Category: Texas Rangers (Page 3 of 30)

Jerry, Are You Watching the Rangers?

MLB: ALCS-Texas Rangers at Houston Astros | Fieldlevel | news-daily.com

A note to the owner of the Dallas Cowboys:

I wonder if you’re watching your next-door-neighbors today as they hang the red, white, and blue bunting on their stadium and raise the league championship banners all over the parking lots in preparation for tomorrow’s World Series Game One. Are you watching, Jerry?

Were you watching when Rangers owner Ray Davis lifted the American League Championship trophy over his head in Houston Monday night?

See, Jerry, this is how owners of successful major professional sports organizations do things. Since Ray Davis took over majority ownership of the Rangers in 2010, they have won four West division titles, three American League pennants, and made the playoffs six times. In the past 13 seasons, the Rangers have been to more World Series than the Red Sox, the Royals, and the St. Louis Cardinals. Texas has appeared in more World Series during this span than the Braves and Reds and Cubs combined. Since Davis took over in 2010, the Rangers have made it to more World Series than the O’s, the Phils, and the hated Yankees combined. In fact, the recently dethroned Astros are the only team in baseball with more World Series appearances than the Rangers over the past 13 years. And they cheated to get at least one of those pennants.

Your Cowboys — they are clearly yours — haven’t so much as won a single divisional playoff game in more than twice that long. It’s 27 years now and counting, Jerry.

Are you watching the Rangers? Do you see how Davis does things next door?

He hires a General Manager to run the team. The owner employs a full-time GM to make decisions about managers and coaches, about player personnel and scouting, about strategy and clubhouse culture. And the GM understands that if the team doesn’t produce championships, he will be fired. Ray Davis takes care of stadium sponsorships and television contracts and everything else on the business side. But on the baseball side, he leaves things to his GM. Pretty simple really. Everybody does it this way.

The Rangers made back-to-back World Series appearances in 2010 and 2011 and then failed to win a single playoff series for the next ten seasons. So Davis spent half a billion dollars to acquire Corey Seager and Marcus Semien. When that didn’t get Texas back into the playoffs, Davis fired GM Jon Daniels and manager Chris Woodward. He committed to Chris Young as GM and wrote the massive checks for everything Young and new manager Bruce Bochy wanted to do, and now they’re back in the World Series again.

You might say, yeah, but nobody knows who Ray Davis is. To which I would say, so what? I would bet almost nobody outside of Dallas / Fort Worth knows who Ray Davis is and more than half of all Rangers fans wouldn’t know him if he walked in the room and sat in their lap. That’s kinda the point. Davis doesn’t care about personal fame or glory or even recognition. He knows that if the team wins championships, there’s enough credit to go around for everybody. And a ton more money.

As long as your Cowboys have a General Manager who knows he won’t be fired no matter how many years the team goes without winning a divisional playoff game, nothing’s going to change. As long as the owner/gm continues to pursue stadium sponsorships, concert deals, tractor pulls, and team endorsement agreements at the same time he’s scouting, drafting, making player trades, and semi-coaching, it won’t work.

Ray Davis fired his GM after ten years of the Rangers failing to advance in the postseason and most of us thought it was too long. You are on year 28, Jerry. Your GM knows his job is never on the line, win or lose, succeed or fail, conference championship game appearance or not.

You may be watching what’s happening next door — I don’t know how you could miss it. The issue is that you just don’t care.

Go Rangers. And Rams.

