Texas Rangers

The Texas Rangers are jumping out of the gate quickly in this early 2011 MLB season. But the question is, will they be in the running down the stretch?

It's only six games into the season, but the Texas Rangers look like repeaters for at least the American League pennant. Part of the reason is that they are 6-0 over those games. The other reason is who they won the games against.

The Rangers started with a sweep of the Boston Red Sox, early favorites to win the American League East. A strong offense just blew apart the Red Sox rotation, with Ranger scores of 12, nine and five runs in three games.

One week down, plenty of panic buttons pushed.

It's been an upside down week for Major League Baseball. The Red Sox look like a slumbering bear just awoken from hibernation. The Twins actually won in the Bronx. And the Reds are quietly keeping busy—not that any of us have noticed...or have we?

Monday night at the Ballpark in Arlington, the Rangers handed the Mariners a 6-4 loss to remain undefeated in this young 2011 MLB season.

A decent outing for Derek Holland, as he pitched six innings en route to his first win of the season. He allowed three runs and seven hits with five strikeouts and one walk.

Off to a rip roaring start for the Texas Rangers.

Not only did it start off with Ian Kinsler hitting a home run in the leadoff spot on Friday, but he did it again on Saturday, becoming the first man in MLB history to accomplish that feat. 

Nelson Cruz and Kinsler have hit a home run in all three of the games so far this season.

Adrian Beltre belted out a “Grand Salami” on Saturday as well.

Seasons can't be won in April and May, but they sure can be lost.

It's imperative to hit the ground running, and the Texas Rangers looked good. They looked VERY good this weekend, outscoring the Boston Red Sox 26-11 in the three game sweep at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

The knee-jerk reaction is to say "The Rangers might be serious this year."

Before we get ahead of ourselves, let us remember it is not a sprint, but a marathon race instead. This Ranger fan is excited though.

Some could argue that the Texas Rangers had a devastating offseason. That wouldn’t be too far from the truth.

The loss of key personnel (Cliff Lee), as well as losing guys to injury in spring training (Tommy Hunter), and the mix-up in the outfield—Nelson Cruz dropping the first fly ball because of Julio Borbon bumping into him in the home opener—the Rangers have a long season ahead of them.

Two games into this long 162-game season, however, the Rangers have had some great things happen already.

The Texas Rangers head into what some could consider the most important season of the team's history.

In 2010, we saw a team that some would’ve said should have finished 3^rd, or on the bottom of the AL West.

By the end of the season the Rangers had a eight game lead when they added Cliff Lee for the playoffs.

Thinking about how well they did, and the fact all the off the field problems didn’t seem to distract or bury the mental focus of this team, is beyond amazing.

I have been a Texas Rangers fan my entire life.  Well, except for when I was a kid and loved the A's, but that was just because they were the best team of the era and as a kid you always pick the winner.

It has not been easy being a Rangers' fan, and despite their debateably unexpected success last season, it is still not easy.  I am convinced that even if the Rangers had beat the Giants the media would have come up with excuses as to why the Giants lost.

Flukes—it's a funny word to say, sounding more like a cereal than a sports reference, but it has a much deeper impact on sports than Wheaties.

There has been a lot of talk about the Texas Rangers world series run last year being a fluke; not even Cliff Lee could take the Rangers seriously when he signed with the Philadelphia Phillies.

It's not hard to believe—after all there is reason to be skeptical.