Yes, in the midst of Notre Dame’s coaching turmoil and their season on the brink, I have baseball on the mind.  Some news has recently come to light that Tom Hicks wishes to buy the Texas Rangers…again.  This causes some ever so slight concerns from me, so what do I do when I have said concerns?

Write an open letter to the man that he will never read.

Dear Mr. Thomas Hicks,

I have recently heard that you wish to still maintain ownership of the Texas Rangers.  In fact, you managed to get some big local names involved in this mix as well: Roger Staubach and Nolan Ryan.  Now I’m sure you are quite happy with these big local names that are legends in the Dallas area.  How can Rangers fans not be happy knowing that the most famous Cowboy and most famous Ranger now own the Rangers?

Simple, you are still a part of it.

Mr. Hicks, this thin veil you have created will only serve to mask your true intentions and will only further harm this franchise.  What you see is just another opportunity to profit.  This past season, the Rangers have created a buzz that is even bigger than the 90′s when they won the AL West three times.  That buzz translates to more fans in the empty seats that you’ve been starting at ever since the turn of the millennium.  Finally, the club which has done nothing but pile on debt (which must not be affecting you too much, you just had a huge party at your place for Brett Hull), can actually make you money.

Here’s the problem with your vision that you are seeing through your greedy-green glasses: we’ve seen this dance before, you aren’t in this for a title, you are in it for the money.  Even if MLB approves this re-buy of the team, you will be beyond fiscally conservative and the fallout will do nothing but hurt this franchise…again.

We are already seeing evidence of this.  Marlon Bryd, one of the gigantic catalysts on the club with both his bat and glove seems all but gone.  You will also need to extend Josh Hamilton in the near future as his contract is coming to an end.  Your young guns, Elvis Andrus, Derek Holland, Neftali Feliz, and Julio Borbon will be looking for their big payday in just a couple of seasons when they become arbitration eligible.  Somewhere along this supposed run to postseason glory you will likely need to add either a solid veteran arm in the rotation and likely another solid bat as well.

Are you really fiscally prepared to be able to do this?

Your window is running short.  You simply cannot cross your fingers and hope 2010 can be a season that puts you back in the black and be able to make some moves to take a run at 2011.  We were promised 2010, not 2011, stick to it.  With last seasons’ success coupled with the promise at a bright future, this offseason is the best chance we have to wrestle away a big name or two from the other clubs that constantly outbid us for their services.  The thing is though, our offers need to be on par with everyone else.

You and I both know that you can’t do it.  History has shown since A-Rod, you won’t do it.

Mr. Hicks, I speak for a large section of Rangers fans in saying we are sick of it.  Leave the Rangers in solid financial hands and be done with it.  You have two other sports franchises to take care of in the Dallas Stars and Liverpool F.C.  Stop spreading yourself and your pocketbook so thin.

Fans don’t care about your business savvy.  I’m quite confident that you could indeed turn a profit within a year or two if you do indeed re-buy the club.  You didn’t get rich by accident.  However, fans are interested in wins and losses–not restructuring debt, finding additional investors, number crunching, selling more ads, or whatever else you have planned.

Ranger fans have suffered long enough.  We are so close to being a legit contender for years down the road, but we need the cash.  Ranger fans deserve an owner like Mark Cuban or Jerry Jones.  While we may be upset with decisions they make or the way they act, fans of the Mavs and Cowboys know that money will not be an issue when making personal decisions.  They have never had to ask the NBA or NFL for money to make payroll–you have.

Mr. Hicks, I appreciate the effort you put into the club, but it is time to let someone else come in to finish the job.  You have helped the club in the front office with John Daniels and Nolan Ryan.  In return, they have delivered us coaches like Mike Maddox.  The result in 2009 was a solid, young club that is one or two pieces away from being a force to be reckoned with.

Now we need the money to complete this journey.  Mr. Hicks, please allow this club to be placed in the hands of someone that has the money now and is willing to spend it.  Don’t do it for your bottom line (without the Rangers, you will still be in good shape I’m sure), do it for the sake of Ranger fans and the future of this franchise.

Sincerely,

Ryan Ritter

Folks, it is that time again to do a general catch-up post!  I figured now would be a good time to do this because to be honest, I really don’t have much to say about ND’s game this past Saturday against Boston College, nor do I really have much to say on a preview against Washington State to justify an entire post.  However, if that is what you came here for, feel free to skip down to the end of the post for a ND quick-hit.

