If You Need a Reason...or Two.

Here we are, the month of July now two thirds done, lo and behold, there is a Texas baseball team that remains only a half game out of first place in the A.L. West. All the so-called experts who continue to wait for a second half collapse are going to have a long wait, possibly into next year. Despite the lack of attention the Texas Rangers are receiving by the East Coast movers and shakers, they will not wither and they will not go away. If you need some reasons here I go again...

1.To grind until blind...Michael Young best exemplified it at the All-Star game in his last at bat. One strike from defeat, he dug deep to get a key hit. That knack for getting out of trouble has been very evident on this current roadtrip. Two late inning rallies in Toronto, One in Baltimore, add what happened in Chicago this night, and you have a 5-4 road trip, their longest of the year. There is no quit in this team.

2.Starting pitching...Granted Vicente Padilla and Kevin Millwood aren't lights out at Arlington, but both sit at 10-5 at this moment and Adam Eaton is on his way back. Ask yourself how many times a Ranger starter has gone at least six or seven innings before Rick Bauer, Coco Cordero, and Aki Otsuka have closed the door? As the July 31st deadline looms and perhaps we lose my boy Kevin Mench and Joaquin Benoit for another arm, this Ranger staff of arms and hitters have very defined roles.

3.Mark DeRosa...Name any other ballplayer who has started at seven different positions in 2006? No one! Therein lies a flexibility that Manager Buck has had not since his days at Arizona. Minus an occasional lapse in the outfield, the hitting has been beyond all expectations and has earned the right to be an everyday player at any position anytime.

4.Gary Matthews Jr...Stop everything and just visualize how this month began...The Silver Boot Series with Houston...July 1st with the greatest catch these eyes have ever seen in over 40 years going over the center field wall and robbing Mike Lamb of a three run blast! Can you say leadoff batter with speed, power, and an child's enthusiasm? I just did!

5.Ian Kinsler...Sure we lose some homer power with the loss of Alfonso Soriano and David Dellucci, but has anyone in a Ranger uniform faced more scrutiny since A-Rod bought the Brinks truck to Arlington five years ago? Take away a wrist injury and we might be saying 'Rookie of the Year'...

Lastly

6.Jon Daniels...even if this Ranger ballclub decides to stand pat and do nothing on July 31st, he has shown an unabashed desire to Git-R-Done within reason. Further I predict that in two years he will make Theo Epstein look like an old fool. At 28, time is on JD's side...I say this on what is John Harts 58th birthday-no doubt spent on a golf course.

Trades I would welcome: If we wheel and deal, I will gladly part with Kevin Mench and Laynce Nix for a Jake Westbrook or perhaps a John Smoltz. Now that Atlanta has gotten Bob Wickman, does this mean that Smoltzie is headed home? Have you wondered what kind of pull ex-Brave Kevin Millwood might have on old teammates? Just a thought.

Texas has two left in Chitown before they come home to host the Yankees and Royals. In 2005 a 1-12 road trip sealed their fate. A stretch run of 16-11 or 15-12 will put them in the drivers seat of the A.L. West.

Like it or not, get used to it because this is about to be the best thing going in the Southwest...yes I am borrowing gratuitously from wrestler Ric Flair. WHOO!

There will be no July fadeaway, there will be an August revival, and in September the talk will not be about T.O. and the Cowboys but rather the better-late-than-never resurgence of the now bandwagoning media who will FINALLY acknowledge a team from the North Texas area that won't answer to 'folderoo'. You read it here first. Thank me now...or thank me later...playoffs...

Over and out in Big D

Mr Will