Why Baseball Needs the Rangers to Win

For nearly fifty years, the Texas Rangers have been mired in baseball futility. Dating back to the 1961 inception of the “new” Washington Senators, and continuing through their relocation to Arlington, the Rangers have pieced together only four post-season appearances (all in the expanded eight team format) and up until Tuesday’s win against Tampa Bay, were the only major league franchise to never win a post-season series.

As the sun rose on the 2010 season, it appeared the baseball gods were laughing at the Rangers once again. The Rangers posted a surprisingly strong 2009 showing, but were in deep financial ruin and controlled by Major League Baseball. After the 2009 campaign, it appeared a deal was in place for an ownership group led by Texas legend Nolan Ryan to buy the team, yet as Spring Training began, the true state of the clubs financial woes became apparent and it was evident that the creditors were not going to let the sell of the team go through without a fight.

Even so, many in the baseball world considered the Rangers a favorite to challenge the Angels for the American League West title, but then on March 17, 2010, Rangers manager, Ron Washington admitted to using cocaine during the 2009 season. Fans and media members were shocked that Washington managed to keep his job, but then again, no one really knew who was calling the shots in the front office.

As customary under Wash, the Rangers stumbled out to a 5-9 start on the season. The prize off-season pitching acquisition, Rich Harden, failed to serve as anything more than an empty jersey and star slugger, Josh Hamilton, appeared to washed up. Yet the Rangers’ skipper remained confident, continuing to live by his mottto of “that’s the way baseball go.”

Everyone in the franchise, from upper management all the way down, bought into Washington’s philosophy and approached the game with a care free spirit. The Rangers continued to practice the fundamentals of the game Washington stressed–manufacturing runs, pitching and defense–a new style of baseball for the long-time, long-suffering Rangers fan, but unlike the gorilla ball teams of the past, this incarnation of the Rangers seemed to enjoy every minute of the “great game.”

Fans picked up on the language of the team, which reached beyond ethnic lines and joined together the Latin born and American born players–a claw for a hit, antlers for speed and laughter and smiles all the time.

Josh Hamilton eventually got red hot and the Rangers eventually acquired their ace. Along the way the old man, Michael Young, became the franchise’s all-time hits and triples leader, but the Rangers greatest victory came in the courtroom, where a resilient Greenberg/Ryan ownership group managed to outbid Mark Cuban for the sell of the team. At the exact same moment the deal was announced, Young hit a grand slam to blow open a game in Seattle. Hollywood could not have scripted this season any better.

I grew up during a transition period in the world of professional sports, as the NFL gradually overtook MLB in terms of national popularity. During that time period (roughly 1978 through the present), Major League Baseball, through drug scandals, bloated egos, work stoppages and lack of personality, has lost touch with the American public. There have been no “Big Red Machines,” “We Are Family Pirates,” “Swingin’ A’s,” “Miracle Mets,” or any cleverly nicknamed teams to capture the nation’s attention. While the Rangers lack a good nickname (perhaps the Runnin’ Rangers after Game 5 of the ALDS), they do possess the team personality America embraces.

You look at the Yankees and you see a group of professionals who excel in their field. They are highly trained, highly successful and have earned the right to be called “champions,” but you can tell this is their job–straight faces, no nonsense attitude and the confidence and swagger you would expect to find from any group that performs at the highest level of their chosen field. This persona alienates non-Yankees fans.

Watching the Rangers reminds me of playing baseball as a kid. The laughter, the smiling, the dugout banter, all combine to form a unique chemistry, which carries over onto the field. They play with an aggressive streak, relying more on being opportunistic than settling for conventional baseball wisdom. However, they remain true to the fundamentals of good baseball, bunting, running the bases and employing the hit-and-run, instead of living and dying by the long-ball.

Did we mention that American loves an underdog? Let’s be honest, has any there been a bigger underdog in the League Championship Series in recent memory?

Yes, baseball needs the Rangers to win. Their success makes baseball relevant again outside the I-95 corridor and thus marketable to a much larger audience. Their youthful spirit makes people forget about steroids and strikes. In short, their success makes baseball fun for the masses once again.

After their Game 5 ALDS victory, Ron Washington was asked his thoughts on the team and in vintage Washington vernacular he replied, “they did what they does; they did what they do.” Let’s hope this magic carries over for eight more wins.

It’s time!

The (Not So) Big 12

As an opponent to the relocation of the Seattle SuperSonics to Oklahoma City, Mark Cuban said, “My prejudice is against having a Dust Bowl Division in this part of the country. I don’t think in the big picture that helps the NBA. I think a bigger market helps the NBA.”

