Texas Rangers' Amazing Escape from Adversity Embellishes Nice Story

They are riding amid an improbable pursuit, defining a miraculous tale no longer bombarded by a grim crisis. The Texas Rangers began a seemingly hopeless season in bankruptcy court, and became closer as a team when the news surfaced in spring training that Ron Washington had tested positive for cocaine. They built a social connection as a potent club and emerged into contention, which is heavily embraced as an ethical rebirth in baseball for a team that struggled in recent memory.

The idea, of course, that Texas is championship-caliber isn’t such a bad suggestion, especially when the Rangers overcame adversity this season. They are fueled by powerful hitting and belief within themselves, living more than an illusion but reality, as they are darlings in this erratic postseason. With all the poisonous aspects in the prior history of baseball, the league needs a beautiful tale to forge humankind and purity.

Regardless of their helpless struggles in the past, the Rangers erased the horrid memories and finally assembled a bottomless core. The pieces of the puzzle didn’t come together until the All-Star break, bringing in catcher Bengie Molina, pitcher Cliff Lee, infielder Cristian Guzman and outfielder Jeff Francoeur, the vital elements for a sensational chase in the ALDS.

The drastic turnaround of the Rangers is because of Jon Daniels’ shrewd roster transformations, and team president Nolan Ryan’s ability to uplift the landscape with his brilliant demeanor. Even when one of the respected managers in the game broke the rules, even when the franchise faced misery over the bankruptcy scandal and even when the franchise worried about the health status of Josh Hamilton, the Rangers somehow still managed to relieve turmoil.

The front office trusted in Washington and salvaged his managerial role, but an ordinary club would have canned the 58-year-old manager following a despicable admission that he had failed a drug test.

While the Rangers excel as a pesky contender, the consensus assumption is that retaining Washington was worth a risk as much of the hyperbole and gibberish relating to the oblivious drug testing had disappeared. It isn’t often (especially when he’s almost considered a senior citizen) that a manager admits to using coke.

By definition, baseball’s wrenched era happened a long time ago as well. In an age, when Major League Baseball had a suspicion of the strong use of cocaine, the hypocrisy and the lack of reaction dented the game and integrity. Back then, similar to what we are seeing now, it took baseball a long time before finally declaring a stern rule to prevent crimes.

But now, it is fun to watch the Rangers attempt the improbable and stun the world as underdogs, despite all the adversity circling the clubhouse. This clearly can be good for baseball—a kindhearted story. This clearly can be the greatest Rangers team in generations, if not franchise history. If there’s something impressive or alarming this postseason, it’s simply Texas taking a commanding 2-0 lead against the Rays in the ALDS.


And apparently, for the time being, the Rangers are the lone franchise that has never won a postseason series, with all three series previously materializing in the late 1990s against the Yankees. And now, the Rangers aren’t ridiculed for lousy droughts or an early collapse, but are connecting on timely hits. You’ve noticed the other night that they are building a productive pitching staff. And better yet, defense is emphasized and demanded by Washington, who led the Rangers to their first postseason berth in 11 years.

“All year we’ve tried to play baseball according to the way it’s been presented to us, which means you have to win all different ways,” Washington said Friday. “But I think as we move forward and things continue to fall into place, I think people will start changing their minds and their perceptions of the Texas Rangers.”

Many people have already changed their minds and suddenly believe.

Even if the Rangers have won only one playoff game in 39 seasons in Texas and 11 as the Washington Senators before clinching two wins in Tampa this week, this season has seen the dominance of the older veteran and slugger Vladimir Guerrero. The seducing element offensively, though, is Hamilton, a former drug addict and alcoholic who recovered and salvaged his career.


Had it not been for Ryan’s strong principles in giving second chances, the Rangers wouldn’t be contending for a pennant nor would there be a modest voice of inspiration from a manager as well respected as Washington. Had it not been for Daniels’ kindness to allow a renegade player into the organization, Hamilton wouldn’t be a primary candidate for the Most Valuable Player award. Few believe his MVP hopes were smeared by his recent rib cage injury, but others believe he’ll be granted the award.

But to some extent, holding on to Washington was a risky choice. From most standpoints, he was eventually forgiven and apologized to his players and executives, realizing the circumstances of his wrongdoing and handling the issue with class and dignity. When it happened so agonizingly, he was willing to resign, but the organization opted to keep the skipper who is sharp at grooming and mentoring young players.

