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Three of a kind, working on a full house As it turns out, the Rangers' Triple A team is better than the Mariners' big-league club as Andres Blanco, Esteban German, Leonys Martin and Matt Treanor beat Felix Hernandez 7-3 on Saturday and the gang was all back Sunday for the series sweep, 12-5, as the Rangers, again, made Charlie Furbush rethink his career choice.
My prediction: The Rangers will never, ever lose to Charlie Furbush (this year: 11.1 IP, 10.32 ERA).
Further proof that Dallas-Fort Worth loves a winner, it was a pretty neat scene at the Ballpark yesterday as 43,508 fans came out to watch Esteban German and Andres Blanco anchor the left side of the infield and set the Rangers' all-time attendance record at 2,946,949.
Remarkable because it was hot as shit for three months.
But this just goes to show you what a winning franchise does to a "fanbase." No one -- outside of the Florida Marlins -- sports a poor "fanbase" when you're winning. No one talked about the New Orleans Saints' "fanbase" before they got good three years ago unless it dealt with wearing paper bags over your head.
No one ever considered the Oakland-San Francisco crowd an awesome basketball "fanbase" until the Golden State Warriors made the playoffs and knocked off the one-seed Dallas Mavericks three years ago. The Warriors are back in the tank and, still, no one's talking about the "basketball-crazy" fans in Northern California.
Dallas-Fort Worth, maybe more than other areas of the country, love a winner. The Rangers are winners.
I do want to heap a little praise on the organization though. Yes, Dallas-Fort Worth is a region of frontrunners and I doubt they'd be setting any attendance record if the Rangers were 71-71. But the folks at the Ballpark have created an avenue where people can get outside, sit around and drink beer for three hours and be entertained.
For one, the fact that you can bring in your own food and drink into the Ballpark is remarkable. Never knew you could do it, honestly. If I knew I could go to the Ballpark and not have to spend $15 on bottled water as the temperature is 100 degrees at first pitch, I'm 25 percent more willing to attend a game. The fact that I can drag in my Chick-Fil-A or Whataburger is a bigger bonus.
Two, it's just not that expensive. Next time you go to McDonalds, look at the prices for a value meal. Tell me that it's that much cheaper than Ballpark food, where most everything is slathered in melted cheese.
Three, the game experience has gotten better and better with the big new video board and the money to be able to run bits out there, all from the mad mind of Chuck Morgan. The Texas-theme worked. The music, the Texas Legends race, the game-show mid-inning stuff, Taco Time and all that junk. Yes, it's a tad minor league. But it works. It straddles that line between big leagues and bush leagues.
Anyway, those 2.9 million fans had plenty of reason to show up.
Notes:
1. Ian Kinsler's trying and trying to get that 30-30 year. Attempted three steals yesterday, caught just once. Sitting at 29 steals with three games to play.
2. Loved seeing the B-team out there Saturday.
3. Get used to Leonys Martin in centerfield.
4. Really sweet to see both Derek Holland and Alexi Ogando throw the ball well in their final regular-season appearances. Holland for sure. Most think Ogando is prepping for the bullpen .
5. Yorvit Torrealba with two homers yesterday, including a crowd-inspiring grand slam. It always surprised me that he didn't hit more homers. He has a little power and he got into the upper-20s in doubles. Up to seven homers on the season.
6. Ian Kinsler's at 118 runs. The franchise record is 133 by Alex Rodriguez 2001.
7. If you told me Derek Holland would get 16 wins this season, I would have said the Rangers are 26 games over .500 and winning the division by eight.
8. Michael Young is looking to get to 3,000 hits by next week. Eleven hits in his last five.
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