Ballpark Facts

When my dad and I go to see games out of town, we like to go to the locations of old major league ballparks. We’ve put together a list of all the ballparks used from 1901 until now, their location, and what’s left at the location of the old ballpark. My dad’s been to almost all of the old ballpark sites and put most of the facts in this list together. I added my personal experiences and opinions. My dad wrote a book called ‘IT Auditing: Using Controls to Protect Information Assets’. You can buy his book at amazon.com (there’s also a link to it on the left side of this blog in my links section).

This information is based on our personal experiences. If you know of any changes to what we saw or of anything we missed, please leave a comment.

We used http://www.ballparks.com/ to get the locations of the old ballparks. The ‘Location’ information for each ballpark is copied from there. That’s a great site to get lots of information on all ballparks past, present, and future.

It’s really fun to go see where the old ballparks used to be, especially the ones that still have pieces of the old ballpark left, so I recommend this for anyone going to an out-of-town game.

Arlington, Texas

Arlington Stadium:
Home of: Texas Rangers 1972-93
Demolished: 1994
Location: Adjacent to Six Flags over Texas on the west side of the amusement park in the center of a parking lot bound by Stadium Drive E (E), E Randol Mill Road (S), Pennant Drive (W) and Copeland Road and I-30 (N).
Remnants: Site is now part of the parking lot for the Ballpark in Arlington. There’s nothing there marking where the old ballpark used to be. The Rangers should mark the old stadium’s basepaths or something like that.

The Ballpark in Arlington (also called Rangers Ballpark in Arlington and Ameriquest Field)
Home of: Texas Rangers 1994-present


Anaheim, California

Angel Stadium (formerly Anaheim Stadium and Edison International Field)
Home of: California/Anaheim/Los Angeles Angels 1966-present


Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta Fulton County Stadium
Home of: Atlanta Braves 1966-1996
Demolished 1997
Location: Left field (N by NE), Fulton Street and Interstate 20; third base (W by NW), Washington Street, Interstate 75/85, and Pulliam Street; first base (S by SW), Georgia Avenue; right field (E by SE), Capitol Avenue.
Remnants: The site of Fulton County Stadium is now a parking lot for Turner Field. Outlines of home plate, the base paths, the pitchers mound, the bases, and the outfield wall are all marked. There’s a sign commemorating the location of Hank Aaron’s 715th home run. This is a great example of what teams can do and the sort of thing the Rangers should do.

Turner Field
Home of: Atlanta Braves 1997-present


Baltimore, Maryland

Oriole Park
Home of: Baltimore Orioles (later New York Highlanders/Yankees) 1901-02
Location: The ballpark faced a few degrees west of due south. East 29th Street ran directly behind home plate and the grandstand on the north side of the field. York (Greenmount) Avenue ran from behind the grandstand beyond third base on the east side of the park. Barclay Street ran from behind the grandstand beyond first base on the west side of the park. The outfield was enclosed by Barclay Street in right field, York (Greenmount) Avenue in a small part of left field and by what was to become 28th Street in left and center fields.
Remnants: We haven’t been to this site but I don’t think there’s anything there.

Memorial Stadium
Home of: Baltimore Orioles 1954-91
Demolished 2001
Location: Center field (N), East 36th Street; third base (W), Ellerslie Avenue; home plate (S), 1000 East 33rd Street; section of 33rd Street near ballpark is known as Babe Ruth Plaza; first base (E), Ednor Road.
Remnants: We’re not aware of anything at the old site marking that the old ballpark was there, but we haven’t been back to the site since before they tore the ballpark down. Part of the words from the old Memorial Wall can be seen outside their new ballpark.

Oriole Park at Camden Yards
Home of: Baltimore Orioles 1992-present


Boston, Massachessetts

South End Grounds (also called Walpole Street Grounds, Union Baseball Grounds, Boston Baseball Grounds)
South End Grounds I: 1871-1887, demolished 1887
South End Grounds II: 1888-1894, burned down
South End Grounds III: 1894-1914, demolished
Home of: Boston Braves (also called Red Stockings, Red Caps, Doves, Rustlers, Beaneaters) 1871-1914
Location: Columbus and Walpole. Walpole ran behind home plate, Columbus along the 1st base side of the field. The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad tracks ran along the 3rd base side of the field. Behind the outfield was a railroad roundhouse, and behind that was Gainsborough.
Remnants: The site is now occupied by the Ruggles Station on the Orange Line. There’s nothing there to indicate that there used to be a ballpark there.

Huntington Avenue Grounds
Home of: Boston Red Sox (also called Pilgrims, Americans, Puritans, Plymouth Rocks, Somersets) 1901-11
Location: Left field (NW), Huntington Avenue; third base (SW), Bryant (Rogers) Street, now Forsyth Street; first base (SE) New Gravelly Pt. and New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad tracks; right field (NE), New Gravelly Pt.
Remnants: The site is now occupied by Northeastern University. There’s a plaque commemorating the location of where the left field foul line used to be on the outside of a building built on that location. It was put there in 1956. In 1993, a statue of Cy Young was placed where the pitchers mound used to be and a home plate plaque was placed where home plate used to be. The statue and home plate plaque are at a really nice location, being inside a little grassy area with park benches on the campus. This is one of the best former ballpark sites because of the statue and the plaques.

Fenway Park
Home of: Boston Red Sox 1912-present

Braves Field
Home of: Boston Braves (also called Bees) 1915-52
Location: About three miles west of downtown Boston and one mile west of Fenway Park. First base (S), Commonwealth Avenue; right field (E), Harry Agganis Way (Gaffney Street); left field (N), Boston and Albany Railroad tracks/Charles River; third base (W), Babcock Street.
Remnants: Boston University bought Braves Field, converted it to a football field and changed its name to Nickerson Field. The old right-field pavilion is still part of the stadium. The first base ticket office and the concrete outer wall in right and center field are still there. A plaque was placed on the site in 1988 (at the Gaffney Street entrance) that has information about the ballpark and the Braves.


Chicago, Illinois

West Side Grounds:
Home of: Chicago Cubs (aka Colts, Orphans) 1894-1915
Location: About two miles west of downtown Chicago. Left field (E), South Wood Street; third base (N), West Polk Street; first base (W), South Lincoln (Wolcott) Avenue; right field (S), West Taylor Street.
Remnants: There’s a hospital there now, with nothing to show that there used to be a ballpark there.

South Side Park II
Home of: Chicago White Sox 1901-10
Location: In the south side of Chicago. Left field (N), old cricket grounds and 37th Street; third base (W), South Princeton Avenue; first base (S), West 39th Street (West Pershing Road); right field (E), South Wentworth Avenue.
Remnants: The site is only a couple of blocks away from the new White Sox park. It’s basically an open field with some parking for White Sox games now. There’s nothing there to show that there used to be a ballpark.

Comiskey Park:
Home of: Chicago White Sox 1910-90
Demolished: 1991
Location: Left field (N), West 34th; third base (W), Portland Avenue, later called South Shield’s Avenue; first base (S), 324 West 35th Street; right field (E), South Wentworth Avenue, later Dan Ryan Expressway/I-94.
Remnants: Old Comiskey was right next to where New Comiskey was built. The site is now a parking lot. What’s left on the parking lot is a plaque commemorating the location of home plate and an outline of Old Comiskey’s base paths.

Wrigley Field (also called Weeghman Park, Cubs Park):
Home of: Chicago Cubs 1916-present

New Comiskey Park (also called US Cellular Field)
Home of: Chicago White Sox 1991-present


Cincinnati, Ohio

Palace of the Fans
Home of: Cincinnati Reds 1902-11
Location: Left field (N), York Street; third base (W), McLean Avenue; first base (S), Findlay Street; right field (E) and center field (NE), Western Avenue.
Remnants: Crosley Field was built on this site.

Crosley Field (also called Redland Field)
Home of: Cincinnati Reds 1912-70
Demolished 1972
Location: At the corner of Western Avenue and Findlay Street, less than a half mile north of Union Terminal (now the Cincinnati Museum). Left field (N), York Street; third base (W), Crosley Field Way and the C&O Railroad tracks; first base (S), Findlay Street; center field and right field (E), Western Avenue.
Remnants: After Crosley Field was demolished, Dalton Street was extended through the site of the former ballpark. There’s a business park there now. There’s a plaque near the corner of Findlay and Western (placed there in 1998) commemorating Crosley Field. There’s a baseball field in Blue Ash, Ohio (a town northeast of Cincinnati) with a replica of Crosley Field, including the scoreboard and outfield wall. The street address is 11540 Grooms Road. We went to the replica in Blue Ash and it was really cool. It has the same dimensions as Crosley Field. The scoreboard still has the scores and lineups from the last game at Crosley Field. The outfield slopes upwards on a hill as you get near the wall, just like in old Crosley Field. It’s a great place to run around and pretend you’re playing a game.

Riverfront Stadium (also called Cinergy Field)
Home of: Cincinnati Reds 1970-2002
Demolished 2002
Location: Left field (NE), Pete Rose Way, Broadway and Firstar Center (Riverfront Coliseum); third base (NW), Pete Rose Way on September 10, 1985; first base (SW), Roebling Suspension Bridge and the Ohio River; right field (SE), Mehring Way, railroad tracks, and the Ohio River.
Remnants: When we were last there (2005), they hadn’t done anything to mark the site. It’s right next door to the new ballpark.

Great American Ballpark
Home of: Cincinnati Reds 2003-present


Cleveland, Ohio

League Park (also called Dunn Field):
Home of: Cleveland Spiders 1891-99, Cleveland Indians (also called Blues, Bronchos, Naps) 1901-46
Demolished: 1951
Location: Intersection of East 66th Street and Lexington Avenue 3 miles east of City Hall. 1st base (W) E 66th St.; 3rd base (N) Linwood Ave.; left field (E) E 70th St.; right Field (S) Lexington Ave.
Remnants: The site of the ballpark is now mostly a big empty field but part of the wall is still standing and the two-story ticket office is still standing. It looks like the ticket office was turned into a recreation center at some point but it looks abandoned now, with lots of broken windows. The part of the wall that’s still standing is crumbling. An historical marker providing information about the ballpark is next to the old ticket office. It’s neat to see this park because parts of it are still there but it’s in a really bad neighborhood and you should only go there when it’s light out.

Cleveland Municipal Stadium (also called Lakefront Stadium and Cleveland Stadium)
Home of: Cleveland Indians 1932-93
Demolished: 11/96
Location: On the shore of Lake Erie between the lake and downtown Cleveland. 1st base (S) W. 3rd and Cleveland Memorial Shoreway; 3rd base (W) Erieside Ave., Lake Erie and W. 3rd; left field (N) Erieside Ave. and Lake Erie; right field (E) Cleveland Memorial Shoreway.
Remnants: The new Browns stadium is built on this site. There’s nothing there to show that the old ballpark used to be there.

Jacobs Field
Home of: Cleveland Indians 1994-present


Denver, Colorado

Mile High Stadium
Home of: Colorado Rockies 1993-94
Demolished
Location: Main entrance is on Eliot Street. Left field (E), Clay St.; 3rd base (N), 20th Ave.; 1st base (W), Eliot Street; Right field (S), 17th Ave.
Remnants: The new Broncos stadium was built near old Mile High Stadium. The old Mile High Stadium site now has grass, trees, and parking lots.

Coors Field
Home of: Colorado Rockies 1995-present


Detroit, Michigan

Bennett Park:
Home of: Detroit Tigers 1901-11
Location: Left field (W), National (Cochrane) Avenue; third base (S), Michigan Avenue; first base (E), Trumbull Avenue; right field (N), Cherry Street, in the Corktown neighborhood of downtown Detroit.
Remnants: Tiger Stadium was built on this site in 1912.

Tiger Stadium (aka Navin Field, Briggs Stadium):
Home of: Detroit Tigers 1912-99
Location: 2121 Trumbull Avenue, in the Corktown neighborhood of downtown Detroit. Left field (NW), Cherry Street, later Kaline Drive, and Interstate 75; third base (SW), National Avenue, later Cochrane Avenue; first base (SE), Michigan Avenue; right field (NE), Trumbull Avenue.
Remnants: The ballpark is still standing but is crumbling and is not being used.

Comerica Park
Home of: Detroit Tigers 2000-present


Houston, Texas

Colt Stadium
Home of: Houston Colt .45’s (later Astros) 1962-64
Location: In what is now the north parking lot of the Astrodome. Left field (N), Old Spanish Trail; third base (W), Kirby Drive; first base (S), South Loop Freeway/Interstate 610; right field (E), Fannin Street.
Remnants: Dismantled in the 1970s and moved to Gomez Palacio in Mexico where it became home to a Mexican League baseball team. It was in what’s now the north parking lot of the Astrodome.

Astrodome
Home of: Houston Astros 1965-99
Location: 8400 Kirby Drive. Center field (E), Fannin Street; third base (N), Old Spanish Trail; home plate (W), Kirby Drive; first base (S), South Loop Freeway/Interstate 610.
Remnants: Still standing

Minute Maid Park (also called Enron Field)
Home of: Houston Astros 2000-present


Kansas City, Missouri

Municipal Stadium
Home of: Kansas City A’s 1955-67, Kansas City Royals 1969-72
Demolished 1976
Location: One and a half miles southeast of downtown Kansas City at the intersection of 22nd street and Brooklyn Avenue. Left field (N) 21st Street; third base (E) Euclid Avenue; first base (S), 22nd Street; right field (E), Brooklyn Avenue.
Remnants: The site is now a big open field. There’s a plaque at the corner of the lot providing a history of the stadium.

Kauffman Stadium (also called Royals Stadium)
Home of: Kansas City Royals 1973-present


Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles Coliseum:
Home of: LA Dodgers 1958-61
Location: Location: About 3 miles southwest of downtown Los Angeles and adjacent to the Univesity of Southern California campus. Bound by Menlo Avenue (W), West 39th Street and North Coliseum Drive (N), South Park Drive and S. Coliseum Drive (S), South Figueroa Street and I-110 (E).
Remnants: Still standing

Wrigley Field:
Home of: Los Angeles Angels 1961
Demolished: 1966
Location: In south-central Los Angeles at the intersection of 42nd Place and Avalon Boulevard. First base (S), 42nd Place; right field (E), Avalon Boulevard; left field (N), 41st Place; third base (W), San Pedro Street.
Remnants: We haven’t been to this one but, according to ballparks.com, there’s now a public park and recreation center, a community mental health center, and a senior citizens' center on the site.

