In case you did not hear, the Rangers blew a 6-2 lead with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th by allowing Corey Patterson to hit his first career grand slam (off of Neftali Feliz) to tie it and won it with a Jake Fox solo homer in the 10th. Thank you, Baltimore! I'm laughing at all of Rick Dempsey's postgame quips on DirecTV more than I would Leno, that is for sure.
The Achilles heel of the Rangers is the gassed bullpen. Can Cliff Lee pitch 15 Complete Games and give them a rest? Can Ron Washington lay off the nose candy enough to not impulsively walk to the mound just to step on the white lines? That bullpen in Arlington might make the Rangers season look like this stick market failure of a chart, a rollercoaster with all downslide after the All Star Break...
0 recs | 80 comments
I agree
vladtheimpaler - July 9, 2010
I think you're forgetting....
They also landed MArk Lowe in that deal. Will he save their season? No, but he will help a taxed bullpen. BTW, which teams starters go further into games than any other in baseball? The Angels of course. You can blame the blowpen for that one though.
Do you suppose our starters will end up being gassed, because that seems almost as likely as their relievers becoming gassed.
THe Angels will win, but it will have more to do with our hitting resurgence in the 2nd half and a strong rotation, over a weakened Texas pen.
Halowood - July 10, 2010
you mena Mark "always out with a sore back" Lowe
ooooooooooooo… Mo Rivera genuflects…….
Rev Halofan - July 10, 2010
Not like his stats are any worse than Rodney's are getting....
Look at this from an unbiased standpoint.
Halowood - July 10, 2010
Lowe is done for the season I think
ryanfea - July 10, 2010
I didn't know that.
Halowood - July 10, 2010
Yeah, I'm pretty sure I saw that noted.
Commander_Nate - July 10, 2010
That is correct
George Kaplan - July 10, 2010
hes out for the year retard
mainiac1717 - July 10, 2010
Theres a nice person
Downing Rules - July 10, 2010
Another classy Rangers fan
Epic Dean - July 10, 2010
Do you feel better about yourself now?
That must have been a big self esteem booster to get that off your chest.
ryanfea - July 10, 2010
Awesome!!
I saw a news flash that the Orioles had bases juiced with 1 out in the 9th.
As a switched channels I allowed myself to dream that the Orioles would slam.
Then I remembered they were the Orioles and my pipe dream went up in smoke.
This is so cool.
Halo Hurricane - July 10, 2010
huh? Isn't that what we're doing?
I would gladly trade our bullpen for theirs straight up.
Wally's World - July 10, 2010
in hindsight yes
but going forward they may have Jake-Peavy-Arms before September!
Rev Halofan - July 10, 2010
Yes, exactly
Last I looked, the Angels’ bullpen was second or third worst in the league by ERA.
scareduck - July 10, 2010
Ours can be just as much of a risk
Rodney should be made closer – it’s the only time he’s worth anything. Fuentes should be a lefty specialist. Kohn should get a shot and Thompson should get more time. If that doesn’t start turning things around by the deadline, then trade one of our spare catchers for a solid reliever.
The AL West will likely come down to pitching.
Commander_Nate - July 10, 2010
That because Rodney can't be trusted with inherited runners.
One look at his WHIP and you’ll see he can only survive if he can start an inning with a clean slate. And notice I said survive, not do well.
This pen blows. When will the front office re-learn how to build a bullpen?
snowhor - July 10, 2010 via mobile
Haha what a dirtbag...
“We’re a better team—100 percent. When we play up to our capabilities, it might not be that close. We have a better balance to our team. They have good pitching, but their offense is like, I don’t know. We have more wins. It’s pretty simple. I’d rather take our offense. I’d rather take our defense. I’d much rather have our bullpen.”
—LHP C.J. Wilson, comparing the Rangers to the Angels after Los Angeles took two of three from Texas last week
IWishWeStillHadTimSalmon - July 10, 2010
Can't honestly say I disagree with any of that
Unfortunately.
SELL SELL SELL!
hk47 - July 12, 2010
Are you one of the Duke brothers?
red floyd - July 12, 2010
If scoscia would play matchups more instead of just having a set closer we would be better off.
it just seems rodney just doesn’t care when he is just setting up but has the edge when he is closing. He is just rotting away as the set up man.
