I told a couple of friends at school who are Dallas locals that I would write occasionally about the Rangers this summer.  Today seems like a pretty reasonable day to do that considering that they now sit comfortably atop their own division and tied with the New York Yankees for first in the American League.  As a fan of the game and someone who follows the draft and the minor leagues to some extent, it comes as no surprise to see the Rangers doing so well.  It was regarded as almost laughable by many of my friends from Dallas when I suggested that the Rangers were playoff-bound in 2010.  Despite coming within shouting distance last season, the Rangers most recent playoff appearance came in 1999, and they have never won a pennant.  While I think they may be a move from securing what I think would be a top 3 team in baseball, everyone with an inquisitive mind understands that the playoffs are a roll of the dice, and once in, any team has a shot.  Barring injury, these Rangers seem like a lock for a playoff berth even without a major upgrade at the deadline.

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Nomar Garciaparra

March 5, 2001

Be sure to check out Brett Phelps’s latest article over at youbeenblinded.com

Exploring Scott Boras’s statistical projections that helped score A-Rod $252 million

Pete Rose

March 27, 1989

As anyone who knows me will tell you, I am a die-hard fan of the Colorado Rockies. And at times, being a fan of a team in the NL West is tough.  After all, I live in DC, so most Rockies home games don’t start until around 9PM.  And when they’re on the road, sometimes I won’t see the first pitch until as late as 10:15PM, which means the game ends well after midnight.  More often than I would care to remember, I have walked into work the morning after a Rockies-Giants thriller at AT&T Park muttering, “These West Coast road trips are killing me.”  Add this to the fact that the NL West receives almost no national media attention, coupled with the fact that my Rockies have never taken home a division title in the franchise’s seventeen-year history, and one can see why I might wish my team played in the weaker, more time-zone friendly NL Central.

But I don’t.  And there are three very good reasons every year why I’m glad my team plays in baseball’s forgotten division. Those reasons are named Jon Miller, Dick Enberg and Vin Scully.

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