Dodger Stadium (also called Chavez Ravine):
Home of: LA Dodgers 1962-present, LA Angels 1962-65


Miami, Florida

Dolphin Stadium (also called Joe Robbie Stadium, Pro Player Stadium)
Home of: Florida Marlins 1993-present


Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Lloyd Street Grounds
Home of: Milwaukee Brewers (later St. Louis Browns/Baltimore Orioles) 1901
Location: About one mile northwest of downtown Milwaukee in the eastern part of a block bound by West North Street on the north, North 16th Street on the east, North 18th Street on the west and West Lloyd Street on the south. The field faced due north, so Lloyd Street ran directly behind home plate and the grandstand.
Remnants: We haven’t been to this one but I don’t think there’s anything to see there.

Milwaukee County Stadium
Home of: Milwaukee Braves 1953-65, Milwaukee Brewers 1970-2000
Demolished: 2001
Location: 201 South 46th Street. Left field (E), Menomonee River and South 44th Street, later US-41 Stadium Freeway; third base (N), Story Parkway and Interstate 94; first base (W), General Mitchell Boulevard; right field (S), West National Avenue and the National Soldiers Home.
Remnants: When we were last there (in 2001), there was nothing showing where the park used to be. But I’ve read that this is now a parking lot for the new Brewers’ park (it’s right next door to it) and there’s something in the parking lot showing where home plate used to be.

Miller Park
Home of: Milwaukee Brewers 2001-present


Minneapolis, Minnesota

Metropolitan Stadium
Home of: Minnesota Twins 1961-81
Demolished: 1985
Location: In Bloomington, a suburb fifteen miles south of downtown Minneapolis, near the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. 1st base (W) Cedar Avenue South; right field (E) East 83rd Street; Left field (S) 24th Avenue South; 3rd base (N) 83rd Street (renamed to Killebrew Drive).
Remnants: The Mall of America is on the site. A plaque at the location of home plate is located in Camp Snoopy in the mall. Also, a chair from the stadium is attached to a wall near Camp Snoopy at the approximate location of the longest home run ever hit at the ballpark (by Harmon Killebrew).

Metrodome
Home of: Minnesota Twins 1982-present


Montreal, Quebec

Jarry Park
Home of: Montreal Expos 1969-76
Location: About 7 kilometers (4.2 miles) from downtown Montreal. First base, Rue Faillon; right field, Boulevard St. Laurent and public swimming pool; left field, Rue Jarry; third base, Canadian Pacific Railroad tracks.
Remnants: We haven’t been to this one but ballparks.com says that it’s currently a tennis stadium.

Olympic Stadium
Home of: Montreal Expos 1977-2004
Remnants: Still standing


New York, New York

Polo Grounds III:
Home of: New York Giants 1891-1911
Burned down
Location: Northern half of Coogan’s hollow between 157th and 159th streets.
Remnants: There’s nothing to see there and it’s not in a very good area of town.

Washington Park III
Home of: Brooklyn Superbas (later Dodgers) 1898-1912
Location: Left field (NW), 3rd Avenue; third base (SW), 3rd Street; first base (SE), 4th Avenue; right field (NW), 1st Street.
Remnants: Part of the clubhouse wall is still there. It’s now the 3rd Avenue wall to the Con Edison yard at 222 1st Street in Brooklyn. It’s neat to see and not too far away from a subway stop.

Hilltop Park:
Home of: New York Highlanders (later Yankees) 1903-12
Demolished: 1914
Location: In the Washington Heights section of Manhattan, on the west side of Broadway. Left field (N), 168th Street; 3rd base (W), Fort Washington Avenue; 1st base (S), 165th Street; right field (E), Broadway.
Remnants: We haven’t been to this one but ballparks.com says that Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center is now on the site.

Polo Grounds IV:
Home of: New York Giants 1911-57, New York Yankees 1913-22, New York Mets 1962-63
Demolished: 1964
Location: Center field (SE), Eighth Avenue, then IRT elevated tracks, Harlem River, and Harlem River Drive; third base (NE), West 159th Street and IRT Rail Yards; home plate (NW), Bridge Park, then Harlem River Speedway, Coogan’s Bluff, and Croton Aqueduct; first base (SW), West 157th Street trace; same site as Polo Grounds (III); in the northern half of Coogan’s Hollow, 115 feet below Coogan’s Bluff.
Remnants: The Polo Grounds Towers (four 30-story apartment buildings) are now where the field used to be. There’s a sign in front of the apartments saying that Willie Mays used to play there.

Ebbets Field:
Home of: Brooklyn Dodgers (also called Robins) 1913-57
Demolished: 1960
Location: 55 Sullivan Place, in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn (about three miles south by southeast down Flatbush Avenue from the Manhattan Bridge). Left field (N), Montgomery Street; third base (W), Franklin Avenue, later Cedar Place, later McKeever Place; first base (S), Sullivan Place; right field (E), Bedford Avenue.
Remnants: Ebbets Field Apartments (a housing project) now occupies the site. A plaque of home plate is located on the former site of home plate. But this is a very bad part of town and it’s not very safe to go in there.

Yankee Stadium:
Home of: New York Yankees 1923-present, except 1974-75

Shea Stadium:
Home of: New York Mets 1964-present, New York Yankees 1974-75


Oakland, California

Oakland-Alameda Country Stadium (also called Network Associates Coliseum, UMAX Stadium)
Home of: Oakland A’s 1968-present


Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Baker Bowl II (also called Huntington Street Baseball Grounds, National League Park, Philadelphia Park)
Home of: Philadelphia Phillies 1895-1938
Demolished: 1950
Location: Left field (N), West Lehigh Avenue; third base (W), North 15th Street; first base (S), West Huntingdon Street; right field (E), North Broad Street; Philadelphia and Reading Railroad tunnel beneath outfield.
Remnants: An historical marker, containing information about the Baker Bowl, is at the former location of the ballpark.

Columbia Park
Home of: Philadelphia A’s 1901-08
Location: In the Brewerytown section of Philadelphia on the 2900 block of Columbia Avenue. Left field (N by NE), Columbia Avenue; 3rd base (W by NW), 30th Street; 1st base (S by SW), Oxford Street; right field (E by SE), 29th Street.
Remnants: We haven’t been to this site but I don’t know of anything to see there.

Shibe Park (also called Connie Mack Stadium)
Home of: Philadelphia A’s 1909-54, Philadelphia Phillies 1938-70
Demolished: 1976
Location: Left field (N), West Somerset Street; third base (W), North 21st Street; first base (S), West Lehigh Avenue; right field (E), North 20th Street.
Remnants: It’s now the site of the Deliverance Evangelistic Church. An historical marker, containing information about Shibe Park, is at the former location of the ballpark.

Veterans Stadium
Home of: Philadelphia Phillies 1971-2003
Demolished: 2004
Location: Left field (N by NE), Packer Street and Interstate 76; third base (W by NW), Broad Street; first base (S by SW), Pattison Avenue, First Union Spectrum and Center; right field (E by SE), Tenth Street.
Remnants: When we were last there in 2004, it was being built into a parking lot for the new stadium (which is right next door). We were told that the parking lot was supposed to have markings for the former field.

Citizens Bank Park
Home of: Philadelphia Phillies 2004-present


Phoenix, Arizona

Bank One Ballpark
Home of: Arizona Diamondbacks 1998-present


Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Exposition Park (III)
Home of: Pittsburgh Pirates 1891-1909
Location: On the north shore of the Allegheny River across from downtown Pittsburgh, close to the current location of Three Rivers Stadium. Left field (S), B & O R.R. tracks and the Allegheny River; 3rd base (E), School (Scotland) Street; 1st base (N), South Avenue; right field (W), Grant (Galveston) Street.
Remnants: A plaque along the riverfront marks the site of the ballpark and provides historical information. The locations of home plate, the bases and the pitcher’s rubber are painted into a parking lot in between PNC Park and Heinz Field. The markings are fading and you have to look carefully to find them.

Forbes Field
Home of: Pittsburgh Pirates 1909-70
Demolished 1971
Location: Two miles east of downtown Pittsburgh and just northwest of Schenley Park in the southern part of the University of Pittsburgh campus. Left field (NE), Schenley Drive (Bigelow Boulevard, Forbes Field Avenue, Pennant Place); third base (NW), Sennott Street (now gone), then Forbes Avenue; first base (SW) Boquet Street; right field (SE), none in the immediate vicinity, but Joncaire Street was the closest street in that direction.
Remnants: Posvar Hall is on the site of right field, and the University of Pittsburgh’s Forbes Quadrangle is on the site of the former infield. The center-field and right-center brick wall still stands, including the flagpole that was in play in the field. A red-brick line in the sidewalk traces the rest of the outfield wall. A plaque marks the spot of Bill Mazeroski’s home run from the 1960 World Series. If you go into the Forbes Quadrangle building, you can see home plate under glass in the floor. A plaque was placed near the wall providing historical information in 2006. This is my favorite former ballpark site because so much of it is left standing.

Three Rivers Stadium
Home of: Pittsburgh Pirates 1970-2000
Demolished 2001
Location: 600 Stadium Circle. Left field (E), Interstate 279 Fort Duquesne Bridge approach ramp; third base (N), Reedsdale Street; first base (W), Allegheny Avenue, Ohio River, and the original point where the Monongahela River joins the Allegheny River to form the Ohio River; right field (S), North Shore Avenue, Roberto Clemente Memorial Park, Allegheny River; Stadium Circle encircles the park.
Remnants: None that we could find the last time we were there (in 2007) except for a large pole that marked one of the old entrances. The site is between where the current Pirates and Steelers parks are.

PNC Park
Home of: Pittsburgh Pirates 2001-present


San Diego, California

Jack Murphy Stadium (also called Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego Stadium)
Home of: San Diego Padres 1969-2003
Location: Left field (N by NE), 9449 Friars Road; third base (W by NW), Stadium Way and a quarry; first base (S by SW), San Diego River, Camino del Rio North, and Interstate 8; right field (E by SE), Interstate 15.
Remnants: Still standing

Petco Park
Home of: San Diego Padres 2004-present


San Francisco, California

Seals Stadium
Home of: San Francisco Giants 1958-59
Location: At the corner of 16th & Bryant Streets. Right field (S), 16th Street; first base (W), Bryant; third base (N), Alameda Street; left field (E), Potrero Avenue.
Remnants: There’s a strip center with a Safeway store there now. There’s nothing to mark the fact that a ballpark used to be there.

Candlestick Park (also called 3Com Park)
Home of: San Francisco Giants 1960-99
Location: In the southeast corner of San Francisco at Candlestick point. Left field (NW), Giants Drive; third base (SW), Jamestown Avenue and Bay View Hill; first base (SE), Jamestown Avenue, Candlestick Point, and San Francisco; right field (NE), Hunters Point Expressway and San Francisco Bay.
Remnants: Still standing

Pacific Bell Park
Home of: San Francisco Giants 2000-present


Seattle, Washington

Sicks’ Stadium
Home of: Seattle Pilots (later Milwaukee Brewers) 1969
Demolished 1979
Location: 1st base (W), 2700 Rainier Avenue South; right field (S), South McClellan Street; left field (E), Empire Way South (now Martin Luther King Jr. Way South); 3rd base (N), Bayview Street.
Remnants: We haven’t been there but ballparks.com says that the Sicks' Stadium site is now home to an Eagle Hardware and Garden store. There’s a glass display case inside the store that shows some memorabilia from the Pilots.

Kingdome
Home of: Seattle Mariners 1977-99
Demolished 2000
Location: Left field (N), 201 South King Street; third base (W), 589 Occidental Avenue South; first base (S), South Royal Brougham Way; right field (E), Fourth Avenue South and Burlington Northern Railroad tracks.
Remnants: The new Seahawks stadium is on the site.

Safeco Field
Home of: Seattle Mariners 1999-present


St. Louis, Missouri

Robison Field
Home of: St. Louis Cardinals (also called Brown Stockings, Perfectos) 1893-1920
Location: Left field (SE), Prairie Avenue; third base (NE), Natural Bridge Avenue and Fairground Park; first base (NW), Vandeventer Avenue; right field (SW), Lexington Avenue.
Remnants: A high school is on the site of the ballpark. A plaque on the school grounds provides historical information about the ballpark. The plaque was placed there in June 2006.

Sportsman’s Park (also called Busch Stadium)
Home of: St. Louis Browns 1902-53, St. Louis Cardinals 1920-66
Demolished 1966
Remnants: The Herbert Hoover Boys’ Club now stands on the site of the stadium. A sign commemorating it as the site of the ballpark is painted on the building, along with historical information about the ballpark.

Busch Stadium
Home of: St. Louis Cardinals 1966-2005
Location: Left field (E), Broadway, Interstate 70, Gateway Arch, and Mississippi River; third base (N), Walnut Street; first base (W), Seventh Street and 300 Stadium Plaza; right field (S), Spruce Street; Stadium Plaza surrounds the park.
Remnants: When we were there in 2006, the site (which is right next door to the new stadium) was still a construction site.

Busch Stadium II
Home of: St. Louis Cardinals 2006-present


Tampa, Florida

Tropicana Field
Home of: Tampa Bay Devil Rays 1998-present


Toronto, Ontario

Exhibition Stadium:
Home of: Toronto Blue Jays 1977-89
Demolished: 1999
Location: Near Lake Ontario about a mile west of downtown Toronto between Gardiner Expressway and Lake Shore Boulevard West.
Remnants: None that we know of. When my dad was last there, the stadium was still standing.

Sky Dome:
Home of: Toronto Blue Jays 1989-present


Washington DC

American League Park I:
Home of: Washington Senators 1901-1903
Location: At the corner of Florida Avenue NE and Trinidad Avenue NE. Left field (NE), what would become Neal Street NE; third base (NW), Trinidad; first base (SW), Florida Avenue NE; right field (SE), Bladensburg Road.
Remnants: We haven’t been to this site but aren’t aware of anything to see there.

National Park (also called American League Park II)
Home of: Washington Senators 1904-10
We couldn’t find location information on this ballpark.

Griffith Stadium (also called American League Park, League Park, National Park, Clark Griffith Park, Beyer’s Seventh Street Park):
Home of: Washington Senators 1911-61
Demolished: 1965
Location: Left field (E), Larch (later Fifth) Street NW; third base (N), Howard University, then Pomeroy (later W) Street NW; first base (W), J. Frank Kelley Lumber and Mill Works, then Georgia Avenue (also called Seventh Street) NW; right field (S), Spruce Street (later U) Street NW.
Remnants: There’s nothing currently there to mark the location of this ballpark. The Clark Griffith Memorial that used to be outside the stadium is now outside of RFK Stadium.

RFK Stadium (also called DC Stadium):
Home of: Washington Senators 1962-71, Washington Nationals 2005-2007
Location: Corner of Independence Avenue and 22nd Street in Southeast Washington D.C.
Remnants: Still standing.

Results of last week’s poll:
Out of my top player the Rangers should consider at each position, who do you think the Rangers should pursue?
Torii Hunter – 75%
Ron Mahay – 13%
Kyle Lohse – 8%
Sean Casey – 4%
All others – 0%

I have added a baseball trivia tab to the left. This week’s trivia is from Trivia from http://www.usefultrivia.com/sports_trivia/baseball_trivia_index.html.