There are several other things to catch up on that are of interest to me.  The Cowboys played surprisingly well this week, the Stars season is well underway, the Mavs have kicked off their season, the Evil Empire is in the World Series against the City of Brotherly Shove, and Microsoft released a little something called Windows 7.  That’s quite a bit to run through, so let’s just get to it.

Dallas Cowboys

You may (or likely may not) remember that I have been writing for DallasProSports.com on both a fantasy panel as well as doing a weekly article on the “Romo Friendly” offense.

Save for Twitter, I have been doing a really awful job at promoting my work. I assure you though, that I have indeed been writing my opinions on the offense.  So you can check out all my opinions on the offense there; in fact, writing those articles has been the reason I haven’t bothered to say much on the ‘Boys in this space.  I will be sure to actually remember to post here when my articles go up.

Beyond the offense though, I will say the defense is, thankfully, improving from the looks of things.  Ware finally seems to be getting back into the swing of things, and the secondary looked like it could actually defend something as well last week.  This trend must continue because what we all should have learned from the past couple of years is that a Cowboys team 100% reliant on Romo and the offense to bail the team out flat out doesn’t work.

Dallas Mavericks

I went from being extremely excited about the new pickups of Shawn Marion and Drew Gooden to being extremely concerned after their defeat to Washington in the first game of the season.  The main reason being that I saw absolutely nothing different from the Mavs in that game than I did last season.

It was the same old, same old: play small and jack up threes when we trail.  Also, defense is optional.

I’m hoping that won’t be the same story for the whole season.  I do believe the Mavs have improved their team this year, but until our overall attitude of how to play changes (i.e. DRIVE THE FREAKIN’ LANE!), we will continue to struggle.

Dallas Stars

Well, what a difference a coach does make.  While I’m not going to say we are Cup bound, Stars hockey is a hell of a lot more fun to watch this season.  We have a lot of young kids and a very wide open style of play, meaning far more scoring than I can ever remember seeing.

I wish I could actually give more hockey insight than that, but beyond knowing the rules of the game, I am pretty much only able to give “Hockey for Dummies” type commentary.

One thing to watch this season though is the play of Marty Turco.  Last season he took a lot of abuse from fans and media about his play severely declining.  I do believe Marty is one of the better goaltenders in the NHL, but the season he had last year simply can’t be repeated if we want to be a solid playoff team — you need your goalie to be a wall.

Last year Turco turned in 2.83 GAA (goals against average), and thus far he is sitting at 2.26 GAA (just as a reference, two seasons ago, Marty finished at 2.32 GAA).  Much better to say the least thus far.  Hopefully last season will prove to be the exception and not the first warning of a declining Turco.

World Series

I’m going to be very quick on this one: I hate the Yankees.  I can’t believe A-Rod is actually hitting clutch in October.  Seeing Teixiera playing in the World Series is making me sick.

Go Phillies!

Windows 7

Hey, remember those few times I actually wrote about technology in here?  Yeah me too.  It’s really been a while.  Mostly that is due to the fact it is football season and it takes far too much of my attention span as far as writing goes.

However, I must say at least a little something on Windows 7 (as I’m not sure if I’ll actually spin out a full-blown post during football season).  First off, it is nothing like Vista.

Let me repeat that another way: We have a new Windows Operating System that doesn’t completely suck like Vista.

The first thing that popped out to me was the amount of resources the system was using at idle.  Vista was very infamous for sucking the life out of RAM (memory) and processor power by just having the so-called “great” Vista features active like Aero and Index Searching.  Windows 7 has removed whatever was severely bloating Vista as very little strain is being placed on the system in comparison.

So what does that mean?  In short, quicker performance for just about anything that you want to do.  Initial startups are quicker, opening programs takes far less time, etc.

The other great touches that I’ve encountered so far are the, dare I say, intuitive additions to Windows 7.  The new taskbar helps decrease what is usually extreme clutter on the desktop and allows you to get to you want even quicker than alt-tabbing.  Programs/windows open, now group to an icon on the desktop.  Say you have five Word documents open and three Windows Explorer windows open, along with whatever you are looking at on the web.  Well, simply hovering over say the Word icon will open up a small window dubbed “Aero Peek” that will show small window previews of all five documents along with their titles, allowing you to quickly and easily select the one you want to view instead of jamming on alt+tab until you finally highlight the right document you want, or trying to remember the exact window/document name from the old taskbar groupings in XP/Vista.