Angelsrthebest101 - July 10, 2010
Yeah I don't get this sh1t...
I know they would rather Rodney just magically throw away his big weakness in not being able to get up for anything but a close…yet it won’t happen. It’s Russian roullette otherwise.
Use him as our closer for a bit again and put Fuentes as the set up man. He’ll still stay focused because he knows that he might be out shopping for a contract and needs to look good.
RedFog - July 10, 2010
If this is true
he should be released today. The man gets paid to pitch and should be able to “get up” for any situation. I know what the numbers say. Even though he didn’t blow a lot of games last year, and was solid for about a week earlier this year in save situations, his career numbers consistently say one thing: he’s wild and mostly unreliable. Bad signing, and a big part of why we probably won’t win the division this year.
dmhead - July 10, 2010
I wish this made me feel better
After watching Rodney tonight, I still have to believe the bullpen is advantage Rangers.
Suboptimal - July 10, 2010
It was only one game.
Though it was hilariously enjoyable to watch Patterson hit the grand slam off of
NetfailNeftailNefertitiFeliz, there is still way too much baseball to be played.XYZ123 - July 10, 2010
You see that first pitch he fouled off? He crushed it!
Then the HR was an upper deck shot! I love watching the fat white trash Rangers fans have their hearts broken.
Halowood - July 10, 2010
I laughed at the bit with Feliz' first name
It reminded me of a sign shown on TV during one of the 2002 ALCS games in Minnesota (probably Game 1). It said something like this:
GO
MENKEEMENKTIEMAINKYDOUG!rspencer - July 10, 2010
If he was ours, I'd call him "NIFTY"
But he’s not, so net-fail is just dandy.
Downing Rules - July 10, 2010
C'mon Rev....
Seriously – is our bullpen any better? Last night’s “arsonist” was Rodney, tonight it could be Shields, tomorrow night it could be Fuentes.
For 2010, Texas has fewer “talent gaps” on roster from top to bottom than our Halos do. I believe that is ultimately the greatest challenge to overcome.
mustard_man - July 10, 2010
This
hk47 - July 10, 2010
I'll be the 8th rec
The Texas bullpen blows it in two games and suddenly its the death of the team. You wanna talk about bullpens being crappy, how about looking at ours!
If the Texas bullpen is its achilles heel, then our bullpen is lung cancer.
BryanHarvey'sMoustache - July 10, 2010
pancreatic cancer
hk47 - July 11, 2010
If you want to see what "bipolar" looks like, read LSB
Specifically, this
After the drunken euphoria of yesterday afternoon following the trade, the “fans” on LSB are already mourning the loss of Smoak and coming to the realization that they’ll have Lee for the remainder of this season and no more.
You’ll also see a graphic example of why Rev has his one-F-bomb-per-month rule, as the prose gets numbing quickly.
George Kaplan - July 10, 2010
That was pretty amusing.
Nashdiesel - July 10, 2010
They had a post leading up to the trade...
and everyone was saying “no way do we give up Smoak for Lee” and people were pissed when the story broke. Funny.
Downing Rules - July 10, 2010
Yeah...
Like giving up SRod for Kazmir.
jimmuscomp - July 10, 2010 via mobile
Is it as numbing
As his series of Ron Washington Cocaine jokes?
Brandon Bibb - July 10, 2010
No, much more so
An entire response thread of a typical LSB post is like a Tarantino script without the wit.
To be fair, there are some great writers over there, but some of the infighting is especially profane and nasty. I am certainly not suggesting that there aren’t “discussions” here which get heated, but the cap on expletives finds a way to keep the posts tolerable (and, I believe, more thoughtful).
George Kaplan - July 10, 2010
I never seen a group abuse the word "douche," they deserve some kind of reward for that.
SenorChuckles - July 10, 2010
Ha, you made another one...
“numbing” and “cocaine”? Ha! Unwittingly, no doubt, as is usually for humor from you?
Oh, and outside of Texas we don’t capitalize “cocaine”.