Come back next week for the first part of an analysis of all the trades Tom Grieve made as Rangers GM.

Free Agent Analysis

This week, I’ll list the best free agents at each position and highlight the ones that are the best fit for the Rangers.

1st base:
1. Sean Casey: Sean had a down year last year but we need a first baseman and he probably wouldn’t cost much after last year. Sean played for the Tigers last year after playing with the Reds. He is 33 and his career batting average is .301.
Prediction: Signs 1 year $2.6 million deal with Rangers.
2. Mike Lamb
3. Tony Clark
4. Shea Hillenbrand
5. Doug Mientkiewicz
6. Julio Franco
7. Mark Sweeney

2nd base:
1. Luis Castillo
2. Mark Loretta
3. Kaz Matsui
4. Tadahito Iguchi
5. Miguel Cairo: The Rangers have their starting second baseman in Ian Kinsler. Miguel Cairo would be more than happy to sign as a back-up, because he will probably get a minor league deal. Miguel played for the Cardinals last year and struggled, batting .253 with no homers and only 15 RBI’s.
Prediction: Signs minor-league deal with the Angels
6. Marcus Giles

3rd base:
1. A-ROD
2. Mike Lowell
3. Tony Batista
4. Aaron Boone
5. Russell Branyan
6. Geoff Blum: There’s nobody on this list that we can get and promise a starting role to, since we can’t get A-ROD or Lowell. Blum would be a good guy to have as a back-up third baseman. Last year, he hit .252 with 5 homers and 33 RBI’s.
Prediction: Signs 1 year $950 K deal with the Astros
7. Mark Bellhorn
8. Jeff Cirillo
9. Tony Graffanino
10. Pedro Feliz
11. Cesar Isturis

Short Stop:
1. David Eckstein
2. Tomohiro Nioka
3. Royce Clayton: We definitely don’t need a short-stop, but he would be good as a possible second base/short-stop back-up. He also would probably accept a deal that would have him fighting to make the team in Spring Training. Last year, with the Red Sox, he hit .246 with 1 home run and 12 RBI’s.
Prediction: Signs 1 year $750 K deal with the Royals
4. Ramon Martinez
5. John McDonald
6. Omar Visquel

Catcher: The Rangers are deep at this position so none of these free agents are a fit.
1. Jorge Posada
2. Pudge
3. Paul Lo Duca
4. Michael Barrett
5. Jason Kendall
6. Brad Ausmus
7. Mike Piazza
8. Rod Barajas
9. Doug Mirabelli
10. Yorvit Torrealba
11. Mike Lieberthal
12. Jason Larue
13. Sandy Alomar Jr.

Outfield:
1. Torii Hunter: Torii can play defense really well as he is a 7-time gold glove winner. He is also a 2-time all-star. Last year, he hit .287 with 28 homers and 107 RBI’s. He lives in Dallas, Texas.
Prediction: Signs 6-year, $96M deal with the Rangers
2. Andruw Jones
3. Aaron Rowand
4. Kosuke Fukudome
5. Kenny Lofton
6. Barry Bonds
7. Jose Guillen
8. Corey Patterson
9. Milton Bradley
10. Shawn Green
11. Brad Wilkerson
12. Luis Gonzalez
13. Sammy Sosa
14. Shannon Stewart
15. Mike Cameron
16. Geoff Jenkins
17. Cliff Floyd
18. Trot Nixon
19. Jose Cruz Jr.
20. Rob Mackowiak
21. Ryan Klesko
22. Eric Hinske

Starting Pitcher:
1. Kazumi Saito
2. Carlos Silva
3. Freddy Garcia
4. Kenshin Kawamaki
5. Kyle Lohse: Last year Kyle Lohse struggled, going 9-12 with a 4.62 ERA, but he almost pitched 200 innings. But his numbers have been improving and he has a great fastball. He is only 29 years old. For the Rangers he would be the #2 or #3 starting pitcher.
Prediction: Signs 5-year, $46 million contract with the Rangers
6. Livan Hernandez
7. Jason Jennings
8. Tom Glavine
9. Shawn Chacon
10. Jeff Weaver
11. Kenny Rogers
12. Randy Wolf
13. Jeremy Affeldt
14. Tony Armas
15. Bartolo Colon
16. Casey Fossum
17. Matt Clement
18. Shawn Estes
19. Mark Redman

Relief Pitchers:
1. Scott Linebrink
2. Octavio Dotel
3. Ron Mahay: Ron is a very good left-handed relief pitcher. Last year he went 3-0 with a 2.55 ERA. Even though he’s 36, he’s showing no signs of wearing down.
Prediction: Signs 2 year $5 million deal with the Angels
4. Kerry Wood
5. Antonio Alfonseca
6. Scott Eyre

Results of last week’s poll:
Who is the number one priority for the Rangers to re-sign?
None – 47%
Jamey Wright – 29%
Brad Wilkerson – 9%
Sammy Sosa – 9%
Jerry Hairston – 6%

Come back next week for a special on former ballparks.

Playoff Awards

This week I will give my playoff awards. These are based on the whole playoffs, not just one series.

AL Awards:

AL Playoff MVP: Mike Lowell: .353 AVG, 2 HR, 15 RBI, .410 OBP: He was the World Series MVP, has a batting average over .350 and 15 RBI.
Runner-up: Kevin Youkilis
Also should be mentioned: Jacoby Ellsbury

AL Playoff Cy Young: Josh Beckett: 4-0, 1.20 ERA, 35 K, 30 IP: Josh Beckett tied the best playoff record ever, had more strike-outs than innings and a 1.20 ERA.
Runner-up: Curt Schilling
Also should be mentioned: Paul Byrd

AL Manager of the Playoffs: Terry Francona: The Red Sox won the World Series.
Runner-up: Eric Wedge

NL Awards:

NL Playoff MVP: Matt Holliday: .289 AVG, 5 HR, 10 RBI, .319 OBP: Nobody really dominated in hitting in the NL playoffs, but Matt Holliday’s 5 home runs barely puts him ahead of Kaz Matsui. Stephen Drew probably did better but his team didn’t get as far.
Runner-up: Kaz Matsui
Also should be mentioned: Stephen Drew

NL Playoff Cy Young: Ubaldo Jimenez: 0-1, 2.25 ERA, 13 K, 16 IP: He was 0-1, but he had a 2.25 ERA, the best of any starter that made it out of the divisional series.
Runner-up: Doug Davis
Also should be mentioned: Brandon Webb

NL Manager of the Playoffs: Clint Hurdle: The Rockies won the NL pennant.
Runner-up: Bob Melvin

The Red Sox dominated the World Series winning by a total score of 29-10. That’s an average score of 7.25-2.5 and an average deficit of 4.75. The Red Sox have won the World Series 2 times in the past 4 years, both series were sweeps.

3 of the past 4 World Series have been sweeps, the other one went to 5 games. The last time there was a seven game World Series was in 2002. There hasn’t been a World Series MVP with a last name starting with the letter L since Mickey Lolich in 1968. But it’s only been since ’04 when someone has won the World Series MVP with a first name starting with the letter M and that was Manny Ramirez. The Rockies have one of the five youngest-average starting pitching rotation in the World Series with an average age of 25.8.

Other MLB notes: Jose Guillen is a free agent. The Mariners didn’t pick up his contract. The Yankees picked up the $16 million contract on Bobby Abreu. The Rangers are tied for the 7th least amount of free agents.

Results of last week’s poll:
Who do you think is the best GM out of the last 3 Ranger GMs?
Doug Melvin – 75%
Jon Daniels – 18%
John Hart – 7%

Come back next week for a free agent analysis.

Jon Daniels Trade Analysis Part 2 and GM Comparison

This is an updated analysis of the trades Jon Daniels has made as Rangers GM. I’ll be reviewing all trades he made after September 1, 2006 (see my 12/9/06 blog for analysis of his trades before then). Each trade will be scored a win, loss, or tie. At the end, I’ll compare Jon’s record so far to John Hart’s and Doug Melvin’s.

21. 12-7-06 Acquired minor league C Salomon Manriquez from Colorado in exchange for cash considerations.

Win – Any time you get a decent player for cash (which isn’t even promised in this deal), it’s a win. Manriquez played for Frisco this year, batting .275 with 16 homers and 53 RBI. He should get an invitation to major league spring training again next year.

Record: 10-4-7

22. 12-23-06 Acquired RHP Brandon McCarthy and OF David Paisano from the White Sox in exchange for LHP John Danks, RHP Nick Masset and RHP Jacob Rasner.

Win - John Danks has great potential, but this year had a 6-13 record and a 5.50 ERA for the White Sox. He only pitched 139 innings. Nick Masset had a 2-3 record and a 7.09 ERA in 39.1 innings this year for the White Sox, but he also has good potential. Jacob Rasner for the single-A Kannapolis Intimidators had a 7-11 record with a 6.83 ERA in 139.2 innings pitched, and does not have much potential. None of the players we traded away had very good years, the lowest ERA being 5.50. But Paisano played awful for the Lumberkings (single-A), batting .203 with 3 HR and 20 RBI’s in 306 at-bats. He also struck-out 85 times. His only good stat was 20 stolen bases. McCarthy started the season off terribly and ended the season with a blister on his middle finger, but in the 101.2 innings he did pitch, he managed to lower his ERA to 4.87 and pick up five wins with ten losses. It’s still too early to really tell, but based on last year’s performances; I’d say that it’s barely a win.

Record: 11-4-7

23. 1-12-07 Acquired C Chris Stewart from the Chicago White Sox in exchange for RHP John Lujan.

Win – Chris Stewart isn’t a great batter, as for the Rangers last year he had a .300 OBP and a .243 AVG and for the Redhawks (triple-A) he had a .294 OBP and a .242 AVG. But he fields very well, as with the Rangers last year he threw out 50% of base-stealers and made 2 errors in 105.1 innings caught. He had a .981 fielding percentage. John doesn’t have that much potential but this year’s stats were very good. John had a 3.73 ERA with 11 saves and 90 strike-outs in 82 innings.

Record: 12-4-7

24. 4-19-07 Traded LHP Daniel Haigwood to Boston for RHP Scott Shoemaker and cash considerations.

Win - Daniel Haigwood struggled with the Red Sox, with a 4-5 record and a 5.31 ERA between Pawtucket (triple-A) and Portland (double-A). Scott Shoemaker went 7-3 with a 4.35 ERA and 111.2 innings pitched between Portland (double-A), Bakersfield (high-A), Oklahoma (triple-A), and Frisco (double-A).

Record: 13-4-7

25. 7-27-07 Traded OF Kenny Lofton to the Indians for nonroster C Max Ramirez

Win – Kenny Lofton’s contract was expiring after this year anyway and Max Ramirez had good stats, batting .304 with 16 HR and 82 RBI between Kinston (high-A) and Bakersfield (high-A). Ramirez will be in the mix for the Rangers’ catcher of the future.

Record: 14-4-7

26. 7-31-07 Acquired C/1B Jarrod Saltalamacchia, nonroster SS Elvis Andrus, nonroster LHP Matt Harrison, nonroster LHP Beau Jones and nonroster RHP Neftali Feliz from the Braves in exchange for 1B Mark Teixeira and LHP Ron Mahay

Win - Even though Mark is a great player and has done great for the Rangers, he was going to be gone after next year and so they had to trade him. Ron Mahay had been with the Rangers since 2003, with ERA’s of 3.18, 2.55, 6.81, 3.95, and 2.77. Jarrod Saltalamacchia was ranked the 36th best prospect in all of baseball by Baseball America at the beginning of the year and was also ranked the best prospect in the NL East. Elvis Andrus only hit .257 this year but he probably is the best fielder in all of the Rangers’ minor league system. Elvis was also ranked the 65th best prospect in all of baseball by Baseball America at the beginning of the year. This year Harrison was 5-7 with a 3.39 ERA in 116.2 IP and last year he was 11-8 with a 3.35 ERA in 158.2 IP. Matt was ranked the 90th best prospect in all of baseball by Baseball America at the beginning of the year. Beau Jones has a good fastball and a very good curveball but awful control as he has walked 121 batters over the last two years. Neftali was 2-2 with a 2.55 ERA in 42.1 innings this year. But he also has 55 strike-outs. Neftali was ranked the 14th best prospect in all of the Rangers minor league system by Baseball America. This was a great trade because we got some top prospects in exchange for players that weren’t going to be with us much longer.

Record: 15-4-7

27. 7-31-07 Acquired LHP Kason Gabbard, OF David Murphy and nonroster OF Engel Beltre from the Red Sox for RHP Eric Gagne and cash

Win – Kason Gabbard is a talented lefty who should be pretty good for us. This year Gabbard went 6-1 with a 4.65 ERA between Boston and Texas. David Murphy played great, hitting .340 with 2 HR and 14 RBI. Engel Beltre has great raw potential but it is very raw. Engel hit .243 with 9 HR and 29 RBI for the year. Eric Gagne pitched awful after leaving the Rangers with a 2-2 record and a 6.75 ERA and 3 out of 3 save opportunities were blown for the Red Sox.

Record: 16-4-7

Comparison:

Doug Melvin:
Record: 15-14-16
Winning percentage: 52%
Number of trades: 45 in 7 years (average of 6.4 trades per year)
Rangers record during Melvin years: 568-548 (.509 winning percentage)

John Hart:Record: 7-11-18
Winning percentage: 39%
Number of trades: 36 in 4 years (average of 9 trades per year)
Rangers record during Hart years: 311-337 (.480 winning percentage)

Jon Daniels:
Record: 16-4-7
Winning percentage: 80%
Number of trades: 27 in 2 years (average of 13.5 trades per year)
Rangers record during Daniels years: 155-169 (.478 winning percentage)

Results of last week’s poll:
Who do you think is the best player the Rangers got in 2001?
Justin Duchscherer – 84%
Rob Bell – 11%
Erasmo Ramirez – 5%
All others – 0%

Come back next week for my playoff awards.

Doug Melvin Trade Analysis Part 7

This is part 7 of an analysis of the trades Doug Melvin made while he was Rangers GM. This week I will cover 2001, his last year as GM. Each trade will be scored a win, loss, or tie. The score is based on how each player contributed to the Rangers at the major league level.

41. 5/8/01 The Montreal Expos traded Mike Johnson to the Texas Rangers for Darwin Cubillan.

Tie – After the trade Darwin Cubillan only pitched 26 and a third innings for the Expos and Mike Johnson never played for us.

Record: 13-13-15

42. 6/12/01 The Boston Red Sox traded Justin Duchscherer to the Texas Rangers for Doug Mirabelli.