There are even shortcuts that use window positioning to automatically maximize, minimize, and compare windows.  Want to compare two open windows?  Drag one to the left side of the screen and it pops into place, filling the left side.  Then drag the other window to the right side of the screen, and it fills the other remaining 50% of the screen.  Want to minimize all the junk on your screen and just focus on one window?  Shake the window you want and away goes everything else.

I’m not used to Windows working like this at all — it is almost as if they stole some Apple programmers.

Granted, I haven’t had too much time to really run into many problems yet, but it is something I am keeping an eye on.  Compared to Vista though, this is a freakin’ walk in the park.

Notre Dame Football

Now for the ND football talk!

The game against Boston College was just more typical Irish football this season: play to the level of your opponent and decide the game at the end.  Also, give all of ND Nation a freakin’ heart attack while doing so.

Clausen and the offense played very well.  BC’s game plan was the same as last season: cover the deep play, give up the short passes.  This time around, Clausen did a superb job taking exactly what BC would give him and not force the ball downfield needlessly.  While it made for a very low scoring game, it was the right way to attack them.  Credit both Clausen and Weis for this one folks.

Defense though — oh dear Lord…what has happened?  Getting a lot of tunrovers was very nice, as was actually hitting the opposing QB for a change, but the secondary still looks awful.  Harrison Smith looked lost anytime he was dropped back as a safety, and even had coverage issues when he was lined up at LB.  The rest of the secondary (save for McCarthy) isn’t exactly making major plays on a consistent basis either.

However, the best positive note on defense: Mantei Te’o — see ball, see player with ball, hit player with ball, wash, rinse, repeat.

Final note on BC: can we punt?  Seriously, I don’t think we got a punt past 35 yards.  That is flat out AWFUL, especially since this punters are on scholarship.  This isn’t like Mike Leech pulled someone out of the stands after a punting competition.  Yeesh.

Now to preview the Washington State game…

…

…uh…yeah I got nothing.  Honestly, I don’t even care if they are trying to dip into the ND kryptonite and starting a freshmen QB.  They are awful — end of story.  This game shouldn’t be close.  Crist should be starting in the second half and Sharpley should be the QB as time winds down.

Now will this likely happen?  Your idea is as good as mine.

Seriously, how in the world do I preview games for a team that seems to take a sick pleasure in torturing its loyal fans?  It boggles the mind.

This game should be an obvious blowout on paper.  Therefore, let’s expect the game to go down the wire yet again right?

However, I will not be watching this game live.  It will sitting at home on my DVR as I will be attending a wedding of a good friend of mine (PS: you know you are a great friend if I go to your wedding on a day I had tickets to go watch ND play — in Texas no less!).  So Saturday night, I will be throwing myself into a black hole (that may or may not include an open bar) and pretending my phone and the Internet do not exist as I want to experience the heart attack first-hand.

So if you were looking forward to any commentary via Twitter on the game, apologies, there will be none.  Nor will there be a prompt post on my postgame thoughts as well.

…oh man, prompt posts in this blog…that’s a good one…

GO IRISH! BEAT COUGARS!

The Rangers are now officially playing meaningless baseball — this season though, we got to stick along for the ride until the end of September.  While bittersweet, especially considering what was no less than a complete collapse a couple of weeks ago, it has been a very long time since I’ve been able to stay to involved and wrapped up in Rangers baseball for so long into the season.

We’ve gotten to see the debut of several young stars: Elvis Andrus, Derek Holland, Neftali Feliz, Julio Borbon, and Tommy Hunter, among others.  We got to see Scott Feldman pitch like a staff ace for most of the season, winning an impressive 17 games.  We even got to see a completely different Kevin Millwood for most of the season.

We were able to welcome back Pudge to Texas, and have the treat of watching Omar Visquel play in a Rangers uniform.

Kinsler had only the second 30/30 season by a second baseman in MLB history.  On that note, Washington, please put Kinsler in the middle of the lineup next season.

Michael Young was again a model of hitting consistency and Marlon Bryd had a breakout season.

