Dallas Sports Team Owner Folly

Many from North Texas know of Tom Hicks and the Hicks Sports Group. BRUCE SCHOENFELD, has written and excellent article about Mr. Hicks and the ups and downs of his career and his ownership of the Dallas Stars, Texas Rangers, and Liverpool FC in the U.K. The story appears in the Sports Business Journal and paints an interesting picture of the individual who has won a Stanley Cup in 1999 and competed in the MLB playoffs as a Division Winner in 1996 and 1999.
ESPN Dallas writer Richard Durrett writes, "Hicks Sports Group was forced to sell majority stake in the club after defaulting on a $525 million loan early last year. Major League Baseball eventually had to step in and infuse some money into the club."

Schoenfeld writes, "The Rangers are now in limbo as MLB and a potential new ownership group fronted by Chuck Greenberg attempt to convince creditors to allow Hicks to close a sale with a purchaser who may not be the highest bidder. The Stars are also likely to be sold soon, which would please the NHL. “The feeling in the league office is that the problem isn’t the market, it’s Hicks,” said a league insider, who has served as an executive with several teams, of the declining revenue in Dallas. “He needs to be gone.”"

Hicks ownership style and method of purchasing and funding his sports teams has proven to be a joke and the down turn in the economy starting in 2008 has surely contributed to the struggles of the teams. But the struggles are not related to the fans but instead of how the deals were structured using debt. Hicks comments on this in the Sports Business Journal, "By using debt to acquire all three franchises in the manner of a leveraged buyout, Hicks’ exit strategy was always going to be to sell them. Professional sports teams aren’t likely to generate enough profit to even service such debt, let alone pay it down. “This was never going to be a dynastic asset,” Hicks told SportsBusiness Journal last month."

As a huge Rangers fan I hope that the Rangers are sold soon so that the Rangers can be more flexible to make roster changes as needed without as much concern for the ledger. Come on MLB take control of the team and close this deal. Please!

BASEBALL MUSINGS

Have you heard the talk that the Rangers are trying to trade both Millwood and Padilla? I find this interesting because the Rangers could be in the race for the playoffs if this offense keeps up the production, and if they are in contention and trade the two veteran pitchers that they have then what? I would support trading Padilla, just because you never know what you will get from year to year / start to start, but I'm on the fence about Millwood. He's been a real asset in the clubhouse in my not there opinion and he was willing to sign a free agent deal with the Rangers.

And what about Milton Bradley do you trade him also? I would consider signing Bradley to a 3 year deal and make him the DH and a back up in Right.

With the production of Clayton Kershaw, John Danks, and Edison Volquez I'd really like to see some of the AAA and even AA pitchers in the majors.

Speaking of the minors, nine players from the Single A "Lumber Jacks" made the all star team in that league.

Josh Hamilton is not human. I think they need to test him and make sure he's not a Terminator.

Oh and one more thought. Chipper Jones hitting .409 I thought he was done after last year.

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!

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.

Leave Roger Clemens Alone!

Another story about Roger Clemens is out today and this is about a supposed "relationship" between the pitcher and a country music singer. I don't get why the New York Daily News needs to publish a story like this. Leave this retired guy alone. I guess once you play in New York you are never free from the scrutiny.

Rangers Update

After my last post about the Rangers I figured I should add another since play has improved a little. The highlight of the last week was the shut-out/complete game pitched by Vicente Padilla yesterday. Yes that's right for the first time in over three seasons a Rangers starter pitched a complete 9 innings. He did this while giving up only 7 hits, no Runs, 2 strikeouts, and 2 walks. He threw 121 pitches with 79 strikes. I can't say enough about this wow just about covers it.

Oh and Josh Hamilton now leads the AL in RBI. It’s nice to have such an athletic and talented Center Fielder in a Rangers uniform and Kinsler seems to be doing well hitting in the number one slot also. This one won’t surprise any Ranger fans Hank Blalock is hurt. “Texas was without 3B Hank Blalock for the second straight game due to a strained left hamstring Sunday against the Twins. Blalock reported that some of the soreness has subsided. He'll have an MRI exam on Monday to determine the extent of the injury. Blalock has been talking the last few days about a stint on the DL, but Monday's MRI should decide that. Here we go again with Blalock. As soon as he gets going at the plate, another injury pops up. It's like a never-ending cycle with him. With Blalock talking DL stint, he looks like an extremely risky start for Fantasy Week 5 (April 28-May 4). When healthty, he is a viable corner infield option in mixed leagues.” Courtesy of cbssports.com.

