Worst Rangers team ever?
by booyahcaveman on Apr 24, 2008 8:33 AM CDT
28 comments
Hey everyone!!
This is my first post here (On this version of the site, sorry :-) and I am a long longtime Rangers fan. That is why seeing the team THIS bad hurts me so much. I am 25 so I didnt really see any team prior to the mid 80s but is this the worst rangers team ever? Perhaps not talent but just the overall inability to win game? I mean it seems to me there are very few bright spots at the major league level.
Josh Hamilton's performance is encouraging but we had to give up Volquez to get him. Doesnt it seem like pitchers always do much better away from here?
CJ Wilson is what I would call a quality closer. Ian Kinsler is very solid but not there yet. We have probably seen the best of Blalock and Young meaning they are players that plateauing. Gabbard has been solid, but it brittle. I really like David Murphy but is he really good enough to build around? The rest of the roster seems like trade fodder to me. (Sorry if im forgetting someone).
Yes, the Rangers have a very good farm systen but Im always a bit hesitant to celebrate over any Rangers' prospects. I guess I have been jaded over the past few years. If these players develop then we would have an extremely solid team. Imagine a team in 2-4 yrs with Davis, Salty, Teagarden, Andrus, Main, Beavan, Kiker , Hurley, Beltre, Boggs, Hamilton, Feliz and Borbon. That is a pretty good start, but those are HUGE ifs. Not because I dont think any of them will be good, just that I hate relying so heavily on players THAT young 2-4 yrs down the road.
Is this the worst Rangers team? Or maybe the most frustrating?
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Too early to say
For my money, this team is still not as bad as last year’s team…yet. It remains to be seen how this team will finish. But they are certainly on track to be one of the worst for a franchise that has fielded some terrible teams. After reading “Seasons in Hell” by Mike Shropshire I am sure that a couple of the early ‘70s teams would have to be included in the list of the worst and there were some stinkers in the ‘80s. I started following the team religiously when I was 7 years old back in 1987 and that team that year was not very good. This team does have some decent pieces though so hopefully it will get turned around soon.
"We live, we die, and the wheels on the bus go round and round." - Tony Romo
by kentbenfer on Apr 24, 2008 8:40 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Talent wise
No question that last year’s team after Teix was gone was the least talented team I’ve seen since probably the early 80’s when I was way too young to know good or bad baseball. This team is more talented, definately, but I’ve never seen any professional team at any level play this poorly. They have perfected the art of losing and have shown that if there is a new and interesting way to blow a game, they will not rest until they have found it.
by badradiorules on Apr 24, 2008 9:00 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
I agree...
Last years team had less talent, but this years team is much worse in my opinion. In fact, I can’t remember a start to the season worse than this as long as I’ve been a Rangers fan (25 years). It’s not even the record and the losing, but the way they’re losing. It’s a sad day when I don’t want to even turn on the tv to watch a game this early in the season.
I’ve been saying I’m going to jump ship for the Cards or Royals over the past 4 or 5 years, but I just haven’t been able to do it.
by RangerBoy on Apr 24, 2008 9:24 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
In recent history? Yes.
Ever? No. Not by a long shot. The early 70’s teams and early-to-mid 60’s teams were flat awful.
by Apes and Androids on Apr 24, 2008 8:49 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
The sort of team from "Seasons in Hell"..
probably won’t be seen again. It is just a different era. Who on this team is going to walk up to Ron Washington and cold-cock him Frank Lucchesi style? It’s not going to happen.
To me, comparing a 70’s Ranger team to the average 70’s MLB team versus comparing this current team to the average current MLB team… Yes. This is the worst the Rangers have ever been.
by bhudson on Apr 24, 2008 8:58 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Great Read
Anyone interested in perhaps one of the better baseball books ever written that just happens to be about the Rangers should read “Seasons in Hell.” It’s absolutely insane.
