Tagged: rangers
Coors Field Of The American League
Welcome to Rangers Ballpark
in Arlington
The most hitter-friendly park
not named Coors Field.
Since it opened in 1994,
Rangers Ballpark has been a boon to the home team. Since its opening, the Rangers home .OBP, from now on
referred to as hOBP, has been on average, 29 points higher than their rOBP,
(road .OBP. Another large
difference is visible in the slugging category. Since the park’s opening, the Rangers hSLG has been on
average, 49 points higher than their rSLG. Taking into account both stats, the Rangers tOPS has been a
******** 76 points higher, on average, than their rOPS. This is not just a case of home-field
advantage. All teams have
traditionally hit well at Rangers Ballpark.
This park has made hitters
great. The great Ivan Rodriguez, lauded
as much for his bat as for his fantastic glove is one of the beneficiaries of
this park.
Ivan Rodriguez, Career,
Rangers Ballpark: .326/.362/.533
Ivan Rodriguez, Career, Everywhere
Else: .289/.328/.447
While Rodriguez, whose career
has included not only 13 years in Texas, but also six years combined in
Florida, Detroit, New York, and Houston, played out his prime in Texas;
certainly effecting part of the large deficit in his numbers. But a gap as big as this, 37 points in
BA, 34 points in OBP, 86 points in SLG, and a ******** 120 points in OPS, can not be
explained solely by his age.
Steroids could play a role in this, but I don’t trust Jose Canseco. The main point is that excluding
outside factors, Ivan Rodriguez benefited greatly from Rangers Ballpark.
It may not have as great a
reputation as Coors Field, but Rangers Ballpark is a great asset for Texas;
fullheartadly deserving the title of Coors Field of the American League.
The Mark Teixeira Trade Revisited
On July 30, 2007, the Texas Rangers traded star 1B Mark Teixeira, who had just turned down a 8-year $140 million contract extension, and LHP Ron Mahay to the Atlanta Braves, they received five players, C Jarrod Saltalamacchia, SS Elvis Andrus, LHP Beau Jones, LHP Matt Harrison, and RHP Neftali Feliz. The Braves flipped Teixeira a year later for RHP Stephen Marek, and 1B Casey Kotchman.
Keys To Success/Failure: Texas Rangers
The Texas Rangers
Keys To Success
Hitting
Fielding
Why Hitting?
The Rangers have long been
viewed as a great-hit-no-pitch team, and rightfully so. Just this season have they managed to
put together a respectable pitching staff and bullpen that should be just good
enough to get to the playoffs. But
the real key to the Rangers’ success remains their hitting. Texas in fourth overall in hitting in
the AL. The Rangers’ main
strength, aided by their ballpark, is the homerun. They are second in the AL in homeruns, four of their
starting nine have over 10 HR’s: DH Hank Blalock (13), 1B Chris Davis (13), 2B
Ian Kinsler (17), and RF Nelson Cruz (18). The Rangers are also a excellent baserunning team, they are
third in the AL with 52 stolen bases.
Why Fielding?
Texas has an excellent
fielding team. While the rank near
the middle of the AL in errors and fielding%, the metric UZR/150 provides a
different story. Using UZR/150,
(excluding catchers), shows that the Rangers deffense will save the team 19.9
runs over the course of 150
games. The worst culprit in
the Rangers defense is 3B Michael Young, with a -25.2 UZR/150, but he’s still
adjusting to third base. What
really exemplifies the Rangers’ defense is that they are one of the best
infields in baseball at turning double plays.
A Improvement?
None necessary. (Except maybe the pitching)
Crawling Back
A few days ago, I considered writing about how David Ortiz’s career was over because of his hitting troubles.
Guess not. With 3 homeruns in the past week, and pushing his BA above the Mendoza Line, Papi’s proving everyone wrong. Slowly but steadily, Ortiz is crawling back.
- Interleague Play Again
Some hitters and pitchers primed for big days today:
Alex Rodriguez- 10-16, 3 HR, 2.122 OPS against Livan Hernandez
Vladimir Guerrero-7-16, 3 HR, 1.533 OPS against Chad Gaudin
Paul Konerko-14-34, 2 HR, 1.105 OPS against Jeff Suppan
Ian Snell against Tigers
Vicente Padilla against Dodgers
Roy Halladay against Marlins
This Day In Baseball History
1907-The Yankees commit eleven errors and lose to the Tigers,14-6.