On the television broadcast there was much discussion about how Nolan Ryan's philosophy of starters pitching complete games should be the expectation of the organization from single A all the way the MLB pitching staff was very interesting. Pitching 6 innings is not the expectation for starters. If you thought that Nolan was just going to be a figurehead I guess this new philosophy change should address that.

And after a meeting between Ryan, Daniels, and Washington the team actually looks a lot better...... It makes one wonder if Wash doesn't have an impact on the team, either that or Daniels and/or Ryan spoke with the team about the status of Wash. We as fans may never know what happened, but something did. If they keep this up for another week or two I may consider going to another game this year.

Go Rangers beat up the Royals this week!

Rangers

Week four of the 2008 baseball season is upon us and where are our Rangers? That's right last place in the AL and only one game up on Washington for the worst record in the MLB. What's more amazing is that except for maybe 4 games the starting pitching has been really good. So what has led to such a poor start to yet another season? It's got to be something in the clubhouse. I'm a Ticket P1, 1310 AM, and heard a great rant from The Old Gray Wolf on Monday and I'm as upset about what the Rangers are doing as he is.

So far this season we have witnessed one bone-head play after another on defense, and on the bases. I think we lead the MLB in errors after today. A team that is pressing at the plate can't afford these mental mistakes, so where does the blame reside? I was all for giving Washington a break, but that was then. His whole philosophy was playing sound fundamental baseball, and they have demonstrated a total lack of playing fundamental baseball. Not only that but some of the stupid game management decisions are killing me. The peak of which was Laird DHing on Saturday. What are you kidding me? And I thought Broussard was a spare at the beginning of the season, but then I warmed to him a little, but after the last week, he's a huge SPARE and sucks especially on defense. Then there's Hank Blalock who refuses to hit the ball down the third baseline when the overshift is put on by the opposing team. He could get a hit and possibly a double if he would just drag bunt the ball right down the line. Even if he's hitting clean up, he should be working on that OBP.

And that leads me to the fact that John Daniels has to go also. Two starting pitchers that are doing well that the Rangers screwed up on are Danks and Armando Galaragga. They didn't even get anything for Galaragga since he was waived at the end of spring training. And don't even get me started on the Chris Young trade. And then you pay Ben Broussard $3mil this year when Boston has Casey at $800k. Makes me ill.

I think that Nolan Ryan has his work cut out for him, he needs to clean house from the front office on down. But who do you hire especially this early into the season? I think the manager and bench coach have to go now and maybe even more of the coaching staff. Two guys I'd love to see on the bench in some capacity are Will Clark and Rusty Greer. I know that Rusty has been managing a college summer league organization, but I really think we need someone with his mind set in the clubhouse. Maybe Rusty isn't ready to be the manager, but he would be a good bench coach. It'll be interesting to see what Ryan does with this mess. Better luck next time Wash....

Rangers Game 2

Tonight the Rangers have had another good starting pitcher outing. The knucklehead, wasn't bad in his 2008 debut. Padilla pitched 6 innings, threw 109 pitches, gave up 8 hits, 1 earned run, and 3 walks whiles striking out 4.

Michael Young with another error and Kinsler with 2 errors. Defense will cost you games and this team can't afford to squander good starts especially by the top of the rotation. Giving up a lead in the bottom of the 8th is bad, but when you face J.J. Putz in the ninth it's awful. What a horrible way to start 2008. They can't blame pitching for the teams problems in the 8th.

Josh Hamilton got a good pitch to hit from Putz and deposited into souvenir city. Wow, can you believe this guy? I just hope that he sprinkles in some singles and doubles along the way. Putz has had to throw a lot of pitches tonight, so he won't be available tomorrow. It was up to Wilson to close it out for the Rangers with just a 1 run lead and he was able to do it.

