MVN - Most Valuable Network

The Josh Hamilton Show: Rangers Dominate Lone Star Series Opener, 16-8

There are, without fail, a few Texas Rangers games every season that defy any and all logical explanation.

And when one of those games begins to unfold, you simply cannot help but to abandon whatever activities you happen to be pursuing at the moment - whether they are of trivial or urgent importance - and revel in the utter magnificence of what is transpiring in front of your eyes.

This was one of those games.

After building a substantial six-run lead through the first four innings of Friday evening’s highly anticipated Lone Star Series opener, and subsequently watching the unfortunate right-handed tandem of Sidney Ponson (5 IP, 9 H, 7 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 2 K) and Frank Francisco (1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K) give it all away, the Rangers - who were, by the end of the sixth inning, completely bereft of momentum - could have very easily packed it in.

But they didn’t. Josh Hamilton wouldn’t let them.

The transcendent 26-year-old center fielder posted a night for the ages in front of an enthusiastic throng of 32,117 fans at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, collecting a career-high five hits in five official at-bats, drawing a walk in his sixth and final plate appearance, and generally terrorizing Houston Astros pitching by scoring four runs (also a new career high), driving in five, and smashing a pair of tape-measure blasts.

To say that Hamilton was merely spectacular would be pure folly. I cannot recall the last time I saw a player capable of so effortlessly taking over a ballgame, not just through his singular power potential or keen batting eye but also his game-altering speed on the basepaths and fantastic glovework.

.314/.367/.599. 10 HR. 49 RBI. He’s the kind of once-in-a-lifetime talent that absolutely everybody, from the casual Rangers fan who takes in just a couple games per year to the hardcore statistical buff, can enjoy in his or her own special way.

Josh’s first home run of the evening, a 415-foot bomb off Astros starter Shawn Chacon launched to the back of the right-center field home bullpen wall, was shortly thereafter bested by catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia’s prodigious 440-foot fourth-inning monster shot into the upper home run porch in right field.

Never one to be outdone, Hamilton struck back later in the frame with an absurd 451-foot blast of his own off the Reliant Energy advertisement adorning the facade of the upper home run porch, plating three runs and staking Sidney Ponson to an 8-2 lead that he all but relinquished in the following inning.

Had Texas not rallied from an 8-8 tie to emphatically put this game away in the later innings, manager Ron Washington would have undoubtedly come under serious (and largely justified) fire for not yanking his floundering starter from the game sooner during that almost catastrophic fifth inning.

Fortunately for Ron, virtually all past faults are forgiven and forgotten in the glorious aftermath of a Rangers victory.

With Texas and Houston still knotted at 8-8 in the seventh inning, second baseman Ian Kinsler parlayed a nifty four-pitch, two-out walk off rookie southpaw Wesley Wright into the eventual winning run. Aided by a tremendous jump from first base, Kinsler handily swiped second base, and scored moments later on a close play at the plate when Michael Young slashed one of his trademark RBI singles into right field:

“Good runners get bases when they can,” Rangers manager Ron Washington said. “Great ones get them when they have to. He put us in position to get the lead back and Michael delivered one of his patented hits to right field. We had the right guy on the bases and the right guy at bat.”

Kinsler, incredibly enough, has stolen 46 bases in 52 career attempts - good for a success rate of 88.5%. According to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News, that figure ranks first among all players who have accumulated at least 50 stolen base attempts since 1900.

Now that’s how you create runs out of nothing.

Hamilton proceeded to ram an RBI triple into the right field corner, placing him just a double away from his first big league cycle and staking the Rangers to a 10-8 lead that they never again threatened to surrender. Overshadowed in the slugfest’s late-inning proceedings were the three perfect innings of relief turned in by right-handers Jamey Wright, Joaquin Benoit and Doug Mathis to lock down the thrilling win.

Though the Texas offense went to extensive lengths to get Hamilton one final crack at the cycle in the bottom of the eighth inning (scoring six more runs in the process, including home runs of varying lengths from David Murphy, Michael Young and Chris Shelton), Josh eventually walked on a 3-2 pitch from reliever Oscar Villarreal to cap his final plate appearance of the evening.

Attention all units: assault and battery in progress at 1000 Ballpark Way. Backup may - no, will be required.

Quick Hits: After being scratched from Thursday’s minor league rehab start for Double-A Frisco, third baseman Hank Blalock (partially torn left hamstring) has returned to Arlington, will continue to work out through the weekend, and will likely head to Arizona to participate in extended spring training games early next week… right-hander Luis Mendoza (sore shoulder, right middle finger blister) is expected to make a rehab start for Double-A Frisco on Sunday…

Saturday evening’s National Anthem will be performed and sung live via satellite from Baghdad, Iraq by soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division, based at Fort Hood, Texas…noted country musician Robert Earl Keen will perform a post-game concert on the North Lawn after Saturday’s evening’s contest.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 16th, 2008 at 11:16 pm and is filed under The Season. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.