The Fix: The Dallas Cowboys

• Have you ever watched someone interpret sign language and looked at the expressions on their faces?  Why do they all look like they really hate what they are doing?
• The NFL is trying to wrap up their probe of Brett Favre and his attempted “textual liaison” with former Jets employee Jenn Sterger.  My guess is, if the probe is anywhere near as long as that thing he sent to Sterger, it should be over in a matter of seconds.
• You know the Cowboys are a terrible team when Jerral Jones finally opens up to the media that he is not optimistic that the team can turn around and make it to the playoffs.  It’s too bad he is just now realizing something the fans and players have known all along.  Something else we’ve noticed; Wade Phillips sucks.
• Speaking of Wade Phillips:  He has finally laid down the edict that celebrations will only be allowed after a win.  Needless to say the next time we see a hook ‘em horns sign or a leap frog will be in 2011’s preseason.
• It is amazing that out of chaos comes order.  And there is no better place example than that of one Roy E. Williams.  It is really saying something when out of the 11 guys on the field in offense, the one guy you would most like to get rid of is the one producing and emerging as a team leader.  I need to check the thermometer in Hell…

Any Who…

        I was faced with an unbelievable dilemma this weekend; clean dog poop out of the backyard or watch dog poop on the television.  I chose the latter but ended up going to the former near halftime of that bowel movement that was Cowboys’ football.

        I missed the game last week but still have it saved on my DVR so I can watch it either to get statistical insight or to help me fall asleep.  However, after watching that shameful display Sunday afternoon, I might decide on clearing out the space so I can record more post season baseball.

        Ahhh, the Rangers.  If it wasn’t for them we’d all be watching the food network while waiting for another mediocre season of Maverick basketball to get started.  But as you all know, I could talk about the Rangers forever.  But this week I want to dedicate about 3000 words to the terriblest (another made up word) football team in America.

        You’re probably thinking, “What about the Bills?”  That’s a good question.  Unfortunately, everyone knew the Bills would struggle this year, much like the Browns, Seahawks and the perennial last place Raiders.  There are also some other teams that the blue Kool-Aid crowd would say are either in the same predicament or worse than America’s Team, but the difference is those teams truly lack talent.  The cowboys are probably the best-worst team in the history of the NFL because they, no matter what they try to do, cannot get out of their own way.

        So how does one go about fixing the team?  Well I’m glad you asked.

        First things first, Wade has to go.  He doesn’t’ need to be moved to another position or reassigned to be the defensive coordinator.  He needs to be removed from the team altogether.  His make excuses, laissez-faire attitude has been detrimental to the growth of this team and has kept them mired in this stew of mediocrity.  Wade has had four years, three too long, to make this team a contender.  Yet every year, as another season comes to a close and Wade is getting out his excuse book, this team ends up falling far short of where the talent dictates they should be.

        Once Wade is gone, the GM should then place the interim tag on the red-headed fraud, Jason Garrett.  You see, from all accounts during the T.O.-Patrick Crayton-Roy Williams meeting that happened a few years ago, Garrett was pissed and wanted to discipline the trio but couldn’t because the man upstairs has stated he handles all fines.

        Now two things work in the Cowboys and Jones’ favor here; if you fire Wade, you only have to pay him for the season and no more.  Garrett’s contract also runs out at the conclusion of the year, thus keeping Jones from bringing in a coach and paying him to do nothing next year (in the event of a lockout).  This gives the team the opportunity to evaluate Garrett, see if all the hype was worth the exorbitant salary, and if not, you let him go and there is no harm done and no money left on the books.  Then you start all over again.

        The third thing you have to do if you want this thing to turn around is remove Jones as GM and put another Jones, Stephen, in charge.  He seems to have the business acumen to get this thing back on the right track and will bring in quality, value guys not just some guys Jerry wants because he has them in his fantasy league.  It was Stephen that was the catalyst behind T.O.’s departure and it has been him that has been more involved in drafts and day to day operations.