Indeed, Cuban ended up being one of only two NBA owners to vote against the Sonics move. Cuban’s characterization of a “Dust Bowl Division” made such an impact that I began to revisit it during the recent conference realignment talk. I have no allegiance to any Big XII school, but I enjoy watching Texas and Texas A&M play. When the chatter surrounding their possible departure for the West Coast began to build, I felt a sense of joy watching the NCAA’s “Dust Bowl Division” fall apart at the seams.

Since its inception, the Big XII conference lacked the natural rivalries of the old Southwest Conference, failed to capture the pageantry of the SEC and, with the exception of Dallas and Houston, lacked major media markets of the coastal conferences. Try as I might, I could not pump myself up for Texas/Iowa State or A&M/Kansas.

Say what you want about the history of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, but watching them play the Aggies failed to capture the excitement of A&M/Arkansas or even the longstanding non-conference rivalry of A&M/LSU.

Okie State has played Texas tough a couple of times over the past decade, but the series lacks the history that a Texas/TCU series could provide (I’ll see your Barry Sanders, raise you a Davey O’Brien, Sammy Baugh and L.T.).

Growing up in the Ark-La-Tex area, I watched a lot of SEC football. I dreamed of one day seeing both Texas and A&M making the move East and joining THE ultimate football conference, getting a chance to expose Texas-style football to homes in Nashville, Jacksonville and Atlanta. The Pac-16 story broke and I recognized that it lacked the appeal of a jump to the SEC, but it definitely seemed better than staying put. Goodbye cornfields and grain, hello Hollywood and beaches!

Fans expressed fear of rivalries being destroyed, but Texas, A&M, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech would have remained together. Would people really miss Kansas State/Oklahoma State that much?

Fans expressed fear of late start times, even though ABC traditionally shows the Pac-10 game of the week in prime-time at the exact same time as the Big XII game of the week.

Some fans even expressed concerns over the cultural differences between the Big XII South schools and some of the West Coast schools, asking what the reception for the Corps of Cadets would be like in Berkeley.

As the cards began to fall last week, first with Colorado bolting to the Pac-10 and then with Nebraska leaving for the Big 10, news began to leak that A&M might break from the herd and head to the SEC. I recognized this would be a much tougher road for the Aggies, but also provided long-term potential and viability for a program in desperate need of revival.

Now it appears that Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State have decided to put all their cards into the Dust Bowl Conference.  Simply put, this conference sucks!

The four Texas schools of the Big XII South would have been better served to take the “f you, we’re from Texas” route and brought the band back together–the old Southwest Conference. TCU, SMU and Houston are vastly improved from the last days of the Southwest Conference. TCU would battle for third place in the Big XII as presently constructed. Both SMU and Houston are headed in an upward direction, while Iowa State, Kansas and Kansas State appear headed downwards. Rice has always been the sickly brother of the group, but that doesn’t stop Texas from padding their stats against them every season. The newly formed Southwest Conference could even extend invitations to North Texas and UTEP to make it a truly Texas conference and to give you the magic “10″ number.

However, it appears that the geniuses in Austin feared losing the Topeka and Ames television markets and feared a generation of children growing up without the great Baylor/Missouri rivalry, so we’re stuck watching Texas and Oklahoma dominate the regular season, only to lose to a SEC school in the BCS. Eventually, the ‘Horned Hubris will catch up with the conference and it’s relevancy will be like dust in the wind.

Drew Gooden now a Maverick

NBA teams understand the unpredictable nature of free agency. You can never know how a player will adjust to a new system, the effect a new player will have on the chemistry of a team or the effect of other intangible elements will have on a team.  Granted, some signings are a little easier to predict than others, but for the most part you cannot be sure the effect a free-agent will have on a team until some point well into the season.

Not one expert–not John Hollinger, not Mark Stein, not Mark Cuban nor Donnie Nelson–can accurately predict the effect the singing of Drew Gooden will have on the upcoming season, neither can I; however, I do have a few observations about the signing.

First, let’s examine the good.

Assuming that the Mavs use Gooden primarily as a 5, the Mavs have instantly improved what has traditionally been the lowest scoring position on their squad. I’ve thrown the numbers out there several times in the past few weeks, but Erick Dampier averages only 7.9 PPG for his career and averaged only 5.7 PPG last season.  Gooden averages exactly 12 PPG for his career.  I will say we should tap the brakes just a little in regards to scoring.  Gooden has played only sparingly at the 5 position throughout his career, so the numbers might not translate exactly to his new position, but he definitely posses the athletic tools necessary to be a much more effective offensive threat than Dampier.