Most importantly, we saw this team lead the AL West for the first time in years and we watched them do so over a span of months and not days.

It was definitely one hell of a ride:

Thanks for one hell of season boys, see you in 2010.

I’m going to take a break from football for a second and throw some Ranger talk your way.  No, I haven’t forgotten about the team; in fact, I’ve still be religiously watching/listening to the games.  I’ve found that football tends to be easier to keep a schedule to write about as you have a clear week to week progression.  For someone that doesn’t have all the time in the world to write, it is perfect for me.  So if you are wondering where I’ve been on the Rangers, believe me, I’m tuned in, just not blogging religiously about it.

Jamey Newberg I am not.

When I do write, it is because something rather big has happened, the team makes some big moves, or I feel like something simply needs to be said about the team.  Today is one of those days where the latter comes into play.

Yes, we are on a horrible stretch of baseball right now.  We are in all likelihood not going to make the playoffs; in fact, after this weekend, all doubt could be removed from that situation.  This weekend we face off against the Angels, whom we are now 6 games behind (6.5 behind Boston in the Wild Card).  We have 7 games left against the Angels, so all hope isn’t quite lost yet.  We have owned them this season and we could very well make up the ground if we step up in a huge way.

However, if it doesn’t happen, we shouldn’t be jumping off a bridge by any means.

I’m a big fan of throwing stats around, especially for baseball.  Today though, I only want to give you one: 80-65.  That would be the Rangers’ current win-loss record.  That is 15 games over .500.  That is something we all would’ve died for at the beginning of the season.

Bottom line: We’ve seen some damned good baseball in 2009.

Tuesday night, I was asked by a friend of mine, after I complained about the current state of the Rangers game on at the bar: “Why do the Rangers suck now?”  The short answer is that they really don’t so much “suck” as it just looks like they’ve hit a wall.

The Rangers have had quite a few obstacles to overcome this season.  They’ve been hit hard financially for one.  While I don’t believe that affected a trade for Halladay (I don’t think we wanted to pay the price as far as actual players go), it has stopped us from doing a couple of other things: picking anyone up at the trading deadline of worth, not being able to afford claiming Scott Khazmir off of waivers, and not being able to sign our top draft pick.  Our biggest move was bringing Pudge back, and while I like the move, it was bargain basement.

This team has also been dependent on tons of young players.  Take a look up and down the roster and start looking for real experience, there isn’t a whole lot.  Mike Bacsik on the Ticket’s Diamond Talk made a great point after last night’s game.  These young players have been brought up out of necessity for the most part and not because they have proven themselves.  Tommy Hunter might be an exception to this rule, as he was an afterthought, but due to how well he did in his spot start and in AAA, he was brought back up.  Holland was the golden boy and we were looking for an excuse to bring him up, despite having even little minor league experience.  Feliz was much of the same.  Elvis Andrus got tossed straight into the fire.  I could go on and on.

Young players will almost always struggle.  Just look at Chris Davis.  He was easily our first basemen of the future last season and this season people wanted him to never see the big league roster ever again this season.  Holland is having all kinds of issues now as well.  That isn’t to say these players won’t be great in another year or two, but the growing pains happen.

You also have to throw on top of everything that the Rangers have been playing great ball and they’ve been seeing two things.  The first is that the two teams ahead of them just refuse to lose.  The second is that the crowds have been absolutely lackluster despite the quality of baseball being played.  Now, I know there are several reasons for the crowd: the economy sucks, people hate Tom Hicks, the Ballpark is in freakin’ Arlington, and the games are starting at 7pm instead of the usual 7:30pm.  And of course, football has started too and this is most definitely a football town.

So you throw all that together, add in the fact that Millwood has been awful as of late and the offense can’t seem to score at all, and you are going to see a losing streak.  However, this is not “oh the Rangers suck again” or “here we go again, we can’t hold it together” in the least.  This has been one of the best seasons of baseball we’ve seen in a long time, and not only that, this time around it was fueled by pitching and defense.  Plus it was fueled by young players that will be the future of this franchise.

If you want to place any kind of worry on the Rangers, place it on the financial side.  MLB basically owns us right now and is handcuffing our ability to do anything.  That is the real shame — and no MLB isn’t to blame, it is Hicks for getting himself in this much financial trouble.  If this team doesn’t sell to someone soon, we could see all kinds of awful fallout like not being able to resign Byrd and even team president Nolan Ryan whose contributions to the Rangers have been nothing short of amazing.  If there is anything that “sucks” with the Rangers, look no further than the bottom line.

