I expected Derek Holland to finally realize his potential as a top-of-the-rotation arm in the American League Championship Series. That, of course, didn’t happen. But it turned out the Rangers didn’t need him to be great to win his Game 2 and Game 6 starts, as the Texas offense racked…
Your World Champion Dallas Mavericks were supposed to take on the Indiana Pacers tonight at the American Airlines Center, the sixth of eight preseason games leading to November 1’s regular-season opener against Chicago at the AAC. But with each passing day, it’s looking more and more like the lockout will…
Well, that didn’t last long. One day, the Texas Rangers and their fans are basking in the glow of a dramatic ninth-inning comeback win against the St. Louis Cardinals to tie the World Series at 1-1, with the next three games to be played at home in Arlington. The next…
If you’ve read my piece about St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, you know that the first time I had a really good, strong sports cry was Game 1 of the 1988 World Series. As a fan of La Russa and the Oakland A’s at the time, Kirk Gibson’s…
Sometimes the worst managerial moves are the ones that weren’t made, but the focus tends to be on the ones that were. The vast majority of media and fans across the country agree that Tony La Russa out-managed Ron Washington in Game 1 of the World Series last night, which…
The video you’ll find after the jump was posted two days ago by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York. So far it’s been viewed 60 times. In it, John O’Dell, curator of history and research, provides a brief tour of Rangers artifacts in the…
It’s finally here. Pinch yourself. Your Texas Rangers are back in the World Series, and this time feels much different than last year’s playoff run. There’s a confidence flowing through my body that just wasn’t there before, and I suspect the players feel the same way. Don’t get me wrong…
For whatever reason, my relationship with baseball went from casual to deeply committed bordering on obsessive during the 1986 baseball season. Like most kids growing up in North Texas, my father taught me to love the Dallas Cowboys, Texas Rangers and Dallas Mavericks (in that order) — if for no…
Not so long ago, Minnesota Twins backstop Joe Mauer was the consensus pick as baseball’s best catcher. But the 2009 American League MVP, four-time All-Star, three-time Gold Glove winner and .323 career hitter had another injury-plagued season in 2011 (missing significant time for “leg weakness” of all things) and in…
After the Texas Rangers fired Buck Showalter following the 2006 season, general manager Jon Daniels interviewed five candidates. Of course, there was Ron Washington, a longtime third base and infield coach for the American League West rival A’s who wasn’t interviewed for Oakland’s managerial vacancy. Then-Rangers bench coach Don Wakamatsu,…
On Wednesday, the Pittsburgh-based Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights issued a report titled Dressing Babies in Sweatshop Clothing: Dallas Cowboys, Ohio State and a Creepy Business, in which it alleged that the Cowboys are having team-branded clothing made in “gross sweatshop conditions at the Style Avenue factory in…
As the trade deadline approached in July 2006, it seemed inevitable that Jon Daniels would make a bold move to bolster a mediocre offense in his first season as general manager. He targeted the best hitter on the market — Carlos Lee, an established 30-HR, 100-RBI slugger. And Lee was…
As depressing as it was, I believe Game 3 of the American League Championship Series was an anomaly, much like Game 1 of the ALDS. Nothing seemed right. And while Wash’s decision to keep Colby Lewis on the mound when he was obviously out of gas was the turning point…
The Houston Astros are this close to being sold, as Drayton McLane is set to sell the franchise to Jim Crane for $660 million, pending league approval. (And, yes, that’s the same Jim Crane who tried to buy the Texas Rangers out of bankruptcy last year.) The deal’s expected to…
Speaking of great eyes …Surely you’ve seen the ESPN 30 on 30 offering Pony Excess, about SMU receiving the NCAA’s death penalty in 1987. If not, you must. It was directed by Thaddeus Matula, a Jesuit alum — who, as it so happens, is also responsible for this short SMU…
Wow. What an amazing start to the American League Championship Series for Your Texas Rangers. Two close games. Two incredible wins. Now Detroit has to win four of the next five games to get back to the World Series for the first time since they fell to St. Louis in…
Just got off the phone with a gentleman who’s also keeping an eye on Texas-Detroit: Alex Cosmidis. He lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, and is pulling for the Tigers — surprising, since Cosmidis once played baseball in Dallas and in Fort Worth, first as an Eagle in 1955 and ’56,…
Back in February 2009, I penned a cover story about the Texas Rangers’ new philosophy of relying on kiddos from their farm system instead of throwing big money at the likes of Alex Rodriguez, Chan Ho Park and Kevin Millwood. The youth movement was in full swing that spring as…
Reports out of England have Liverpool and Manchester City of the Premier League taking a long, hard look at FC Dallas’s Brek Shea, the 21-year-old College Station-born star just called to the U.S. National Team at September’s end. Problem is, Shea — a chief contender for MLS’s MVP award –…
[Editor’s note: At the request of a few regulars, we’re going with a rare weekend-night open thread to celebrate the Rangers’ second straight appearance in the American League Championship Series. Will we do this again tomorrow? Hard to say. Let’s see how tonight goes. I’ll be in and out, but…
Back, by popular demand, is today’s ALDS Game 4 open thread as the Rangers try to finish out the Rays following last night’s epic nail-biter — so nerve-wracking even Nolan Ryan said it was “as stressful a game as I’ve sat through.” Before we get to first pitch, once more…
As we make the slow transition to bringing sports back to Unfair Park, several have asked: Um, how ’bout a Rangers playoff liveblog or open thread? To which I say: Absofreakinlutely. I had hoped to bring Best of Dallas-winner Jamey Newberg, namesake of The Newberg Report and the man to…