        Now, I can’t attest to all the things he has or hasn’t done, but if you can talk Jerry into releasing of one of his pet project-man crushes, then I would say you are pretty damn good.  It also doesn’t hurt that one of your references happens to be one Duane Parcells.  And I don’t think we need to question that guy on his football knowledge.

        I can surely attest that if these moves were made, then the cowboys would be on the right track, like yesterday.  But seriously, who am I kidding?  Jerry wouldn’t give up his toy no matter how terribly bad this thing gets.  He is on a mission: to out Al Davis Al Davis.   And before long, after this team is pushed into relative obscurity, when the fans stop really giving a damn and the only time the Cowboys are relevant is when they are playing a far superior St. Louis Rams team, is when Jerry will realize his mistake and truly understand what he has done.

        And by then, the only glimpses of him will be through a tinted window in an owners’ box.  And if you squint and turn your head just right, you’ll see him in the corner in the silver and blue jumpsuit and gold-chained glasses wondering what might have been if he had only listened.

         

The Moment

I'm so excited and I just can't hide it
I'm about to lose control and I think I like it…

-The Pointer Sisters

        Man o man, here we are!

        I never thought I would see the day when my Rangers would actually accumulate more wins than the opposition in a given series, but here we are.  And by no means was it easy.

        We all in Rangerland thought the series was over once Texas jumped out to a 2-0 series lead.  We were making plans, wondering which team (NY-Min) was going to have the unfortunate luck of playing us.  Didn’t matter where we played, when we played or who we played—we were on a roll and someone was about to get rolled over. 

        We watched in amusement when the Rays were crying over calls Rangers’ fans in the past were all too familiar with.  We laughed as Rays skipper Buddy Holly was tossed out in game two arguing about Michael Young’s alleged strike out against one of his scrub pitchers.

        We watched the Rays over think every situation while we flew around the bases with such ease and were getting hits off of their staff like it was a wiffle ball tourney.  It was like nothing we had witnessed before in Rangers’ history.  Even if you didn’t want to believe, you were forced to because the team was playing that good.  We started getting breaks and everything was going swell.  The collective thought throughout Arlington was there was no way this thing was going back to Tampa.  We were going to finish it here and the baseball world would know they had a sleeping giant on its hands.  And even though we were warned that it wasn’t over by the teams Moses, Ron Washington, we dismissed that crazy talk because it was over. 

We had left the Rays in our rearview mirrors, casually motoring away from the scene of the hit and run not thinking they might still get up.

Then the series moved back to Texas.

At first, Game 3 began to resemble the first two—the hitters were held in check and we ended up taking the lead.  But just like the end of Game 1, the bullpen couldn’t hold it and we got mollywopped.  The air started slowly seeping out of the balloon and fans were left wondering what happened.  Had Wash mishandled the bullpen?  Did he pull Lewis too soon?  Did he not use Darren O’Day long enough and did he place Neftali Feliz in too early?  If the Rangers collapse, should Washington lose his job?

I can answer them all in one word—No!  It would be easy to toss all the blame on Wash, but the answer is much simpler than that.  Wash hadn’t done anything he hadn’t done all year.  He had no choice but to pull Lewis because eventually he was going to give up the hit that was going to drive all those walked batters in.  So the logical thing to do was go to the bullpen, one of the strengths of the team and ask them to do what they had done for him all year—close it out.  Only they failed and that guaranteed that there would be baseball played at noon the following Sunday.

Sunday came and so did another loss.  And so to began the rumblings from the “fans” and media about what went wrong these past two home games and why this would be a choke job of monumental proportions.  We had trained ourselves to think in defeat because that was all we knew in the metroplex as it pertains to our sports franchises.