So the Rangers proved tonight that they can win despite playing bad defense, but that won't happen every night. I just don't want to see the Rangers winning by and counting on the home run ball to win games. Like I've written before, all you need is three hits in an inning and you have a couple of runs. I'd much rather see that than a home run.

Let's go Rangers.

Opening Day + 1

The Rangers opened the season in Seattle and unfortunately it looks like they are picking up right where they left off. I'm probably being a little harsh since Millwood pitched well, but the offense was no where to be found and the relief pitching was PUTRID. They were facing a guy who last year owned them, but come on.

Michael Young had an terrible error and he just can't afford to do that.

The first baseman Ben Broussard was ofer on the day, but didn't have an error and the DH Bradley didn't do anything. The Rangers have got to do something about firstbase, Broussard just isn't what the Rangers need. It's unfortunate that Botts can't play first on a day in day out basis, but he can't be much worse than Broussard.

This team has got to hit guys like Erik Bedard. If they want to win they have to hit. A string of hits is all they need, three in one inning on any given night will be key for this season. They have to do better, than what they showed yesterday.

If there was a highlight it was Millwood who gave up no Earned Runs and pitched 6 innings with 4 strikeouts and 3 walks on 91 pitches. He still got the loss thanks to 2 unearned runs, but if the Rangers get that type of an outing from every starter this year will be much better than last year.

MLB Season OPEN

Regardless of how you feel about the baseball season starting in Japan the fact remains that the season is underway. As a life long Texas Rangers fan this spring really does not hold any hope for the upcoming season. I do believe that the team as constructed as some serious holes in the line-up and that the pitching is still developing, but there is a core of players that I truly enjoy watching. Michael Young is one of my favorite players in all of the MLB. Michael works everyday and many people complain about his lack of range at Short, but I disagree compared to what the Rangers have had at Short in the 80s and 90s Young is the second best Short Stop to ever play in Arlington. He's only second to ARod. Some of the other players I cheer for are Kinsler, J. Hamilton, Hank, and Laird. I know many people disagree with me on Blalock and Laird, but I like them. I really think this team is just a few players away from being a legitimate contender. DH is the gap I'm concerned about as the season starts, but if Bradley can be healthy maybe that concern is being addressed. My second concern is the outfield, Marlon Byrd needs to prove that last year was no fluke and then left field platoon of players will need to each play well. I hate having a platoon of players for the outfield and wish there was a defined line up out there. First base is another question, with Saltalamachia being pushed into the catcher position that leaves first wide open. Too bad Adrian Gonzales is in San Diego now. Don't even get me started on that trade....

Pitching is always an issue, Padilla, Gabbard, and McCarthy have a lot to prove in 2008 and if they pitch like last year the Rangers are in for a long season. Padilla has had good years and we need a decent year with more that 15 wins from him. Gabbard and McCarthy need to have at least 10 wins and I expect Jennings and Millwood to have more than 15 wins also. My prediction is that Luis Mendoza will excel and show that he is a 3 or 4 in a 6 man rotation. He will be better than both Gabbard and McCarthy.

I expect the Rangers to have at least 80 wins this season, and could even be sniffing the Division lead late in the season if they can split or win the majority of their series with the Angels and Mariners. I believe the heart is there if they can just perform on the field and if the pitching can stay healthy and play up to their ability.

GO RANGERS!!!!!

Mitchell Report

I must say that I really wasn't looking forward to reading the REPORT TO THE COMMISSIONER OF BASEBALL OF AN INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION INTO THE ILLEGAL USE OF STEROIDS AND OTHER PERFORMANCE ENHANCING SUBSTANCES BY PLAYERS IN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL that Senator Mitchell has worked on, but after hearing the press conference I couldn't help but open up the report and start reading and searching for specific players. Please take into context that this report is merely documenting verified incidents that tell the history of the use of illegal performance enhancing drugs. The goal of the report is not to prosecute individuals identified but rather to make the argument that more needs to be done and that the program that the MLB currently has is still not enough. As Senator Mitchell stated this report should be utilized to help focus the goals of the future, and should not focus on what has already happened. In other words don't dwell on the past and instead focus on the future! That said some of the accounts documented in the report are really fascinating especially the section about Roger Clemens. Check out section VIII, subsection B, page 167.