LAASurfin - July 10, 2010
capitalize cocaine
That made me laugh.
rmhalofan - July 10, 2010
Outside of California, we put the quotation marks after the period, not before
You grammar “genius,” you.
Brian Thomas - July 11, 2010
The F-Bomb rule.
The one game where Rev waived the rule was pretty funny, but I wouldn’t want it happening every game.
red floyd - July 10, 2010
Yeah if Texas can't compete with their bullpen...
then we obviously don’t have a chance with ours.
I’m not happy how this season is turning out either but let’s not be delusional here. Right now Texas is the superior team and I don’t see how we improve to the point where we contend with them and beyond in the next 22 days.
We should start selling as soon as possible.
Nashdiesel - July 10, 2010
^ This ^
Agree totally. Sign all our draft choices. Dump the AAAA players on the 40-man roster. Trade the aging talent. Get younger for 2011.
The scary thing about Texas is not Lee, it’s that their MLB talent is younger and their farm system is deeper than anyone else in the AL West. We previously depend on their ownership to screw up the team, unfortunately that dog won’t hunt much more into the future. The Halos front office had better display a higher IQ going forward with their baseball decisions (e.g. HGH, Speier, Wood, not signing draft picks, etc.)
mustard_man - July 10, 2010
Conger and Kazmir for Lee!
We can take this thing!
JDT217 - July 10, 2010
Can Ron Washington lay off the nose candy enough to not impulsively walk to the mound just to step on the white lines?
That was funny.
The team is tired and seems to be having a let down after the series in Anahiem last week. The real challange for the Rangers starts after the ASB.
RangerMad - July 10, 2010
No, it starts DURING the ASB
As thousands of Angels fans with bags of coke seek out Ron Washington for a little party.
firebird81 - July 10, 2010
You gotta admit…..it would be HILARIOUS for Cliff Lee to arrive in Texas just in time for the annual implosion! Poor guy! I can’t remember such a talented, low-maintenance player getting thrown around the majors as much as he has been.
firebird81 - July 10, 2010
I watched the end of two great games today
I’ve been in the Philippines for almost two weeks. The souls of Americans lost on Corrigedore cry out to Americans to never be disheartened. Esspecially when it it just for a game.
Sorry to get too deep but ordinary “Joes” like us paid dearly for us to babble on about how our baseball team will preform. Go Angels but keep it in prespective.
hittheg - July 10, 2010
Yeah, imagine what the guys who were on the Bataan death march went through...
our “plight” watching the Angels is a joke.
Downing Rules - July 10, 2010
Thanks for the perspective.
Clutch - July 10, 2010
The death march was horrible.
The POW camp they marched to – Cabanatuan – was almost as bad. It’s hard to believe any man could survive under those conditions.
sothball - July 10, 2010
My Uncle fought in the Pacific in the Navy.
He survived but lived with severe PTSS the rest of his life.
44FAN - July 10, 2010
Apparently that theatre was particularly horrible
My wife has an uncle with a similar affliction who was there, and my Dad, while he came out of it all right, would not talk about it, even though he talked about other aspects of his WW II service with great affection.
rspencer - July 10, 2010
That's the same reaction as the writer's father of "Flags of out Fathers" (Jams Bradley).
Most servicemen returned and were mentally/physically/spiritually healthy, but they just didn’t want to discuss combat events.
Bradley’s dad eventually eventually recounted some rather horrible carnage on Iwo Jima. Nasty stuff.
sothball - July 10, 2010
Your uncle is a hero.
My cousin sent this link about his brother in law. I have seen the story of action in Afganistan on the Military Channel. Lest we forget those who choose to serve.
http://www.mensjournal.com/what-the-war-did-to-andy
rmhalofan - July 10, 2010
I have seen the story of 'his' action..
rmhalofan - July 10, 2010
I thought Arte himself summed it up wonderfully
when he was asked by Simers if he was stressed out by the Angels’ problems this season:
“I’m a Vietnam vet; stress is when someone is shooting at you,”
Quad Fin Rider - July 10, 2010
I remember that article and quote. Well played.
44FAN - July 10, 2010
I'm currently reading the book "The Pacific".
