Friday newsletter time: Take a bow, Rangers fans, for work in All-Star voting
(AP photo/Quinn Harris)
As of Tuesday, Rangers catcher Jonah Heim and outfielder Adolis Garcia were on the outside looking in of Phase 2 of the All-Star voting process.
They needed help, especially Garcia as his candidacy was up against all of Canada.
Both made it, as Rangers fans pushed them into the next phase in just under 48 hours.
Heim finished second at catcher, Garcia finished sixth in the outfield and second baseman Marcus Semien, third baseman Josh Jung and shortstop Corey Seager also advanced. Semien was the only player to finish first in voting at his position.
Voting has been paused to give everyone’s voting hands a break. Phase 2 begins at 11 a.m. Monday and runs through 11 a.m. Thursday, and the starters will be announced shortly after voting closes. Everyone starts at zero, so Seager and Garcia are no longer facing large deficits.
All five players are deserving of being in the July 11 All-Star Game at Seattle, and so are starting pitchers Nathan Eovaldi and Jon Gray. If Rangers fans do their part next week, the Rangers could have seven players on the American League All-Star team.
Yes, seven.
The Rangers’ ticket offer remains in effect for fans who submit at least one ballot. Fans will receive an email that includes a coupon code for 25 percent off select seats for next week’s four-game series against Detroit or the three-game series July 17-19 vs. Tampa Bay.
Another one
Misery loves company, and the Rangers have some company with their dissatisfaction over the catcher violation that hurt them Tuesday night at Chicago.
The Padres are miffed after a similar situation unfolded Wednesday. A Giants runner was called out at home on the field, but San Francisco challenged the positioning of catcher Gary Sanchez.
The replay official overturned the ruling on the field.
Instead of the inning ending in a 1-1 tie, San Francisco scored three times and won the game 4-2.
Padres manager Bob Melvin was ejected for arguing after the call was overturned, as Rangers manager Bruce Bochy was Tuesday. Melvin said it was one of the worst calls he’d seen this season, while Bochy said it was one of the worse calls he’s ever seen.
Baseball needs to intervene. Every play at the plate would seem to be a violation based on recent precedent, and that’s bad for the game. There’s no way the commissioner’s office wants to see a playoff spot determined by a rule with such ambiguity.
Don’t forget
Rather than having our normal Rangers Today Baseball Podcast episode this week, John Moore and I will be doing a live Q&A/discussion tonight during the Rangers’ game at Yankee Stadium.
First pitch is at 6 p.m., but we’re not going to start until 6:30 p.m. There is a chance of rain in New York, but we will press on during any delays.
Join @JeffWilsonTXR & @reclinernerd this Friday during game. pic.twitter.com/2QJYp3cwRq
— Rangers Today Baseball Podcast (@rangers_podcast) June 22, 2023
Card of the Week
Looking through my son’s autograph haul from spring training made me reminisce about my spring adventures from the mid- to late ’80s. I also mailed away cards to be autographed, and Wade Boggs and Roger Clemens still owe me my ’85 Topps cards back.
I dug up the binder of cards from way back, and there are some great autographs. I counted 20 Hall of Famers, and that doesn’t include NBA Hall of Famer Alex English. Among the 20 are three with Rangers ties, and one is the Card of the Week.
It’s the 1988 Donruss Greg Maddux No. 539.
The back of the card is better than the front. Maddux had a 5.58 career ERA after the first 187 innings of his career. The last line of the career highlights is a good one: “is brother of Phillies’ pitcher Mike Maddux.”
They were together in the spring at Rangers camp, with Mike back as pitching coach and Greg on hand as a special assistant.
Maddux is the first of nine autos on the page. The other eight? Eddie Mathews, Tim McCarver, Willie McCovey, Oddibe McDowell, Mark McGwire, Stan Musial, Jim Palmer and Gaylord Perry.
That’s seven Hall of Famers out of nine on the page, with McCarver getting recognized as a broadcaster.
The two additional Hall of Fame ties to the Rangers are Mathews, who was a Rangers coach in the 1970s, and Perry, who pitched for the Rangers from 1975-77 and again in 1980. He was with the Braves for the ’82 Donruss he signed for me.
McDowell was with the Rangers in the ’87 Donruss he signed.
Doggy video!
That Friday feeling. Enjoy.
Yeah that's the spot pic.twitter.com/UdJyop8jqB
— Puppies 🐶 (@PuppiesIover) June 8, 2023
Jeff Wilson, jeff@rangerstoday.com