Win – Justin only pitched 14 and two thirds innings for the Rangers before John Hart made the awful decision of trading him to the A’s, but 4 out of the last 5 years he has had an ERA under 3.35, including a 2.21 ERA an a 2.91 ERA. Doug Mirabelli is a good back-up catcher, averaging about 55 games a year since the trade. Doug is great defensively but he doesn’t hit very well, only hitting .250 two of the six years after the trade. This was a steal by Melvin. It’s not his fault that Hart messed it up.

Record: 14-13-15

43. 6/15/01 The Cincinnati Reds traded Rob Bell to the Texas Rangers for Ruben Mateo and Edwin Encarnacion.

Loss – Rob Bell only played 1 and a half years for us, with ERA’s of 7.18 and 6.22. Ruben Mateo has been a big disappointment, never hitting .260 in a year and never hitting 5 home runs in a year, but Edwin Encarnacion is very good. He has only played in the majors for 3 years, but this year, he hit .289 with 16 HR and 76 RBI, 25 doubles and 8 stolen bases. He also has a lot of potential.

Record: 14-14-15

44. 7/24/01 The San Francisco Giants traded Chris Magruder, Erasmo Ramirez, and Todd Ozias (minors) to the Texas Rangers for Andres Galarraga.

Win - Chris Magruder only had 29 at-bats for us and Todd Ozias never made it to the majors, but Erasmo Ramirez had three good years for us. After the trade Andres Galarraga had one more good year and one more decent year. In ’01 for the Giants he hit .288 with 7 HR and 35 RBI’s. In ’02 with the Expos he hit .260 with 9 HR and 40 RBI’s, but in ’03 as the 5th oldest player in all of baseball at the age of 43 he hit .301 with 12 HR and 42 RBI’s, playing in 110 games. But he was only here on a one-year deal and we wouldn’t have had him for those last two years anyway. So to get three good years from Ramirez instead of half a year of Galarraga is a good trade.

Record: 15-14-15

45. 8/31/01 The Texas Rangers traded Randy Velarde to the New York Yankees for players to be named later. The New York Yankees sent Randy Flores (October 12, 2001) and Rosman Garcia (October 11, 2001) to the Texas Rangers to complete the trade.

Tie - This was Doug Melvin’s last trade as Rangers GM. After the trade Randy Velarde only played in 71 more games over two years, hitting .152 and .226. Randy Flores only pitched 12 innings for the Rangers with a 4.50 ERA and Rosman Garcia only pitched 53 innings for the Rangers with a 5.94 ERA.

Record: 15-14-16

Results of last week’s poll:
Who do you think is the best player the Rangers got in 2000?
Michael Young – 95%
Brant Brown – 5%
All others – 0%

Come back next week for an updated analysis of Jon Daniels’ trades and a comparison between the records of Melvin, Hart, and Daniels.

Doug Melvin Trade Analysis Part 6

This is part 6 of an analysis of the trades Doug Melvin made while he was Rangers GM. This week I will cover the end of 2000. Each trade will be scored a win, loss, or tie. The score is based on how each player contributed to the Rangers at the major league level.

35. 7/19/00 - The Texas Rangers traded Esteban Loaiza to the Toronto Blue Jays for Darwin Cubillan and Michael Young.

Win – Esteban has only had 1 good year since the trade and he had no good years for the Blue Jays. His records for his three Blue Jay years were 5-7, 11-11, and 9-10, never getting 200 innings in a year as a Blue Jay. Darwin Cubillan only has 70 career innings pitched and only 17.2 as a Ranger. But Michael Young has done incredibly well for the Rangers, becoming only the third player to have 200 hits for five straight years since 1940. He has hit above .305 all 5 of those years. He has also had one 100 RBI season and two 20-90 seasons (HR-RBI). Also, he has won the batting title, has been All-Star game MVP and has set the Rangers record for most single-season hits.

Record: 13-8-14

36. 7/28/00 - The Cleveland Indians traded Ricky Ledee to the Texas Rangers for David Segui.

Loss – Ricky Ledee struggled for his 1 and a half years that he played here batting .235 and then .231 while David Segui had a couple of good platoon years after the trade. He hit .332 and then .301 with 46 RBI both years.

Record: 13-9-14

37. 8/4/00 - The Texas Rangers traded Dave Martinez to the Toronto Blue Jays for a player to be named later. The Toronto Blue Jays sent Peter Munro (August 8, 2000) to the Texas Rangers to complete the trade.

Loss – Dave had two more good years in him batting .311 and .287 but his power numbers were nothing with 2 homers both years and just about 20 RBI both years. Peter Munro never even played for the Rangers.

Record: 13-10-14

38. 11/17/00 - The Oakland Athletics traded Randy Velarde to the Texas Rangers for Aaron Harang and Ryan Cullen (minors).

Loss – Randy Velarde only played half a year for the Rangers batting .297 with 9 HR and 31 RBI’s, but half a year isn’t worth Harang. Aaron has had an ERA in the 3.00’s for three straight years, has gotten 16 straight wins for two straight years, has pitched 230 innings for two straight years, has gotten 215 strikeouts for two straight years, and his WHIP has been under 1.3 for three straight years. And he’s done all this with Cincinnati.

Record: 13-11-14

39. 12/14/00 - The Chicago White Sox traded Aaron Myette and Brian Schmack to the Texas Rangers for Royce Clayton.

Loss – Royce Clayton has had 6 decent years since the trade while Brian Schmack never played for us and Aaron Myette’s ERA for the two years he was here were 7.14 and 10.06. We needed to trade Clayton because of the A-Rod signing but we could have gotten more for him.

Record: 13-12-14

40. 12/15/00 - The Detroit Tigers traded Brandon Villafuerte and Kevin Mobley (minors) to the Texas Rangers for Matt Perisho.

Loss - Brandon Villafuerte pitched 6 games for us with a 14.29 ERA. Kevin Mobley never played in the majors while Matt Perisho had one decent year for the Marlins with a 4.40 ERA and one great year for the Marlins with a 1.93 ERA.

Record: 13-13-14

Results of last weeks poll:
Who do you think will win the World Series?
Red Sox – 52%
Rockies – 22%
Indians – 15%
D’Backs – 11%

Come back next week for my World Series prediction.

Playoff Predictions

This week I will give my playoff predictions.

ALDS:

Indians over Yankees in 3
Red Sox over Angels in 3

ALCS:

Indians over Red Sox in 7: They both have great pitching, but all 5 of the Indians starting pitching have an ERA of less than 4.60, while only 3 of the Red Sox starting pitchers do. So far the Indians have outscored the Yankees 14-4, while the Red Sox have outscored the Angels 10-3. Also the Indians have 186 home runs and the Red Sox only have 143.

NLDS:

Rockies over Phillies in 3

D’Backs over Cubs in 3

NLCS:

D’Backs over Rockies in 6: The D’Backs have great pitching and the Rockies have great hitting. Pitching wins championships. D’Backs rotation in order have ERA’s of 3.01 (Brandon Webb), 4.93 (Livan Hernandez), 4.25 (Doug Davis), 4.30 (Micah Owings), and 5.03 (Edgar Gonzalez) while the Rockies have 4.22 (Jeff Francis), 3.43 (Franklin Morales), 4.28 (Ubaldo Jimenez), 4.94 (Josh Fogg), and 7.15 (Elmer Dessens). The Rockies postseason score is 16-8 and the D’Backs one is 16-6.

World Series:

Indians over D’Backs in 7: They both have incredible pitching, but the Indians have better hitting.

C: Victor Martinez CLE vs. Chris Snyder ARI
Winner: Victor Martinez: Victor Martinez had a .300 batting average with 25 home runs while Chris Snyder only hit .252.

1B: Ryan Garko CLE vs. Connor Jackson ARI
Winner: Ryan Garko: The averages are similar, but Garko has better power numbers.

2B: Asdrubal Cabrera CLE vs. Alberto Callapso ARI
Winner: Asdrubal Cabrera: Cabrera hit .283, while Callapso only hit .215.

3B: Casey Blake CLE vs. Chad Tracy ARI
Winner: Casey Blake: Blake has a better batting average (.270), more home runs (18) and more RBI’s (78) than Tracy.

SS: Johnny Peralta CLE vs. Stephen Drew ARI
Winner: Johnny Peralta: Stephen Drew is only batting .238.

RF: Franklin Gutierrez CLE vs. Justin Upton ARI
Winner: Franklin Gutierrez: Upton’s batting .221 while Gutierrez is batting .266.

LF: Kenny Lofton CLE vs. Eric Byrnes ARI
Winner: Kenny Lofton: In the regular season I would choose Byrnes, but Lofton is just so good in the playoffs.

CF: Grady Sizemore CLE vs. Chris Young ARI
Winner: Grady Sizemore: they both have good power and stolen base numbers but Chris Young is only batting .237.

DH: Travis Hafner CLE vs. Tony Clark ARI
Winner: Travis Hafner: Travis Hafner had 100 RBI’s this year.

G1SP: CC Sabathia CLE vs. Brandon Webb ARI
Winner: CC Sabathia: The pitchers are very close, but in Cleveland, Sabathia gets the edge.

G2SP: Fausto Carmona CLE vs. Livan Hernandez ARI
Winner: Fausto Carmona: Carmona had a 1.14 ERA in September.

G3SP: Jake Westbrook CLE vs. Doug Davis ARI
Winner: Jake Westbrook: Westbrook had a 4.14 ERA in September.

G4SP: Paul Byrd CLE vs. Micah Owings ARI
Winner: Micah Owings: Micah has a 4.30 ERA while Byrd has a 4.57 ERA and it’s in Arizona.

G5SP: CC Sabathia CLE vs. Brandon Webb ARI
Winner: Brandon Webb: The pitchers are very close, but in Arizona, Webb gets the edge.

G6SP: Jake Westbrook CLE vs. Doug Davis ARI
Winner: Jake Westbrook: It’s in Cleveland and they both have done pretty well this year, but Westbrook had a better September so he has more confidence.

G7SP: Fausto Carmona CLE vs. Livan Hernandez ARI
Winner: Fausto Carmona: Hernandez has an ERA of almost 5.00 while Carmona is in Cy Young talk.

Indians 14, D’Backs 2

Results of last week’s poll:
Who do you think will win NL MVP?
Matt Holliday – 62%
Jimmy Rollins – 15%
Carlos Beltran – 8%
Prince Fielder – 8%
Ryan Howard – 8%
All others – 0%

Come back next week for part 6 of the Doug Melvin Trade Analysis.

End of Season Awards

This week I will give my end of the season awards (stats are through September 28th).

Rangers Awards:

Rangers MVP: Michael Young: .316 AVG, 9 HR, 94 RBI
Runner-up: Marlon Byrd

Rangers Cy Young: CJ Wilson: 2-1, 3.03 ERA, 63 SO, 12 SV
Runner-up: Kevin Millwood

Rangers Rookie of the Year: Jarrod Saltalamacchia: .266 AVG, 11 HR, 33 RBI
Runner-up: Luis Mendoza/Travis Metcalf

AL Awards:

AL MVP: A-ROD NYY: .312 AVG, 54 HR, 155 RBI
Runner-up: Vladimir Guerrero LAA

AL Cy Young: Josh Beckett BOS: 20-7, 3.27 ERA, 194 K
Runner-up: CC Sabathia CLE

AL Rolaids Relief Pitcher of the Year: Bobby Jenks CWS: 3-5, 2.77 ERA, 56 K, 40 SV
Runner-up: Jonathon Papelbon BOS

AL Rookie of the Year: Dustin Pedroia BOS: .317 AVG, 8 HR, 50 RBI
Runner-up: Jarrod Saltalamacchia TEX

AL Manager of the Year: Eric Wedge CLE, 95-65
Runner-up: Mike Scioscia LAA

NL Awards:

NL MVP: Ryan Howard PHI: .265 AVG, 45 HR, 132 RBI
Runner-up: Jimmy Rollins PHI

NL Cy Young: Jake Peavy SD: 19-6, 2.36 ERA, 234 K
Runner-up: Brandon Webb ARI

NL Rolaids Relief Pitcher of the Year: Jose Valverde ARI: 1-4, 2.66 ERA, 78 K, 47 SV
Runner-up: Francisco Cordero MIL

NL Rookie of the Year: Ryan Braun MIL: .323 AVG, 34 HR, 96 RBI
Runner-up: Chris Young ARI

NL Manager of the Year: Bob Melvin ARI, 90-70
Runner-up: Charlie Manuel PHI

Results of last week’s poll:
Who do you think is the best player the Rangers traded for in 1999?
Francisco Cordero – 68%
Frank Catalanotto – 23%
Gabe Kapler – 9%

Come back next week for my playoff predictions.

Doug Melvin Trade Analysis Part 5

This is part 5 of an analysis of the trades Doug Melvin made while he was Rangers GM. This week I will cover 1999 and the beginning of 2000. Each trade will be scored a win, loss, or tie. The score is based on how each player contributed to the Rangers at the major league level.

29. 8/27/99 - The Seattle Mariners traded Jeff Fassero to the Texas Rangers for a player to be named later. The Texas Rangers sent Adrian Myers (minors) (September 22, 1999) to the Seattle Mariners to complete the trade.

Tie – Fassero only pitched 17 innings for the Rangers and Myers never made it to the majors. Fassero was part of the Rangers’ stretch run to the playoffs that year but was not very effective, posting a 5.71 ERA and going 1-0.

Record: 10-7-12

30. 11/2/99 - The Detroit Tigers traded Frank Catalanotto, Francisco Cordero, Bill Haselman, Gabe Kapler, Justin Thompson, and Alan Webb (minors) to the Texas Rangers for Juan Gonzalez, Danny Patterson, and Gregg Zaun.

Win – This is a tough trade to analyze because the Rangers were a regular playoff team with Juan and have been a bad team ever since this trade. But when you look at the performance of the players the Rangers got vs. the ones they gave up, it’s a win for the Rangers. The Rangers got two good years out of Cat (.291 in 2000 and .330 in 2001) and many good years out of CoCo, including two All-Star years. We got three good years of back-up from Haselman, and a couple of decent years from Kapler (he hit .302 in 2000 and had 17 homers in 2001). Justin Thompson didn’t make it back to the majors for years due to injuries and finally appeared for the Rangers in 2005 as a reliever for two games. Juan Gonzalez went just .289 with 22 HR and 67 RBI in his one year in Detroit. He then had a good year for Cleveland in 2001 (.325, 35, 140) before coming back to Texas. At that point, we not only had all of the players we got from Detroit but had Juan back too. Patterson had some solid years as a reliever for Detroit for 5 seasons. Gregg Zaun didn’t even play one game for the Tigers.

Record: 11-7-12

31. 12/13/99 - The New York Yankees traded Chad Curtis to the Texas Rangers for Brandon Knight and Sam Marsonek.

Win – Knight only had 19 innings pitched and Marsonek only had 1 inning pitched, while Curtis had one decent year for the Rangers (.272 with 8 homers and 48 RBI).

