# Rangers clobber Baltimore 30-3 to set AL record, so how is your team doing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 23, 2007, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rangers-clobber-baltimore-30-3-to-set-al-record-so-how-is-your-team-doing/416601 "2007-08-23T04:20:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2007, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rangers-clobber-baltimore-30-3-to-set-al-record-so-how-is-your-team-doing/416601/21 "2007-08-23T15:23:50Z")
The Tigers were getting healthy, but now Sheffield is out indefinitely. Rodney has been an animal out of the pen and Zumaya is finally back. I still don’t see the Indians winning the Central, but its going to be down to the wire. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2007, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rangers-clobber-baltimore-30-3-to-set-al-record-so-how-is-your-team-doing/416601/22 "2007-08-23T16:34:16Z")
[QUOTE=OneCentStamp] For me at least, your OP answered itself. My team, you see…is Baltimore. ☹ [/QUOTE] Same here. As I posted in another thread, the massacre would have never happened had Earl Weaver been at the helm. He would have spontaneously combusted OR killed someone with a baseball bat and the game would have been called much, much earlier. ---
**Author:** ![Mullinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@Mullinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mullinator)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2007, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rangers-clobber-baltimore-30-3-to-set-al-record-so-how-is-your-team-doing/416601/23 "2007-08-23T17:02:56Z")
Lived and died with the Cubs since 1984. We actually have a magic number (36) which is a big step up from most seasons. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2007, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rangers-clobber-baltimore-30-3-to-set-al-record-so-how-is-your-team-doing/416601/24 "2007-08-23T17:07:41Z")
[QUOTE=Cervaise] There’s still time. \ [/QUOTE] Inevitable?? What do you mean?? You guys don’t have a long enough history for anything to be “inevitable.” 😃 Try the inevitability of the Cubs not being in the World Series. Now THAT’s inevitable. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Taber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ac91a4/32.png) [@Taber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taber)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2007, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rangers-clobber-baltimore-30-3-to-set-al-record-so-how-is-your-team-doing/416601/25 "2007-08-23T17:50:55Z")
How did my Brewers fall from 7 games ahead to 1 game behind? Especially to the Cubs ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2007, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rangers-clobber-baltimore-30-3-to-set-al-record-so-how-is-your-team-doing/416601/26 "2007-08-23T18:30:04Z")
The Cards are back from the dead; Pujols once again looks like he might be some kind of demi-god; even Rolen has started smacking the ball again. And .500 might end up being good enough in the NL Central. So, I’m ready for a fun pennant race (if you can call hurtling toward .500 a race). ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2007, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rangers-clobber-baltimore-30-3-to-set-al-record-so-how-is-your-team-doing/416601/27 "2007-08-23T18:57:59Z")
**ZipperJJ** has pretty much written what I would have about the Cleveland Indians. Deep down, though, I’m still optimistic (even crazy). The World Series doesn’t seem _too_ far-fetched as a possibility for the Tribe this year. We shall see. ---
**Author:** ![storyteller0910](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@storyteller0910](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/storyteller0910)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2007, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rangers-clobber-baltimore-30-3-to-set-al-record-so-how-is-your-team-doing/416601/28 "2007-08-23T20:06:31Z")
Mets continue to hang on to first place, where they have been since April, and yet for some reason every caller on the local talk radio wants to talk about how disappointing they’ve been. Carlos Delgado is having a brutal season by his standards, but the offense is clicking again with Moises Alou back from injury and not yet injured again. It’s actually sort of amazing that they are where they are, considering. I mean, pitching is a huge concern going into the playoffs. At this stage of his career, Glavine’s going to keep you in a lot of games but not win any by himself. John Maine has been just awful in the last few weeks. Oliver Perez’s ERA is up half a run since the last time we had this conversation. Only Orlando Hernandez keeps pitching well on a consistent basis, and that’s about as frightening a statement as I’ve ever made about a baseball team. And when Damien Easley and his .824 OPS coming off the bench went down, the Mets went and brought in a 41-year-old first basemen with an OPS under .730 to take his at bats. Oh, and the starting catcher at the moment is Mike DeFelice, but that’s OK, because his backup is _Sandy Alomar_. And this is a _first place team_. But Pedro’s coming back. Hope springs eternal. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rangers-clobber-baltimore-30-3-to-set-al-record-so-how-is-your-team-doing/416601/29 "2007-08-24T16:16:50Z")
[QUOTE=plnnr] Same here. As I posted in another thread, the massacre would have never happened had Earl Weaver been at the helm. He would have spontaneously combusted OR killed someone with a baseball bat and the game would have been called much, much earlier. [/QUOTE] Those of us with long memories remember the O’s getting swept in a 4-game series by the then-abysmal (2nd-year expansion team) Blue Jays in 1978, with one of those games being [a 24-10 loss](http://www.baseball-almanac.com/box-scores/boxscore.php?boxid=197806260TOR). (O’s motto: if you’re going to lose big, at least make it look like a football score!) Weaver had 2 position players (Larry Harlow, Elrod Hendricks) pitch a combined 3 innings of relief to keep from wearing out his bullpen. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rangers-clobber-baltimore-30-3-to-set-al-record-so-how-is-your-team-doing/416601/30 "2007-08-24T16:25:09Z")
