Are You Confused Too?

Let me get this straight. The prospective new owners of the Texas Rangers which include Nolan Ryan are suing the current owners of the Texas Rangers which includes Nolan Ryan as team president. Presumably Ryan does not have a piece of the Tom Hicks owned team now or he would be in part suing himself.

As it is since Ryan is running the show that is being sued by a group in which he is part. Toss in the matter that the folks that run major league baseball don't believe they have to automatically grant the franchise to a highest bidder even though a bankruptcy court judge is opening bids for the team to appease those who are afraid they will be stiffed by the bankruptcy of the entire Hicks empire.

Too bad the game on the field isn't the main thing in Arlington, because the team the Rangers have assembled is a pretty good darn unit and looks to be the best in the AL West. Of course, the heat of summer in Arlington has yet to fully play out and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, the pre season favorites, are hardly out of things yet. Still, that is a good Ranger team this season.

It is a shame the off field news and sale or no sale of the club has taken over much attention.
Here in Houston the talk is just baseball. When or if Drayton McLane decides to sell the Astros is anyone's guess-probably including his. In the meantime the club continues to flounder in the lower reaches of the NL Central and offensively in the lower reaches of all of baseball.

So, Jeff Bagwell comes in as hitting coach. Who knows how Jeff will do? He doesn't even know. And while I add, it can't hurt, that isn't really true. It did hurt outgoing hitting coach Sean Berry a great deal. He has offered Jeff best wishes since there are no indications the team's all time home run king pushed Berry out. Apparently the die was cast on making a change about a week ago. GM Ed Wade asked Bagwell if he might be interested, but if he were not, a change was coming anyway.

To use a very old and often very true statement, "Sean Berry was a victim of circumstances." He was working as hard as ever. He was watching tapes. He was spending extra time with hitters tossing batting practice. He was carrying around an almost chronic sore arm from all the throwing. But too many of his hitters were not getting the job done. It wasn't just the often impressionable younger players for whom a hitting coach can be a great help. It was most distressingly the older vets for whom a hitting coach is often just someone to talk to. Top to bottom in the Astros lineup everyone was performing at a lower level than expected or than their track record would expect.

The Astros won't pull away from trouble just because Jeff Bagwell is the hitting coach. They will pull away when some personal moves are made among the players and when the veterans who have gotten the job done so well in the past either revert to form or have new playing addresses.

It is just that simple.