Allan

Letters From Christ

The Arizona Diamondbacks, huh? You know, since Genesis 3 the serpent’s head is meant by God to be crushed. The Rangers are poised to proclaim the Gospel!

~~~~~~~~~~~

Old letter writing 2 | Stock Video | Pond5

“You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God.” ~2 Corinthians 3:4

Jesus’ greatest gift to us as we wait for his triumphant return is the power of his presence through the Holy Spirit. God’s Holy Spirit is alive and powerful and real. And he lives inside all who confess Jesus as Lord and put their faith for salvation in God through Christ.

He lives inside us.

Did you catch that part? The Spirit is within us, a holy being inside unholy humans. It’s amazing. It’s like science fiction. It’s difficult, if not impossible, to comprehend. The presence of God is not given to us in the clouds somewhere. It’s not at the top of a smoking and shaking mountain. It’s not hidden away in a chapel or a church building. God’s Spirit is not above us or beside us. He’s within us. He dwells inside us.

And he’s authoring a masterpiece. He’s writing a classic for the ages. In fact, what he’s writing is going to be read by everybody you know. They won’t find this masterpiece at Barnes and Noble. They can’t download it off Amazon. They read this divine work of art when they come in contact with you.

You are that Holy Spirit masterpiece, authored by the true and living God. Yes, it’s you! Look in the mirror! Don’t get distracted by the funny ears and the blemished skin. Don’t allow your height or your weight to keep you from recognizing it. Do not dare minimize what God is doing in your life. It’s not about you and me. It’s about the Spirit of God changing you, changing us, into his majestic handiwork. It’s about us living by his Spirit as a display, a massive banner, proclaiming his power and love to all we meet.

Peace,

Allan

Hello World Series!

Nettleton alum Corey Ragsdale heading to World Series with Texas Rangers

This team is fun to watch, huh? Oh, my gracious! The Texas Rangers both pitched and slugged their way to a Game Seven blowout in Houston last night and are heading back to the World Series for the first time since 2011! Adolis Garcia put the finishing touches on an historic ALCS by hitting two homers and driving in five runs to win the MVP and propel Texas to its third Fall Classic. Bruce Bochy pulled all the right levers and pushed all the right buttons in getting five innings out of Mad Max and Monty. And the offense torched the Astros pitching for 15 hits, four home runs, and eleven runs in the pennant clinching victory.

The Rangers are on quite an unlikely run here. When they dropped three out of four in Seattle to close out the season, losing the AL West title to Houston via the tie-breaker on the last day, nobody stood up and said, “Well, look out. The Rangers are going to sweep Tampa Bay on the road, and then sweep the O’s in Baltimore, and then beat the Astros in Houston, and then play in the World Series.” Nobody said that. Nobody outside the Rangers clubhouse thought that.

Rangers vs Astros summary online: stats, scores and highlights | MLB ALCS Game 7 highlights - AS USA

Man, this team just flat out refuses to quit. As Bochy says, they keep getting knocked down and they keep getting right back up. He says he’s never seen anything like it, and I know I haven’t. Just when you think it’s over — I know I’ve personally played Taps for this team at least three times since Labor Day — they go on a tear and destroy whatever is in their path. It is straight up shocking to me that they have overcome the devastating injuries, their gas can bullpen, and their excruciating losing streaks to accomplish so much so early in Chris Young’s rebuild. This is some ride!

Texas Rangers beat Houston 11-4 in Game 7, return to the World Series for the first time since 2011

I don’t know if winning leads to great team chemistry or great team chemistry leads to winning. I don’t know what causes some clubhouses to gel in such a way that all egos take a back seat to whoever is batting next and the preferred pronouns are “we” and “us.” Whatever it is, this Rangers team has it. Young has put together the perfect mix of young energetic talent and seasoned experienced veterans, and he hired the perfectly even-keeled and relentlessly driven master to run it.

And it is so much fun to watch.

I’m assuming the number on Hedgie’s rear end is “4.”

The internet says my ALCS Championship t-shirt will arrive Thursday. The opening game of the World Series against either the Phillies or the Diamondbacks is Friday. And today? Today is talking a little too loudly on the phone with friends and family about the game, about this season, about the memorable highs and lows of seasons past, and daring to dream about the next week and a half. Today is receiving reluctant congratulatory texts and emails from my many friends, mostly here in Midland, who cheer for the Astros. Today is a wonderful, beautiful, amazing day.

Peace,

Allan

Warren Zevon’s Sandwich

I’m so distracted today. All day. Every minute since last night’s come-from-behind win in Houston to tie up the ALCS. Game Seven is in four hours with a trip to the World Series on the line. Mad Max is pitching, which means not one single person has any idea how this is going to go. Nobody. Not even Scherzer. He’s won a World Series game at Minute Maid, for Washington in 2019. He also got lit up in a Game Three loss just five days ago. So, who knows? He’s only pitched once in the past 40 days and he couldn’t get out of the fourth inning. But he’s a World Series champion with three Cy Youngs. But he’s not 100%. But he’s crazy. I know!

Yeah, there’s a lot to consider in the next four hours. Semien and Seager might possibly be about to snap out of their recent slump. Garcia was wearing the golden sombrero when he launched that game-sealing grand slam. Bochy has no confidence in Chapman out of the bullpen, which is where most of us have been with Chapman since late July. LeClerc seems rested. Josh Jung’s ten-pitch walk was huge. Carter has cooled off. Lowe is still hit and miss. Bochy has never lost a Game Seven and Dusty Baker has never won a Game Seven.

So, here comes this good advice from Adam Morris at Lone Star Ball. A timely reminder to relax and deeply appreciate everything about this completely unexpected season and playoff run. If you’re a Rangers fan, take four or five minutes to read this:

I’m trying to get my head and my heart into a place where tonight’s Game Seven is a win/win. If they defeat the Astros in what is now certainly, maybe for the first time, a truly heated Lone Star rivalry, and advance to the franchise’s third World Series, it’s incredible! I’m really happy! If they lose tonight, the Rangers still had one of the more remarkable seasons in memory and gave us unexpected thrills on a six-month roller coaster of gut-wrenching lows and unbelievable highs. The baton is being passed and the Rangers are going to be in the championship mix for the next six or seven years. I’m happy!

Maybe that’s my Game Six PTSD from 2011 kicking in to lower expectations so I’m not too devastated when the Rangers don’t win it tonight. Or, hopefully, this really is the best position to take right now. I’ve been saying all along, since the end of last season, that Texas would make some noise in 2023, that the Rangers would post a winning record and play some meaningful baseball in September, but the Astros and the rest of the AL would be in trouble in 2024. I put all the Astros fans I know on notice a little over a year ago. The Rangers aren’t ready yet to exorcise the demons and make it all the way to the World Series. That will happen in 2024.

That is still my position. But if they win tonight, that’ll just be an extra slice of ham and cheese on the sandwich.

Let’s Go Rangers!
Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap!

Allan

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