Oh, and my team, the Nats, is doing surprisingly well. They’re currently only the 10th worst team in the majors, after having been preseason picks to not only be the worst, but potentially rival the '62 Mets. They’ve followed up their 9-25 start by going 49-45 since then. I have no idea how Manny Acta’s doing it - mirrors, I expect. With 506 runs scored and 598 given up, they should be about 53-75 at this point, but they’re 58-70. ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rangers-clobber-baltimore-30-3-to-set-al-record-so-how-is-your-team-doing/416601/31 "2007-08-24T16:54:07Z")
_My_ team is doing okay at the expense of _your_ team. However, the Yanks are only five games back, and there are six games left between the two teams, so who knows? The Sox have already blown quite a lead (14 games at one point), and nobody should think they’re not capable of blowing the rest of it. However, it makes for a better postseason if the Yanks get the wildcard, so in spite of my ever-present fear they’ll win the division, I’m hoping for that. Of course, I suppose it’s possible for the Yanks to win the division and the Sox to win the wildcard, which would be like _deja vu_ all over again. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rangers-clobber-baltimore-30-3-to-set-al-record-so-how-is-your-team-doing/416601/32 "2007-08-24T17:01:40Z")
The Indians are a puzzle. Starting pitching is extremely good since they dumped Lee back into the minors. They can’t score runs at all, which is baffling. They essentially have a two-pitcher bullpen in the two Raffys. (In my household, we call 'em Raffy (Betancourt) and Gilligan (Perez).) ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rangers-clobber-baltimore-30-3-to-set-al-record-so-how-is-your-team-doing/416601/33 "2007-08-24T17:15:02Z")
[QUOTE=RTFirefly] Those of us with long memories remember the O’s getting swept in a 4-game series by the then-abysmal (2nd-year expansion team) Blue Jays in 1978, with one of those games being [a 24-10 loss](http://www.baseball-almanac.com/box-scores/boxscore.php?boxid=197806260TOR). (O’s motto: if you’re going to lose big, at least make it look like a football score!) Weaver had 2 position players (Larry Harlow, Elrod Hendricks) pitch a combined 3 innings of relief to keep from wearing out his bullpen. [/QUOTE] Harlow ended up with an ERA of 67.05 or something like that. You have to love it. What terrific memories of watching them on WMAL (Channel 2) and rooting for Al Bumbry - a hometown guy. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rangers-clobber-baltimore-30-3-to-set-al-record-so-how-is-your-team-doing/416601/34 "2007-08-24T18:17:29Z")
[QUOTE=Sal Ammoniac] _My_ team is doing okay at the expense of _your_ team. However, the Yanks are only five games back, and there are six games left between the two teams, so who knows? The Sox have already blown quite a lead (14 games at one point), and nobody should think they’re not capable of blowing the rest of it. However, it makes for a better postseason if the Yanks get the wildcard, so in spite of my ever-present fear they’ll win the division, I’m hoping for that. Of course, I suppose it’s possible for the Yanks to win the division and the Sox to win the wildcard, which would be like _deja vu_ all over again. [/QUOTE] It will be an exciting 34 games or so. If, if the Yanks can pull it down to two or three back by September 14th, it will be one of the biggest regular season showdowns in a long time. So far your closer has held up really well. I think this is at least a mild surprise from spring training talk and predictions. JIm ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rangers-clobber-baltimore-30-3-to-set-al-record-so-how-is-your-team-doing/416601/35 "2007-08-24T18:58:02Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit?] ISo far your closer has held up really well. I think this is at least a mild surprise from spring training talk and predictions. [/QUOTE] They say in the paper they’ve been consciously sparing him. But not to worry, in any case we have Gagne! ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rangers-clobber-baltimore-30-3-to-set-al-record-so-how-is-your-team-doing/416601/36 "2007-08-24T19:06:50Z")
[QUOTE=Sal Ammoniac] They say in the paper they’ve been consciously sparing him. But not to worry, in any case we have Gagne! [/QUOTE] I whoosh easily, that was meant as a major joke right? ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rangers-clobber-baltimore-30-3-to-set-al-record-so-how-is-your-team-doing/416601/37 "2007-08-24T19:25:42Z")
It sort of depends on what day it is. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2007, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rangers-clobber-baltimore-30-3-to-set-al-record-so-how-is-your-team-doing/416601/38 "2007-08-24T20:12:20Z")
[QUOTE=plnnr] Harlow ended up with an ERA of 67.05 or something like that. You have to love it. [/quote] 67.50, actually (5 runs in 2/3 of an inning), but good recall! > [@](#): > > What terrific memories of watching them on WMAL (Channel 2) and rooting for Al Bumbry - a hometown guy. And a fine CF and leadoff hitter. He was on the DL for most of 1978, which is a good part of the reason they won ‘only’ 90 games that year, as compared with 97 and 102 in 1977 and 1979, respectively. [QUOTE=Sal Ammoniac] The Sox have already blown quite a lead (14 games at one point), and nobody should think they’re not capable of blowing the rest of it. [/QUOTE] Not that the Red Sox have ever blown a lead of _that_ size before! (While we’re speaking of 1978…:p) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2007, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rangers-clobber-baltimore-30-3-to-set-al-record-so-how-is-your-team-doing/416601/39 "2007-08-25T00:27:26Z")
We just dumped Tomko (Good Riddance!) to sign…David Wells? WTF? Desperation time, I guess. I don’t know what Wells has left in the tank. But we are short on pitchers with Wolf and Schmidt going bust, so we had to do something. Guess there wasn’t anything promising in the farm system, so we hired on someone San Diego let go. Whatever. Can’t be any worse than Tomko, in any case. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2007, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rangers-clobber-baltimore-30-3-to-set-al-record-so-how-is-your-team-doing/416601/40 "2007-08-25T01:39:37Z")
God the Blue Jays suck. The GM has said he plans to bring pretty much the same team back next year. He thinks they’re just fine the way they are, that it’s a championship club. They’re 64-63. What’s that cliche - that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rangers-clobber-baltimore-30-3-to-set-al-record-so-how-is-your-team-doing/416601.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rangers-clobber-baltimore-30-3-to-set-al-record-so-how-is-your-team-doing/416601.md?page=3)