Rangers next big move

I would like to state for the record I am a fan of the Texas Rangers. In the 25 years of watching baseball, these last 2 seasons have been the best of my life.  With all that being said, I am afraid some of you won't like what I am about to say, but I'm afraid that it is time to make a trade at the trade deadline or let Josh Hamilton leave as a free agent.  No I am not crazy, but let me state my case.


First let me say that I do not know what it is like to be an addict. I can't imagine what it would be like knowing that any day I could fall off the "wagon" and have my life spiral out of control.  Part of me saying that I would be ok with Texas trading him does have to do with the escapades of the other night. In case you don't know he was drinking at Sherlocks bar in North Dallas. He also allegedly had sexual relations with a girl in the bathroom.  That part isn't confirmed by Josh, but according to deadspin.com(take that for what its worth) there is eye witness accounts that he did take a girl in the bathroom and had relations with her.


The other part is for baseball reasons. Since being traded to texas in 2007 the most games he has played in was in 2008 when he played in 156 games. 
2009 he only played in 89 games
2010 he played in 133 games
2011 he played in 121 games.
2010 Was the MVP season for Josh, and in only 133 games he hit .359(which is a career high) had 32HR and drove in 100 runs. This season Josh will turn 32 in May and his salary this season is 13.75 Million dollars. I know he is good for 30 HRs and 100+ RBIs, but you also know he is good for missing at least 30 to as many as 50 games due to injury. At almost 14 million dollars you can't afford to pay that much money to your best player to be on the disabled list twice a season.  With Josh coming free at the end of the season, Texas has to take a long hard look at his situation. As a free agent he will likely want a 5 or even 6 years at 19-20 per season. Even if the contract is a 5 year deal he will be 37 in the last year of the contract. 19 or 20 million is way to much money to be spending on a 37 year old, whose body by then may be a 47 year old after the wear and tear of playing baseball, and all of the drugs that he did when he was younger. The Rangers wouldn't match the 10 years that Detroit gave Prince Fielder, because they didn't feel like paying 25 million dollars to a 37 year old was worth the risk. In the same time frame(2007-2011) Prince only missed a total of 5 games, and in 2009 and last season played in every single game.  What would make you think that Josh can even play in 100 games by the time he is 37.

With all that being said yes, I understand the Rangers wouldn't have made it to back to back World Series without him, but last season during the playoffs he was hurt and was unproductive. Even to the point of manager Ron Washington was asked during the World Series if he was considering moving Josh down in the lineup cause he wasn't producing as a number 3 hitter.  With the combination of the off the field issues and his age, I think if the Rangers would be better off in the long term to try and trade him at the deadline, as opposed to letting him walk in free agency and getting nothing in return.

The Better Manning

Its funny how in sports things just seem to work out. This season Super Bowl XLVI is going to be played in Indianapolis, where Peyton Manning has been playing for the last 13 seasons. His arch rival(at least from a media prospective) Tom Brady will be playing in the game, and will be opposing Peyton's little brother Eli Manning. All the while Peyton hasn't taken a snap all season due to a neck injury, and what appears is going to be a messy divorce from the Colts.

When Eli was drafted and demanded a trade to New York, everyone including me thought what a joke. He will never be as good as his brother, and demanding where he plays is a bush league move. I guess now after winning one Super Bowl and being the MVP, the joke is now on all of us. Eli was never supposed to be as successful as Peyton. Yes he doesn't have the NFL MVP awards, and doesn't always have the stat line as Peyton does, and he sometimes appears to just throw the ball up for grabs. What he does have though is the same number of Super Bowl appearances now (2) and if he wins Sunday will have more Super Bowl wins than Peyton.

In the preseason Eli said, "yes I belong in the elite category", with Tom Brady, Peyton Manning Drew Brees. We all laughed and said sure you do little buddy. After a 6-2 start to the season Eli started to shut some of the doubters up. Then the Giants lose 4 straight including losses in which they lose to a backup qb(Vince Young) ,and get blown out by New Orleans by 25. The calender turns to December and that is where Eli shined. On a Sunday night in Dallas, Eli leads the giants to 2 scores in the final 3:17 of the game in route to the win, and keep their playoff hopes alive. Then on Christmas Eve with their playoff hopes dwindling, Eli throws a 99 yard touchdown pass to Victor Cruz to start the comeback win against the Jets. On the final week of the season in a winner take all game for the NFC East title Eli was nearly flawless as he goes 24-33 for 346 yards and 3 touchdowns in a 31-17 win against Dallas. The postseason has been no different for Eli he has been continuing to play great and has his team one win away from another championship.

