Pitcher Thomas Diamond is expected to have surgery to remove a bone spur in his ankle and will likely miss three weeks. Diamond has been trying to come back from Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery and this will temporarily slow his progress. It also makes it much less likely that he'll pitch for the Rangers in September. Michael Main, a first-round pick from last year, has also been added to Clinton to replace Feliz.
The Rangers are promoting right-hander Neftali Feliz from Class A Clinton to Double A Frisco. The hardest throwing pitcher in the Rangers system, Feliz was 6-3 with a 2.52 ERA and 106 strikeouts in 82 innings and 17 starts for Clinton.
Two bulletins from the Rangers locker room
Vicente Padilla has a strained neck and may not make his next start against the Angels
Eric Hurley won't start against the Orioles on Saturday because of a tight hamstring. Scott Feldman will start instead
Welcome to the Elysian Fields Bar & Grill, where John Hancock, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Ben Franklin would have felt right at home.
* Ian Kinsler is second in the league in hitting and said, "Yeah, I can see myself leading the league. I can see myself as any kind of champion. Why not? Somebody has got to do it."
* Kinsler leads the league in runs scored, 14 more than anybody else, and said, "That's probably most important to me. Batting average is great and RBI are great, every stat is great but the one thing I want to do well is touch home plate."
* Kinsler is 6-for-6 stealing third base. Otis Nixon was 13-for-13 stealing third when he stole 50 bases for the Rangers in 1995. Rangers record for most steals of third all-time is Cecil Espy with 17. Kinsler has nine.
* Reds outfielder Adam Dunn has given up maple bats saying: "Maple is good, but whenever you have a hairline [break] and can't even see it and hit the ball good, and you know you hit it good, your bat explodes. And it's a soft liner to second base and the pitcher is ducking. ... I don't want one of my bats sticking somebody in the head."
* Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston on outfielder Alex Rios: "This kid, he can do everything. He can run, he can throw, hit with power. If you shake his hand, he'll break your hand."
* Rangers pitcher Luis Mendoza has allowed 22 runs in 142/3 innings as a starter. But only 11 of them have been earned.
* The Rangers are 0-for-7 this season in the third game of a series when they have a chance to sweep.
* Major League Baseball has placed 42 replicas of the Statue of Liberty, each decorated with a different baseball theme, throughout New York City as part of the celebration of All-Star Summer. Each team has one statue representing them. The Rangers statue is outside Mickey Mantle's restaurant on Central Park South.
* Reliever Frank Francisco has 34 strikeouts in his last 22 games and 26 innings while Josh Rupe has a 0.79 ERA in his last eight outings and a 2.37 ERA in his last 16 outings.
* Major League Baseball has placed 42 replicas of the Statue of Liberty, each decorated with a different baseball theme, throughout New York City as part of the celebration of All-Star Summer. Each team has one statue representing them. The Rangers statue is outside Mickey Mantle's restaurant on Central Park South.
* Just for the heck of it: Bobby Jones.
* The Rangers had Francisco Cruceta in the Minor Leagues but never called him up. So the Rangers have never had a player who was born on the Fourth of July. If they did, he would share the same birthday as George Steinbrenner.
* Tigers pitcher George Mullins was born on the Fourth of July. Also threw a no-hitter on that day. Had three hits too. That was in 1912 against the St. Louis Browns.
* Pitcher Mickey Welch is the only Hall of Famer born on the Fourth of July. Also pitched two complete games in a doubleheader on his birthday. That was in 1881 for the Troy Haymakers against the Buffalo Bisons.
* The Cubs drew 10,000 to the West Side Grounds on the Fourth of July in 1900. About one thousand of them celebrated the nation's birthday by shooting pistols in the air.
* Both Nolan Ryan and Phil Niekro recorded their 3,000th career strikeout on Independence Day.
* Warner "Mad Dog" Madrigal has a 162.00 ERA but at least he retired a batter. Wilson Alvarez remains the only pitcher to have ever pitched for the Rangers and not retire a single batter. He gave up three hits, including two home runs, and two walks in his one start for them against the Blue Jays on July 24, 1989. He was traded to the White Sox four days later.
* In case you are wondering, Jose Canseco's 27.00 ERA is only tied for the fourth highest in club history. Elizardo Ramirez is now third with a 30.38 ERA.
On the occasion of my last game at Yankee Stadium..without looking anything up:
* The 1996 divisional series. Still the four best baseball games I have ever seen, including the first two at Yankee Stadium.
* Watching Yankees hitters whine after every called strike. No team was better at it. The Big Three: 1. Paul O'Neill (class all by himself); 2. Bernie Williams; 3. Derek Jeter.
* The Atlantic Flyway. A huge loss. Very upsetting. Right across the street from Yankee Stadium was Macombs Dam Park with a brick courtyard and massive trees. It was a major stop for birds flying from Canada to Florida along what is known as the Atlantic Flyway. Now it has been leveled. Where are all those environmentalists when you need them?