The Cowboys have been mediocre since the ‘90s; the Mavericks are all flash, no substance and the Stars?  Well at the moment, Tom Hicks still owns them, so…

Anyway, Wash told all of us to be patient and believe.  Above all else, he told his players to go out, have fun and leave all the chatter in the background.  He said he knew his team and he felt good about the chance they had against the Rays on their own turf.  He knew the Rays were going to be overconfident and their manager, so full of bluster and himself, would once again become over analytical and basically take his team out of the game.

And for all the talk of stats and numbers and professorial lectures Maddon provided, what he couldn’t provide was a solution to the Rangers.  There was nothing they could do to stop the machine that was supposed to get swept, let alone be around for game five.  There was nothing they could do to stop Andrus from scoring on a ground out to 1^st or Nellie stealing third and then rumbling home on an error.  There was nothing the Rays could do as Vlad did his best Andrus impression and decided he’d go home as well when Price held the ball too long trying to cover first and stood in disbelief when the runner was called safe.

The Rays could not get out of their own way and made mistake after mistake and lost to a far better team than them.  When asked in the post game press conference about stealing a page from the Rays’ playbook, Washington replied, “That’s the way the Texas Rangers play ball.  We didn’t steal anything.”

And that is the type of confidence that has been lacking with this team and Wash has instilled it into them. 

But most of all, we need to have the same faith in our team as the skipper does and enjoy the moment.      

    

The Case Against Ron Washington

• Dallas Morning News Rangers' beat writer Evan Grant addressed this very issue with a reader in his blog.  It the last question in his Q&A and is worth the read.   Check it out here.

At 4 p.m. on Saturday, the 2-0 Rangers will begin play against the Rays in The Ballpark in Arlington.

By 7:30, the team and the city could be celebrating its first postseason series win and will be gearing up for the ALCS against the Yankees.

Yet for all the drama and excitement that surrounds this team, there seems to be a lack of respect for one of the team’s biggest difference makers over the course of the past four years.

Since Wash’s hiring, he has been criticized constantly regarding his managerial style.  It doesn’t matter that the Rangers have improved every year that he has been at the helm.  It doesn’t matter that his team respects, listens and follows him and has added his personality to their play and became AL West Champs for the first time in 11 years.  It doesn’t matter that the team loves playing for him and gives 100% every time they step on the field.

The man owns the clubhouse.  He has the ear of team leader Michael Young, who credits Wash for everything that has taken place during his tenure.  His players love him and all he has done since he’s been here is put his team in position to win.

But to some, that simply is not enough and never will be.

If politics have taught us anything it is people will dislike, and in some cases hate, people just because.  And whenever there is unbridled hate and distrust, some will just pile on no matter how wrong, ignorant or just plain stupid their rationale is.

Case-in-point is the President of the United States is different than what this country is use to and people are afraid and distrustful of the government as a result.  For some, their fears could be quelled if some of their questions and concerns were answered honestly and candidly.  Instead there are those in our country who thrive on fear and dishonesty and will stop at nothing to exploit those fears for their own gains.  And soon those tepid fears morph into realities and to many, they have to do something in order to “stop the threat”, whatever it may be, that is destroying the country.  That’s just the way it is.

But too often, people feel powerless and they resort to attacking and demonizing what’s close to them.  They take out their frustrations on those who they can reach out and touch, the person that reminds them most of the person they hate or fear.  And that, for the moment is what satisfies them.

And that seems to be that case against Ron Washington.

Since the Rangers moved to Arlington in 1972, there have been only four postseason appearances by the club.  And of those four, three were led by Manager Johnny Oates and all ended in ALDS futility at the hands of the Yankees.

One win in 10 games and Oates has been revered in this town as if he were Connie Mack or Joe Torre leading the team to championship after championship when clearly that is not the case.

Even though he had all the talent in the world on his squads, including MVPs Juan Gonzalez and Ivan Rodriguez, Oates still couldn’t win anything.  He was released at the conclusion of the ’01 season after the Rangers failed to finish above .500 and after getting swept by the Yankees in what would become the teams’ final playoff appearance for a while. 

