My Rangers season came to a close with a loss to the Twins and finished the year with an 80-82 record. If you read the newspaper here in Big D you'd think they finished last instead of one game back in the division. What is even more interesting the paper makes it sound as if the Rangers had managed to make the playoffs everything would have been okay. To be honest, I was okay with finishing 2nd and letting the Disastros own the record for of the worst winning percentage to make the playoffs.
Now the the beat writer for the Rangers thinks they need a total overhaul. Give me a break. Despite the massive number of injuries the team faced, they were right there. I'm sure that you could go back through the season and find 5 games that the team lost that they should have won. Changing those games to wins and now the Rangers are sitting at 85-77 and the beat writers are saying something completely different.
There's no doubt that there does need to be changes made, but that doesn't mean a complete overhaul. Chris Young the GM said that the team needs to be tougher and play a grittier game of baseball. I agree. Who's the one responsible for that? If you ask me, it's the manager. It starts with developing a mindset in the offseason and pushing it through Spring training and into the season. In my opinion, the issue of the Rangers this year falls at the feet of the manager, Skip Schumaker. I think he overmanages. Tries to play the analytical game too much. I can't tell you the number of times he pinch hit for someone in the 4th or 5th inning at a pitching change only to have it comeback later in the game and not have a bench. On top of that, I don't think he managed the bullpen very well. Case in point, in the next to the last home game against the Mets, he brought the closer, Jacob Latz in the seventh inning in a 2-2 game with 1 out. He got out of the jam. All good right? Was he trying to get him to get 8 outs? I don't know what the thought was. When Semien hit the go-ahead homer in the 8th, Latz had already gotten 4 outs. With Latz done and unavailable to close out the game, Schumaker had to use a bullpen without his closer and the team gave up 4 more runs to lose 7-2. Now, no one knows what the score would be if Latz doesn't pitch the 7th, but if another pitcher throws the 7th and gets out of the jam or gives up a run or two, the Rangers would still have 9 more outs to get the runs back and a closer to finish the game. Doesn't make sense to me.
All of that to say, the Rangers are closer to the playoffs than people think and they just need some tweaking instead of an overhaul or maybe just a little luck. Rant over. Time for some ramblings.
* I used to be able to pick up quite a bit of cards on Facebook claim sales and auctions. Not so much anymore. People don't seem to be selling the stars as much and if they are, the prices are way higher. Same for the inserts. I've started watching to see what the cards are selling for on Facebook and then looking them up on Ebay and Ebay is way cheaper.
* Went to the Dallas Card Show in July and picked up some cards.
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Nice pickups!
ReplyDeleteI can't say I know much about the Rangers. That was the first time I heard of the closer's name to give you an idea. But I've been following the playoffs closely, and they've been a lot of fun ... so far.
I'm anti-grading so I have basically one opinion: don't do it (in most cases).
1) The 1958 All-Stars have to be some of the best looking cards of the 1950s.
ReplyDelete2) Nice pick-up with the Trout card. It really snuck up on me while reading this post.
3) I am generally a fan of grading for various reasons, with the biggest being my history of buying cards remotely only to realize my internal grading system is much stricter than almost every seller I have encountered. TPGs are an industry that hasn't made it easy to like them, operating in a two steps forward, one step backward manner for much of the last 40 years.
Congrats on finding the Trout especially in raw form when to many slab happy people want a slabbed version the 58s aren't to shabby either
ReplyDeletea. It'll be interesting to see what happens in the AL West next season. I'm starting to get excited again for A's baseball. On the other hand, they could trade all of their stars away for minor leagues this off season... like they've done so many times before.
ReplyDeleteb. I own a ton of graded cards. Bought them when they were affordable, but never actually graded anything myself. I have a stack of ten to twenty vintage cards in my collection that I'd like to get graded at some point. However with the submission prices being so insane... it'll likely never happen. Honestly... I understand why people don't like them. And I understand why people do. Our hobby is large enough for both sides to get along.
I didn’t pay a lot of attention to the Rangers this season but most of your comments I would apply to my 2026 Royals team.
ReplyDeleteFor what it’s worth, I’d grab a 57 Mantle over a 1960 one without hesitation. (I have both.) The 1957 Topps set, a nice condition one, is beautiful.
I’m not a fan of grading cards. I’ve purchased a few and “broken” most of them open so I could put the cards in my set binders. I do have 3 (different) 1961 Mantle cards that are slabbed and also the 1962 Mantle All-Star card. I left those slabbed since I won’t live forever and my kids might have an easier time selling them that way.
My son is living in Dallas right now. I’ve been thinking about visiting him sometime when there’s a show. Some local dealers have told me that the Dallas shows have about everything imaginable. Would you agree?
If I ever make it down there, I’ll let you know and perhaps we could meet.
The Dallas Show has almost everything imaginable. I would love to meet up if you make it here!
DeleteNo slabs for me.
ReplyDeleteDislike grading of cards mostly because they artificially drive up the cost of cards I need. although I'd prefer mint cards I just love to get ones that I need regardless of condition. I am totally fine with the ones I have that look like they've been rescued from a puddle or Fido's fangs.
ReplyDelete