Eli is only one of 3 active qbs in the league with multiple super bowl starts Tom Brady(5) Ben Roethlisberger(3) and Peyton Manning(2). He would be 1 of 7 qbs to win his first 2 super bowl starts. That list includes Bradshaw, Montana, Aikman, Starr,Plunket,Brady and Roethlisberger 5 of those quarterbacks are hall of famers. One(Brady) is for sure going to be a hall of famer.
If Manning wins the super bowl next week, I guess not only will he say that he belongs in the elite class, but I guess we would have to say that he belongs right at the top of that class. He may not have all the flashy stats, or sometimes the brightest personality but all he does is win. If how we judge players especially quarterbacks is on wins and losses, and super bowl wins, you have to say Eli right now belongs in the top 5 if not the best in football

Sports

I have thought about writing a post like this after game 6 of the world series but after such a gut wrenching defeat I decided to hold off. I just had my 34th birtday on tuesday and in my really 29 years of watching and paying close attention to sports I have never seen my fav team win a championship. When I grew up in Ohio many people thought I was a Cleveland Browns fan, but(this will probally lose me some friends) I grew up a Philadelphia Eagles fan. We have made it to a few championship games, and 1 Super Bowl(don't get mad NFL for me calling it that), and have lost. My childhood team was the Cleveland Indians. They were TERRIBLE, except for 1995 and 1997. In 95 it was the Braves that beat us(for thier only title) then in 1997 in Game 7 1 day after my birthday Jose Mesa gives up the hit to Édgar Bleeping Rentería and my dreams were crushed again. I don't even want to bring up as a kid and Michael Jordan and Craig Ehlo.

I moved to Texas in 1993 and adopted the Texas Rangers as my new team since I plan on spending the rest of my life here. From 1997-2010 my fav team in my fav sport never even sniffed a championship. Then in 2010 the Rangers made the world series for the first time in team history, only to flash back to my childhood and Édgar Bleeping Rentería and the San Franciso Giants break my heart again. Then for the first time in 20 years they make it back to the world series again! They go all the way to game 7 the final night of the season, alas I am still heartbroken again, but it still doesn't change how I feel.

The reason we all watch sports is because its the best drama and the best version of reality tv. You cant script this stuff, not in a million years! Unfortuately the mentalty of the Dallas and maybe the Texas sports fan is Title or Bust, and I'm sorry but there is gonna be a lot more busts than titles. Every year in the 4 major sports leagues 4 teams win championships and 121 teams are left heartbroken. Sometimes I think peoeple take for granted the actualy run to the championship game/series. Trust me until this season I had gone 13 years without seeing a team that I root for even make it to the championship game/series, it doesn't come around as often as we all hope it will.

For the people saying that they want to fire Ron Washington, and cut C.J. and cut Mike Young, I say that you don't know anything about sports what so ever. Now if it comes down to a matter of money and you can't keep C.J. then I am fine with that. But just to dismiss him like that is ridiculous! As much as I don't like his attitude and personality, he was HUGE part of the Rangers getting to the World Series, and for the right price you have to keep him. Yes Ron made some decison that you can question during the series but without him we aren't here either. It takes in this case 25 guys to win or lose a series, not 3 or not even 1. I know right now it hurts and it will hurt for the next 158 days until spring training starts, then we hop on the ride again and hopefully can make it back to the World Series for the 3rd straight time. Trust me you will enjoy sports more if you sit back and enjoy the ride the whole time, instead of thinking you are deserving of a title. So let it hurt, and trust me I know that it does cause I am still hurting, but then lets all go out to the ballpark and cheer them on again next year and enjoy such a wonderful ride again. Nobody said winning a title is easy, think about fans of the Seattle Mariners and the Washington Nationals/Montreal Expos who have never been to the World Series, or the Astros,Rockies,Rays,Padres,and Brewers who also have never won the World Series. Sports is a great roller coaster ride sometimes you throw up with nervousness,and cry when you lose, but it also makes winning the whole thing taste that much sweeter when you win.

World Series game 1

So I haven't updated this in a long time but I thought I would share my thoughts on the World Series in case you wanted to know them.

I guess I will start with C.J. Wilson. All in all I didn't think he did totally bad. He made a few mistakes but he kept the team in the game and thats all you can really hope for after his previous starts this postseason. To sign C.J. or not is for another time but if he wants 6 years I say see ya later.

Now onto the 7th inning...... There was 2 moves everyone is second guessing. The first move was the right move, Gentry had to pinch hit for Murphy. With the lefty coming out of the bullpen you should pinch hit for thr left handed Murphy. Gentry was the right choice cause Murphy is out of the game now and Gentry is the next outfielder in line. If you ph Torriabla there then you have used 2 players off your bench and only got 1 at bat for. The second decision pinch hitting German was an odd choice. This is where Torrialba should have come in. As the manager says "thats the way baseball go" you have to forget it and move on. Sometimes the chances you take work out and you are a genius sometimes they don't and you are a dumb dumb. I think Ron wasn't out managed as bad as everyone thinks, sometimes you are just outplayed, you tip ur cap and say good game and live to fight another day. I said Rangers in 5 so let's win tonight! More to come tomorrow.