Turns out, it is an understatement to deny the Rangers, a team armed with ardent hitters and players disciplined at every at-bat. There is an ultimate assumption they can elevate and eventually take control with veteran Michael Young, a six-time All-Star and the longest-tenured Ranger who rallies the team offensively. At this point, the Rangers' unthinkable turnaround isn’t a mirage in a year the emergence of a young team uplifts the most noticeable franchise in baseball. Indeed, the turning points, as the Rangers surge in the divisional rounds, have been Elvis Andrus, David Murphy and Ian Kinsler.

Nonetheless, the idea not to fire Washington was risky but smart. Ever since he told on himself, he has been tested several times a week. Without the regretful overseer, the Rangers wouldn’t have gone from 79 to 87, to a staggering 90 wins.

His honesty and bravery may have saved him of the managerial role. But even greater, the Rangers benefited in some ways and vanquished adversity.

No Josh Hamilton: Power Rangers Too Powerless

His name is familiar and critical amid an unthinkable postseason push, and without Josh Hamilton, the comeback kid in baseball for restoring humankind and inspiration following a remorseful recovery a few years ago before he almost self-destructed, the Texas Rangers are doomed unless their superstar suddenly uplifts the psyche of a favorable club from imploding.

And to believe we debated, with considerable reasoning, whether the Rangers are equipped without the virtuous slugger in a period when the franchise is bearing a crisis is a trait of optimism.

Nowadays, after turning his life around by avoiding his troubled comrades and choosing to wisely stay away from bars and tattoo parlors, he honestly has emerged as a famous sports figure and has been a convenient essential in a workable nucleus in the heart of Texas.

By virtue, he mirthfully revived his troubled personality and habits and became a well-behaved role model to forge a touching story in baseball. It doesn’t take long, of course, to purge critics and skeptics, and it doesn’t take long for an athlete to repair his image.

All Hamilton needed was a mesmerizing spectacle in New York, where he captivated all fans sitting in the stands at the old Yankee Stadium as a participant in the Home Run Derby contest at the All-Star Game, but in reality, he needed a team to believe in his restoration.

With the Rangers expected to surge in the postseason, riding closer towards clinching the AL West division, he is depended upon to lead Texas on a spectacular chase. It’s quite known that he has reclaimed his talent and saved himself. Finally, he has exorcised a myriad of critics with multiple coming out parties from the clouded images of alcohol and drugs that almost sadly crippled his career and cost him his life.

Typically, during his blemished era when he had been banished from baseball in 2004 and was strung out on coke and drunk a bottle of Crown Royal a day and tossed away his $4 million signing bonus, Hamilton had certainty that he’d eventually make a strong recovery and return to the majors as a good-natured superstar. He indeed came back as a natural talent and almost had a miraculous run, becoming a Triple Crown threat.

These days, of course, he is the paradigm of a valuable lesson that anybody can fight off adversity and elude turbulence. But the latest injury report pertaining to Hamilton, the majors’ leading hitter and a top AL MVP candidate revealed Tuesday that he suffered three fractured ribs and has not played since crashing into a wall at Minnesota Sept. 4.

The bad news is that his departure spells doom for the AL West leading Rangers. He is, respectively, the superstar of a playoff-caliber team, a catalyst in the lineup, and certainly without him the Rangers aren’t a vital playoff threat.

The irony is that Hamilton means a lot to the clubhouse and has been phenomenal as the Rangers have blistered with the assistance of arguably the streakiest and finest hitter in baseball. Without him over the past 14 games into Tuesday, the Rangers have finished a mere 8-6 to somehow survive and shun the horror of a lousy letdown late in the season.

With all the remarkable comebacks in the past, it’s hard to envision Hamilton sitting out in his first postseason appearance, a perennial objective that tremendously took diligence and inspiration, accomplished when he finally gave up on alcohol and drugs.


After nearly destroying his career, in reality, he matured and wasn’t as naïve or brainless and realized the importance of saving not only his livelihood, but his spirit. The reality of an imminent future is that he simply rationalized he had to release all the trauma of depravity for a cure of humanity. And now, he’s suffering from a similar crisis, inactive because of a serious injury and it could cost Hamilton to miss the postseason.