* Stadium security making Michael Young show his player I.D. card to get into the stadium.
* Challenger, the Bald Eagle, making a great entrance from his perch deep in the center field bleachers to the pitching mound before playoff games.
* Meeting Jose Canseco at Kennedy Airport on a Thursday night when the Rangers were off after he had been acquired in that big 1992 trade with the Athletics. Asking him maybe three questions before the Rangers shoved him in a van and whisked him away. Then the big press conference the next day at Yankee Stadium.
* Juan Gonzalez hitting a home run into the third deck in left field or Alex Rodriguez hitting one over Monument Park.
* Easter at Yankee Stadium after Mass at St. Patrick's.
* October post-season baseball in the Bronx. An electric atmosphere. Nothing like it. Feeling the Stadium literally shaking when something big happens like Scott Brosius' game-tying two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning in Game 5 of the 2001 World Series.
* One part of the press box for the playoff games is right next to the VIP suite. Only a glass window separates ink-stained wretches from the Big Apple elite. Among those who have sat there over the years include Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw, Henry Kissinger, Billy Crystal, Tom Cruise and of course Donald Trump and his latest squeeze. One year he kept standing up and blocking my view. Well, his hair did.
* Interviewing the two San Diego couples who flew all the way from the West Coast for the first two games of the 1998 World Series. They had seats in the bleachers and were heckled so unmercifully in the first game they left after three innings and didn't come back for Game 2.
* That same Series, listening to one prominent New York sports writer mutter: "I can find better places to eat (in the South Bronx) than I can in all of San Diego."
* Watching Rangers manager Kevin Kennedy go nuts when the team bus missed the turn back to their Manhattan hotel because he thought he was supposed to go to LaGuardia. As the bus tried to navigate through the streets of Queens back to Manhattan, Kennedy barked, "We are not the Washington Senators anymore!"
Heading off to New York for the last dance at Yankee Stadium...
1. Yankees, Orioles, Angels White Sox before the All-Star break. Tough stretch. Will the Rangers have a winning record at the All-Star break?
2. What's your take on Scott Feldman as a starting pitcher?
3. Do you think Max Ramirez should share equal playing time with Jarrod Saltalamacchia?
4. Are you concerned that Josh Hamilton is starting to wear down?
5. Do you have any special memories of Yankee Stadium or just five playoff losses?
After seeing the pitching coach discussion during Friday's Happy Hour, decided we need a dog's primer on pitching coaches.
* Manager Ron Washington, at the end of last season, was told he could replace any coaches. He wanted Mark Connor back. The two got off to a slow start but were working much better together at the end of the season. Washington gained a healthy respect for Connor's knowledge and worth ethic.
* Leo Mazzone? Not a good idea. He had issues at the end of his time in Atlanta and again in Baltimore. His resume is attractive but let's not go there.
* Simple lesson learned about pitching coaches in 20 years of covering baseball: every pitching coach reaches and improves some pitchers, but misses out on others. They connect with some, fail on others.
* Nolan Ryan loved Tom House, the Mad Scientist with the Ph.D who had a million different theories and tried them all out with the Rangers. Others found him to be be a bit over their heads.
* Kenny Rogers didn't flourish as a Major League pitcher until House was gone and Claude Osteen was named pitching coach.
* Osteen was the old-style pitching coach who brought relative simplicity and the Dodgers approach to his staff. The Rangers had a 4.28 ERA in 1993 and Osteen was regarded as an excellent pitching coach. The Rangers had a 5.45 ERA in 1994 and Osteen was out the door.
* Rick Peterson was considered a genius with the Athletics - Barry Zito loved him - and a flop with the Mets. Some said he was too much of a self-promoter. Obviously he knows Washington well from their days with the Athletics.
* Bobby Valentine really wanted Mel Stottlemyre as his pitching coach.
* The typical pitching coaches loves his pitchers in Spring Training then grumbles about them being "fifth starters at best" in August.
* The Rangers won three division titles in 1996 and 1998-99 with Dick Bosman as their pitching coach. He was joined to the hip with manager Johnny Oates. Everything was great until the Rangers fell to last place in 2000. Then his pitchers turned against him and Oates, despite great personal anguish, fired him at the end of the season.
* People don't realize how much Oates agonized over that decision but Bosman was never held in high esteem by general manager Doug Melvin. The GM allowed Oates to pick his own coaches - every single one of them - but lobbied against Bosman from the start.
* Bosman to a pitcher on a mound visit: "I don't know what you're doing out here but Johnny doesn't like it so you better try something else."
* Larry Hardy replaced Dick Bosman. The Rangers had the lowest ERA in Spring Training in 2001 and owner Tom Hicks told everybody in Spring Training what a great job Hardy was doing. By June, the Rangers pitching was a mess and Hardy stepped down.