Rangeressary
"the poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese." - G.K. Chesterton
by rangeressary on Apr 24, 2008 9:02 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
seasons in hell
just an fyi to everyone, Mike Shropshire has a new book coming in may titled ” The Last Real Season: A Hilarious Look Back at 1975 – When Major Leaguers Made Peanuts, the Umpires Wore Red, and Billy Martin Terrorized Everyone”
I for one can’t wait for it
"When we're mad we'll use our words. Then the rest of the world will play nice with us. And the only boom-booms will be in our pants." - Ralph Wiggum
by rentz on Apr 24, 2008 9:25 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Awesome book...
...even if it were about the Brewers I would have loved it.
Right around the time all the young talent is ready to contend is when the organization will realize that Ron Washington is the wrong man for the job.
by Chad Crudup on Apr 24, 2008 9:42 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Too much competition out there.
When you are one of the worst franchises in organized sports, its tough to be the worst team of the franchise.
"Before I leave, I once again condemn the despicable buffoonery of D.J. Cahill." - Huck
by DJCahill on Apr 24, 2008 9:00 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Great point
That’s the better question. What pro sports franchise is worse than the Texas Rangers/Washington Senators organization?
LA Clippers? anyone?
by badradiorules on Apr 24, 2008 9:21 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
The Bengals have to be up there,
but then they have at least been in a Super Bowl. Cubs not winning a World series in 100 years puts them in contention. Pirates and Royals can at least point to their world series rings.
In baseball, only the Padres and the Rays have a lower franchise winning percentage, but the Rays have only sucked for a decade.
"Before I leave, I once again condemn the despicable buffoonery of D.J. Cahill." - Huck
by DJCahill on Apr 24, 2008 9:27 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Championships
Yea, I take the teams that have won championships or at least have been to multiple championships out of the discussion.
I hate to lump the Rays in there yet, but they are well on their way. The Padres have at least been to the World Series twice and the Bengals have been to at least two Super Bowls (can’t remember if it was three), but they may enter the sweepstakes with the disaster that they have been since then.
At least the Cubs are famous for not winning and have become “lovable losers.” Sadly there is nothing lovable about the Rangers. It amazes me that there are this many Ranger fans still out there.
by badradiorules on Apr 24, 2008 9:54 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
It's almost like this team...
is tanking on purpose or is fixing games. That’s how bad and predictable this team has become. For instance, the other night with Padilla on the mound, he gave up the 7 runs in the one inning. He continually threw the ball right down the shoot to one of the best hitting teams in baseball.
"We live, we die, and the wheels on the bus go round and round." - Tony Romo
by kentbenfer on Apr 24, 2008 9:32 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
That's just the thing
I think this team has a lot of overall talent, and it is not like all of the guys are underperforming. Hamilton, Bradley, Blalock, Young, and Kinsler are all at least average players, and guys like Laird, Cat and Murphy can help teams win games when used correctly. The fact is, no team that walks as many players as our staff does, and no team that commits as many errors as our team does, and no team that has such poor situation hitting, is going to win many ballgames. Looking at some teams who are experiencing early success this year, teams like the Cardinals, Athletics, and Marlins, certainly do not have more talent than we do. As Adam and many others around here have suggested, it falls on the shoulders of the coaching staff, and I think their time draws near.
by clark on Apr 24, 2008 9:38 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Last year's team may have been the least talented,
after Texeira left, but they played over .500 ball for the remainder of the season. This team, with the exception of the glaring hole at first base, defensively has a better outfield, almost the same infield, and the same catcher. Starting pitching over all is improved, bullpen for the most part sucks, but for some reason this team, at least at this point in time, seems to have almost given up. These are supposed to be elite players playing at an elite level, but what really bothers me is that none of them, save maybe Hamilton, is taking his game to a higher level to pick up the slack. They all seem to be in a funk, and then someone makes an error, or a pitcher goes to pieces, and then the team falls apart. There needs to be a hero somewhere in this group, and to this point there are none. That’s the most depressing thing going on for me. These are better players than what we’ve seen, and their mental game right now is far worse than their physical game. Case in point, hitting with runners in scoring position, we are so far at the bottom in this category, no other team is even close. That suggests that mentally something is very wrong with this team, and that would point to leadership, either by the veteran players, as are most of the players, or the coaching. Maybe somebody does need to get fired to shake that mental part of the game up.
by walrus52 on Apr 24, 2008 9:41 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Bradley
I’d say he’s elevated his game. So you have Wilson, Millwood, Bradley, and Hamilton. Everyone else sucks, or at least has sucked so far this year to one extent or another.
