I still remember the burning of my legs from the aluminum bleachers of the old rangers stadium in the middle of July and the smell of the burning glove from second baseman, Doug Strange, as Ivan Rodriguez was throwing out would-be base stealers. The 22 year-old kid from Puerto Rico blew me away with his passion of the game more than his arm.  He brought a new level of excitement to the city of Arlington that we had never seen before.  His style and grace was embraced by every kid that dreamed about being a big league ball player.  The snap throws to first while on his knees, throwing out runners before they even begin to slide, and the relentless smile will always forever be a trademark of Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez. A week has past since his official retirement so I thought it was in my best interest to rank the top 3 catchers of all-time.

3.Yogi Berra- Standing at 5’7” at 185 pounds we have Lawrence Peter Berra residing at number 3.  Most critics have Yogi at number 2 but I feel that his MVP awards were not rightly earned especially in the year of 1956 when his teammate, Mickey Mantle, hit 37 homeruns and batted over .300 while Yogi only batted .272. Furthermore, Ted Williams batted .356 that year and had one more homerun than him. The Boston media has always ridiculed Mr. Williams for not being cordial enough to answer personal questions. Ted “The Kid”Williams has outperformed Mr.Berra every year that he has been named the MVP.  With that set aside, Yogi has 10 World Series rings and no other catcher comes close to that. Apparently he must be doing something right. Hitting for a career average of .285, 358 home runs, 1430 RBI, 1175 runs scored, and 2,150 base hits has the 18 time all-star in my top 100 hitters of all-time. Theodore Williams is the best hitter of all-time on my list if your curious.  Who else do you know that can leave the league to do 3 years of military service then comeback and win the MVP award with a batting average of .342, 38 homeruns and 123 RBI’s. Don't worry I’ll wait...

2.Johnny Bench- The 1968 Rookie of the Year award winner was the main cog of the “Big Red Machine”.  Batting .267 for his career he had 389 home runs, 1,376 RBI, 1,091 runs scored, and 2,048 base hits.  Unfortunately I didn't have the honor of getting to see Johnny in rare form in the 70’s.  Any player that has 10 consecutive gloves in any position deserves recognition.  This was a toss up between the Oklahoma native and Ivan Rodriguez.  Unlike Yogi, Johnny only won 2 World Series Championships and won 2 MVP awards. But he also was the first player to win the rookie of the year honor and a gold glove in the same year.

1. Ivan Rodriguez- The hometown favorite is tagged at number one.  He holds the record for the most games squatting behind home plate with 2427. During his career, he had the best caught stealing percentage of any major league catcher, at 45.68%. He tied Johnny Bench with ten consecutive Gold  Gloves and set the record for the most Gold Gloves for catchers at 13. He was the best defensive catcher longer than anyone else.  Ivan only has one championship ring and one MVP award but catchers are not the only ones responsible for winning rings. From an offensive standpoint he held is own by hitting .296, 311 homeruns, 1332 runs batted in, and 2844 hits in his career.  Bench had more pop in his bat but Pudge was a more consistent hitter.

Honorable mention-Josh Gibson

We have to go on purely speculation but he is said to be not only be the best hitting catcher but the best hitter of all-time too. Coming out of the Negro Leagues he didn't receive a lot of respect because of barnstorming, playing inferior competition. It is estimated that he has hit more than 800 homeruns over his career which was generated between the Negro Leagues and exhibition games. His batting average ranged from about .354 to .384 over his career. After a walk-off homerun against the Pittsburgh Crawfords rumor has it he hit it so far into the night sky, they couldn't see it anymore. The next day, the same two teams played in Washington, and an outfielder caught a ball falling from the sky. The umpire yells to Gibson "Yer out! In Pittsburgh! Yesterday!"  He had no defensive skill set like most average catchers but was easily overlooked because of his strength which is why they called Babe Ruth “ the white Josh Gibson”.