Your perspective is spot on. I’d love to go visit some of the battle locations (Guadalcanal, Bouganville, Midway, Okinawa, etc). I’m envious! Any photos?
sothball - July 10, 2010
Have you read "Guadalcanal" by Richard B. Frank?
As a person who reads a lot of history books, I think it’s probably the most fascinating, throughly researched account of any WWII battle I’ve ever read.
Quad Fin Rider - July 10, 2010
I had the same feeling at Pearl.
We were going out to the Arizona memorial on a foggy, cloudy day. You could hear the ghosts.
On the way back, the sun broke through the clouds, and there was a rainbow, with the end right on top of the memorial. I’ve got a picture of it somewhere (film not digital :-(, so I can’t post it).
red floyd - July 10, 2010
Our bullpen
has the potential to be better. Jepsen, Thompson, Shields is starting to bounce back. Sosh just doesn’t believe in matchups for the BP to be truly dominant. When will Sosh learn that Fuentes can’t get both leftys and rightys like Percy or K-Rod could. Kohn is wasting his talents in AAA. Our starters (excluding Kazmir), guys like Joe are starting to pitch better. Santana and Pinerio have been consistent. I mean Pinerio had a 97 pitch CG against these As last time he faced them.
phoenix15 - July 10, 2010
With apologies to Ron Washington...REV.
you hit it right in the nose .
Ed@northridge - July 10, 2010
Can we stay keep within 4 or 5 games of Texas throughout July and August?
Assuming the answer to the above question is yes. Than it will boil down to beating the Rangers. It’s that simple! And let’s say that we do. We are at best the AL West Champs and done in the first round of the playoffs.
Let’s all join hands and pray.
Dono Romantico - July 10, 2010
Braun or Soriano!!
Rangers?!?!? Comon what the heck is all this Ranger talk all about?! They are obviously doing what they need to do to knock us off the top! So what the heck are we going to do? Our team stinks right now, (BULLPEN AND OFFENSE). I say forget about aquiring a corner infielder, I like Frandzen and NAP and Izzy’s on his way. How about getting a power hitting LF like Ryan Braun of Alfonso Soriano? Rivera isn’t what he used to be, which wasn’t much anyway, heck the guy can’t even see!! Put him on the bench to platoon at DH with Mat-sucki! LET’S GO REAGINS, WHAT IS ARTE PAYING YOU FOR!!??
TonyB14 - July 10, 2010
The Brewers won't trade Braun and Soriano isn't that good and he's really expensive.
~MMP~ - July 10, 2010
ESPN says the Rangers have a 99.3% chance of winning the division.
Some fancy computer spouted out some numbers.
99.3%? WTF?
I’d love to get some money down on the Angels at that line.
bc56274 - July 10, 2010
That's just ludicrous
I love the faux precision: “99.3%”.
rspencer - July 10, 2010
Did you see it? It was on ESPNnews this morning
They said the Rangers were like 94% to win the division before acquiring Cliff Lee, and 99.3% after.
I’m just wondering if I somehow interpreted it wrong.
bc56274 - July 10, 2010
I'm not saying you're ludicrous
Just to be perfectly clear (and clearly perfect), I was commenting on ESPN’s prediction and agreeing with your observations thereon.
rspencer - July 10, 2010
Shit, I would be fine if we had a 1% chance of winning, but only .7%? We're screwed.
~MMP~ - July 10, 2010
ha
bc56274 - July 10, 2010
actually
it is 90.3 % certain that Texas will win the division wit a thousand seasons played out on computer with the current rosters.
That gives us a one hundred percent chance of winning the division by playing the games on the field.
Rev Halofan - July 10, 2010
Where are you getting these figures?
bc56274 - July 10, 2010
I don't know about the Rev
But the figures are all right here on my keyboard, to the right of the arrow keys. I just hit them randomly, just like ESPN’s computer simulation of a chimpanzee typing.
rspencer - July 10, 2010
Wrecked for amusement.
sothball - July 10, 2010
That simulation freak Xiefrank or whatever his name is.
He does a fanpost ever now and then when the mood strikes him. Search and you shall find in the archives….
44FAN - July 10, 2010
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