh is 42 on Friday. He's now a coach with the Frisco Roughriders.
Anniversary: It was on this date in 1950 that the Red Sox beat the St. Louis Browns, 29-4, to set a modern Major League record for most runs in a game. The Rangers surpassed that last year.
Last call:
"It's tough batting behind Josh. He makes it look so easy up there and I'm fighting to have good at-bats."
Rangers outfielder Milton Bradley on Josh Hamilton.
Milton has been making it look pretty easy himself. Gonzalez numbers are even more impressive considering the park he's playing half his games in.
Report any abuse or spam
Remind me, just what did we get for Gonzalez? Oh yeah, Aki Otsuka, who was smart enough to tell another Japanese player not to sign here. Hey Gonzalez's numbers are great and who would have ever of thunk that he would have turned into that kind of player? He was only the second first baseman to ever be taken with the first pick overall. He also shares this law enforcement tidbit. The Rangers actually traded a future convicted murderer for him. Now that is a great deal if we had only have kept him, but we were going to contend right????? Where is Eaton, oh that is right, he was on record as saying he would never resign in this shooting gallery. What was Daniels thinking? Well maybe Smoak will become the next Tex. What is the guy hitting in front of Gonzalez hitting? I do believe Chipper is hitting like .422 with Tex hitting behind him. Does anyone on here think that Chipper would be hitting that if Andruw Jones were batting behind him. Texiera is a notoriously slow starter, he will hit better as the year progresses. He is also better than anything or anyone that is even sniffing around first base in Texas. He is only 27 years old and should have been dealt this year at the all-star break. What would our record be if he were here right now? We need to commit to Laird as the receiver and play Salt at first base, this would help this team. There is a glaring hole at first base and he could fill it.
Report any abuse or spam
"Baseball man" Buck Showalter didn't think much of him.
Report any abuse or spam
I think Buck #1 thought he was going to keep his job and # 2 thought he was going to keep Tex. Faulty logic, it doth appear. Buck got paid though and the Rangers haven't done too well without him.
Report any abuse or spam