That’s Oakland A’s, As In Agony

ARLINGTON _ The Oakland A’s will field a club for the rest of this series against the Rangers, though team trainer Steve Sayles might need some oxygen.

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And There…Is…Your…Dagger.

You like apples, San Antonio?

How do you like them apples?

More intelligent writing (highly open to debate) to follow, but feel free to express yourself here.

Post-Game Show: Rangers 5, A’s 4

Rangers are now at .500 (10-10) with fourth win in last five games after coming back from a 3-1 deficit heading to the bottom of the sixth.

Discuss these amazing feats:

• The Rangers win without hitting a homer for the first time this season.

• RHP Kevin Millwood pushes himself to go one extra inning, ends up with eight innings, 121 pitches (tied for most in Ron Washington era) and his second win of the season after Rangers score in bottom of eighth.

• RHP Frank Francisco as the Rangers closer: 2-0, 11 saves in 11 attempts, a 0.00 ERA, 30 strikeouts and just five walks.

The Depot: Rangers Live Game Blog, News, Notes, Etc.

Just going to throw The Depot thread up here for the time being. Going to grab some dinner – eating is what I do best – and will be back before game time. If you’ve got issues to address, you can get a head start on them now.

6:57: OF Josh Hamilton will NOT go on the disabled list today. He has been diagnosed with an intercostal muscle strain (thanks, Jeffrey!) on his left side and has been given a prescription of anti-inflammatory medication. As we mentioned earlier, the Rangers can afford to slow play making a decision on Hamilton because of the abundance of left-handed pitchers they will face this week. Dr. Keith Meister indicated that it would probably take about 48 hours to determine if the medication has any significant impact.

“We’ve got an opportunity to wait a day or two to make a decision,” general manager Jon Daniels said. “We can play it day by day right now. We will keep checking with him.”

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Everybody In The Deep End, It’s Homer Pool Time

Rules? Do you really need me to run through these? Probably not, but it makes us look so much more official. To be eligible for free stuff, you have to pick the Ranger who hits the first home run of the game, the inning and the men on base. First tie-breaker is count. Second is distance. Those negative Nellys who want to pick no homers, must also pick total runs for the Rangers.

Here is your Rangers lineup against Oakland (and Oklahoma State alum) LHP Brett Anderson: 2B Ian Kinsler, CF Marlon Byrd, 3B Michael Young, LF Andruw Jones, DH Hank Blalock, RF Nelson Cruz, 1B Chris Davis, C Jarrod Saltalamacchia, SS Elvis Andrus and pitching for the Rangers … RHP Kevin Millwood.

Hey, you: No running on the pool deck!

Josh Hamilton Could Be Headed For DL; Who’s in Center?

ARLINGTON – The disabled list is becoming a more realistic possibility for Josh Hamilton because his sore ribs have not healed much in the past week, despite aggressive treatment that included a cortisone injection.

Hamilton is out of the lineup tonight for the third straight game. Marlon Byrd is playing center field with Andruw Jones in left. Hamilton had X-rays in Baltimore, but they showed no breaks or fractures. He is expected to meet with Rangers team physician Dr. Keith Meister before tonight’s game to be re-evaluated.

“If I can’t play, it’s hurting,” Hamilton said. “I can’t even pick my kids up. It’s that bad.”

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Who Wants To Spend The Night Together?

So, a couple of folks, prodded by our good friend Dr. Pepper Presents Batface McGee, have asked about the possibility of an InsideCorner night at the old ballpark. I’m all for it. But before I go to great lengths to get something set up with the Rangers for a night full of fun and debates and some live blogging from our seats, I need to know some things.

1. How many folks are interested in this?
2. How much “organization” do you want, as in events like a pre-game Q&A, etc.
3. When would you want to do it? I’m assuming some of you have kids that you would actually be willing to expose to the InsideCorner world, so I’m thinking a weekend after school is out. Looks to me like there are some possibilities in June (Dodgers or Padres), July (Rays or Twins) and August (Seattle, the day after the trading deadline).
4. What general price range would you be willing to pay for tickets?
5. Do you want food involved or do you want to be left on your own for that?

The more answers we get to these questions, the more likely some of this is to take place. I’m also officially calling on FOIC (Friends of InsideCorner) at the Rangers – the great Chuck Morgan, our pal and ticket sales guru Andy Silverman and so on – to please, if you’ve got advice for setting up what I hope could be a very enjoyable night and the start of a tradition.