Regardless of the talent Oates possessed around him, he was inexplicably free from blame if you were to compare him to what Wash goes through now. The teams of the ‘90s were all about power and scoring runs.  There was no adjustment and when they couldn’t hit, it was game over.  Pitching was never a focus or a priority and the team generally acquired unwanted free agents or made late season trades, which was the case with the ’96 team and John Burkett.

That has been the history of this franchise and every Rangers’ fan knows it.  For years, almost in unison we’ve all deplored the dismissive attitude the club has taken towards pitching.  We’ve seen Kenny Rogers, Kevin Brown and others flourish when they leave Texas and play for franchises that actually care about winning and not just the entertainment factor of shooting the ball over the fences. 

The fans and the media have called for the team to get serious about winning, develop their own players and play good fundamental baseball.

Buck Showalter was brought in to do just that, but he was more of a taskmaster than a true leader and players didn’t care for his style.  And it showed when the team never finished above third in a division with only four teams. 

Then along came a man with a plan to turn everything around, from the ground up, and turn the club into a winner.  He knew it would take time, but if the organization could believe and actually stick with a plan, he knew he could change the culture of losing and make the club winners.  He knew what to do.  He had been in Oakland and had seen the talent that could be harvested and put on the field if an organization had a top-down plan in place and stuck with it.

And that’s what Wash and John Daniels did.

For every dramatic walk-off home run that Cruz hits, it’s chalked up to talent on Cruz’s part, not the fact that in at least one of those situations, Wash used him as a pinch hitter giving him the opportunity.

And for every pitching change, even if it were three in the same inning that ultimately resulted in a win, somehow Maddox gets the credit and if it goes bad, Wash gets the blame.

When the team bunts, sometimes incessantly, Wash gets criticized because they are not going up to the plate and hacking away, when in fact that’s the exact thing everyone has been complaining about for years.

And through all the criticism leveled at the man, all he does is win.  And he’s doing it the way we as fans have always envisioned it; through fundamental baseball played with reckless abandon.  Yet for the life of me I cannot understand why the man doesn’t get the recognition he deserves.

I’ve heard the excuse that the AL West is down this year and there was no way the Rangers could lose.  And when they did win, it went from there was no way they could lose, to “well, anyone could have coached this team and won because the Angels were so bad.”

But if you look at the standings from the previous trips to the postseason, shouldn’t you say the same for Oates?  In ’96 and ‘98, the Angels finished fourth, while in ’98 they finished second.  Did that make Oates less of a manager? No. 

On the flip side, what do we make of the teams that always finished ahead of us?  We revere Angels’ skipper Mike Scosia for winning the West all the time, but do we add the caveat, the West is so bad, he has to win?

No we don’t.  And the only thing I can surmise is people don’t like Washington because of who they think he is, not who he is.

The reasons vary from his less than perfect grasp of the English language to his admitted drug use.  But the biggest reason I think he’s lambasted is because he is different from what people are use to.  And the only thing that will satisfy them is to go back to what they had.  But if you look at the win-loss records of both men through their first four years, they are remarkably similar.

Through Oates first four years, his record was 329-321 (+28); Washington’s is 331-317(+14).  Now one could point to the fact that Oates took the Rangers to the playoffs twice during that time, but the record was an underwhelming 1-6.  Wash already has two wins and his team has all the confidence in the world heading back to Arlington.

Also under Oates, it was later determined that Arlington was ground zero for steroids during the ‘90s.  During Wash’s tenure, Hamilton fell off the wagon, pictures were posted on Deadspin.com and Wash received some criticism for Hamilton’s failure because it was argued that a manager should know what goes on in the clubhouse.

But by that rationale, doesn’t that make Oates more complicit in illegal activities than Wash?  What Oates’ Rangers did tarnished a decade of the games’ history, yet his name never comes up in any discussion.  He is still revered as if there are three Commissioner’s Trophies sitting in an undisclosed location in the ballpark.