Record: 12-7-12

32. 3/16/00 - As part of a 3-team trade: The Texas Rangers sent Lee Stevens to the Montreal Expos. The Montreal Expos sent Brad Fullmer to the Toronto Blue Jays. The Toronto Blue Jays sent David Segui and cash to the Texas Rangers.

Tie – Lee Stevens batted .265 and .245 in his two years there. He had 22 home runs and 75 RBI in 2000 and 25 homers and 95 RBI in 2001. David Segui played very well for the Rangers in 93 games in 2000 before being traded. He batted .336 with 11 homers and 57 RBI.

Record: 12-7-13

33. 6/9/00 - The Florida Marlins traded Brant Brown to the Texas Rangers for Chuck Smith.

Loss – Brant Brown never played for the Rangers and Chuck Smith was only in the majors two years. He went 11-11 for the Marlins in 34 games, posting a 3.84 ERA.

Record: 12-8-13

34. 6/9/00 - The Chicago Cubs traded Dave Martinez to the Texas Rangers for Brant Brown.

Tie – Dave Martinez never played for the Rangers and Brant Brown had less than 100 at-bats for the Cubs.

Record: 12-8-14

Results of last week’s poll:
Who do you think will win the World Series?
Red Sox – 33%
Yankees – 24%
Angels – 14%
Mets – 14%
Cubs – 5%
Brewers – 5%
Indians – 5%

Come back next week for my end-of-the-season awards.

Pennant Race Analysis

This week I will break down the pennant races and give my predictions for the postseason.

Below are my predictions for the final standings in each division.

AL East
1. Red Sox – Their pitching will be key in holding the Yankees back. (My preseason prediction: Yankees)
2. Yankees – The Yankees have a good 3 and a half game lead in the Wild Card over the Tigers. (Preseason prediction: Red Sox)
3. Blue Jays (Preseason: Orioles)
4. Orioles (Preseason: Blue Jays)
5. Devil Rays (Preseason: Devil Rays)

Al Central
1. Indians – The Indians are 5 and a half games ahead of the Tigers and are 7-3 in their last 10. (My preseason prediction: Tigers)
2. Tigers (Preseason: Indians)
3. Twins (Preseason: White Sox)
4. White Sox (Preseason: Twins)
5. Royals (Preseason: Royals)

AL West
1. Angels – They’re seven and a half games up on the Mariners who are really falling. (My preseason prediction: Angels)
2. Mariners (Preseason: Rangers)
3. Rangers (Preseason: Athletics)
4. Athletics (Preseason: Mariners)

NL East
1. Mets - They have a five and a half game lead on the Phillies and are playing really well, going 7-3 in their last 10. (My preseason prediction: Mets)
2. Phillies – They have an incredibly easy schedule from now on and are only 1.5 games back from the wild card. Also, they are 6-4 in their last 10, while the Padres are 4-6. (Preseason: Phillies)
3. Braves (Preseason: Marlins)
4. Marlins (Preseason: Braves)
5. Nationals (Preseason: Nationals)

NL Central
1. Brewers – Both the Brewers and Cubs have very easy schedules, but at just 1 and a half games behind, I think the Brewers have better pitching, which should move them ahead. (My preseason prediction: Reds)
2. Cubs (Preseason: Cardinals)
3. Reds (Preseason: Cubs)
4. Pirates (Preseason: Brewers)
5. Cardinals (Preseason: Astros)
6. Astros (Preseason: Pirates)

NL West
1. Diamondbacks – The D’Backs are a good 3 games ahead of the Padres, who have struggled lately. (My preseason prediction: Dodgers)
2. Padres (Preseason: Padres)
3. Rockies (Preseason: Rockies)
4. Dodgers (Preseason: Diamondbacks)
5. Giants (Preseason: Giants)

AL Playoffs:

Divisional Series:

Red Sox over Angels in 4 – The Red Sox have very good pitching which I think will carry them over the Angels

Indians over Yankees in 5 – The Indians have an all-around better team and have proven to be great in the clutch this year, leading baseball with 9 walk-off wins.

AL Championship Series:

Red Sox over Indians in 6 – I think Josh Beckett will be huge in this series and be the decider of the series.

NL Playoffs:

Divisional Series:

Mets over Brewers in 3 – The Mets have a lot of postseason experience, which I think will put them past the Brewers.

Diamondbacks over Phillies in 4 – Pitching wins championships, and will win the D’Backs this series.

NL Championship Series:

Diamondbacks over Mets in 7 – I think that the D’Backs’ incredible pitching will win them the NL pennant.

World Series:

Red Sox over Diamondbacks in 7 – The D’Backs have great pitching, but their offense won’t be enough to keep up with the Red Sox.

Results of last week’s poll:
Who do you think was the best player the Rangers acquired in 1998?
Royce Clayton – 45%
Todd Zeile – 27%
Esteban Loaiza – 18%
Todd Stottlemyre – 9%
Tim Crabtree – 0%

Come back next week for part 5 of the Doug Melvin trade analysis series.

Doug Melvin Trade Analysis Part 4

This is part 4 of an analysis of the trades Doug Melvin made while he was Rangers GM. This week I will cover 1998. Each trade will be scored a win, loss, or tie. The score is based on how each player contributed to the Rangers at the major league level.

25. 3/14/98 The Texas Rangers traded Kevin Brown to the Toronto Blue Jays for Tim Crabtree.

Win – Tim Crabtree gave us two good relief year, with ERA’s of 3.59 and 3.46 in ’98 and ’99 before his awful years of ’00 and ’01. Kevin Brown (the catcher) only got to play in 85 career games.

Record: 8-7-10

26. 7/17/98 The Pittsburgh Pirates traded Esteban Loaiza to the Texas Rangers for Warren Morris and Todd Van Poppel.

Tie – None of the players did well, as Warren Morris never played very well, Esteban Loaiza never had an ERA below 5.00 as a Ranger, and Todd Van Poppel, in his only year with Pittsburgh, had an ERA of 5.36.

Record: 8-7-11

27. 7/31/98 The Florida Marlins traded Todd Zeile to the Texas Rangers for Daniel DeYoung (minors) and Jose Santo (minors).

Win – Todd Zeile really helped us make the playoffs in ’98 and then hit .293 in ’99. Neither DeYoung or Santo even made the majors.

Record: 9-7-11

28. 7/31/98 The St. Louis Cardinals traded Royce Clayton and Todd Stottlemyre to the Texas Rangers for a player to be named later, Darren Oliver, and Fernando Tatis. The Texas Rangers sent Mark Little (August 9, 1998) to the St. Louis Cardinals to complete the trade.

Win – Darren Oliver only played with the Cardinals for one and a half years, Tatis only started one year and hit .298 that year, and Mark Little only got 12 at-bats. Both Clayton, who hit .288 that year, and Stottlemyre, who had a 5-4 record that year, were huge in the Rangers’ pennant race. Also, Royce Clayton played for the Rangers for 2 and a half years.

Record: 10-7-11

I went to two baseball games this week. On Wednesday, my dad and I went to the Rangers/Royals game. It was Autograph Wednesday so I got a lot of autographs. They had Rusty Greer, Jim Norris, Frank Catalanotto, Ramon Vazquez, and David Murphy located around the park signing autographs and I got all of them. It was a great game, with the Rangers winning 3-2. Padilla pitched great and got the win and Benoit got the save. We had great seats, 11 rows behind home plate, so it was a lot of fun. On Thursday night, I went to the RoughRiders playoff game with my dad and my two-year-old little sister Kate. They lost, but we had a lot of fun and I got a lot of autographs for Kate. She really likes going to the games because she likes watching Deuce, the mascot. Eleanor Czajka from the Newberg Report and Jon Daniels were also there and I got to talk with them.

Last night, I was on the Rangers post game show on the radio (KRLD). Mike Ogulnick interviewed me about my blog. It was a lot of fun and I would like to thank Mike for having me on. I got to stay up until midnight to do the interview.

Results of last week’s poll:
Who do you think should be the NL MVP?
Prince Fielder – 38%
Matt Holliday – 25 %
Albert Pujols – 13%
Ryan Braun – 6%
Ken Griffey – 6%
Ryan Howard – 6%
Other – 6%
Miguel Cabrera – 0%
Adam Dunn – 0%

Come back next week for an analysis of the pennant races.

August Awards

This week I will do my August awards. These are the awards that would be given if the season ended today.

Rangers Awards:

Rangers MVP: Marlon Byrd: .310 AVG., 7 HR, 56 RBI: Since Marlon has come up he has surpassed most Ranger players’ RBI totals and batting averages.
Runner-up: Michael Young

Rangers CY Young: CJ Wilson: 2.52 ERA, 58 K, 2-1, 9 SV: CJ has had an incredible year and has put himself in position to be the closer next year.
Runner-up: Joaquin Benoit

Rangers Rookie of the Year: Jarrod Saltalamacchia: .275 AVG, 9 HR, 27 RBI
Runner-up: David Murphy

AL Awards:

AL MVP: A-ROD: .308 AVG, 45 HR, 129 RBI
Runner-up: Magglio Ordonez

AL Cy Young: Josh Beckett: 3.29 ERA, 158 K, 16-6
Runner-up: John Lackey

AL Rookie of the Year: Dustin Pedrioa: .322 AVG, 6 HR, 42 RBI
Runner-up: Hideki Okajima

AL Manager of the Year: Eric Wedge Cleveland Indians 78-57
Runner-up: Mike Scioscia

NL Awards:

NL MVP: Matt Holliday: .336 AVG, 24 HR, 106 RBI
Runner-up: Ryan Howard

NL Cy Young: Brandon Webb: 2.83 ERA, 170 K, 14-9
Runner-up: Jake Peavy

NL Rookie of the Year: Ryan Braun: .325 AVG, 25 HR 68 RBI, 13 SB
Runner-up: Chris Young ARI

NL Manager of the Year: Bob Melvin Arizona Diamondbacks 76-61
Runner-up: Clint Hurdle

Results of last week’s poll:
Who do you think was the best player that the Rangers acquired in 1997?
Rick Helling – 55%
Aaron Sele – 37%
Tom Goodwin – 5%
Jim Leyritz – 3%
Everybody else – 0%

Come back next week for part 4 of the Doug Melvin trade analysis.

Doug Melvin Trade Analysis Part 3

This is part 3 of an analysis of the trades Doug Melvin made while he was Rangers GM. This week I will cover 1997. Each trade will be scored a win, loss, or tie. The score is based on how each player contributed to the Rangers at the major league level.

18. 7/25/97 The Kansas City Royals traded Tom Goodwin to the Texas Rangers for Dean Palmer.

Loss – Even though Dean only played one full year with the Royals he had his career high for home runs with 34 and his second best in batting average (for full years) batting .278. Tom had one good year for the Rangers batting .290, but the other two years he hit .237 and .259.

Record: 5-4-9

19. 7/29/97 The Anaheim Angels traded a player to be named later and Jim Leyritz to the Texas Rangers for Ken Hill. The Angels sent Rob Sasser (October 31, 1997) to the Rangers to complete the trade.

Loss – the Angels got 2 and a half decent years out of Ken including one 9-6 year. The Rangers got 86 total at-bats out of the two players they received put together.

Record: 5-5-9

20. 7/29/97 The San Francisco Giants traded Chad Hartvigson (minors) to the Texas Rangers for Cory Bailey.

Tie – The Giants got about 15 innings out of Bailey while Hartvigson never made it to the majors.

Record: 5-5-10

21. 8/12/97 The Florida Marlins traded Rick Helling to the Texas Rangers for Ed Vosberg.

Win – Vosberg only pitched 12 innings for the Marlins, and the Rangers got 4 and a half solid years out of Rick, his record being 64-45, including one 20 win season.

Record: 6-5-10

22. 10/31/97 The Anaheim Angels traded Matt Perisho to the Texas Rangers for Mike Bell.

Loss – Mike Bell never made it to the majors with Anaheim, while Matt lost us so many games (with a Rangers ERA well over seven) that it would have been better for him to not be on the team.

Record: 6-6-10

23. 11/6/97 The Boston Red Sox traded Mark Brandenburg, Bill Haselman, and Aaron Sele to the Texas Rangers for Damon Buford and Jim Leyritz.

Win – Mark Brandenburg never played for us after the trade and we only got 105 at-bats out of Haselman (during this stint with the Rangers), but out of the two years Aaron Sele played for us, he had a 37-20 record and was an All-Star. Neither Buford or Leyritz did much of anything with Boston.

Record: 7-6-10

24. 12/19/97 The Chicago White Sox traded Alan Levine and Larry Thomas to the Texas Rangers for Benji Gil.

Loss – Alan Levine and Larry Thomas pitched 58 innings total for the Rangers, and Benji Gil had three solid years as a back-up for the Angels.

Record: 7-7-10

Results of last week’s poll:
What do you think Kea Kometani's role should be?
Closer – 33%
Starter – 29%
Set-up – 29%
Other Reliever – 8%

Come back next week for my August Awards.

Kea Kometani Interview

This week I interviewed Frisco RoughRiders pitcher Kea Kometani. Kea was drafted by the Rangers in 2005 and spent that year as a starter with Spokane and Clinton. He started 2006 in Bakersfield and was called up to Frisco after 10 starts. He started the 2007 season in Frisco as a starter but was converted to a reliever early in the season. Since then he’s had 28 relief appearances with 8 saves.

I got to know Kea last summer when he got called up to Frisco. He’s always friendly and happy to talk and volunteers to sign autographs for kids a lot. He agreed to let me interview him and spoke with me this weekend from Wichita.

1. Which achievement from last year are you most proud of: tying for 1st in wins in all the Rangers minor leagues, coming in 5th for strikeouts, or being 6th in ERA?

Kea said that he hadn’t thought about it too much but that it was probably the wins. He lost his first five starts in double-A and didn’t have much confidence after that. He was proud that he came back from that rough start.

2. What was the key to your success during your last year at Pepperdine, when you went 10-5 with a 3.17 ERA after going 11-9 with a 4.59 ERA your first three years?

Kea said that it was mostly having more experience and using those experiences. He was also more confident starting. He became a starter for the first time in his junior year.

3. What were your 1st thoughts when you broke Pepperdine’s school record with 32 appearances in a year?

“It was cool.” Kea thought it was cool to be able to accomplish something that others before him didn’t. It showed durability and allowed him to help his team.

4. What was the key to being named your conference’s best control pitcher?

Pitching is a lot about repetition. It showed that his practice and workouts were paying off and showing on the field.

5. Who are your three favorite teammates since you joined the Rangers organization and why?

- Doug Mathis because he lives with him and has played with him all three years in the organization.
- Michael Schlact because they lived together in Clinton and they’ve played on a lot of teams together.
- Emerson Frostad because he’s played with him all three years and they hung out last winter in the winter league.

