Originally Posted by
kjr_trig
http:///forum/post/3285768
Off the topic....Rueben, what do you think of your new pitcher? I shall be rooting for the Rangers to win it all, Cliff Lee is a damn nice guy. Glad the M's didn't send him to the Yankees.
I'm really happy for the rangers, I think Nolan has really turned things around there. They were bad for a long time. And although they aren't 5000' high, there was a lot of talk, even among the team (while I worked there) that it would be really difficult to put together a great team, because of how hitter friendly that park is. (remember that park comes in second every year to Colorado in home runs. Their outfield is huge and rivals colorado. So there were lots of smart baseball people who argued that their field puts them at a disadvantage and makes it difficult to put together a winning team. While I was there on the grounds crew, they made some field changes, like that triangle infront of the plate used to be rock hard, and they tilled it up, plus they grew out the infield alot, (it used to be like a green it was soo short). That year they actually came in like 2nd in their division. And well I think Nolan has really taught those guys how to use that to their advantage. Oral Hershiser, and Buck Showalter weren't quite what he doctor ordered. But the team of Ron Washington (he's the only basecoach I actually remembered) He is that dynamic of a character. (when the A's would come into town) And Nolan has taught the pitchers to play with some grit. What you really need if you're going to play there. They've taken that team from a washed up slugger team, to more of a scrappy gamer team that can smash the ball. They've found the balance between the sit back and hit homers, and the hard nosed David eckstein. I personally think the addition of Vlad was HUGE this year. Because that guy is an RBI machine. And they really faultered with runners on base back in the day. This Cliff Lee thing is really really exciting because they finally have a true Ace. Plus is clears Smoak out of the way for this guy they have a roundrock (AAA afiliate) that is just smoking hot right now. Depending on the players to be named later, I think they got an AWESOME deal. I personally really like the pitcher who can pitch a complete game, and Cliff has done that what 5 out of the last 6 games. But talk about a strange box score last night 6 earned runs a complete game and pitched under 100 pitches. I really think he'll be a great addition to that team, because he gets the ball on the ground in play... Now if only they could get their ownership straightened out. They'd be on the gravy chain...
