Michael Young

There is this beautiful song out on the country radio charts. In fact, it is now ranked at No. 2 for this week, and it is called, "The Boys of Fall," and its artist is Kenny Chesney.

It talks of high school football and wearing the jerseys, digging in the cleats, and roughing up the shoulder pads. It is an emotional song that still manages to stay away from the label of "cheesy" label.

Down where I live in Texas, it fits the culture like a glove because Texas is all about football.

July 6, 2010. It was another game day in Major League Baseball and a week before the All-Star break. As teams tried to finish the first half of the season on a good note, 20,428 fans entered Rangers Ballpark in Arlington to watch the Texas Rangers play the Cleveland Indians.

On a day when 84 degrees is not a typical Texas summer day, the weather wasn't the only thing out of the normal on that Tuesday night.

We are officially less than a week away from the 2010 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.

The 81st annual midseason exhibition will definitely be one to watch, as there are several dynamics to look forward to: a cluster of new faces, a bunch of superstars coming back, and the question of whether or not the National League can beat the American League for the first time in since 1996.

Lock this guy up. Just do it. He's on the brink of "Pierredom." Make that "Crawfordom." And you can get him cheap! Julio Borbon  is set to bat leadoff for the Texas Rangers, and he will be a big reason why the Rangers will take the AL West in 2010.

The Texas Rangers came into the series hosting the Angels at the end of a terrible June.  For the month, Texas had a losing record, the worst hitting, and worst on-base percentage.  And worst of all they had lost their lead over the Angels.

Down 1.5 games to the Angels, and the Mariners only 2.5 behind Texas, the Rangers needed a big showing against the defending AL West champ Angels and defending AL champ Rays.

Monday: L, 2-5 (40-35)

Entering the holiday weekend, the Rays came in as one of the hottest teams in baseball. When it was over, the Texas Rangers were in first place and the Rays fell further behind in both the AL East Divisional race and the AL wildcard chase.

Texas swept Tampa Bay by silencing the red hot bats of the Rays, and taking advantage of uncharacteristic defensive lapses in their three game sweep.

After their difficult two week stretch in which the Rangers played four potential playoff teams, it looked as though the team would get a little bit of a break against two middle of the road teams in Houston and San Francisco.

However, with a 2-4 week that included being swept out of San Francisco and with the Angels continuing on their hot streak, the Rangers' lead in the AL West is only a half game.

Historically, the Texas Rangers have been one of the best clutch hitting teams in baseball. Michael Young has taken the lead in that department, especially in the All Star Game. For those that don’t remember Young has two game winning hits in the Summer Classic.

That’s all changed this year, much to my surprise.

Young is known as one of the best clutch hitters in baseball. Any baseball fan knows that.

Leading the AL West over the Angels by 1.5 games and still unbeaten against the Mariners this year, the Rangers went into last night's game looking to continue their winning ways.

Texas sent Brandon McCarthy to the mound as he looked to redeem himself after getting blown-up in his last start in Oakland.  Brandon also had a personal battle, he has yet to pitch seven complete innings in a Rangers uniform. 

Wednesday night against the Mariners he was able accomplish both goals.

This is a big week for the Rangers, make no mistake about that.  Texas comes into the week leading the AL West, but the Angels are only a half-game back and the Mariners 1.5 games back.  To help out the Rangers got Josh Hamilton back off the DL, and Michael Young returned to the lineup for the first time since last Friday (back spasm).