6. Can you please rate the ballparks in the Rangers organization that you’ve played in from 1 to 10 (10 being the best) and explain your ratings?
- Spokane: 6 or 7 – it’s older but there are a lot of fans and it has a good atmosphere.
- Clinton: 4 – it’s old. He said that they’ve redone the stadium recently and he’s heard it’s nicer.
Bakersfield: 4.5
Frisco: 9

7. Who are the toughest hitters you’ve faced and why?

- Billy Butler because he’s a great hitter and had tough at-bats against him.
- Alex Gordon: “He was successful against me.”
He mentioned that both of them were tough because they were consistent.

8. What is the worst injury you’ve had to deal with and why?

“Luckily I’ve been pretty healthy.” In college he had a shoulder injury where it hurt to warm up but he only missed one game.

9. What’s the biggest difference between college and minor league hitting?

Kea said it was the talent level. You have to work on location a lot more in the minors. You can get guys out on bad pitches in college.

10. What are the biggest differences between starting and closing?

Starting is definitely different. You will face each batter three of four times. You only face each batter once when closing. As a starter, giving up a run or two in an inning is no big deal as long as you recover. But as a reliever, you aim for no runs. One mistake as a reliever can ruin your whole outing. Relieving is tough because every pitch is a big deal. You have to be locked in from the beginning. If you’re brought in for three outs and strike out the first two guys and then give up a homer to the third guy, you didn’t do your job.

11. What do you think has been your best professional game and why?

During a start last year Kea gave up five runs in the first inning. But he came back and got through eight innings with no more runs and the team won.

12. Did you notice a difference between single-A and double-A hitters and, if so, what is it?

“Plate discipline.” Guys in double-A won’t chase pitches as much so you have to get it over the plate. Plus there are more guys with power in the lineup.

13. What is the toughest thing about minor league life and why?

Being on the road and being away from family.

14. Do you see yourself using your economics degree from Pepperdine someday and, if so, how?

Kea said that if he weren’t in baseball he’d want to be in business. He worked at Morgan Stanley in the offseason as a financial advisor. He would also be interested in real estate. Kea had a 3.8 GPA in college.

15. What are the three biggest differences between living in Hawaii and living in the continental US?

- There’s not much ocean in Texas. You only see the ocean in Corpus Christi in the Texas League.
- The weather’s cold early in the season and then gets really hot. In Hawaii it’s 75-90 degrees all of the time.
- There are no mountains in Texas.

16. What was your favorite team growing up?

The Braves. They won the division every year and he liked watching Maddux, Smoltz, and Glavine.

17. What sports did you play growing up and which were you best at?

Kea played football for one year as a freshman in high school but was too skinny. He’s played baseball since he was 7. He was a first baseman until his junior year in high school. He played volleyball in high school. He said he was actually better at volleyball than baseball.

18. What are your hobbies?

Going to the ocean, fishing, hanging out at the beach and playing Xbox.

I would like to thank Kea for taking time out from his road trip to do this interview.

Results of last week’s poll:
Rangers Ballpark in Arlington – 31%
AT&T Park - 17%
Fenway Park - 14%
Wrigley Field – 14%
Camden Yards – 6%
Miller Park – 6%
Other – 6%
PNC Park – 6%
Yankee Stadium – 3%
All others – 0%

Come back next week for part 3 of the Doug Melvin trade analysis.

My Baseball Trip to Cleveland and Pittsburgh

This week I will describe my annual baseball trip with my dad.

Wednesday August 1st:

On Wednesday my dad and I flew to Cleveland to see the Rangers play two games against the Indians. There were four flight delays (weather, mechanical, flight in front delayed, and then a plane with a broken wheel in front of us on the runway). There were also two gate changes. We were on a small plane (American Eagle) and our flight took off two hours late.

When we got to Cleveland we got our bags and checked into our hotel, which was a Hampton Inn in walking distance of Jacobs Field. Almost immediately after we dropped our bags off in our room we went to the ballpark.

We got there when the gates opened at 4:30, but you could not leave the outfield area until 6:00 so by then batting practice was just wrapping up. And when they did let us out of the outfield you couldn’t go by the dugout or the first aisle next to it, which made it almost impossible to get autographs.

The Rangers ended up winning the game in 10 innings. Rheinecker pitched poorly allowing 6 earned runs on 8 hits in 4 1/3 innings. He ended up throwing 89 pitches. Rheinecker also gave up 2 home runs, one to Casey Blake and one to Jason Michaels. The Indians’ Paul Byrd didn’t do well either, allowing 4 runs on 10 hits in 5 1/3 throwing 107 pitches. Frank Catalanotto had a big game going 2-4 with 2 RBI and 2 runs and Jarrod Saltalamacchia had two RBI’s in his 1st game as a Ranger. Even though the Rangers scored 9 runs, they stranded 12 runners. After 9 innings the game was tied 6-6. The Rangers scored 3 runs in the top of the tenth (1 on a throwing error, 1 on Botts’ sac fly, and one on a Byrd single) and CJ Wilson shut the Indians down 1, 2, 3 to get his second save of the year. The game lasted 4 hours and 3 minutes.

Thursday August 2nd:

On Thursday my dad and I went to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the morning. It was really cool and my three favorite things about it were:
- The walkway with all the people in the Hall Of Fame
- The Beach Boys exhibit
- Giant guitars that they had inside and all around downtown, each painted different

My two least favorite things were:
- The all-clothes display
- The Doors exhibit

After that we went to the noon Rangers-Indians game. Before the game I got Salty’s autograph. Kason Gabbard didn’t do too well in his 1st game as a Ranger getting the loss allowing 3 runs on 8 hits in 5 2/3 innings pitched. After Gabbard was pulled, Wes Littleton came in and allowed 2 earned runs in 1 2/3 innings. Wes gave up a solo shot to Victor Martinez. The Indians’ Jake Westbrook pitched great, improving his record to 2-6 and allowed 0 runs on 5 hits in 6 innings lowering his ERA to a terrible 5.40. The Rangers only got men on base 8 times all game, one of the times on an intentional walk (the Rangers’ only walk of the game). The Rangers only got two extra base hits. The Rangers eventually lost 5-0. This game only took 2 hours and 46 minutes.

Right after the game it poured and hailed. This was while we were driving to Canton to see the football Hall of Fame two days before the inductions. The Hall of Fame was awesome and while we were there I got one of the Hall of Famers’ autographs (Charlie Sanders, who was getting inducted that weekend). I liked everything in the Hall of Fame except the video, but my three favorite things were:
- the Super Bowl room
- getting Charlie Sanders’ autograph and
- the room with the busts of all the Hall of Famers

Afterwards we ate at a restaurant called Damon’s Grill near Canton. It had good food and it had a trivia game that was really fun. My dad and I came in 4th place both times we played and about 25 people played it both times. Afterwards we drove back to Cleveland.

Friday August 3rd:

On Friday my dad and I took a tour of Jacobs Field, but we couldn’t go onto the field or into the dugout because of the rain the day before. Instead they took us to the visitors’ clubhouse, which was pretty cool.

My three favorite things at Jacobs Field are:
- Heritage Park, which is a new area they built this year. It has plaques for all the members of the Indians Hall of Fame, plaques on the ground describing great moments in Indians history, and a wall showing the 100 best Indians players of the Indians’ first 100 years.
- The Bob Feller statue and
- How it’s open to downtown

My least favorite things at Jacobs Field are:
- The gate times (you can only be in the outfield seats until an hour before the game)
- The jumbotron (it’s junky with a lot of ads) and
- The out-of-town scoreboard doesn’t show all the games at once. It rotates between them.

Afterwards we went to the site of old League Park, where the Indians played from 1910 to 1946. The ticket office and part of the stadium wall are still there but are very run down. It’s also in a bad area of town. There’s nothing where the field was except a field of grass.

After that, we drove to Pittsburgh. At the Pittsburgh Hilton, our room wasn’t ready until 90 minutes after check-in time and when we got to our room there was only one bed even though we asked for two, there was no chest to put your clothes in, and you couldn’t see out the windows. I wouldn’t recommend it, even though it’s in walking distance of PNC Park.

At the Reds-Pirates game that evening they were giving out Josh Gibson statues, so my dad and I both got one. The gates opened at 5:00 PM, but you can’t get to any seats until 5:30. I got two autographs (Bobby Livingston and Javier Valentin).

The Reds hit four home runs during the game, including Ken Griffey’s 589th career home run and Adam Dunn’s 29th home run of the year. The Reds’ Matt Belisle pitched well, getting the win, improving his record to 6-8, allowing three runs in six innings pitched. Ian Snell of the Pirates got the loss (7-10) allowing 6 earned runs in 5 innings, throwing 104 pitches, including over 30 in the 1st. The Pirates’ reliever, Jonah Bayliss allowed 6 runs in 3 innings, throwing 63 pitches. Both Jeff Keppinger and Scott Hatteberg had three RBI’s in the game for the Reds. Ken Griffey and Alex Gonzalez both had three hits in the game. Only two of the Reds starters didn’t get at least one RBI in the game (Matt Belisle and Norris Hopper). The Reds won the game 13-4.

Saturday August 4th:

On Saturday we took a tour of PNC Park. Their Club Level is amazing, much better than the Rangers’. The concourse of the Club Level is all enclosed, carpeted, and air-conditioned. My three favorite things of PNC Park are:
- The openness – you can see the river and downtown from most seats
- The out-of-town scoreboard, which shows all games including the inning, number of outs, and runners on base, and
- The statues – they have statues of Willie Stargell, Roberto Clemente, and Honus Wagner outside the stadium and seven Negro League players (including Josh Gibson and Satchel Paige) inside the stadium.

The only thing I don’t like about it is the bullpen placement. One bullpen is right in front of the other.

Afterwards, we saw the Exposition Park base paths in a parking lot. The Pirates played there from 1891 to 1909 and they have the location of home plate and the bases painted in one of the parking lots between the Pirates and Steelers stadiums. Then we went to the location of Forbes Field, where the Pirates played from 1909 to 1970. It was awesome. They still have Forbes Fields’ outfield wall standing, the flag pole that was in play in front of the wall, and home plate (in the floor of a building that’s where the infield used to be). There’s also a plaque in the ground showing where Bill Mazeroski’s home run went out in the 1960 World Series.

They were giving away Homestead Grays T-shirts at the Pirates game, which was Matt Morris’ Pittsburgh debut. He pitched well but his stats don’t show it. He allowed 5 runs in 6 1/3 innings. He also went 2-for-3 with a home run. Bobby Livingston pitched really well for the Reds allowing only 2 runs in 5 1/3 innings, but he went 0-for-2. Adam Dunn, Javier Valentin, and Edwin Encarnacion all had 2 RBI’s for the Reds while Nate McLouth had three RBI’s and Jason Bay had 2 for the Pirates. Ken Griffey struck out three times. Jack Wilson, Adam Dunn, Jeff Keppinger, Ronny Paulino, Edwin Encarnacion, Nate McLouth, Jason Bay, and Matt Morris all had a home run in this game. Going into the bottom of the ninth,, the Pirates were winning 7-6, so they brought their closer Matt Capps in for his 1st save opportunity since July 5th and he allowed a solo shot to the 1st batter he faced, which made it go to extras. Capps came out again and allowed a 2-run homer by Adam Dunn. In the bottom of the tenth the Pirates got one run, but lose 9-8.

Sunday August 5th:

On Sunday, we flew home with no problems. We had a great trip.

If you go out to the ballpark this month, there’s a nice article about me on page 9 of the August Rangers game program.

Results of last week’s poll:
Which player that the Rangers got has the most potential?
Jarrod Saltalamacchia – 44%
Engel Beltre – 24%
Kason Gabbard – 12%
Elvis Andrus – 9%
Neftali Perez – 6%
Matt Harrison – 3%
Beau Jones – 3%
David Murphy – 0%

Come back next week for part three of the Doug Melvin trade analysis series.

Teixeira and Gagne Traded

This week I will analyze the Mark Teixeira and Eric Gagne trades.

Also, last week my blog was mentioned on www.bleacherbloggers.com, which is a new website that has an online talk show discussing current sports topics and referencing sports blogs. You can see the video that mentions my blog at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g99UK9CCtnc.

On 7/30/07 the Rangers acquired C/1B Jarrod Saltalamacchia, SS Elvis Andrus, LHP Matt Harrison, LHP Beau Jones and RHP Neftali Feliz from the Braves in exchange for 1B Mark Teixeira and LHP Ron Mahay

Mark Teixeira:
Even though Mark is a great player and has done great for the Rangers, he was going to be gone after next year and so they had to trade him. With Atlanta he has been moved to the cleanup spot following Franco Harris, Kelly Johnson, and Chipper Jones. I’m sure he’ll continue to be a great player but the Rangers weren’t going to be able to keep him.

Ron Mahay:
Ron had pitched 4 really good years for us in the AL and should do even better in the NL since there is no DH. Ron had been with the Rangers since 2003, with ERA’s of 3.18, 2.55, 6.81, 3.95, and 2.77.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia:
Jarrod can be the back-up catcher while being the starting 1st baseman at the same time. He can hit for power, but is better when nobody is on base. Jarrod has tended to hit better in day games this year, hitting .300 in 20 day games with 2 of his 4 home runs, while in night games he is batting just .245 in 32 night games with the other two of his home runs. Jarrod was doing great in May and June, hitting .313 in May and .327 in June, but hit .228 in July and is hitting .143 in the 5 August games. Jarrod was ranked the 36th best prospect in all of baseball by Baseball America at the beginning of the year and was also ranked the best prospect in the NL East.

Elvis Andrus:
I saw Elvis Andrus play in Myrtle Beach in May and he made one great play after another. He made a couple of diving plays, a couple of tough plays, and one sliding play. He’s only hitting .241 this year but he probably is the best fielder in all of the Rangers minor league system, possibly including the majors. Elvis was also ranked the 65th best prospect in all of baseball by Baseball America at the beginning of the year

Matt Harrison:
Some people have compared Matt to Tom Glavine as he has an 89-92 MPH fastball and an above-average change-up. He also likes to keep the ball low in the zone. This year Harrison is 5-7 with a 3.39 ERA in 116.2 IP and last year he was 11-8 with a 3.35 ERA in 158.2 IP. Matt was ranked the 90th best prospect in all of baseball by Baseball America at the beginning of the year.

Beau Jones:
Beau has a good fastball and a very good curveball but awful control as he has walked 125 in just over 200 innings. In 2005 Beau was taken in the first supplemental round.

Neftali Feliz:
Neftali was 2-0 with a 2.05 ERA in 26.1 innings this year with the Danville Braves. Neftali was ranked the 14th best prospect in all of the Rangers minor league system by Baseball America.