One of the frustrating issues about the Rangers is that without Cliff Lee at the top of the rotation and Hamilton in the middle of the order, they are clearly an elusive team vulnerable of dropping in the first-round.

How ironic it is for Hamilton that he’s being treated and given an anti-inflammatory injection and an epidural nerve-block injection for pain, all while having a dazzling season with his swaggering hits and discipline at every at-bat. Meanwhile, he’s very confident he’ll be back for the action this fall.

“I have to be optimistic,” Hamilton says. “If not, I’d be moping around here, dragging around, and that’s not going to do good for my teammates.”

Again, he’s fighting off the adversity and bearing with the circumstances, only this time while nursing an injury. In a way, he has no choice and tries to improve his health to contribute with his teammates in an epic marathon presumably.

In the process, the Rangers are aiming to drive to the fall classic, but without the particular ingredient, which is Hamilton, Texas will have an uncomfortable and difficult task for surviving in the postseason.

By all means, as the Rangers aim closer to capturing their first postseason appearance since 1999, the commodity and ambition shrinks completely.

Amid a critical juncture, if the Rangers meet the New York Yankees in the first round, as expected, it is sensible to think that the Yankees will pulverize the Rangers, despite the tremendous pressure as favorites to pull off the best-of-seven series defeat. Above all, the Rangers have nothing to lose, proclaimed as underdogs.

Because the Yanks are having an abysmal season, Texas took advantage of New York’s sluggish spurts and managed to beat the Yankees in a three-game sweep. It would be foolish to suggest, as the body language is sturdier, as the mindset is more alarmed and as the intensity rises rapidly, that the Bronx Bombers won’t awaken and assert for the postseason.

And to match the Yankees' toughness, the Rangers will need the strength of Hamilton, who solidifies the lineup with his powerful bat.


One of the things Hamilton is selling is parity and resiliency in the lineup. While he has been hampered by ailments, as the Rangers ride based on his incredible hitting, he showed two small stable fractures in the seventh and eighth ribs in his right side. Hopefully, he’ll be ready to work in a few at-bats and rehab assignments in the final series of the regular season to return to hitting form and repossess his swagger.

If the Rangers cannot survive without Hamilton, they are in trouble. Considering his severe injury, Hamilton seems incapable of returning to the line up in time for the postseason. But mostly, he needs time to regain form, and needs to handle the uncomfortable pain.

The downside is the limited ripple effect without Hamilton, and the Rangers are less efficient as the hitting ratio plunges drastically. His unprecedented success is timely and parlays the high-powered offense of the Power Rangers, whenever he is part of the lineup. In the meantime, he leads the majors with a .361 batting average, and leads the majors with a .635 slugging percentage.

Incredibly, inexplicably, he has drilled 31 homers, drove in 97 RBI and scored 97 runs in 130 games. But unfortunately, he has missed 15 straight games because of his injury.

So far, Hamilton has been informed by doctors that he can play when he can tolerate pain. Knowingly, he can tolerate aches and pains. After all, he’s strong. Anytime someone overcomes drug and alcohol addictions, they are strong mentally and physically.

“I think it’s something happy,” Rangers manager Ron Washington said after hearing the news. “To know that once the residue of the shots wear off, he can start doing activities, and then it’s tolerance.”

“Hopefully, his tolerance can get him back on the field.”

Maybe.

After the shots, Hamilton said he felt relieved, but the next 48 to 72 hours are the most decisive. For now, however, the Rangers are bottomless with Michael Young, Ian Kinsler, Vladimir Guerrero, Nelson Cruz, and Elvis Andrus, a lineup conceivably built with dexterity.

And surely among all things it seems Lee, the undeniable ace a year ago with the Phillies, has recuperated from his frequent back injuries and could possibly formulate an encore with his extraordinary, hitless masterpiece. As it turns out, David Murphy has taken the place of Hamilton and has filled in efficiently, hitting .397 in his past 17 games.

Unless he comes out of a flak jacket-type vest, reduces the periodic cortisone shots and arrives on time, it’s still highly unlikely that the Rangers win without his presence. With an eight-game lead in the AL West, they’ll win the division, no doubt.

However, it’s not clear when he might play a game for the Rangers. Realistically, without Hamilton, the Power Rangers aren’t nearly as powerful.