1939-In front of a record crowd of 23,864 fans at Ruppert Stadium, Lou Gehrig plays his last game as a Yankee during an exhibition game against the Kansas City Blues, their AA farm team. Playing only three innings and batting eighth, the’ Iron 71-Horse’ grounds out weakly to second base in his only at-bat.
1939-The Baseball Hall of Fame opens in Cooperstown, New York.
1940-In a trade which stuns the baseball world, the Dodgers obtain Ducky Medwick and pitcher Curt Davis from the Cardinals for outfielder Ernie Koy, pitcher Carl Doyle, two minor leaguers and $125,000; the deal signals the emergence of Brooklyn as a serious contender.
1941-The Braves break up the Waners’ brother act sending Lloyd to the Reds for pitcher Johnny Hutchings; ‘Big Poison’ Paul will stay in Boston.
1954-Braves’ hurler Jim Wilson pitches the season’s only no-hitter as he blanks the Phillies, 2-0.
1959-Despite giving up a hit in the sixth, Giant Mike McCormick was credited with a no-hitter when the game is rained out later in that same inning.
1967-In a 22-inning game which takes six hours, 38 minutes and ends at 2:43 in the morning, the Senators defeat the White Sox at R.F.K. Stadium, 6-5. The marathon causes the American League to adopt a curfew stating that no inning may begin after 1 00 a.m.
1970-Dock Ellis throws a 2-0 no-hitter against the Padres in San Diego during the first game of a twin bill. The former Pirates’ right-hander, later an adovocate of anti-drug programs claims he was under the influence of LSD while tossing the most memorable game in his career.
Dock Ellis died on December 19, 2008 R.I.P.
1971-Padre Clay Kirby one-hits the Giants; the no-hitter is spoiled by a Willie McCovey homer.
1981-Major League Baseball’s first strike which begins after the start of a season cancels thirteen regular-season games.
1983-Hall of Famers Charlie Gehringer and Hank Greenberg have their uniform numbers retired by Detroit in a ballpark ceremony. The digits 2 and 5, respectively, will join Al Kaline’s #6 (1980) as the only numbers retired by the Tigers.
1983-Before the game against the Giants, Dale Murphy visits with a six-year old in the stands who recently lost both arms and a leg due a power line accident and is asked by the girl’s nurse if he could hit a home run for the injured child. The outfielder modestly answers “Well, Okay”, and then proceeds to hit two homers in the 3-2 Braves victory at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.
1988-Mike Scott’s attempt for his second career no-hitter is spoiled with two outs in the ninth inning by a Braves infielder Ken Oberkfell’s line drive single down the right field line. The right-hander, who settles for a 5-0 one-hitter, tossed a no-no in 1986 which clinched the Nation League West division for the Astros.
1997-After 126 years of major league play, the first interleague games in history are played as the Giants defeat the Rangers, 4-3, at the Ballpark in Texas. Glenallen Hill becomes the National League’s first regular season designated hitter.
On Pace, Who’s Gonna Keep It Going
1. Adrian Gonzalez, 1B, Padres, is on pace for 67 Homeruns
Interleague “Rivalry” Matchups
- Geographical Interleague “Rivalries”
I understand that MLB is trying to create local rivalries, and some, like the Subway Series, and the Windy City Series are actually interesting, but others, such as the Battle Of The Beltway, the Rays-Marlins Series, and the Rangers-Astros Series are ridiculously one-sided. For the 2010 season maybe MLB should try something different, perhaps Classic World Series matchups, like Red Sox-Cardinals, Twins-Braves, or Orioles-Pirates.
- Mets 3 Red Sox 2
What does it take for a injury-depleted team working with a two-man bench to beat one of the best closers in the game? Answer: A miracle
- Diamondbacks 8 A’s 7
This game turned out to be a thriller at the Oakland Coliseum, the D-backs scored four runs in the 8th inning on key hits by Eric Byrnes, and Chad Tracy, tying the score at 5-5. The game went into extra innings, and the D-backs appeared to seal the game when they scored 3 runs in the top of the 11th inning, but Oakland came back in the bottom half, scoring a pair of runs off D-backs closer Chad Qualls, and had runners at the corners with one out, when Jack Hannahan grounded into a double play to end the game. The Diamondbacks won their third straight, but are still 10 1/2 games back of the Dodgers in the NL West.
- Two More Interleague Shutouts
White Sox 4 Pirates 0