This team though deserves all the credit in the world for what they did this year, and they could still pull on last rabbit out of the hat before the season is over.  So don’t get down on them.  Continue the support, make it out to the games if you can (believe me, I’m personally in the boat of can’t afford/can’t make the drive with my schedule, I know it isn’t easy), and keep your heads up about the results of the season.

It ain’t over ’till it’s over.

Beat L.A.

This past weekend for the Texas Rangers was busier beyond belief. In a football town that will see the Dallas Cowboys kickoff the preseason this week, all the talk on The Ticket this morning was about the Rangers. The increased coverage wasn’t just because the Rangers won yet another series against the Angels, making them 9-3 against the Halos this season nor because the Rangers are now tied with the Red Sox for the AL Wild Card. While the on-field performance was very news worthy (especially one certain pitching performance), the majority of the headlines came from off the field actions.

Rangers Bid Farewell to the Nicaraguan Headhunter

While the Rangers were just a few hours away from starting what was easily the biggest series of the year, they decided to make a major roster move. That move was designating Vicente Padilla for assignment, and announcing that Dustin Nippert would replace him in the rotation.

Quick aside on the term “designate for assignment” (DFA) as it can be quite confusion since you have likely heard all or some of the following: the Rangers have effectively released Padilla, the Rangers can trade Padilla, or Padilla could be placed on waivers. So which is it? The answer in short, is all of the above. The Rangers have removed Padilla from their 40-man roster, has been placed on waivers and as of Friday afternoon, they have 10 days to decide which action to take with him.

What this means is that a team can claim Padilla on waivers and pick up the $3 million he is owed for the remainder of his contract. According to the waiver rules, the Rangers could decide at that point to work out a trade with the claiming team, or simply allow the team with highest waiver priority to have him. The Rangers cannot put Padilla back on the 40-man roster after a DFA as it is a different move than just placing him on waivers as they did earlier in the season (and then later placed him back on the active roster). If none of the above occurs in the 10 day period, the Rangers must either send him to the minors (which they have said they won’t) or release him and pay off the remainder of his contract.

So as far as Padilla goes, come Monday, August 17, he will be without a team.

Why is this? Well simply put, the Rangers have made it quite clear they want nothing to do with Padilla. He has been put on waivers once and has gotten a wonderful bad teammate label. Just take a look at this quote from Marlon Byrd:

After the game, OF Marlon Byrd said it had become “redundant” to talk about Padilla’s penchant for hitting batters. On Friday, he said Rangers management did their part to back up the rest of the team.

“It’s about time,” Byrd said. “When a player disrupts a team, eventually there is going to come a time when management has enough. They have seen enough. We are fighting for a playoff spot. The last thing we need in the clubhouse is a distraction like that. There are 25 guys in this clubhouse who are behind management on this. They showed that they are serious. They did their job. That just serves as assurance that they are doing the right thing here.”

If that doesn’t send a clear message to the rest of baseball the Rangers don’t want him, I don’t know what else does. You don’t trade for, nor claim off of waivers and pick up a tab for a guy a team clearly doesn’t want. You let the Rangers eat the $3 million and try to get Padilla for a better bargain if you want him.

Padilla was “disappointed” by the move. He also flat out denied that he never had any issues with the club or that he was laughing at Michael Young getting pegged in retaliation for yet another bean ball he threw:

“If they say that, they are saying something I am not,” Padilla said. “Why don’t players say it to my face if I’m a bad teammate. We’ll talk about it.”

…

“I was laughing at Michael?” Padilla said. “That’s crazy. I was in the clubhouse.”

…

“They know I throw inside,” Padilla said. “If I throw inside they have to move. It’s natural. It doesn’t matter who it is. You have to throw second or third hitters inside if it’s Sammy Sosa or Barry Bonds.”

…

“I had a good time,” Padilla said. “The fans treated me well. I don’t know what has happened this year. I never had a problem with them. I had three years with the organization. I’m going to keep training. I can pitch if I get the opportunity. They want to wash their hands of me? That’s fine.”

I’m convinced from these quotes Padilla has completely lost it.