 So what more do fans want?  Do they want to go back to the way things were and half-heartedly believe we can win next year as so many of us have throughout the years?  Or can we finally accept that we have someone who has finally, after 40 plus years, righted the ship and has us sailing in the right direction?

I would really like to say the latter, but until the ignorant thoughts of a fickle fandom changes their outlook, I’ll just wait and see.

In the mean time, you can choose Oates and tell me why and I’ll take Washington and he’ll keep showing us how come.

25 Enter, But Who Leaves?

“Fights begin, finger prints are took, days is lost, bail is made, court dates are ignored, cycle is repeated.”

• Anyone ever notice that often when I start my scatter shooting, I often begin with “so I was…?”  You did?  Okay.  I thought it was just me.

• Congratulations to the Cowboys for finally winning a game this year.  They had some great plays in the game including Roy’s two touchdown passes and the play of the defense.  But the play of the game went to Carl Cheffers  mind numbing penalty explanation in the fourth quarter of the game.  I’ve never laughed so hard during a football game in my life.

• Is anyone else excited about the Mavericks opening training camp?  Me neither…moving on.

• I was talking with a friend the other day about the best football teams in Texas and we decided to rank the top five.  Keep in mind this was after the Longhorns lost and before the Cowboys won:

1.   TCU  2. Houston Texans  3. Euless Trinity  4. Some dudes in the park  5.  UTA Mavericks

• The best part of the Rangers division clinching, beer drinking, champagne celebration was not seeing Josh Hamilton in a beer drinking, champagne celebration.

• During the final minutes of Texas’ loss to UCLA, I commented that the best way for Longhorn fans to forget what happened on the field was to release Bevo into the stands.  Well it took them a few days to think of something, but on Tuesday…

Any Who…

It’s time, it’s time, it’s time.  We’ve been hearing that mantra since opening day and you know what? 

It’s Time.

The playoffs are less than a week away and Manager Ron Washington has some decisions to make.  Who’s on first?  What pitchers are going into the postseason and who gets to stay home and watch with the rest of us?

Skip has until 11 post meridiem Tuesday night to have his roster in and the decisions he has to make I wouldn’t wish on anyone.  Regardless of what he does, he is going to be criticized, scrutinized and challenged by those who’ve doubted him since he’s been here.  But the question I have for the naysayers is what have we done in the past to even allow you to second guess the manager? 

In our little Rangers 40 year history, we have been to the playoffs exactly three times.  We’ve been knocked out in the first round all three times and have exactly one win to show for it.

We finally have a team that is good enough to compete with anyone in baseball and have legitimate chance to actually push deep into the playoffs.  So what our fans need to do is take a deep breath, relax and enjoy the ride for as long as we can.

But first things first; who goes and who stays?

I know every pundit, blowhard and know-it-all in the metroplex has their lineups in mind.  So I figure why not throw mine in the mix as well and let’s see who’s really got the juice.

As far as pitchers go, Wash said he is definitely going to take 11 pitchers into the postseason.  That sounds simple enough until you look at how all of these guys have been playing over the last two months of the season.

We know Cliff Lee, C.J. Wilson and Colby Lewis will be the 1, 2 and 3 starters.  I agree with the Lee and Wilson, but was a bit surprised by Lewis’ selection.  I would prefer Hunter take the third spot because he’s been lights out the majority of the season.  He’s also only pitched 123 innings so he’s relatively fresh.

But it’s all irrelevant now as it was announced Thursday that Hunter would start game four if the team is fortunate to get that far.

 Four down, seven to go.

This is where it gets tricky.  Wash and his staff have to decide amongst a cast of characters that include Rich Harden and Scott Feldman who have been consistently inconsistent.  Then there are at least four rookies you have to consider and a late comer in Mark Lowe who looked alright in Wednesday’s game against Seattle.

