MVN - Most Valuable Network

Victorious Rangers Gear Up For All-Star Festivities

The sun-baked bleachers at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington had not even completely emptied before five Texas Rangers - four players and their undoubtedly excited head trainer, Jamie Reed - began to make their final preparations for the roughly 1,400-mile flight from the Metroplex to bustling New York City.

Three of those players - Ian Kinsler, Michael Young and Milton Bradley - contributed in some particularly significant way to Sunday afternoon’s precarious 12-11 victory over the Chicago White Sox, again proving that while it is pitching which ultimately wins championships, a dynamic offense capable of exploding for runs in bunches can go a long way as well.

The fourth did not record a hit in four at-bats, signifying an uncharacteristic blip on the radar after his torrid .389/.410/.639 offensive pace over his previous eight games. But you can be certain he’ll record plenty of long, prodigious drives during Monday evening’s State Farm Home Run Derby at Yankee Stadium, the perfect venue for Josh Hamilton’s massive left-handed power strike with its accommodatingly short right field fence.

Legendary Rangers hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo voiced his concerns over Hamilton’s participation in baseball’s annual power showcase earlier this month, stating with a shrug that “it’ll mess up his swing, but what are you gonna do?”And that may well prove to be true, which would only further contribute to the growing reluctance of many of baseball’s most prominent sluggers to appear in the celebrated, but ultimately trivial All-Star event.

Or maybe not:

“Every swing of mine has a little bit of an uppercut to it,” Hamilton said. “I do it in batting practice every day. I have a home run swing.”

The 27-year-old outfielder has tirelessly given his all to teammates, media and fans alike over the last six-odd months, openly welcoming the inherent challenges presented by superstardom on a national level. And regardless of what the second half of this fascinating 2008 season holds for the 50-win Rangers, I don’t think anybody is going to argue that Hamilton has wholly earned this unabated moment in the spotlight.

On Tuesday, the Rangers’ front-line offensive quartet will suit up in their customary clean white home uniforms, don their dark blue ball caps, and take the field to an uproarious ovation as 50,000-plus give “The House That Ruth Built” a sendoff to remember.

Kinsler, who concluded his first-half campaign with another sparking 3-for-5, three-RBI performance, will not be starting as a result of the modern miracle that is All-Star fan balloting; Boston’s Dustin Pedroia inexplicably topped Kinsler by just 34,243 votes, and might have been knocked off had the polls remained open just one more day.

His 25-game hit streak, the longest in the majors this season and the second-longest in club history to only Gabe Kapler’s remarkable 28-game hitting clinic from July 17th through August 15th, 2000, has positioned him to become just the fifth second baseman in modern Major League history to hit 20 home runs, steal 20 bases and compile an OPS of .900 or better in a single season.

The other four? Joe Morgan, Ryne Sandberg, Roberto Alomar and Craig Biggio, all of whom are either already enshrined in Cooperstown or will be in the near future. Extremely elite company, in other words.

Young, already furnishing his own active 15-game hit streak, will sit alongside his double play partner and close friend on the American League bench to start the contest. And you can bet the two will be throwing their vocal support behind Hamilton and Bradley both, as the other pair of Rangers All-Stars square off against National League starter Ben Sheets and company to kick off baseball’s Midsummer Classic.

Said Bradley of his long-term contractual situation on Sunday:

“I’ve enjoyed my time here, but it just seems wherever I’ve been, I’ve given someone an excuse to move me or trade me. Nobody has been willing to go out on a limb and make that commitment to me, and that’s unfortunate. But it’s not going to change how I approach things.”

I’ve got a hunch that this will all work out in the end, but until a definitive resolution has been enacted in the form of a trade or multi-year contract extension, it remains to be seen how much longer Bradley’s future in a Rangers uniform will persist.

Indeed, there are plenty of questions left to be answered about not only Bradley’s future, but the immediate future of this .521 Rangers squad over the 19 days that remain until the July 31st trade deadline. Jason and I will be examining several of those questions in detail, as we feverishly attempt to produce meaningful answers that will serve as a helpful guideline of which direction general manager Jon Daniels and company should steer the ship going forward.

At least there aren’t any questions about whether the Rangers have sent the right players to Yankee Stadium.

Quick Hits: Marlon Byrd left Sunday’s game in the eighth inning due to back soreness…reliever Joaquin Benoit (right shoulder inflammation) reported slight improvement following a Sunday long-toss session, and will rehab in Surprise, Arizona over the All-Star break…sinkerballer Scott Feldman, contrary to previous reports, will not make a minor league start at Double-A Frisco over the All-Star break; it is still unknown whether he’ll return to the Rangers as a starter or reliever.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 14th, 2008 at 3:42 am 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.