Trade Evaluation:
This trade was very good since we had to trade Teixeira and we got the three best prospects in the Braves minor league system (all three in Baseball America’s top 100) plus two other good prospects.
Grade: A+

On 7/31/07 the Rangers acquired LHP Kason Gabbard, OF David Murphy and OF Engel Beltre from the Red Sox for RHP Eric Gagne and cash.

Eric Gagne:
Eric was doing really well this year with 16 saves and a 2.16 ERA, but he was going to be a free agent at the end of the year so there was no point in keeping him.

Kason Gabbard:
Kason has done really well this year going 7-2 with a 3.24 ERA for the Pawtucket Red Sox (AAA) this year, and then going 4-1 with a 3.86 ERA between the Boston Red Sox and the Rangers this year (after his first Rangers start). He was 4-0 with a 3.73 ERA with Boston before the trade. In 2006 he went 1-3 with a 3.51 ERA for Boston.

David Murphy:
David is at most a 4th outfielder and in 24 career major league at-bats only has 6 hits. David is batting .280 with 9 HR and 47 RBI this year in 400 at-bats in Pawtucket. David is a lefty originally from Texas.

Engel Beltre:
Engel was ranked the 20th best Rangers prospect but is only in the Rookie League and is only batting .203 on the season with 5 HR and 14 RBI. Engel is very raw but has great potential. Engel is also a lefty. He has struck out 48 times in 148 at-bats this year.

Trade Evaluation:
We didn’t need Gagne for the rest of this year and we still got a very good major league ready pitcher, a back-up outfielder, and a great prospect for him.
Grade: A+

Results of last week’s poll:
Question: What position do you think the Rangers need to trade for the most?
Starting pitcher: 88%
Outfield: 10%
First baseman: 2%
All other positions: 0%

Come back next week for a description of the road trip I just took to see the Rangers in Cleveland and to see the Reds in Pittsburgh.

Lofton Traded and July Awards

This week I will analyze the Kenny Lofton trade and give my July awards.

On Friday, the Rangers traded Kenny Lofton to the Cleveland Indians for Max Ramirez.

Kenny Lofton – Even though Kenny Lofton did a good job for the Rangers this year, he was going to be gone after this season and since the Rangers are out of the race, he wasn’t going to do anything for the club. With the Indians he will be moved to left field and down to the two spot in the batting order.

Max Ramirez – This year with the Kinston Indians he hit .303 with 12 HR and 62 RBI’s. He’s in the top ten in his league in all of those stats including tied for third in RBI’s. He’s also tied for 1st in walks with Kala Kaaihue of the Myrtle Beach Pelicans with 53 and 2nd in OBP with a .418 on-base percentage. In 2006 he hit .292 with 13 HR and 63 RBI’s and going into last year had career minor league numbers of .311/21/125. So far he has made it into 2 minor-league all-star games and has been the Appalachian League player of the year twice. Max is a great hitting catcher who tends to hit the ball on the ground to the left (40.5% of the time this year) or in the air to center (19.1% of the time this year). He is only 22 years old. Max has incredible potential.

Evaluation:
We didn’t need Kenny at all and we got probably one of the best catching prospects in all of baseball for him. This is a great trade as this guy might be the next Victor Martinez someday. Victor is who I would compare him to.
Grade: A+

July Awards (these are the awards that would be given if the season ended today):

Rangers MVP: Michael Young: .300, 4 HR, 57 RBI: Michael is the only person on the team other than Marlon Byrd batting .300 and he’s also 2nd on the team in RBI’s.
Runner-up: Sammy Sosa

Rangers Cy Young: Eric Gagne: 2.16 ERA, 2-0, 16 SV, 29 K: Gagne has the most saves of anyone on the Rangers, the 2nd lowest ERA, 5th most strikeouts of Rangers relievers.
Runner-up: Ron Mahay

Rangers Rookie of the Year: Chris Stewart: .243, 0 HR, 3 RBI: Stewart is the only rookie who has played a decent amount of time this year.
Runner-up: Kevin Mahar

AL MVP: A-ROD NYY: .307, 35 HR, 102 RBI: A-ROD leads the league in HR and RBI, and is still batting over .300.
Runner-up: Magglio Ordonez DET

AL Cy Young: CC Sabathia CLE: 3.70 ERA, 13-5, 153.1 IP, 134 K: Sabathia has a good ERA, a great record, a great amount of innings pitched, and great strikeout numbers.
Runner-up: Fausto Carmona CLE

AL ROY: Hideki Okajima BOS: 0.89 ERA, 2-0, 50.2 IP, 43 K: Hideki has one of the best bullpen ERA’s in baseball and has good strikeout numbers.
Runner-up Dustin Pedrioa BOS

AL Manager of the Year: Eric Wedge, Cleveland, 60-43, .583
Runner-up: Mike Scioscia, Anaheim

NL MVP: Prince Fielder MIL: .283, 30 HR, 75 RBI: Prince leads the NL in homers and has a good average.
Runner-up: Ryan Howard PHI

NL Cy Young: Chris Young SD: 1.82 ERA, 9-3, 118.2 IP, 114 K: Chris leads all of baseball in ERA with a good record and good strikeout numbers.
Runner-up: Brad Penny LAD

NL ROY: Ryan Braun MIL: .356, 18 HR, 49 RBI: Braun has 18 HR in less than 60 games and has a great batting average and good RBI numbers.
Runner-up: Hunter Pence HOU

NL Manager Of the Year: Ned Yost, Milwaukee, 57-47, .538
Runner-up: Clint Hurdle, Colorado

Results of last week’s poll:
What do you think was the best player that the Rangers acquired via trade in 1996?
John Burkett – 60%
Mike Stanton – 33%
Damon Buford – 7%
Cory Bailey – 0%
Bryan Eversgerd – 0%
Dwayne Hosey -0%

Come back next week for an analysis of all the Rangers trades that will be made this week. Next week’s entry will probably be a little later than usual (probably on Monday the 6th).

Doug Melvin Trade Analysis Part 2

This is part 2 of an analysis of the trades Doug Melvin made while he was Rangers GM. This week I will cover 1996. Each trade will be scored a win, loss, or tie. The score is based on how each player contributed to the Rangers at the major league level.

13. 1/25/96 The New York Mets traded Damon Buford to the Texas Rangers for Terrell Lowery.

Win – Terrell Lowry never played for the Mets while Damon Buford gave the Rangers one solid season batting .283 (and also one poor season when he batted .224).

Record: 4-2-7

14. 4/18/96 The Boston Red Sox traded Bryan Eversgerd to the Texas Rangers for a player to be named later. The Texas Rangers sent Rudy Pemberton (April 24, 1996) to the Boston Red Sox to complete the trade.

Tie – Bryan Eversgerd pitched 1.3 innings for the Rangers and Rudy Pemberton played 40 games for the Red Sox.

Record: 4-2-8

15. 7/31/96 The Boston Red Sox traded a player to be named later and Mike Stanton to the Texas Rangers for Mark Brandenburg and Kerry Lacy. The Boston Red Sox sent Dwayne Hosey (November 4, 1996) to the Texas Rangers to complete the trade.

Win – nobody pitched more than 70 innings for their team but Mike Stanton was a key part of the bullpen down the stretch for the 1996 Rangers playoff team (3.22 ERA in 22 games). Hosey never appeared for the Rangers. Brandenburg pitched decent for the Red Sox in 1996 (3.81 ERA in 29 games) but poorly in 1997 (5.49 ERA in 31 games). Lacy had a 5.59 ERA in 44 games over two seasons for the Red Sox.

Record: 5-2-8

16. 8/8/96 The Florida Marlins traded John Burkett to the Texas Rangers for a player to be named later and Ryan Dempster. The Texas Rangers sent Rick Helling (September 3, 1996) to the Florida Marlins to complete the trade.

Loss – Even though John Burkett helped the Rangers to their first division title (5-2, 4.06 ERA plus a playoff win), he had an ERA over 5.00 and a record of 32-35 as a Ranger. Ryan Dempster went on to become a good, solid relief pitcher and Helling pitched 100 good innings for the Marlins.

Record: 5-3-8

17. 12/16/96 The St. Louis Cardinals traded Cory Bailey to the Texas Rangers for David Chavarria (minors).

Tie – Bailey never played for the Rangers and Chavarria never played in the majors.

Record: 5-3-9

Results of last week’s poll:
Question: Who do you think was the best Rangers GM out of the last four?
Melvin: 61%
Grieve: 26%
Daniels: 9%
Hart: 4%

Come back next week for part 3 of this series unless the Rangers make a trade.

Doug Melvin Trade Analysis Part 1

This is part 1of an analysis of the trades Doug Melvin made while he was Rangers GM. Each trade will be scored a win, loss, or tie. The score is based on how each player contributed to the Rangers at the major league level.

1. 12/9/1994 The Boston Red Sox traded Otis Nixon and Luis Ortiz to the Texas Rangers for Jose Canseco.

Loss – Canseco gave the Red Sox two good years (.306AVG/24HR and .289AVG/28 HR), while Nixon gave the Rangers 1 solid year, and Ortiz hit .231 for us 1 year and 7 at-bats the next.

Record: 0-1-0

2. 12/22/1994 The San Francisco Giants traded John Burkett to the Texas Rangers for Rich Aurilia and Desi Wilson.

Loss – Rich Aurilia was an All-Star for the Giants and played there for 9 years. Desi Wilson gave the Giants one good bench year, batting .271 in 41 games. Burkett didn’t play for the Rangers until they traded for him again in 1996.

Record: 0-2-0

3. 4/14/1995 Milwaukee Brewers traded Scott Taylor to the Texas Rangers for David Hulse.

Tie - It was a trade that didn’t really matter, because Scott Taylor pitched 15.3 innings for the Rangers and David Hulse played two bad bench seasons for the Brewers (averages of .251 and .222).

Record: 0-2-1

4. 5/16/1995 The Baltimore Orioles traded Jack Voigt to the Texas Rangers for John Dettmer.

Tie – This was also a trade that didn’t really matter, because Voigt had 71 AB for the Rangers and Dettmer never played for the Orioles.

Record: 0-2-2

5. 5/18/1995 The Houston Astros traded Domingo Jean to the Texas Rangers for Roger Luce (minors).

Tie – Neither of these players played for either team.

Record: 0-2-3

6. 6/22/1995 The Cleveland Indians traded Dennis Cook to the Texas Rangers for Guillermo Mercedes (minors).

Win – The Rangers got two solid years out of Cook (ERA’s of 4.00 and 4.09) while Mercedes never made it to the majors.

Record: 1-2-3

7. 7/30/1995 The Montreal Expos traded Lou Frazier to the Texas Rangers for a player to be named later. The Texas Rangers sent Hector Fajardo (August 5, 1995) to the Montreal Expos to complete the trade.

Win – The Rangers got one decent (.260) and one awful (.212) bench year from Frazier while Hector never made it to the majors with Montreal.

Record: 2-2-3

8. 8/8/1995 The Florida Marlins traded Bobby Witt to the Texas Rangers for players to be named later. The Texas Rangers sent Wilson Heredia (August 11, 1995) and Scott Podsednik (October 8, 1995) to the Florida Marlins to complete the trade.

Win – The Rangers traded away someone who never played outside of the Rangers organization and Scott Podsednik, who has had two good years, for Bobby Witt, who gave the Rangers two seasons where he had winning records and one .500 year. Witt went 16-12 and pitched almost 200 innings in the Rangers 1996 playoff season.

Record: 3-2-3

9. 8/16/1995 The Cincinnati Reds traded Craig Worthington to the Texas Rangers for Stephen Larkin and cash.

Tie – This trade means absolutely nothing because these players combined for 90 at-bats after being traded.

Record: 3-2-4

10. 8/31/1995 The Toronto Blue Jays sent Candy Maldonado to the Texas Rangers as part of a conditional deal.

Tie – This trade doesn’t mean much either as Candy only had 30 at-bats in a Ranger uniform.

Record: 3-2-5

11. 8/31/1995 The Boston Red Sox traded Chris Howard to the Texas Rangers for Jack Voigt.

Tie – Chris Howard pitched four innings for the Rangers and Jack Voigt never pitched for the Red Sox.

Record: 3-2-6

12. 12/1/1995 The San Francisco Giants sent Rikkert Faneyte to the Texas Rangers as part of a conditional deal.

Tie – Faneyte only had 8 career games.

Record: 3-2-7

Results of last week’s poll:
Question: Who do you think should have been the AL All-Star Final Vote winner?
Jeremy Bonderman – 27%
Roy Halladay – 27%
Hideki Okajima – 27%
Kelvim Escobar – 13%
Pat Neshek – 7%

Come back next week for part 2 of this series unless the Rangers make a trade.

Newberg Night Summary

This week I will write about Newberg Night at the Ballpark (Friday night July 6th).

Newberg Night started at 4:30 in the Legends of the Game Museum with a Q&A session with Will Carroll. Will does a column called ‘Under the Knife’ for Baseball Prospectus (http://www.baseballprospectus.com) where he describes and analyzes different baseball injuries. He has also written a couple of books, including ‘The Juice’. For the last few Newberg Days at the Ballpark, Will has flown to Dallas to do Q&A sessions and is always very interesting.

The year, Will answered questions for about 30 minutes, including these:
Q: Out of all the current Rangers injuries, are there any that might effect the players long-term?
A: Will mentioned Mark Teixeira, just because he’s never been injured before, so we don’t know how he’ll recover. He also mentioned Thomas Diamond, Vicente Padilla, and Brandon McCarthy. He said that Hank Blalock’s injury is common, so he should have an easy comeback.
Q: Are there some teams that are better at preventing injuries than others and if so, what do they do differently?
A: Will said that there is a difference. Some teams are significantly better because they care and put money into it. Some teams don’t care and are injury plagued. He mentioned Tampa Bay and Arizona as two teams that have done it right. He said that Texas is in the middle. Minnesota was an example of a team that has put almost no money into this area.

At 5:00 Jeff and Cindy Kuster did a presentation on the Hello Win Column Fund. Cindy is the daughter of Mark Holtz, who used to broadcast for the Rangers. They have a charity to help people with cancer. They showed some information about what the charity is for and told some stories about some of the people they helped. They then gave away a bunch of prizes to people who had donated money to the fund (you could donate money as you entered the museum). The best prize was having Will Carroll on the phone during your fantasy draft. I got to meet Jeff and Cindy later in the evening and they were both very friendly.

At 5:30, Jon Daniels came to start his Q&A session. Here are some of the highlights.