Tiexeira has told the media that he complained about Padilla’s headhunting before, as he was the favorite retaliation target when he was a Ranger. I have heard both Hamilton and Kinsler go on record (via radio interviews) that they have done the same thing as well.

He also must have a body double, as the TV clearly showed him laughing (EDIT: updated with link of video) when Young got pegged, and I’m not the only one that saw it:

In Padilla’s last start he lost to the Oakland A’s, in the first inning he surrendered a home run to Scott Hairston, two batters later he hit Kurt Suzuki.

Two innings later, the A’s retaliated by plunking Michael Young. Immediately after that the TV cameras caught Padilla, sitting in the dugout, smiling a smirk face. When asked about it later, he denied laughing at Michael saying he was in the clubhouse.

Yeah I watched the game, I saw exactly what was said, right after Young was hit he was smiling in the dugout, not the clubhouse.

Denial is fun.

As far as his “throwing inside” excuse, it is laughable. Nolan Ryan threw inside and backed people off the plate and he never reached a number like 49 hit batters in less than three seasons. That just doesn’t happen by accident. Throwing inside means you brush someone back and more often than not, they can get away, or they get an occasional smack on the arm, jersey or back if you really misfire. But no, Padilla throws at people, throws it where they can’t avoid it and he consistently does this to people he doesn’t like (see: Mark Tiexeira) or people that have good success against him (see: Kurt Suzuki).

I love how he is wondering why the fans and the organization turned on him. I mean, I isn’t like there was a huge backlash for him assuring the Rangers had no chance in the Yankees game when he mentally gave up and plunked Tiexeira twice because he felt like it. It wasn’t like the Rangers sent him a clear message by placing him on waivers either.

Good riddance.

Hamilton: Sober Since 2005, If You Forget About January, 2009

Oh boy, I’m sure Josh’s wife loves the fact that these are floating around the internet.

Josh had to answer some hard questions about what went down in Arizona before spring training was underway. It appears that he had just a *slight* relapse into his alcoholism:

“I’m embarrassed about it, personally, for the Rangers, for my wife, my children and my family,” Hamilton said at his locker with a handful of his teammates joining the crowd of media that had formed. “It reinforces one of the things that I can’t have is alcohol. It’s unfortunate that it happened. I was out there getting ready for the season and took my focus off the number one factor in my recovery – my relationship with Christ. I hate that this happened. I am human.”

…

“I wasn’t mentally fit or spiritually fit,” he said. “It just crossed my mind ‘Can I have a drink?’ Obviously, I can’t. One drink leads to two and two drink leads to 10 or 12. When I was in AA, one saying I heard was one drink is too many and 1,000 is never enough. Alcohol just doesn’t mix well with me.”

The photos show Hamilton dancing with girls, licking whipped cream off one, and having whipped cream licked off him in another. According to the report on Deadspin, which cited unnamed sources, Hamilton asked where he could also purchase some cocaine. Hamilton said details of the night remain foggy, but wouldn’t be surprised if he asked the question. He is, however, tested three times a week for recreational drugs, including cocaine and has apparently passed every test. Before the January incident, Hamilton had been sober October 2005 after being suspended on multiple occasions by MLB for failed drug tests. Alcohol, however, is not on the list of substances for which Hamilton is tested.

“When I drink, it always tends to lean that way,” said Hamilton, whose drink of choice in the past was Scotch. “As far as I know, I don’t believe I [took drugs].”

Given the frequency of his MLB-mandated testing program, its unlikely that Hamilton would have passed a test he says he took no later than two days after the incident if he had cocaine in his system.

Though Hamilton’s mentor and Rangers coach Johnny Narron accompanied him to Arizona, Hamilton said Narron did not accompany him to dinner on the night in question. He went out on his own.

“When you get some time under your belt, you start to take things for granted,” Hamilton said. “Obviously, I didn’t have enough time under my belt. ”

Hamilton said, however, that he spoke with everyone in his “support staff” immediately after the night to make them aware of the situation and to apologize. That support staff, includes the Rangers front office, After Care counselors who work with MLB’s Drug Abuse prevention program and his family. Hamilton and Daniels both said they were aware the story might eventually find its way to the public, but opted not to be proactive in addressing it.