I really liked what I heard Bradley say on the radio today. I’m sure you all heard it. He can accept losing but not this way, to paraphrase. He called out the whole team, pitchers not throwing strikes and everything. And when he said he can accept losing, I don’t think he meant it the way it sounds in print. I think he meant he can accept losing a ballgame, not being on a team of losers.
by Black Francis on Apr 25, 2008 1:56 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
This is not your first post
unless you mean the newer version of the website.
This team might have the worst April ever, but it’s too early to tell if they’ll be the worst team overall.
...and curse Sir Walter Raleigh, he was such a stupid git.
by t ball on Apr 24, 2008 9:42 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Yes..
I did mean this newer version of the website. Yeah i know it is a knee jerk reaction but I mean it is really disheartening to see. As others has said do you think this is the worst franchise in baseball?
by booyahcaveman on Apr 24, 2008 10:47 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Yes, I know t ball and I remember you quite clearly
"For the record, I did not and do not like the Volquez trade, even though Hamilton is awesome and our best player and I think he’s going to be one of the best players in baseball." philikid3
by Brian Thomas on Apr 25, 2008 8:41 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
The Rangers....
are top 5 worst franchises in sports history.
"He throws that curveball so hard and it snaps 12 to six like you've never seen." - Matt Kemp on Clayton Kershaw
by miles on Apr 24, 2008 6:00 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
The early teams from this decade...
were much worse.
by ghostofErikThompson on Apr 24, 2008 6:14 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Inspiration
Yesterday, my kid got a happy meal toy that looks like you.
http://www.mtv.com/photos/?fid=1585130&pid=2890097
It's baseball. You don't always get what you want, and you don't always want what you get. --Ed Coffin
by txranger7 on Apr 24, 2008 6:59 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Is this the worst Rangers team ever?
No. The talent assembled is capable of playing better than this.
Is this the most demoralized, unmotivated and poorly managed Rangers team ever? Yes, it quite possibly is.
by lonestarJon on Apr 24, 2008 7:15 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
+ 1
The "Electrician" was born 7/16/07 11:53 PM EDT
http://www.lonestarball.com/2007/7/16/213154/893
by LAMuscleFag on Apr 24, 2008 7:39 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
I agree whole-heartedly with all that......
I was there at the home opener, and told everybody they looked like they were uninspired at best and unfocused & preoccupied at worst….and it was the OPENER!
I agree this team is better than they’ve played. They are making (on avg.) $2M which make me want to say Wash isn’t booting balls, throwing over the cut-off man, walking more than they strike out, etc., etc. but they can’t fire 25 players (can they?), so fair or not Wash’s ass is on the line….and he’s managing like it!
Nolan can’t be pleased with what he’s seen (forget last year’s finish, he didn’t see that) and I’m betting Wash won’t make Memorial Day unless they run off a 7-8 game winning streak.
by tklawless on Apr 24, 2008 9:12 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Well, I'll just cheer...
for what could have been, I guess.
No… you are what you are. Are they underachieving? Sure, I think that is the consensus… But hey, if they are playing like one of the worst Rangers teams ever (bottom 5 for sure so far), then they are one of the worst ever. They don’t get Brownie Points because they are capable of more.
They are near the bottom in fielding.
They are near the bottom in errors.
They are uninspired
Stupid baserunning mistakes and on-field brain farts are in abundance this year.
Their only early strength (pitching) is unraveling.
Their record is 7-16, and that’s what they are. A bad, bad team. The worst I’ve ever seen wear Rangers uniforms, and I’ve seen some bad stuff.
by bhudson on Apr 24, 2008 9:37 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Agreed
If you don’t win enough to have even a mediocre record, you’re bad. It’s like the argument I had with Adam earlier in the season when he was saying they weren’t a bad defensive team. They were playing bad defense, so I fail to see how they could be anything other than a bad defensive team.
They have gone from finding ways to lose to getting blown out in, what, three or four games in a row now? They suck ass.
by Black Francis on Apr 25, 2008 2:00 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
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