Tonight, the Angels come calling at the Palace and the Rangers are in a must-sweep situation. As Adam Morris said today on his website: Realistically, in about 10 days time, the Rangers have gone from being serious contenders to being on the fringe of the playoff hunt. And if they don't kick it in gear and sweep the Angels, they are going to be sellers after the All-Star Break.
Morris also quotes Jon Heyman of New York Newsday with this interesting note:
Some Texas players are starting to dislike Buck Showalter. One Rangers observer said, "He treats them like they're idiots."
That might explain how Showalter, who's superior strategically, garnered 12 percent of the vote in SI's spring player poll for "worst manager," which tied for most with Frank Robinson.
Showalter has a notorious reputation for wearing thin on veteran players with his shtick. Could his style be growing old in his third year with the Rangers?
Needless to say, with the Rangers now 6.5 games back of Anaheim, anything less than a sweep over the next four days puts the Rangers in a deep hole with the All-Star break looming. The promise of last Monday is fading rapidly.
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A big thanks to all my fellow Villagers who thought enough of our junk to buy it off of us on Saturday at the garage sale. I'm reminded of the words of Jesus: "a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."
Yet, so much advertising in American culture is built on the acquisition of stuff. Saturday's garage sale was a sterling reminder to me that we don't need more stuff, we need more sanity to avoid buying stuff we don't need (stuff that will probably sit in a corner for a couple of years and then be pawned off at the next garage sale).