The Snake Bite

After his third start it looks like “The Cobra” has shed his skin of the mediocre regular season of 2011. At the end of the 18-3 Boston Red Sox beat down, the Rangers’ opening day starter has an ERA of 1.83.  The Red Sox hitters looked baffled as Colby Lewis was continuously dropping 1-2 sliders for strikes. He mixed his pitches nicely and controlled the tempo of the game. Have to give Yorvit Torrealba credit for  calling up a good game plan for the Red Sox lineup as well. As far as the Texas Rangers lineup goes, the bats are finally starting to click.  This team is definitely looking like the best team in the American League. Don Mattingly has the Dodgers playing like the Dodgers of old for the time being which is why I feel they are the best team in the league and Matt Kemp is “The Machine ” in SoCal right now, sorry Pujols! Don't look now but the Nationals are legitimate contenders in the National League.  The rotation of Ross Detwiler, Stephen Strasburg, Edwin Jackson, Jordan Zimmerman, and Gio Gonzalez has these guys in every game.  They all can bring the heat, according to the Washington Post, the Nationals have formed the first starting five in at least 11 seasons to surpass 93 mph with its collective fastball. If their bats catch up with arms then they could be a force to be reckoned with.  Colby Lewis doesn't have the strongest of arms as we all know but he collects outs which is all fans care about. It’ll be interesting to see if Jon Daniels feels that keeping The Cobra is the best thing to do for the organization since he has an abundance of overwhelming young talent in his back pocket. We could possibly see Robbie Ross taking his spot in the rotation next season or maybe keep him in the bullpen as the consistent lefty that he is and move Martin Perez in Colby’s void.  Lets not forget the 2008 World Series MVP, Cole Hamels, is a free agent at the end of this season and we know that JD loves his lefties.  Lewis is such a great postseason presence who has the second lowest ERA among all-active pitchers with 50 or more innings in the playoffs posting a 2.34, only behind Mr.Mariano Rivera with 0.70. Martin Perez has not yet developed into the starter as well we all hoped for just yet. Signing Colby to a 3 year deal with a team option for a four might not be a bad move.  Hopefully we can get a hometown discount.  As long as his agent isn't Scott Boras we might have a chance.  In my last post I talked a little about Jurickson Profar.  The radio show ,The Ticket, has brought up issues about Ian Kinsler moving to center in the next couple of years and moving Jurickson to either short or second. Kinsler replied to the question of how he would feel about moving to center by stating he’ll do anything in his power to win a championship. With Gary Pettis at his disposal, I'm sure he would do fine defensively. His new profound contract reflects his attributes as a second baseman not an outfielder. I'm sure we will all turn the other way as long as his numbers don't decline. How do you guys feel about Kinsler making a Willie Mays catch in center field, I'm not hating it!

A Fresh Start

So what do you think so far? This is the first time through the rotation and as we all predicted the starters look great.  The starters are 4-0 with a combined 2.41 ERA and a 17.1 scoreless inning streak.  Yes Yu Darvish had a rough outing but the transition from Japan to the big leagues always takes a little getting used to. I predicted that he was going to give up 7 runs instead gave up only 5.  Well done by Darvish to bounce back from a tough 1st inning but to survive in this league you have to comeback and settle down and give your ball club a chance to win.  The defense has only committed 2 errors and none were produced by the infield with 104 total chances.  Have to give a round of applause to Murphy batting .444 to start off the season.  He has always been an impact player for this team but can easily hit .285,20 hrs and 80 RBI’s if given the chance to play full-time. The same goes to Mitch Moreland if he can stay healthy. I think Mitch will use the Prince Fielder bonanza as motivation to have a stellar season which I honestly don't think he needs.  More reps equals consistency if you’re a hitter and we all know he has the talent to get the job done. Obviously Jon Daniels does as well and I have learned my lesson to go against arguably the best GM in baseball. I agree we would have had a sick lineup, handcuffing our budget for future players in definitely not an option.  Plus its a proven fact that we don't need him to get to the World Series. To win it is a whole other issue.  That still leaves a bad taste in my mouth.  One pitch away...TWICE!! The bullpen needs to get stronger which can be an easy fix.   Making it  to three World Series in a row is almost impossible but can be done.  I love this team and always will and I confide in management.  What happens to Elvis Andrus when Jurickson Profar comes up in two years? Ian Kinsler isn't going anywhere for 75 million reasons. Plus I think if Kinsler plays 140 games and has another 30/30 season he’ll be MVP.  The guy is taking all his spring training momentum in to the season.  Honestly I don't think a pitcher should be able to win a CY Young and a MVP award. Nonetheless P in “MVP” means player not hitter and  Verlander had a great season but the writers felt the wrath of a lot of fans as well as players and it wont happen again in back to back seasons. And what about Joe Nathan? Does he have what it takes to be a closer again? Is Ogando next in line to be the closer for this ball club if Nathan cant get in done? Stay tuned ladies and gents...