In the meantime, please remember we’ll have an InsideCorner event at Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen on Oak Lawn Avenue in Dallas on May 11 beginning at 5:30. We’ll have two “happy hours” with Michael Young, Ian Kinsler, Marlon Byrd and perhaps some other special guests. I’m planning to stick around and have dinner with however many of you would like to join us. No cost to attend the event, only the hope that you’ll support our sponsors by doing a little dining or drinking while you are there. Hopefully, if we get enough response on InsideCorner Night between now and May 11, we’ll be able to announce something official at the Pappadeaux.

Josh Rupe Clears Waivers; To Start In OKC

After compiling a 15.43 ERA in his first appearances of the seasons, RHP Josh Rupe went unclaimed after being run through waivers. So, he remains Rangers property. He’s being sent to extended spring training in Surprise, Ariz., to start “stretching out” his arm in order to convert back to being a starter. Rupe has started just one game in the major leagues, back in 2005, but has been a starter for much of his career. His last significant experience in the role was in 2007 when he started nine games at Triple-A Oklahoma and with the Arizona Rookie League team in Surprise. Rupe was a contender for the Rangers rotation that spring, but an elbow injury in mid-March put him on the shelf. The club moved him to the bullpen thinking it would be less stressful on his arm. Once he’s extended his workload, Rupe is expected to be sent to the Oklahoma City rotation.

Homestand Helper: Rangers Vs. Oakland

Arlington is a nice six-day layover for the Rangers in between trips to the coasts. After spending a week in Toronto and Baltimore, the Rangers return home for six games before heading out to Seattle, Oakland and Seattle. Weather permitting, the Rangers are in a stretch of 20 consecutive days with game – the maximum allowed by the collective bargaining agreement – that ends on Mother’s Day (May 10) with a game at Chicago.

Tuesday: Rangers vs. Oakland, 7:05 (KRLD-105.3 FM, Ch. 27)

Probable starters: Rangers RHP Kevin Millwood (1-2, 2.10 ERA) vs. LHP Brett Anderson (0-2, 5.89 ERA)

Worth noting: The Rangers begin play against the AL West. Thirteen of the next 19 games are against division foes. Last year, the Rangers went 30-27 within the division, only the second time they have won as many as 30 intradivision games since the league went to an unbalanced schedule in 2001. Ownership of the A’s, manager Ron Washington’s old club, accounted for the difference. The Rangers were 12-7 against Oakland last year and are 22-16 against the A’s under Washington.

Giveaways/Promotions: None

Ticket deals: Free Kid Tuesday. Tickets for kids 13 and under are free in all seating sections, excluding All You Can Eat Seats.  One free child ticket is available with every full-price adult ticket purchased.

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Carlisle ’09 > Avery ’08

Yes, I said it. I said it Sunday at this very blog and then I had the audacity to say it again on the radio on Monday. Let me repeat for emphasis for anyone not sure if I mean it.

Rick Carlisle is coaching this team better than Avery Johnson could.

This, of course, will send some people to their emails to fire me back a retort about “Avery got them to the NBA Finals”, and that is true. He did. He got the mentally strong Dallas Mavericks of 2006 to the NBA Finals, and for that, Avery Johnson should be credited heavily.  As for the mentally weak Dallas Mavericks of 2007 and 2008?  Not so much.

I am not comparing Carlisle ’09 to Avery ’06. In fact, I was a huge fan of Avery ’06. But, then he lost his head – and in doing so, the Mavs lost their nerve.  He seemed to alienate many of his assistant coaches and many more of his players between June ’06 and April ’08. He forgot what made this team special 24 months prior and seemed to go somewhat crazy in his efforts to find a solution that he could never locate. The premise of firing Avery Johnson was an easy conclusion . He lost the team. So, therefore, he lost his job.

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Don’t Quit On This Guy — Or His Batterymate

I’ve gotten a lot of questions about my position that the Rangers should simply leave Matt Harrison alone and keep sending him out there every five days. Last night, he gave a little glimpse of why I believe the Rangers need to continue to hang in there with him. I think Harrison learned something last night that he would not have learned in Oklahoma City: don’t give in or give up on the fastball if you get in trouble.

I saw Harrison pitch a few times in Frisco last year and one of the things I noticed was that there were times when he had trouble trusting his fastball and would start throwing backwards (and for those of you unfamiliar with pitching parlance, that means that he would try to get ahead with offpseed stuff instead of his fastball). He would not come inside with his fastball either.

Last night, however, after he got into trouble, Harrison did not try to hide his fastball amidst an array of junk. He hung in there with it and rode out the storm. It helps enormously, of course, that his velocity sat in the 90-96 mph range instead of the 88-90 mph range he had against Kansas City on the 17th. It also helps, I believe, that he had Taylor Teagarden behind the plate.

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