Now Posting at Lone Star Ball

Anyone who still checks this blog with some regularity has noticed that I fell into the trap that destroys many amateur bloggers such as myself: time committment. It was simply too much of a strain on my time to maintain this blog at the rate we were going.

Since I still enjoy writing (especially about baseball), though, I've come up with another outlet , where the infrequency of articles won't be an issue: I'll be making weekly FanPosts at Rangers mega-blog Lone Star Ball (fanposts aren't necessarily front-paged, you can find the links in a column on the right hand side). My username there is "John Paul" (I'm obviously not going for anonymity here).

Anyways, I'll keep a catalog of my LSB posts here for anyone who still stops by:

November 18th: A Statistical Look at Mitch, Ian, Elvis, and Michael

November 9th: Designated Ranger Killers

September 1st: Home Run Productivity

August 27th: Off Topic: Simulating the Monty Hall Problem

August 12th: There's No Place Like Home -- AL Edition

August 7th: The Eye of the Elvis


Enjoy!

John Paul

Friday Foto: My Birthday Present

My birthday came and went recently, and I thought I'd share a "voucher" of sorts that my wife Regina gave me, which she designed herself:

I thought it was real at first.

Monday Movie / Former Ranger Great Update: Jason Botts Update

A little over a year ago, I made this post, an update of how our old buddy Jason Botts was doing over in Japan (I'm also somewhat proud of it, as the post was a hit over on Rangers mega-blog LoneStarBall). The highlight of the post was this video:

And until now, that was the last I had heard from him. In case anyone is still wondering, Botts had a stint with the White Sox in spring training this year, but was released on March 17th after going just 1 for 12. It will be interesting to see where he lands.

A Reason for Hope

The Rangers are now 6-9 -- not exactly the hot start for which we had hoped, and perhaps magnified by the expectations levied upon this team. There may, however, be some hope in the fact that the Rangers have scored more runs on the season (62) than they have allowed (61), giving a Pythagorean W-L (expected W-L) record of 8-7.

A two game difference this early in the season doesn't mean much, which perhaps is exactly the point . . . they are certainly better than their current record shows, even if it's just by two games.

What a Difference 4.5 Years Makes . . . .

In tonight's 3-0 victory over the Red Sox at Fenway Park, CJ Wilson recorded the win as a starting pitcher. His last win as a starter came ... never. Compare the statlines from CJ's last 3 starts in 2005 with the statlines from CJ's first three starts this season:

2005:

IP -- ER -- BB -- SO

6.0 -- 4 -- 4 -- 6
2.2 -- 8 -- 2 -- 0
2.2 -- 5 -- 1 -- 1

ERA in these starts: 13.50


2010:

IP -- ER -- BB -- SO

7.0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 9
6.0 -- 3 -- 3 -- 5
6.2 -- 0 -- 2 -- 2

ERA in these starts: 1.37

Former Ranger Great Update: Luis Mendoza

Everyone reading a blog like this remembers Luis Mendoza; mostly not for good reasons. His entrance into a game usually meant (1) a blowout situation, or (2) a game about to become a blowout situation. His parting from the Rangers was a joyous occasion, I imagine, for most Ranger fans (or at least for me). He's now giving up gopher balls for the Royals, and noted Royals blogger Rany Jazayerli offers this tidbit on what Mendoza brings to the table:

"Luis Mendoza has a career 8.32 ERA in the majors. He has a career 4.67 ERA IN TRIPLE-A. He has a career 5.06 ERA IN DOUBLE-A. I could pull out a host of more advanced statistics, but really, does anything more need to be said? He sucks. The Royals have nothing invested in him. Designate him for assignment, and if by some miracle another team claims him – count your blessings."

We Ranger fans are indeed counting our blessings in this regard.

Year in Review: Awards

Let's start first with the Rangers.

MVP. Marlon Byrd. I know Michael Young had better numbers in almost every offensive category, and yet I'm still picking Byrd. Without Byrd, the Rangers offense would have struggled mightily-more so than it already did, at least. Also, I lean towards Byrd because Young missed basically the final month of season. Byrd, now a three-year Ranger veteran, has proven to be a true leader for this team. I'm a huge fan of how he plays the game, and I think this year he deserved it.

Runner-up. Michael Young. Easy choice. Young was having a fantastic year before his injury and his numbers still looked terrific. No other Ranger came close to the status of Byrd and Young.

Pitcher of the Year. Scott Feldman. Feldman has now proven that he is an elite starter. If not for his bad finish he could have been the game's only 20 game winner. But that's irrelevant. Feldman saved the Rangers staff when he joined it in April and all but took over Millwood's spot as the Ace.

Runner-up. C.J Wilson. A lot of people don't like C.J. I've talked to him a few times and there couldn't be a friendlier person. He's also a great pitcher. From what I've heard, peoples' reasons for disliking Wilson are pretty arbitrary. One lady said on the radio that she didn't like C.J because she didn't like his personality when she got to speak with him at a public event. You get the picture. But the bottom line is that on the mound he was dynamite, especially in the first half. He came up huge in the bullpen for the Rangers this year.

Now, for the league awards. I'm running out of time here, so this will be brief.

AL MVP. I'm going with Joe Mauer. What else does he need to prove? He's a classic ballplayer who plays classic baseball the way it's meant to be played.

NL MVP. Albert Pujols.

AL Cy Young. Felix Hernandez.

NL Cy Young. Adam Wainwright.

AL ROY. Elvis Andrus.

NL ROY. Tommy Hanson.

AL Manager of the Year. Mike Scioscia.

NL Manager of the Year. Jim Tracy.

Note: Sorry if this week's recap of the season was a little stale. It happened that it landed right on the week that I had a boatload of tests to study for.