Dampier constantly frustrates the Mavs coaching staff, teammates and fan base with his inability to finish on the offensive end. Gooden has better hands and a better shot, so one would think his scoring average would not drop too drastically moving down to the center position. The Mavs have struggled to score in the paint for several seasons and Gooden should be able to help those numbers. Gooden is also a much better free throw shooter than Dampier, which can come in handy late in the game.

Obviously, this makes Dampier expendable. A lot has been made about trade potential that Dampier’s expiring contract presents. It looked like we were faced with another season of Dampier and Ryan Hollins at the 5, but with Gooden signed, the Mavs can now re-sign Hollins and shop the Dampier contract.

Gooden also brings playoff experience in a more youthful body than Dampier. While Dampier has appeared in more playoff games (52) than Gooden (44), Gooden has started more playoff games (40) and logged more playoff minutes (1,191  minutes) than Dampier (32 games started; 1,150 minutes).  Gooden has averaged 10 points and 8 rebounds per game in the playoffs, while Dampier has averaged 5 points and 6 rebounds per game. Both have appeared in one NBA Finals, yet Gooden is seven years young than Damp. At 27, Gooden would be the baby of the starting line up.

It scares me that none of Gooden’s former teams showed much interest in him. He admitted himself on his Twitter account that he was surprised that neither Cleveland nor San Antonio showed “as much interest as other teams.”  The Cavs have never made it to the NBA Finals without Gooden, yet they didn’t seem to think he was vital enough to bring back to their team. I got to see Gooden first hand in the Mavs/Spurs series and was impressed with his limited play. I don’t know why the Spurs chose not to use him more. Evidently, there was something about him the coaches did not like.

It’s too early to tell whether or not this will end up being a good signing for the Mavs, but I definitely think it has some potential. Maybe not as much potential as Marcin Gortat and it’s definitely not as sexy as getting Shaq, but this could very easily upgrade the Mavs at the 5 position, which could help tremendously down the line.

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Now playing: Merle Haggard – What Happened?
via FoxyTunes

Mavericks back-up center options…

The Suns have reportedly offered to buy out the remainder of Ben Wallace’s contract. Let’s hope that the Mavs aren’t feeling so desperate that they express interest in him. Wallace would do nothing to addressing any of the issues facing this team. Indeed, he would only add to the Mavs problems.

The Dallas Morning News reports that Mark Cuban told NBA TV that the Mavs have contacted Lamar Odom’s agent. To me, this is a more compelling option, specifically, could he be used a small, athletic 5? With that, you could a run a starting line-up of Kidd, Howard, Marion, Dirk and Odom onto the court. As the News reports, this is unlikely though since it would probably require a sign-and-trade to secure Odom and the Lakers aren’t looking to dump salary.

We know the New Orleans Hornets were shopping Tyson Chandler last season, would he be worth using the Dampier trade chip? I would think this would be something worth looking into. If healthy, Chandler could help address several issues with this team.

Life after Gortat…

It’s being reported that the Orlando Magic will match the Dallas Mavericks’ offer sheet on center Marcin Gortat.  While I was warming up to the Gortat signing, I don’t think the Magic’s move devstates the Mavericks’ off-season program.

The biggest acquistion was Shawn Marion. The Mavs dumped dead weight and got a major contributor in return. We won’t know the full effects of this season’s draft for a couple of seasons, but Rodrigue Beaubois is getting rave reviews early in summer league play. Even the signing of Quinton Ross has the potential to pay major dividends in the upcoming season, still many Mavs fans have been running for the panic button since the news first broke out of Orlando this afternoon.

I can understand the concern, especially after losing Brandon Bass. However, I’m an optimistic type of guy and I prefer to look at as a “glass half-full” situation. During the playoffs, outside of Dirk, the player on this team who impressed me the most was Ryan Hollins. Yes, he is young, raw and prone to some silly mistakes. On the other hand, he is YOUNG, energetic, athletic and long–a rare commodity on this team. With Bass and Gortat no longer options at the 5, barring any further moves before the start of the season, the Mavs will be forced to give Hollins more minutes, which is the best thing for him at this point in his career.

Will there be more moves? Probably. Shortly after the Marion trade, when it appeared that Gortat was on his way here, I wrote that I felt Donnie and Mark had more moves up their sleeves. After today, I’m even more convinced. Will the Mavs be forced to use the Erick Dampier trade chip a year earlier than desired? Perhaps, but I find it unlikely. If the Mavs deal Damp now, they will have to get another 5 in return. I just don’t see that player on the market.

