Texas Ranger Fans Unite

[Cali Roots]

Im not listening to the radio, but espn has not reported any signing yet. 5 min left!

[TTB]

It's a done deal Cali....6 years 60 million

Prince and a back loaded 6 year deal on the way

[Windy City Irish]

I am not trying to be a dick or rain on your parade but seriously...

Dice K was the best pitcher ever to come out of Japan. $50M just to sign, and 5 years 60M as well.

one good year and the rest has been shit or injured. Asian pitchers don't do well over here long term. they will fool hitters right off the bat and put up some innings but there has never been a pitcher with this much hype that has come over here that has sustained any long term success

Darvish "may" be different and I don't care that Nolan Ryan watched this guy or he is a pitching legend.

It is NOT the same game....hope it works out for you guys, but don't get all freaked out by this as I was the same way with Dice K 4 years ago

[be47320]

^^ racist

[Windy City Irish]

egggggggsactly...........

[TTB]

so funny how much windy is in this thread....we already heard your take on darvish

dice k sucks ass so darvish will too......solid logic

[TTB]

I see why Windy is glass half full as of late.......

Red Sox sign Vicente Padilla

Watch out for these guys!! lol

[Windy City Irish]

yawn

i forgot. can't question Nolan Ryan. guy is the best. Don't know what I am thinking

[TTB]

Peter Gammons reporting that Oswalt is down to either the Rangers or Cards......

I like the idea of adding a vet such as Oswalt to this young staff

[Windy City Irish]

TTB, longhorn thread very lonely....what is going on over there

[Windy City Irish]

I like this thread better

[chibob]

Easy game for the Rangers yesterday. 13 Ks by shitsox. And that great HOF secondbaseman had 3 of them and finishes the game looking at STRIKE TWO, followed by taking STRIKE THREE. He can't hit a fastball as his swing has a bigger loop than Carlos Boozers jump shot

[be47320]

Rangers may only lose 9 or 10 games this season

[Romanowski]

al east yankees
al west rangers
al central tigers

alwc rays
alwc angels

[Windy City Irish]

good stuff here from Buster Olney on Darvish

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Yu Darvish was ready to walk out on the field to play catch with Derek Holland on Sunday afternoon, before the Rangers' game with the Chicago White Sox, when Holland stopped.

"Hold on," Holland said, turning around and reaching into his locker for a stiff first baseman's mitt. "I'm trying to break this in."

"OK," Darvish said, and he and Holland continued chatting on their way out the field.

Holland is a catching partner to Darvish -- who makes his debut tonight against the Seattle Mariners -- and so he has a good feel for his personality. Holland offered this scouting report:



1. Darvish is quickly picking up English, through lessons he takes and through conversations with teammates. "He'll hear somebody say something, and he'll repeat it," said Holland. "Sometimes, it's a word that's a little more colorful."



Naturally.



2. Darvish's stuff is as good as advertised, Holland says, and maybe even a little better. When pitchers play catch, dozens of feet apart, they use hand gestures to give a heads-up to their partner about what they're about to throw. A flip forward of the hand means a fastball, and drawing the hand backward means a changeup.



Darvish throws so many pitches, Holland has discovered, that the Japanese right-hander must be even more demonstrative to explain what he's throwing next. Turning his hand in a big circle means he's about to throw a big curveball, and a smaller circle means his sharper curve. And then there's the sign for the splitter -- two fingers down, as if he was making the fangs of a cobra -- and the slider, a hard sweep to the left.



"He's got great stuff," Holland said, chuckling.




Whether Darvish can use it all is an open question. It wasn't long into Daisuke Matsuzaka's tenure with the Boston Red Sox that the team pushed him to streamline his repertoire, to use his fastball as his foundation and work from there -- which ran counter to Matsuzaka's perceived strength of consistently working from his whole toolbox.



Ian Kinsler mentioned that the others on the team have talked to Darvish about what he can rely on pitching in the majors, most notably his sinker.



But one member of the Texas organization believes there is a significant difference between Darvish's stuff and that of Matsuzaka: Daisuke tries to beat you outside of the strike zone, by getting you to chase pitches, but Darvish can beat you in the strike zone.



A talent evaluator texted Sunday, "Darvish is the best pitcher from Japan I've seen, because he can command the ball and he's got great sink in the lower half of the zone."



There is another significant difference between Darvish and Matsuzaka in Darvish's first months with his new team, which may or may not help him on the mound but may be an aid on those days when, inevitably, he has a rough outing: He has quickly become assimilated into the Texas clubhouse culture, sharing in simple conversations, joking, laughing.

Darvish already has something in common with Nolan Ryan, as the great Rick Gosselin writes.

Mike Napoli will catch Darvish today.