Now, let me get a couple of things out of the way before I continue on with my thoughts on this. First off, I don’t believe he took drugs that night as he is tested like crazy by baseball. I also think it is commendable that he informed the Rangers and his family about his slip up. I also am not faulting him for making a mistake because, and make no mistake about it, he is a recovering addict, and recovery at times does includes moments of weaknesses and taking a few steps back on occasion.

That being said, there are a couple things that concern me about this situation.

The main issue I have is that, post-January, he had been said nothing publicly about this incident until the photos came out. I fully believe he told the Rangers and his family about this, but I am wondering why we didn’t hear anything until these photos were leaked to Deadspin. Now it isn’t like I want Josh to keep me updated for everything in his life, but as public as he has been on the issue (he wrote a book about it for crying out loud) and how much people look up to him, wouldn’t it have been prudent to at least mention this?

Having a slip-up is one thing, but hiding something like this hurts his credibility and that isn’t something that can be explained away as easily as a few drinks and some compromising photos. Considering just how much he has been public about his struggles the potential for strong backlash and cries of hypocrisy are quite high, which is just simply sad and unfortunate. Not only did he hide this from the public, but he didn’t tell Johnny Narron, the man he credits to keeping him sober, about his fall of the wagon either, which is also extremely concerning as well.

I’m glad he addressed this when he did and took full responsibility for it, but it seems to me like this was a dark cloud hanging over his head all season. While he claims that this incident has not affected his season, I find it interesting that he seems to be playing a lot better after he learned about the photos:

Hamilton said there is no connection between the relapse and his subpar offensive season. He blamed injuries for the lack of offensive production. Ironically, just as he learned of the photos Friday, he went 2-for-5 with a three-run homer on Friday.

Considering that he was 4-for-13 (.307) with 2 runs scored and 3 RBI, which is a far cry from how he has been batting lately, I seem to think a weight has been lifted off his shoulders that he doesn’t realize.

I could very well be reading too much into this as far as his performance, but I do hope he can move on. He still has the support of his teammates which I’m sure will go a long way. The day after he went public, C.J. Wilson backed him via Twitter:

I’ll only say this once about Josh so listen up- he’s a bigger man than anyone I know. Who else can admit EVERY mistake they’ve ever made?

However, when the Rangers come to him for contract talk, I have a feeling the offer my not be as generous thanks to this incident.

Mr. Holland’s Opus

Let’s close with something bright and happy shall we?

Derek Holland closed out the series by composing quite a masterpiece of a start, going the distance for his first complete game (and a shutout at that) giving up only 3 hits, 1 walk, and struck out 8. He did so by throwing only 96 pitches, 73 of which were strikes. He also threw 5.2 innings of no-hit ball.

Superb doesn’t even begin to describe that start…dominate might though.

When folks ask why I didn’t want to risk trading Holland in a deal for Roy Halladay should hopefully now have their answer. Why would I want to rent Halladay for two years and big money when the Rangers can have Holland for far cheaper and far longer?

It should be obviously clear that he not only has the tools to succeed in the bigs, but he has the tools to be the stud everyone has projected him to be.

Hopefully Feliz will be able to come along in the same way very soon. Just imagine a future rotation front-loaded with Holland and Feliz and try not to have a big smile on your face about that.

Now, I’m not going to write and harp on C.J.’s blown save from last night. I believe the radio said that the Rangers were 50-0 when leading after 8 innings, so I mean, it’s baseball, blown saves are going to happen every now and then. When you’ve been lights out for that long, you are allowed to have a setback here and there.

No, last night belonged to Neftali Feliz and even a hard loss isn’t going to take away his electric debut.

With 30 pitches, 21 of which were strikes, Neftali started his career with two perfect innings. Not only did he pitch lights out, he struck out the first four batters he faced. Two of those strikeouts came via his splitter/changeup, clocked at 90 and 91. He hit triple digits three times, topping out at 101.

He throws hard.

There is zero doubt he has the potential to be a truly dominate power pitcher for the Rangers. While his future will be as a starter, I am going to be glued to Ranger games in the middle innings to see if he will get to come in the game.

I know Holland has been touted as the better prospect in rankings, but even as much as I like watching Holland pitch, there is nothing more electric than watching someone walk up to the mound and throw 100+ like it is nothing.

To hell with the Angels playing out of their minds and the fact that we blew a win last night. These are still damned good baseball times in Texas.