Let’s talk about Orlando for a minute. I don’t claim to be an expert on Central Florida sports, but who the hell do they think they are? Yes, they have every right to play sneaky, but is a small market team like Orlando really ready to play the free-agency game with the big markets (i.e. LA, NYC, Dallas, etc.) Make no mistake about it, the Magic are rolling the dice, acquiring Vince Carter, Brandon Bass, bringing Gortat back and the whispers of interest Allen Iverson. What happens when the Magic can’t pay their luxury tax bill or, even worse, what happens on pay day and the Magic can’t make payroll? Are they going to come running to the Association to bail them out?

The Magic got a sniff of something beautiful in June and now they’ve become greedy. When you become greedy, you make bad decisions.  Mark my words, the Magic’s overly ambitious off season will come back to bite them in the ass before the end of the 2009-2010 season.

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Now playing: Modest Mouse – I Came As A Rat
via FoxyTunes

More moves in store for Mavs?

Maybe I’m reading way too much into it, but Mark Cuban’s latest Tweet excites me even more than Marion trade, RT “mcubanWelcome to @matrix31 and all of our new mavs ! The fun is just starting ! #fb“.

Could this mean more moves to come for the Mavs this summer? Possibly trading Josh Howard or Jason Terry for a 2 (think Jason Richardson or Rip Hamilton)?

The guys at DallasBasketball.com make a compelling case for keeping Erick Dampier until next summer and after reading I tend to agree.

Whether or not the Marion move is the last for the off-season or not, I’m a lot more excited about the Mavs than I was a year ago at this time.

Mavs close to trading for Marion?

ESPN and the Dallas Morning News are both reporting that the Mavs and Raptors are in the process of trade talks for Shawn Marion. At first glance, I love this move. It looks like it would cost us Stack and some cash. Other sources say it may require a third team. I hope Cuban does whatever it takes to pull this move off.  This would leave you with the Damp contract to play with and it might make Josh Howard expendable. Marion is not who he was in 2006, but he is still a great player and would instantly make this Mavs squad better than the team we saw lose to the Nuggets. More on this to come….

Does the NBA have a double standard?

As he was exiting the court last night, Kenyon Martin had some choice words for Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, including an pejorative used againt homosexuals. As you can see, this incident was caught on tape and I’m sure the David Stern and the NBA are well aware of what Martin said. However, I seriously doubt they will take any action against him. Had a player used a racial slur, it would have been an automatic suspension.

Is there a double-standard applied by the NBA? Is the NBA office homophobic? Why don’t GLBT leaders stand up and demand the NBA take action against Martin for his words?

Hello, Pot? This is kettle, you’re black!

The Dallas Morning News is reporting that the Denver Nugget officials are upset with the behavior of some of the Maverick fans at the American Airlines Center last night. Is the Denver Nugget organization really in any position to tell other organizations how their players, fans or owners should act?

The Nuggets play with a swagger, which is fine, but if you play with a swager you have to be prepared to pay the price. When you play with the type of swagger of J.R. Smith, Kenyon Martin or Chris Andersen, you open yourself up for attack, nothing is off limits–wives, girlfriends, family, etc.  Fans have every right to do everything, besides causing physical harm, to these type of players to make them as uncomfartable as possible. Maybe it’s yelling at the player’s family members, maybe it’s acting more like a Philadelphia Eagles fan.

As a life long fan of all Dallas sports teams, I have always felt that our fans are a little too calm, especially compared to the fans in New York and Philly.  I’m glad to see that finally a sports venue in this city, if only for one evening, took on some of the energy of the old Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.

At the end of the night, the Mavs fans’ actions action accomplished their goal. As Kenyon Martin exited the arena, he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that neither he nor his family were no longer welcome in their own home town.  Martin’s actions on and off the court, the way that he presents himself, screams, “I want you to hate me,” which is what the Mavs fans gave him. Why is so he upset then when Mavs fans and Mark Cuban yell at his mother?

Mark Cuban and Kenyon Martin’s mom

The Dallas Morning News Maverick’s blog reports that Mark Cuban had some special words for Kenyon Martin’s mother after Saturday’s loss. If the quote in the blog is correct, I fully support Cuban.  Denver fans might not like it, Martin’s family might not like it, but Cuban is the only owner in the NBA (possibly professional sports) with the balls to say what is really on his mind.

The same people who bitch and moan about Cuban’s comments are the same people who defend Martin (and others like him) for playing a rough brand of basketball that often includes pretty intense “trash talking.”

Is there a double standard among NBA fans? Is it ok for a NBA player to act one way, but to expect different behavior out of a passionate owner?