Kuzul

Nov. 1, 2010 in Arlington Texas, the Texas Rangers lost their fight for the World Series against the San Francisco Giants.  The end has left Rangers fans with a huge pain in our guts that we know too well, as we come to terms with the disappointment of losing the final game of our season. 

No one expected the outcome of the last five games, as all the sports writers had Texas to be the victor.  We have to give credit to our opponent. They found a way to silence the Rangers bats, and made our Ace pitchers look like deuces. 

While losing on the world biggest stage in Major League Baseball isn’t the greatest feeling right now, to keep things in perspective, there is a whole lot for Rangers fans to be proud of. 

To be able to lose in the World Series means the Rangers had to win a lot of games, something new for Rangers fans.  They are after all, the American League Champions and Josh Hamilton is our MVP. 

This seasons Rangers gave their fans more to cheer about than any squad before them.  And we will be ready to rally cry the “Claw and Antlers” for them the next season too. 

The changes within the Rangers organization that propelled this club to its new-found heights are only two years old.  A few kinks in the armour can be expected to surface when you’re going places you never been before. 

This was a young team that grew up fast before our eyes, and this postseason was valuable experience that will serve the Rangers in the future. 

We can rest assured that the brain trust of owners Nolan Ryan, Chuck Greenberg and company have put in place are not going to rest doing the shortest season break in Rangers history. 

They will do all they can to ready our “Wonder Boys of Summer” for another run next season. 

“Big Tex” Ryan and General Manager Jon Daniels have a huge uneasy task of keeping the players like pitcher Cliff Lee and others who made a big impact this season together on the Rangers roster.  The front office is crystal clear—they are ready to fight to keep our team intact. 

The team’s notebook of things that works will be extra thick this year, skipper Ron Washington and his crew will review game films to see where the Rangers could have better themselves.  Every position go under the microscope as they look for ways to get the bugs out. 

The whole Rangers management gang will take a long hard look at the Ryan-inspired conditioning program for the pitching staff.  Refinement of the stretching program can be expected, since the Rangers pitchers lack success in the World Series. 

The Rangers scouts will be at their best, ask any team in the League, in finding the best young recruits for the Rangers farm program.  Remember Ryan’s implemented changes reach all the way down to the farm too. 

Big changes are planned for sprucing up the BallPark as well. Greenberg wasn’t on the road trips with the Rangers for nothing.  He was checking out the other teams’ facilities to see what worked there and what changes could be made here to improve the fan experience at Arlington. 

Rumor has it the Rangers organization want to host the mid-season All-Star game in a couple of years, even more for Rangers’ fans to look forward too. 

Some of our players will go home to rest, some to heal, others will opt for winter league play, all will have a short vacation. 

So hold your heads up high Rangers fans and be proud of your team, and take a short rest too, for the 2011 season is just around the bend.

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In the few days after the Texas Rangers won their first ever American League Championship, I took the time to reflect on all the adversities this team went through in its history.  Being one of the locals that has followed this club since they came to Texas in 1972, I can tell you the emotion of the fans here is “euphoric awe-shock.”
 
One could say that the foundation for this years Rangers team was laid in the middle of the 2008 season.  Then-owner Tom Hicks did his first good deed for the ball club and all of baseball, for that matter.  He hired legendary Hall of Fame pitcher and former Ranger player Nolan Ryan to be the team’s president.
 
With the season well under way, Ryan could do little but sit back and watch as he saw the Rangers go through their usual season routine of bad habits.  The first part of the season would always be a strong showing by the Rangers—they would slay all that came their way—but after the All-Star game, they would find themselves quickly fading away into oblivion. 
 
Being a former Ranger player, Ryan had the advantage of living through the lows of this struggling ball club, having seen the mismanagement by the team’s front office and witnessing firsthand the sufferings of the devoted Rangers fans.  Through it all, he still was able to achieve his own individual greatness.  

Ryan knew what was broke with this team and had a pretty good idea what it was going to take to fix it. 

First on Ryan’s to-do list was to change the Rangers’ way of thinking on pitching in Texas summer heat.  The team had demonized themselves to death by believing in a curse: No one can pitch in Texas in August heat!  Ryan knew that was a truckload of manure because he did it himself with great success.  We didn’t call him the “Heat” for nothing!

After the 2008 season, Ryan announced that he was implementing a new offseason routine for all pitchers.  This included all pitchers in the Rangers program, too, from the farm prospects through all levels of the minors league to the top pros.
 
In short, Ryan’s program was designed to increase strength and stamina.  This special conditioning program was designed to help our pitchers last longer in the games, instead of wilting away in the heat of the night.

Next, Ryan had to put the right staff in place, men who shared his ideas on how to make this team right and people he could trust to get the job done.  After all, the players would not buy into these changes unless the people doing the selling believed in them too.

All the extra hard work started paying big dividends in the 2009 season, as we saw our Rangers come so close, but fall short of making the Wild Card spot for a postseason berth.  Quite a visible turn-around for just one season of changes.  
 
At last Rangers fans, we could look forward to the next season, as it was announced in January 2010 that Tom Hicks was selling the team to Nolan Ryan and his business partner Chuck Greenberg.  Hicks was finally doing the right thing for the Rangers by handing them over to much more capable hands. 

Spring training came and went, and still no official word that the transfer of ownership had taken place.  “What’s taking so long?” was in the minds of all the Rangers fans.  “We want Ryan!”
 
