Silver Boot, Part 2

It should be an interesting series this weekend at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. The mediocre Houston Astros visit the Temple for a three-game series with the sorry Texas Rangers.

My Rangers have the worst record in the American League. Until recently, they had the worst record in baseball, before the Cincinnati Reds assumed rock bottom.

But, throw the records out, because the Silver Boot is on the line. The Rangers won last month's series in Houston, 2 games to 1, and have an 11-run lead on the Astros, thanks to a 14-1 win in the teams' last meeting. The Astros need a sweep in Arlington, or at least two wins including a one-sided thrashing, to put a trophy on owner Drayton McLane's shelf.

Tom Hicks may stink as an owner, but he has a good chance for one trophy this year. How bad would it be for the Astros, if they lost this trophy to a team on track to lose 100 games?

At least Sammy Sosa has 600 career home runs. Even if he was on the juice, he probably would have still hit 500 without performance-enhancing supplements. Good for Sammy.

The Silver Boot

This weekend brings us interleague play in Major League Baseball. With that, comes the annual renewal of the battle for the Silver Boot, between the Texas Rangers and the Houston Astros.

The Rangers and Astros did not play each other in the regular season in the first four years of interleague play, because the Rangers were in the American League West, and the Astros are in the National League Central. Major League Baseball adjusted some schedules to allow the teams to play every year. Of course, the Rangers were promised the opportunity to move to the American League Central, but Tom Hicks chose not to hold baseball to that, and to remain in the American League West..I guess he doesn't mind staying up until 9:30 to watch his team play road games..but I digress. Anyway, the teams play three games this weekend in Houston, and will play three more later this season in Arlington. The Rangers won Friday night's game, 7-4.

The teams have played for the Silver Boot trophy for the last six years. It sounds and looks kinda silly, but if the owners like it, then we'll roll with it. Each team has won the Silver Boot three times. If the teams split the series, the boot goes to the team with the most total runs in the series. Ironically, the Rangers won the Silver Boot in 2005. The Astros went on to the World Series. I think the Rangers would rather go to the World Series than win a little trophy. Last year, the Astros won the trophy.

Though I now live in Houston, my loyalties are still with the Rangers. They may be forever mediocre, but they're still my team. Let's go win that Silver Boot!

The New Ballpark, Almost The Same As The Old Ballpark

Yesterday brought the official news: the Ballpark is the Ballpark once again. The Rangers severed sponsorship ties with Ameriquest Mortgage Company, taking the Ameriquest name off the Temple. It will now be called something not quite as ghey: Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

It is welcome news to have the Ameriquest name off of the Temple. However, what is wrong with calling it by its original, classic name: The Ballpark in Arlington? People associate that name with the Rangers. More importantly, people associate that with better days of the franchise, when they won three division championships in four years. That's something sneered at in places like New York and St. Louis, but those are the halcyon days of yore for the traditionally mediocre Rangers.

I've liked the Rangers since I was a little boy, listening to games on the 50,000 watt blowtorch, WBAP (they need to be back on that station, by the way) on a transistor radio. I've put up with a lot of bad and mediocre baseball from them. At least Cubs fans get teased with thoughts of a championship. Rangers fans do not. Our team traditionally sucks, especially under the Tom Hicks ownership. Or, if it doesn't suck, it's at least mediocre.

I digress. This is a good move. Hopefully, there will be improvement on the field, as well.