Rangers News

After another good weekend of baseball at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington the Rangers find themselves with yet another series win and a record of 22-23 just one game from .500 and 3.5 games out of first and they can continue to battle in every game.

The news I was most excited to hear on Monday morning is that Hank Blalock has volunteered to play fistbase. What are you kidding me. This guy came up as a third baseman and has played there exclusively in his MLB career. I really think this says something about the make up of this team. Hank is willing to make a move to help the team. When has a player done that? Of course it was Michael Young moving to shortstop after the trade of Alex Rodrigez to the Yankees. This will put some pressure on Ramon Vazquez to keep his hitting going and could expose him as not an everyday player, but I really think he has learned a chance and the Rangers need another option at firstbase. Chris Shelton and Frank Catalonato are not going to cut it, they aren't bad defensively but they just aren't big offensive guys. Hank has been a big offensive guy either, but he hasn't played a full season since.....? That's right never. So the question is who has to be moved so that Hank can rejoin the team and play first? Well he's gone back to Arizona to play in extended spring training and is still rehabbing his hamstring.

One concern is Josh Hamilton did not start on Sunday, but he did come in to play in the eighth as a pinch hitter and took the field in Right in the ninth. The Rangers have to have Hamilton out there to continue this run, he's really been carrying this club offensively. The Twins and Indians will be challenging series so the Rangers really need to show that they are for real and continue to win series on the road.

Go Rangers!

MIT Android Class Project

Some MIT students had a chance to develop some new software utilizing the Android platform that Google is promoting/sponsoring. AP writer BRIAN BERGSTEIN documented the work of the MIT class. It seems that most of the software tools developed by the students utilize the GPS capabilities of the Android platform. I'm also interested in basic calendar, task, and even video calling capabilities utilizing the VoIP capabilities. Read the story from the AP and let me know what you think.

Rangers

I'm really not sure what to think about the Rangers game last night. Padilla gave up 5 runs in the first and the Rangers had to work from behind and they came back. The Mariners didn't go down without a fight, however, they scored in the eighth and ninth innings to tie it up at 12. C.J. Wilson did not look good working in a non-save situation. High fastballs are never a good idea.

Here's my hot sports opinion of the day. DON'T BRING HANK BLALOCK OFF OF THE DL. Again this year Ramon Vazquez is doing a great job filling in for Blalock. Although many will say that Vazquez doesn't have the power to be a starting 3rd baseman I disagree. He hits for average, .323. He only has 5 RBI, but I still think he's a better option than Hank, especially with a power hitting center fielder on the roster who continues to drive in runs.

Hamilton has 8 home runs, .306 average, 43 RBI, and 22 Runs in 39 games. That's over 1 per game. Thanks to Hamilton the pitching doesn't have to be perfect.

The bullpen has been looking better of late, but last night was not a good one for the pen. Benoit did not look good and Wilson wasn't good either. Despite the pitching the Rangers have been battling back into the A.L. West.

Buck Showalter on Baseball Tonight commented on the improvement the Rangers are making and even had some really positive comments on Hamilton. Buck is good on Baseball tonight and should probably stick to that gig since he obviously doesn't do well as a manager.

Speaking of manager, I'm still not sure I like the way Wash keeps moving players around in the outfield. They need to stick with a configuration and keep it. What I mean is stop moving Murphy and Boggs around from Left to Right. Keep them at one position and let them play. They are doing a great job and need to every opportunity to excel, moving them from side to side can lead to errors because they get used to seeing the ball of the bat from a certain angle. One of the weak spots before the season has turned into a real strength, credit to the GM for bringing up Boggs and getting him out there.

The Rangers are 4.5 games out of first and are only 3 games under .500, I really can't believe it after the awful end of April they had. Hamilton is really putting this team on his back and carrying this thing.