Bit by bit, the local media released startling information about our Rangers. They were bankrupt by the mismanagement of Tom Hicks (like the fans needed more reason to hate Hicks).  The Rangers organization was over $500 million in the hole, and the debt collectors were demanding full retribution in court of law. 

Meanwhile on the field of play, the Rangers “boys of summer” were making magic happen, with feats of play unmatched by any Ranger squad of the past. 

Early into the season, we saw our Rangers sitting quite solid in first place in the AL West and only a handful of games behind the league’s first place New York Yankees. 

Secretly, we held our breaths. We knew the Rangers could play like this before the mid-season break—we’ve seen it before—but would they be able to sustain their drive till the end of the season?  And would they have anything left in the tank for any postseason play? 

While Ryan was busy in the court of law fighting for ownership of the ball club, his front office geniuses were out shopping for some much needed postseason insurance.  One of the trades made would be known as the steal of the season and, to this day, has all the sports gurus scratching their heads as to how in the heck the Rangers pulled off the Cliff Lee trade. 

The Seattle Mariners were the AL West cellar dweller for this season, with over 20 games behind the Rangers and no chance of seeing the light of day.  In a move to get some value before their ace pitcher Cliff Lee turned free agent, the Mariners put him up for trade to any contending team. 

The whole sports world just knew Lee was going to the Yankees, since they have unlimited resources, but Lee wouldn’t be donning a Yank uniform this season.  Yankees offered the Mariners cash and a cluster of top prospect to boot, but the Mariners wouldn’t bite. 

Pitchers weren’t what the Mariners were looking for.  They wanted a good first baseman, and this was Texas’s chance to steal away Lee. 

The Rangers’ starting first baseman was a hot young prospect by the name of Justin Smoak.  Knowing they had depth at that position, the Rangers proposed Lee for Smoak with a couple of minor farm kids to sweeten the deal.  The Mariners were pleased to accept the player swap with no cash involved.  Good thing, since the Rangers payroll was still being held hostage in the courts. 

Finally, before the season had ended, all the court mess was settled and done with as Ryan and company won the rights to the Rangers and were given the blessing of the MLB to control the team. 

All is well in the Lone Star State, as a new reign of ownership lead by Ryan has begun.    

So, what makes Nolan Ryan so special as an owner?  Maybe it’s because Texas is where he chose to hang his hat after five years of playing here, ending his long major league career as a Texas Ranger.  Big Tex will always be remembered and loved in the hearts and minds of the true Rangers fans as standing tall and proud on the pitching mound.

If this is a dream, please don’t wake me yet, because my Rangers are about to play in the World Series.

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The 2010 baseball season will long be remembered as the year the Rangers made history.  I can only hope that one day someone will see the need to recreate it all on the movie screen.  During a season which will become almost mythical in Texas Rangers lore, two simple yet obscure clubhouse gestures were born.
 
From the stands or watching at home on TV you would see Michael Young give a quick swipe in the air, his up-turned, open fist mimicking a bear claw, after a base hit.  He aims it only at his dugout to the delight of his waiting teammates, who are strung about and hanging with anticipation over the protective railing of the dugout.  His mates quickly echo his silent cry by a show of arms in a return salute: all raise a paw in the air.
 
When Elvis Andres has safely stolen a base a new salute is seen—he puts both hands to his head with fingers spread to resemble deer antlers.  He looks only for his teammates’ approval as they echo his movement.

It doesn’t really matter who actually started these silent signals—the Rangers fans fell in love with the way the team encouraged one another with the “Claw and Antlers” and were quick to encourage their deserving team.
 
In the beginning of the season the Rangers players tried hard to keep the meaning of the “Claw and Antlers” solely within the confines of their dugout and clubhouse, using them as a show of team solidarity and friendship among teammates.  Once the fans caught hold of the meaning of the gestures, we wanted in on the fun, too.
 
The Bear Claw became the symbol of strength and power—it was displayed after a base hit when a player safely reached base.  Even a successful sacrifice fly would earn a show of the claw.  We, the fans, would shower the Claw on our pitchers making that punch-out, strike-out happen, too.
 
The Antlers simply mean speed and agility—they are earned by stretching a base run into extra bases or a by stealing a base.  Ranger fielders would be rewarded the Antler by the fans in the stands for a heads-up play on defense.
 
To those of us faithfully following the Rangers throughout this season, it didn’t take very long to figure out what these hand waves were all about. Before the end of the season, the “Claw and Antlers” would be our rally cry which would see our Texas Rangers to their first postseason victory. 
 
Near the end of the season, during the last series with the New York Yankees, the Texas Rangers released a t-shirt emblazoned with the two hand signals. The workers at the Rangers Majestic store could not keep up with the demand for these shirts.  I personally saw fans mobbing clerks  who were trying to re-stock the depleted shelves, taking the shirts right out of their hands and leaving them standing empty-handed.       
 
The Texas Rangers have long been known as the whipping boys, the floor-mates, and called the farm program by the rest of the MLB.  The 2010 season finally put an end to the team’s tormented drought and will go a long way to heal the sufferings of their devoted fans. 
 
And under the new ownership of Nolan Ryan, the Texas Rangers are serving notice to the rest of the league, not just by their great on-field play, but by announcing that the Farm is close to the rest of the league.  The Rangers’ front office is making big plans after this season to do all they can to keep as many of our players as possible—they have truly taken us to new heights this season. 

With the leadership of Skipper Ron Washington, the Rangers are making their first-ever appearance in the American League Conference Series.  No matter the outcome now—win or lose—every game is history in the making, as this Rangers team continues to go where no Rangers team has gone before.

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