When on the road you always want to split the games win today and you get your split and come home for 3 games. All is not lost this team hasn't lost back to back games since mid August. Keep your head up Ranger fans the best thing about baseball is there is a tame tomorrow so you have to have a short memory.

My grandma

So I don't know who all reads this, I am not sure anyone reads this but I felt like I needed to write today about my grandma. If you do read this and follow me on twitter(@s_krause) or you are my facebook friend (www.facebook.com/shawn.krause1) then you know that my Grandma has been fighting lung cancer since the middle of October. Well on June 21 at 11:30 pm I got a phone call from my mom saying that she had lost this battle with cancer. The cancer had spread like wild fire all over her body, and once it got into her brain she went downhill and fast.

Everyone who met my Grandma always said the same thing. "She is the sweetest lady I have ever met." She never had a drivers license, but was always around town. She would work the elections in Lisbon, and knew almost every single person in town. She would always remember your name and ask about you or your family if she ever saw you. Sometimes I regret not making it back to Ohio before she died to see her one more time. I did make it to the funeral and I got up there a couple days early and was talking to my Uncle(who she lived with while being sick), and he told me that I should be glad that I didn't. He said that it broke his heart everyday to hear how much pain she was in. Even though she was in that pain she never took pain meds until the end. She would always tell the nurse that she didn't have any pain and was doing good. She fought and fought and fought, until finally her body said that I can't fight with you anymore and she finally passed.

My Grandpa(Herbert Krause) passed away 11 years ago this September, and I'm sure that morning he had a huge smile when he saw her and they was reunited in Heaven. They would have been married 61 years this december. We had a 50 year surprise party planned for them the year he died.

Its really gonna be hard not having her around. She was the person I called when things was going bad, I knew I could always pick up the phone and call her, and she would make me feel better. I took some pictures of the funeral services and things around town, and I thought I would share them with you as well. Thanks for reading and remember to always tell the people you love, that you love them cause you never know when they will be called home.

I am standing upon the seashore.
A ship at my side spreads her white
sails to the morning breeze and starts
for the blue ocean.
She is an object of beauty and strength.
I stand and watch her until at length
she hangs like a speck of white cloud
just where the sea and sky come
to mingle with each other.
Then, someone at my side says;
"There, she is gone!"
"Gone where?"
Gone from my sight. That is all.
She is just as large in mast and hull
and spar as she was when she left my side
and she is just as able to bear her
load of living freight to her destined port.
Her diminished size is in me, not in her.
And just at the moment when someone
at my side says, "There, she is gone!"
There are other eyes watching her coming,
and other voices ready to take up the glad
shout;
"Here she comes!"
And that is dying.”

That is a short story/poem that I got to read during her service.

This is my Grandparents back in 1996

The Chapel where the service was held

flowers for her grave

Flowers at the graveside

Thier headstone

My grandparents house

This is me leaving Ohio and saying goodbye to them for this trip

The box that holds the urn so she can be buried

Rangers Season Preview

I thought I would give you my season preview on how I think the season will go for the defending American League Champion Texas Rangers.  First and foremost I want to say that I am a Ranger fan, and last October was a great ride, but I sense a dark cloud hovering over the team this season. The biggest complaint about the Rangers is when are they gonna spend some money and get some pitching? Well we can start this season with the same pitching issues. Last seasons magical run would not have happened without "he who shall not be named". So when he signed somewhere else how did the Rangers decide to replace him? By taking a chance on Brandon Webb!? If we are talking about Webb before the arm problems I say awesome, but that's not the case. He has a bad shoulder and will not make an impact till the All Star break(which is my opinion only).  If you get anything out of him its a bonus, but don't expect much from him even when he returns. I like C.J. and Colby but after that you are taking big chances with the rest of the rotation.  I am a big fan of Feliz still closing games but I have a feeling the rest of the bullpen will not be able to hold the lead. With O'day and Lowe struggling this spring with high ERAs why have a dominate closer when you, won't need him to close games.  As for the offense, Beltre at third, and Napoli as a part time catcher and dh I think the offense is upgraded. I hope I am wrong but I'm expecting a lot of 12-11 games this season.  Texas has one of the most potent offenses in the AL, but defensively with Bourbon in center they are lacking .  Although the Angles didn't do much to upgrade their team, they will always be good as long as Mike Scioscia is the manager. The team to watch out for is the Okland As, if their bats wake up, and with their starters,and maybe the 2nd or 3rd best pen in all of baseball, they are the biggest challenge for the division. With all that being said I hope John Daniels and Nolan Ryan make another deadline day move for a starter, or this could be a really long season. I think it will be a close three team race to the end. Again I'm a Ranger fan, and with the way the ball club is made up right this minute, I think the Rangers edge out the As for the division(assuming they make a trade deadline move).
 
Rangers   88-74
As           86-76
Angles     84-78
Mariners  70-92
 
That's how I see the division shaping up.

Summer concert

Pictures from the concert