The easy part for me would be telling Harden and Feldman that if they wanted to be with the team, they had to buy a ticket, because there is no way those two walking head cases see a single inning during the run.  Was has gone out of his way to get both back on track and it has backfired on him nearly every time.  And they should understand that you cannot add guys with ERAs upwards of five onto the roster.  This isn’t the teams of the 90s where you have no choice.  And it’s not worth the risk either.

So Feldman and Hardin are out.  For that matter, so are Pedro Strop, Matt Harrison and Lowe.  Strop is still learning to pitch, Harrison can be a liability and Lowe has been hurt much of the season and no one has seen a lot from him since the Seattle trade. 

The bubble guy for me would be Darren O’Day.  I like what he brings and he has been unhittable for most of the season.  But with all the firepower the bullpen has, I can see where he could either stay or go.  The thing that works in his favor is I don’t believe the coaching staff wants to take four rookie pitchers into the playoffs and that could be his saving grace.   Additionally, it’s pretty damn hard to argue against a 1.95 ERA with only 14 runs surrendered in 70 appearances.

The remainder of my bullpen would include Darren Oliver, Derek Holland, Clay Rapada, Dustin Nippert, Alexi Ogando, Michael Kirkman and of course Neftali Feliz.

The one name that could get squeezed out is Rapada and that’s only because of the rookie factor.  Other than that, I would expect to see him on the roster come Oct. 6.

The position players pose somewhat of a challenge, at least for me.  You have the no-brainer position players in Michael Young, Elvis Andrus, Ian Kinsler, Vlad Guerrero and Nelson Cruz.  David Murphy is more than likely going to start despite his hamstring injury which should only get better with the additional rest days he is going to receive betwixt now and the first game.

Wash said Hamilton will play in the outfield in the playoffs which would move Julio Borbon to the bench (which is a great option).

So that leaves catcher and first base.

Look, I hate the idea of Bengie Molina starting anything short of a competitive eating competition.  His reaction time is slow and he is a liability on the base paths, especially if a speedy person is behind him.  Just ask Borbon how many doubles and triples he might have had if Molina were not in his way.  My guy would be Matt Treanor simply because he is the anti-Molina and he comes through in the clutch.  Too many times it looks like Molina is just swinging so he doesn’t have to run and come playoff time, when the intensity is elevated, I am willing to bet a right fielder will throw him out at first on what would be a routine single for anyone else.

He will be a liability, mark my words.

The other issue the team aces is at first base. Now personally, I don’t see the dilemma.  Chris Davis has been horrible.  He could not hit from opening day until the day he was sent down to the minors.  He was brought back, did more of the same and was sent back down. 

Enter Mitch Moreland and a subsequent .344 BA with 7 HRs.  And with the exception of a two week slump, he has handedly won the job at first.  Inexplicably, Davis was brought back a third time to compete for the job.  Now I don’t know about you, but Davis could have hit .300 for the final month he was called up and I still wouldn’t add him to the roster.  He disappears at the wrong time and if he goes and Moreland doesn’t, it will be a huge mistake.

The rest of the position players would include Jorge Cantu (he cane play multiple infield positions and I believe he is out of his RBI slump), Treanor of course, Andres Blanco and the only acquisition that has truly paid off considering the time he’s been here, Jeff Francoeur.

I like Esteban German, but who do you leave for him?  Taylor Teagarden just hasn’t gotten the opportunity to really play since Molina is plopped down in his position.  But given the choice, I would take Taylor over Molina.

Davis would be best served watching and working and Christian Guzman, goodness, gracious.  He just needs to go…anywhere.  I’ve been sour on him since he whined about coming to Texas prior to the trade.  How can you complain about coming to the Rangers when you are on a team in the Nationals that is worser than the Pirates (Yeah, I said worser…that’s how bad the Nationals are.  I have to make up a word for them)?

So there is my roster for the 2010 playoffs and I’m willing to bet Wash’s is going to be pretty similar. 

Man, I am so anxious for this thing to start I’m losing my mind.

It’s Time!

It’s Time!

It’s Time!