* It's hard to measure how far back Rangers pitching was set just because Oscar Acosta was hired as pitching coach in 2002. But it was considerable. That may have been the single dumbest move made by the Rangers in 36 years in Arlington. Definitely in the last 20.
* Jerry Narron, by the way, wanted Lee Tunnell.
* Orel Hershiser knows pitching. Hershiser knows much about many things. Like House, he was probably way over some people's heads.
* Jim Bouton on Jim Turner, the Yankees pitching coach in the '60's: "If a batter struck out on a 3-and-2 change, Turner would nod sagely and say: '3-and-2 change, boys, one of the most effective pitches in baseball.' If two innings later the same hitter homered off the same pitch, Turner would shake his head and exclaim, 'you can't throw a 3-and-2 change to the hitter.' Not in this ballpark.'"
* Of you've been around, you remember in 1988 when Bobby Witt was demoted to Triple A Oklahoma and worked with pitching coach Ferguson Jenkins. When he returned, he ripped off like 11 straight victories or something and everybody talked about what a great job Jenkins did with Witt.
* Turns out it was Oklahoma City teammate Mike Jeffcoat who was the one who straightened out Witt. But Jenkins got all the credit.
* Pitching coaches may be the single biggest target of displaced aggression known to man.
* Most pitching coaches teach the same thing. Most of it comes down to how they teach it. Connor is simple, direct, honest. There is no self-promotion, hidden agendas or flapdoodle. Only knowledge, passion and work ethic.
Welcome to the Elysian Fields Bar & Grill, where we drink a toast to Jeff Wilson and his bride Jenny as they get ready to walk down the aisle on Saturday.
* Joaquin Benoit had a good bullpen session and a long chat with pitching coach Mark Connor on Thursday. Said Conner: "He's been out of sync mechanically and mentally. He says he's healthy. I told him, 'Look, you're in a different position on every pitch.' We need to get him back to being really simple."
* Marlon Byrd on facing his old team the Phillies again: "That's going to be fun. Jimmy Rollins is my son's godfather, Ryan Howard was in my wedding party, Brett Myers was my roommate in the Minors. I came up with a bunch of them, practically the whole team. I love those guys. I love the way they play the game. It will be good to play against them. I would say there will be an extra pep in my step but I already play the game hard."
* Eddie Guardado on the different between the American and National League: "I think the N.L., the play more fundamental baseball. They have to with the pitchers hitting and no DH: hit and run, get guys over, bunt... Here in the American League you look for the three-run bomb. But I think the American League is the better league."
* Largest jersey handed out to a Ranger this year was pitcher Franklyn German, who wears a size 54. Kameron Loe and Josh Hamilton wear a size 15 shoe.
* Max Ramirez was the sixth Ranger to ever hit a home run in his second Major League game. Five have gone deep in their first Major League game. Ruben Mateo was the last to do it on June 12, 1999.
* Josh Hamilton, on the possibility of his first All-Star Game being at Yankee Stadium: "I think it would be awesome. Obviously there is a lot of history there and it would be cool to take part in the last year of the stadium."
* Rangers pitchers ended up going 4-for-15 in Interleague play at the National League parks. Kevin Millwood had a double and Eric Hurley, Kason Gabbard and Scott Feldman all had singles for their first big league hit. The Rangers were 0-4 in the four games in which their pitcher got a hit.
* This was tied for the second most hits by Rangers pitchers in a single season in Interleague play. They were 7-for-19 in 1997.
* Just for the heck of it: Brian Jordan
* Sidney Ponson is denying that he did anything wrong in a St. Petersburg hotel bar late one night before he was supposed to pitch. He told the New York Post: "My girlfriend was there - nothing happened. Whatever [the Rangers] said about me, they had a reason why they said it. I know I didn't do anything wrong. If I did something wrong, why did they let me pitch? Release me on the spot if I was on that short of a leash."
* As far as manager Ron Washington, Ponson said, "He barely talked to me when I was there," Ponson said. "I don't know if he liked me or disliked me. I pitched for my teammates."
Jack Norworth and Albert Von Tilzer had never seen a baseball game when they wrote Take Me Out to the Ballgame in 1908.
* The Rangers lead the American League with 29 sacrifice hits and they are tied for first with 32 sacrifice flies. They also have the third highest stolen base success rate in the league.
* One more? Their hitters see 3.89 pitches per bat, second highest in the league. That means their doing a good job making the opposing pitcher work.
Chris Davis, Taylor Teagarden, Max Ramirez and Elvis Andrus were selected to play in the Futures Game on July 13 in Pittsburgh. Don't think Davis and Ramirez will play if they are still with the Rangers. Ramirez and Andrus were picked for the International team.
