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MAY 02 Kevin Elster broke out of his home run drought by hitting his 3rd and 4th Saturday. His first was a 3 run homer in the 2nd inning to put the Rangers ahead 3-2 and added another solo job in the 7th off reliever Dennis Eckersley. Elster last homered on April 12th against Toronto.

MAY 01 Nolan Ryan, his son Reid Ryan, and a third partner have agreed to become majority owners in the Jackson Generals. The Generals, from Mississippi, is the AA farm team of the Houston Astros. Along with becoming majority owner, Ryan is considering mving the team to Central Texas, possibly around the Austin area.With the agreement, the current owners would retain 30% of the team while Reid would oversee the day-to-day operations of the Generals.

APR. 27 Congrats to Juan Gonzalez for setting a new major league record for most RBIs in April with 35. The previous record was 34, set last year by Yankee 1B Tino Martinez. There is increased speculation on whether Gonzalez can break the record for most RBIs in a season set by Hack Wilson with 190 RBIs during the 1930 season.

APR. 26 RHP Julio Santana was claimed by the Devil Rays off waivers. Santana, 25, debuted with the Rangers as a starter last year going 4-6 with a 6.75 ERA. He became expendable this year folloing the trade for Tim Crabtree and the return of Danny Patterson from the DL. Out of minor league options, the Rangers could only send Santana to the minors if he cleared waivers. The Rangers shopped Santana around before placing him on waivers, hoping for an infield prospect, but no offers came. As compensation, the Rangers will receive a $20,000 waiver fee.

APR. 18 Tigers manager, Buddy Bell sent an apology to the Rangers for yelling at Pudge Rodriguez after Pudge was hit by a pitch from Bryce Florie.

APR. 15 After a shaky spring where he was rumored to be released, Tom Goodwin has been a pleasant surprise so far. Goodwin is batting .400 with 13 runs, 9 walks, and 9 steals.

APR. 14 He's never batted for the Rangers, but Aaron Sele is the best thing to happen to the Ranger's offense since Juan Gonzalez. In the 3 games Sele has started, the Rangers have scored a total of 42 runs on 53 hits.

APR. 13 22-year veteran umpire, Durwood Merrill, wrote some critical comments about some Rangers players in his new book, You're Out and You're Ugly, Too. As seen on ESPN's Baseball Tonight, Merrill's comments have made a few players upset. Specifically, Merrill wrote about Juan Gonzalez:

"Juan is going to have to learn to play with pain. I don't think there's anyone in baseball who believes that Jaun Gonzalez is that durable."

About John Wetteland:

"Wetteland is an ulcer waiting to happen...Check out the guys in the Rangers dugout during the next time Wetteland takes the mound. You'll think they're watching Poltergeist. They're all hiding their eyes."

Durwood Merrill was the home plate umpire in Monday's game against Detroit.

APR. 12 Scorers corrected themselves yesterday and took an RBI away from Juan Gonzalez in the Rangers 4-3 victory over Toronto. Scorers had given both an RBI to Gonzalez and an error on 3B Ed Sprague. With this ruling, Gonzalez's season-opening streak of games with an RBI ends at 7, which is the longest since Dale Murphy did it with Atlanta in '85.

APR. 26 P Julio Santana claimed by Tampa Bay off waivers

APR. 24 Recalled P Al Levine from AAA Oklahoma City to fill Pavlik's roster spot

APR. 18 Acquired Reds OF Chad Mottola for player to be named later

APR. 17 Placed P Julio Santana on designated for assignment list to make room for P Danny Patterson

APR. 27 Roger Pavlik will be out at least until the All-Star break following surgery to his right index finger. Pavlik broke his finger when Quenton McCracken of the Devil Rays hit a comebacker to Pavlik in the game on April 23rd. As for the surgery, Pavlik had 2 pins inserted into the middle joint of his broken finger.

APR. 24 Placed Roger Pavlik on 15 day DL (fractured right index finger).

APR. 17 Activated Danny Patterson from 15 day DL.

APR. 06 Pudge Rodriguez, who suffered a strained ligament in his left thumb after a swing in the top of the 9th against the Blue Jays on April 3rd and then suffered a twisted ankle 2 games later when Robin Ventura slid home, is listed as day-to-day. Both injuries are considered minor.

 

FAN POLL

In Durwood Merrill's book You're Out and You're Ugly, Too, Merrill contends that the Rangers should never have traded Rafael Palmeiro in favor of Will Clark. What do you think?

Yes, should have gotten Clark

No, should have kept Palmeiro

 

Comments?

 

 

OPINION

A lot of people have said that preseason performance doesn't translate into regular season success, but I'm glad that's not the case for Rick Helling. Helling's superb pitching during the preseason won him a spot in the starting rotation and sent Roger Pavlik to the bullpen. Now, 6 starts later, Helling has a perfect 6-0 record this season, the first major league pitcher to do so, and is finally making a name for himself.

Fernando Tatis is still struggling at the plate and has dropped below .200. He's corrected the problem where he flails his head during the follow through, but doesn't seem to be getting any power on his swings. He's the weakest link in the lineup and should be replaced by Luis Alicea until he can get his mechanics down.

It's going to be difficult deciding who is going to be player of the month for the Rangers. Pudge leads the league in batting average and doubles, Gonzalez has his RBI record for April, and both Helling and Sele went 5-0 in April. If it were up to me, Helling would win because he's risen from a starting rotation that wasn't expected to do much.

Comments? Suggestions? Please send e-mail to: David Cheng.

 

 

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This page last updated on May 2, 1998.
Copyright (c) 1998 David Cheng. All Rights Reserved.
Not associated with the Texas Rangers Baseball Club in any way.