Q: Who in the Rangers minor league system do you think has the best potential at each position?
A:
P: Eric Hurley (he also mentioned Kasey Kiker)
1B: Jon said that the answer is probably a person who’s not playing first base right now. So he asked me who I thought it should be. I said Nate Gold and he said we’d go with that answer.
2B: German Duran
3B: John Whittleman
SS: Marcus Lemon (he also mentioned Joaquin Arias)
OF: John Mayberry (he also mentioned Jason Botts)
C: Taylor Teagarden (he also mentioned Kevin Richardson)

Q: What is the deepest position in the minor leagues?
A: Catcher or 3rd base

Q: What happened to Omar Beltre and Alexi Ogando?
A: They were paid money by an organized group of Dominican Republic criminals to marry women so that those women could get into the US. The US government found out about it and banned Beltre and Ogando from getting into the US. Jon said that he though the punishment was too much for the crime.

Q: What do you think have been the three best trades you’ve made so far in your career?
A: Jon said that he doesn’t like to grade himself and would leave it up to the fans to decide.

Q: When you’re thinking about making a trade, what are the criteria you consider?
A: You need to know where you are as a club, be comfortable with what you’re losing, and know what you’re getting.

Q: Who do you think are the most likely September call-ups?
A: Botts, Cruz, and Hurley.

Other interesting comments:
- Jon said that Eric Gagne was signed to a short-term deal with hopes for a long-term fit.
- Jason Botts is not in the majors yet because they’re not ready to give him full-time at-bats.
- Eric Hurley might be a September call-up because he’s rule-5 eligible after this year. But after the Q&A session he sent Jamey a correction that Eric is not rule 5 eligible until after next season, so maybe that would change Jon’s answer.
- Trade rumors are almost never true, but they’re usually based on some truth.
- Edinson Volquez has a decent chance of being back in the majors this year.
- When asked about the Danks/McCarthy trade, Jon said that he thought McCarthy was both closer to being ready to be a big major league contributor and also had more upside.
- He said that the media reports about a player rebellion against Ron Washington weren’t true. He seemed irritated by some of the media who reported the problems. He called the reports ‘ridiculous’ and thought there were some irresponsible reports.
- Padilla will make 1 or 2 rehab starts before coming back.
- Blalock won’t be back for 4-6 weeks.
- Teixeira may be back for the first game after the All-Star break.
- Once some people come back from injury, there’s a good change Metcalf will be sent back down so that he can have regular playing time.
- When asked to name some players he’s excited about, Jon mentioned Wilmer Font (rookie league RHP) and Eric Fry (rookie league OF).
- Benoit is responding to Washington’s management style as well as anyone.
- The Rangers considered signing Bonds but fan reaction was part of the consideration when making a decision.
- He sees Kasey Kiker as a starter because he has three pitches.

At about 6:45, after the interviews, we went to our suites to watch the game. I was in the same suite as Scott Lucas and his wife Courtney, Jamey Newberg, Will Carroll, and Eleanor Czajka. I enjoyed talking to all of them and they were all really nice. It was really good to meet Scott in person and we talked for a long time.

During the middle of the game, I was on TV, thanks to Jamey. Jim Knox was going to interview Jamey and asked him what the best question was from the Daniels Q&A. Jamey pointed at me and said that I had the best question and that they should get me on. So Jim agreed and I was on TV. I read my question about who had the best potential in the minor leagues at each position and Jim asked me to give the answer for pitcher (Eric Hurley and Kasey Kiker).

It was a close game and great for the Rangers. In the bottom of the 3rd Metcalf doubled and later got moved over to 3rd. Then Ramon Vazquez got a sac fly and the Rangers took a 1-0 lead. In the bottom of the sixth Marlon Byrd walked with two outs. The next batter, Brad Wilkerson homered into the home run porch, so the Rangers took a 3-0 lead. In the top of the 7th the Orioles had two runs of there own. Going into the top of the 9th the Rangers had a 3-2 lead. Then Gagne got his 1st blown save of the year and it went to extras, tied at 3. In the bottom of the 10th Travis Metcalf got a single to start the inning. Jerry Hairston then bunted him over. Ramon Vazquez would then walk, bringing up Michael Young. Then, on the 1st pitch of the at-bat Michael Young singled past the 3rd baseman for a walk-off single.

My best friend Reid Stovall has started a blog mainly about sports and just interviewed me. You can check it out at http://reidreport123.blogspot.com.

Last week’s poll results:
Who do you think should be the Rangers MVP?
Michael Young – 38%
Marlon Byrd – 23%
Sammy Sosa – 14%
Kenny Lofton – 5%
Mark Teixeira – 5%
Other – 5%
Jerry Hairston – 2%
Ian Kinsler -2%
Gerald Laird – 2%
Ramon Vazquez -2%
Brad Wilkerson – 2%
Frank Catalanotto – 0%
Victor Diaz – 0%
Chris Stewart -0%

Come back next week for part 1 of a series analyzing all of Doug Melvin’s trades unless the Rangers make a trade that I need to analyze.

Midseason Awards

This week I will do my midseason awards.

Rangers:

Rangers MVP: Michael Young: .295 AVG 4 HR 48 RBI
Runner-up: Kenny Lofton

Rangers CY Young: Akinori Otsuka: 2-1 W-L 2.64 ERA 23 K 4 S
Runner-up: CJ Wilson

Rangers Rookie of the Year: Chris Stewart (in Oklahoma): .243 AVG 0 HR 3 RBI
Runner-up: Travis Metcalf

AL:

AL MVP: A-ROD: .334 AVG 28 HR 79 RBI
Runner-up: Magglio Ordonez

AL CY Young: Dan Haren: 9-2 W-L 1.91 ERA 93 K
Runner-up: CC Sabathia

AL ROY: Dustin Pedrioa: .321 AVG 3 HR 23 RBI
Runner-up: Reggie Willits

AL Manager of the Year: Eric Wedge: Cleveland Indians 47-32 +0.5
Runner-up: Mike Hargrove: Seattle

NL:

NL MVP: Matt Holliday: .348 AVG 13 HR 61 RBI
Runner-up: Ken Griffey

NL CY Young: Brad Penny: 10-1 W-L 2.04 ERA 70 K
Runner-up: Cole Hamels

NL ROY: Hunter Pence: .336 AVG 8 HR 35 RBI
Runner-up: Troy Tulowitzki

NL Manager of the Year: Ned Yost: Milwaukee Brewers +6.5
Runner-up: Bob Melvin: Arizona

Results of last week’s poll:
Question: Who do you think should be the Rangers minor league MVP out of my team MVPs and runner-ups?
Duran – 43%
Botts – 13%
Teagarden – 13%
Whittleman – 13%
Hulett – 10%
Davis – 7%
Manriquez – 0%
Tracy – 0%

Come back next week for a write-up of Newberg Night at the Ballpark.

Rangers Minor League Report

This week for every team in the Rangers farm system (except for Spokane and the Arizona League Rangers who just started their seasons), I will give the team’s record, their players who are in the top 15 in stat categories, and the percentage that every player on the 40-man roster who’s in the minors has of being called up to the majors this season. I will also give my opinion on who I think should be each team’s award winners and who I think should be their League’s award winners.

Oklahoma Redhawks:

Right now the Redhawks are 4.0 games back (GB) with a 35-38 record

Redhawks league leaders:
- Jason Botts leads the league in walks with 53
- Freddy Guzman is tied for 1st in stolen bases with 21
- Mike Wood is 1st in WHIP with 0.83
- Mike Wood leads the league in ERA with a 2.28 ERA
- Jason Botts is tied for 10th in RBI’s with 50
- Nate Gold is 12th in the league in RBI’s with 48
- Tug Hulett is 12th in the league in walks with 35

Redhawks MVP: Jason Botts (.303 AVG, .907 OPS, 7 HR, 52 RBI)
Runner-up: Tug Hulett

Redhawks Cy Young: Mike Wood (6-1, 2.28 ERA)
Runner-up: John Koronka

League MVP: Micah Hoffpauir IOW
Runner-up: Val Pascucci ALB

League Cy Young: Kasey Olenberger SLC
Runner-up: Yovani Gallardo NAS (now in majors)

Redhawks on the 40-man roster:

Jason Botts:
Botts will be one of the 1st people they call up after a trade and will definitely be a September call-up if he’s not already up.
Percentage chance of being called up: 100%

Nelson Cruz:
Nelson Cruz will probably be called up before September, but if not is a September call-up so that he can get more major league experience.
Percentage: 100%

Scott Feldman:
He’s been called up and sent down all year and it will happen again and if not, he’s a definite September call-up.
Percentage: 100%

Freddy Guzman:
Freddy has a good chance of being called up because he’s a former major league outfielder.
Percentage: 54.3%

John Koronka:
John is probably going to make a few more spot starts, but if not, he’ll be a sure September call-up.
Percentage: 100%

Wes Littleton:
Wes is doing well in the minors and has already pitched in the majors this year. He’ll be a sure September call-up if not earlier.
Percentage: 100%

Kevin Mahar:
Kevin will probably be called up in September for some more experience.
Percentage: 87.6%

AJ Murray:
AJ is doing decent in the minors and will probably get called up in September for more experience.
Percentage: 94.3%

John Rheinecker:
John is doing decent and will probably be a September call-up.
Percentage: 72.4%

Chris Stewart:
Since Stewart was already up he’ll probably be a September call-up.
Percentage: 79.6%

Mike Wood:
Mike will make more spot starts and will be a September call-up.
Percentage: 100%


Frisco RoughRiders:

The RoughRiders won the 1st half so they are in the playoffs. Right now they are 1.0 GB with a 3-2 record in the second half.

RoughRiders league leaders:
- Eric Hurley leads the league in WHIP with 1.11
- Anthony Webster leads the league in stolen bases with 15
- Eric Hurley, Doug Mathis and Luis Mendoza are tied for 1st in wins with 7
- German Duran is 2nd in HR’s with 14
- Eric Hurley is 2nd in K’s with 76
- German Duran is tied for 2nd in AVG, batting .327
- Jesse Ingram is 3rd in saves with 14
- German Duran is tied for 3rd in RBI’s with 43
- Eric Hurley is 4th in IP with 88.2.
- Eric Hurley is tied for 4th in ERA with a 3.25 ERA
- Salomon Manriquez is tied for 5th in HR’s with 12
- Steve Murphy is 6th in AVG, batting .318
- Edinson Volquez is tied for 6th in wins with 6
- Casey Bejamin is 7th in walks with 36
- Kevin Richardson is tied for 8th in HR’s with 10
- Doug Mathis is 9th in ERA with a 3.66 ERA
- Kea Kometani is tied for 10th in saves with 4
- Armando Galarraga is tied for 10th in wins with 5
- Brandon Boggs is tied for 12th in HR’s with 9
- Salomon Manriquez is tied for 12th in RBI’s with 39
- Casey Benjamin and Steve Murphy are tied for 14th in RBI’s with 37
- Armando Galarraga is tied for 14th in K’s with 55.

RoughRiders MVP: German Duran (.327 AVG, .951 OPS, 14 HR, 44 RBI)
Runner-up: Salomon Manriquez

RoughRiders CY Young: Eric Hurley (7-2, 3.25 ERA)
Runner up: Doug Mathis

League MVP: German Duran, Frisco
Runner-up: Joe Mather SPR

League Cy Young: Eric Hurley, Frisco
Runner-up: Chance Douglass COR

RoughRiders on the 40-man roster:

Armando Galarraga:
Armando probably won’t be called up this year.
Percentage: 0%

Edinson Volquez:
Edinson might get a September call-up if does really well the rest of this season.
Percentage: 46.9%


Bakersfield Blaze:

The Blaze lost in the 1st half. Right now they are 3.0 GB with a 0-3 record in the second half.

Blaze league leaders:
- John Mayberry is 3rd in home runs with 16 and leads the Rangers system
- Taylor Teagarden is 8th in walks with 41
- Chris Davis and Taylor Teagarden are tied for 9th in homeruns with 12
- Taylor Teagarden is 10th in batting average, batting .313
- Ronald Bay is tied for 10th in strikeouts with 64
- Kendy Batista is 11th in WHIP with a 1.23 WHIP
- Chris Davis is tied for 11th in RBI’s with 48
- Andrew Walker is 12th in IP, pitching 82.1 innings
- Kendy Batista is tied for 13th in strikeouts with 60
- Truan Mehl is tied for 14th in stolen bases with 11
- John Mayberry is 15th in runs with 47
- Andrew Walker is tied for 15th in WHIP with a 1.36 WHIP
- Ryan Knippschild and Scott Shoemaker are tied for 15th in saves with 3

Blaze MVP: Taylor Teagarden (.311 AVG, 1.052 OPS, 12 HR, 39 RBI)
Runner-up: Chris Davis

Blaze Cy Young: Kendy Batista (3-1, 4.23 ERA)
Runner-up: Michael Schlact

League MVP: Bubba Bell LNC
Runner-up: Kyle Blanks LAK

League Cy Young: Manny Ayala LAK
Runner-up: Brandon Hynick MOD


Clinton Lumberkings:

The Lumberkings were a wildcard in the 1st half so they are in the playoffs. Right now they are 0.0 GB with a 2-1 record in the second half.

Lumberkings league leaders:
- Chad Tracy leads the league in RBI’s with 58
- Michael Ballard is tied for 1st for wins with 9
- John Whittleman is 2nd in walks with 45
- Craig Gentry is 3rd in stolen bases with 21
- John Whittleman is tied for 3rd in homeruns with 13
- John Whittleman is tied for 4th in runs with 45
- Jose Vallejo is tied for 4th in stolen bases with 20
- Zachary Phillips and Omar Poveda are tied for 5th in the league for wins with 5
- Zachary Phillips is 6th in strikeouts with 79
- KC Herren is 6th in batting average, batting .325
- John Whittleman is 6th in RBI’s with 46
- Omar Poveda is tied for 7th in WHIP with a 1.06 WHIP
- John Whittleman is 9th in batting average, batting .317
- Jose Vallejo is 9th in runs with 42
- Zachary Phillips is tied for 10th in ERA with a 2.62 ERA
- Omar Poveda is 11th in IP, pitching 78.2 innings
- Omar Poveda is tied for 12th in ERA with a 2.63 ERA
- Marcus Lemon is 13th in walks with 30
- Omar Poveda is tied for 13th in strikeouts with 68
- Chad Tracy is tied for 13th in homeruns with 8
- Glenn Swanson is tied for 15th in wins with 6

Lumberkings MVP: John Whittleman (.317 AVG, .992 OPS, 13 HR, 46 RBI)Runner-up: Chad Tracy

Lumberkings Cy Young: Omar Poveda (7-2, 2.63 ERA)
Runner-up: Zachary Phillips

League MVP: Brandon Buckman QC
Runner-up: John Whittleman BAK

League Cy Young: Rafael Gonzalez DAY
Runner-up: Brett Anderson SOU


Last week’s poll results:
Question: Who do you think is the Rangers best draft pick out of the top 5?
Blake Beaven – 45%
Michael Main – 36%
Julio Borbon – 13%
Neil Ramirez – 6%
Tommy Hunter – 0%

Come back next week for my mid-season awards.