Tearing it Up
LEAVING A SCAR ... In a season in which no Ranger reached double digits in stolen bases until late September, and Royce Clayton led the team with 11 in 18 attempts, Scarborough Green went and set himself a Texas record by swiping no less than five bags in the win against Seattle Thursday. Scar ended the season with 10 swipes in 16 tries. The Rangers finished a pitiful 69-for-116 (59%, just barely two steals every five games) in this critical fantasy category. Green could well find himself and his glittering .560 career OPS on the Ranger roster again next year just because nobody else on the team can run.

Slumping
THEY EARNED IT ... Now we know the truth -- the 2000 Ranger pitching woes were the fault of Dick Bosman, who was given "the chance to seek other opportunities" Thursday night. Right after Boz flew back to the Metroplex, the Rangers bloated the old team ERA past 5.50 thanks in large part to a Saturday game in which six pitchers combined to give up 23 runs ... all earned. Texas gave up 74 runs in its final eight games, a rate of 9.3 per game that only the tailspinning Yankees have matched recently. Of course, the Yanks are headed to the playoffs anyway.

At the Plate
POWER RANGERS? ... Hey, how about that power-packed Ranger lineup down the stretch? Not only was Green leading off, but Chad Curtis (Chad Curtis!) was hitting cleanup. Randy Knorr (Randy Knorr!) was catching because B.J. Waszgis had managed a Catcher’s ERA of 7.98 in his 24 appearances. Splitting the DH duties for Texas were prodigal son Ruben Sierra (seven RBI in 60 AB) and career minor leaguer Pedro Valdes (five RBI in 54 AB). Gabe Kapler and Luis Alicea, two of the steadiest 2000 Rangers, ended the season on the shelf nursing injuries. Do you think Tim Hudson was intimidated Sunday?

Probable Starters April 1, 2001: Rick Helling April 2, 2001: Kenny Rogers April 3, 2001: Ryan Glynn April 4, 2001: Doug Davis April 5, 2001: Justin Thompson?

From the Rubber
COME BACK, BARRY ... It was wonderful to witness a pennant race partially decided by the brilliant pitching of a recent high Ranger draft pick; it was unfortunate that former Texas third-rounder (Barry Zito) wore "Oakland" across his chest Saturday. Seattle should have formally protested the game when Johnny Oates ran Darren Oliver out there against Zito; something about "maintaining the integrity of the game." Here’s your Rangers 2000 Anagram of the Year: "Darren Oliver" = "I Love Earn'd RR" ("I love earned runs").

On the Mend
NOW IT CAN BE TOLD ... It was late March, and the Bowling Green Neo-Historic Rotisserie Base-Ball League was holding its Tenth Annual straight draft. The equivalent of 25 rounds in the AL-only league had passed, but there was pitching left on the board. Soon-to-be surprises Cal Eldred and James Baldwin were available. Gil Heredia. Wilson Alvarez. Brett Tomko. But I slowly walked to the big white board and next to my team name (appropriately, the name is "E-6"), defiantly wrote the words "Darren Oliver." At least later I was able to drop Oliver to sign a kid named Zito. Irony rules.