Thursday Morning Links

The final defensive alignment last night read like some kind of sexy Rangers fanfic. I think the author was probably BaseballIsMyBoyfriend.

And how can we have sexy Rangers fanfic without Jim Knox and Emily Jones, whose post-game interviews of David Murphy and Ian Kinsler sit atop this Anthony Andro piece. "It felt good," Kinsler told Emily, "real good." Yeah, Ian, work that business. Oh, wait, he was referring to playing third base. The Andro piece tells us why Ron Washington can't have nice things, saying that the injuries to Josh Hamilton and Adrian Beltre overshadowed the win. Washington says he doesn't believe Hamilton's injury is serious, and I choose to believe Beltre left the game in an attempt to be sporting.

Drew Davison at the FWST also discusses the injury studded night, quoting Mike Olt: "Obviously, this isn't the way I want to start my career." Guess it's a good thing we have a Gold Glover that can step in and play third, right guys? Guys? Right...? Aw, crap. The FWST also has notes on the rest of the Ranger injuries, most notably Mike Adams' tight right trap, but we also hear that Roy Oswalt will be playing catch today and that, when asked if being in a swing role contributed to his first career arm injury, said "I don't know," probably while glowering darkly. Napoli homered last night for Frisco, and is scheduled to DH there Friday, after which he'll presumably be back in Arlington. Finally, the FWST has the injury updates from Wednesday's game, with Beltre having a precautionary MRI last night (results expected later today), Olt expecting to have an MRI today, and Josh Hamilton apparently just running to the infirmary until the Soldier Who Sees Everything Twice scares him back on to the field or something.

T.R. Sullivan's notes column discusses Derek Holland trying to complete the sweep of Cleveland. Holland says, "I need to find myself as a pitcher," which is similar to what middle-aged women say after they read Eat Pray Love and file for divorce. It also mentions that the Rangers' are now pretty thin at third, with the current candidates being Michael Young and this guy. Sullivan also recaps the game, with Dempster picking up 8 strikeouts while allowing 7 hits, all singles. Dempster has had a nice run over the last few games, though they keep being overshadowed by stuff like last night's Bataan Death March and last week's bullpen meltdown in Kansas City.

Evan Grant has a post about Mike Adams, who after 73 pitches in four outings over a seven day stretch turned up lame. "I was kind of glad they came and got me when they did," he said of his last outing. Adam has previously noted the strange usage patterns of Mike Adams this year.

Richard Durrett recounts Ian Kinsler immediately and heroically volunteering to play third when he thought Michael Young was going to be called upon to play in the field after Beltre's injury. "I wanted to show off my arm, you know," said Kinsler, though he didn't end up needing to make any plays. Durrett also has his rapid reax, noting, among other things, that Wednesday's game set a new record for Ranger single season attendance. The arguments about whether the Ballpark needed to be in Dallas to get fans out to the game that we used to have back when the team sucked seem to be settled for good.

Finally, there was a discussion in the post-game thread two days ago about how the U.S. treats it soldiers. Well, World War II didn't just suck because of the strategic targeting of civilian populations... the reintegration of shattered soldiers was pretty horrible, too. The way that DARPA wants to handle it is creepy but at least their heart's in the right place, which apparently wasn't the case in 1946.