By JIM REEVES
revo@star-telegram.com
ANAHEIM, Calif. — It is three hours before game time Thursday and pitchers Frankie Francisco and Matt Harrison are playing chess in the visiting clubhouse at Angels Stadium. Ian Kinsler is sitting between them, watching and he’s almost beside himself.
First he mildly scolds Francisco for a move, then it’s Harrison’s turn to catch his wrath.
"You could have won the game right there, man," he says, shaking his head. He grabs the errant chess piece and demonstrates the move that should have been made.
This is who Ian Kinsler is, a man in search of perfection, mostly in himself, but sometimes that quest bubbles over and scalds those around him.
This is not necessarily a bad thing, mind you. Kinsler just became only the third second baseman in major league history to hit 30 or more home runs and steal 30 or more bases in a single season, yet at 26, he is only beginning to scratch the surface of his prodigious talent.
This is why watching Kinsler frustrates me sometimes. He’s so good, it’s almost shocking — and disappointing — when he actually fails.
Failure is relative, naturally. Kinsler has 31 homers, 31 stolen bases, 99 runs and 86 RBI this season. You’d have to be pretty nit-picky to focus on his.254 batting average and find much fault with any of that.
Or you’d have to believe, as Rangers manager Ron Washington does, that Kinsler’s upside as a player hasn’t even been sniffed.
"The numbers say he had a great year, and he did, but we all know that Ian Kinsler has more to offer than even that," Washington pointed out. "For us, seeing him every day and knowing he’s better than the numbers say, way better than the numbers say — though they’re good — man, that’s scary."
Certainly gives me the shivers.
But Kinsler, to his credit, simply doesn’t think that way. For him, only one thing matters, whether it’s baseball, chess or tiddlywinks.
Winning.
"Honestly, I really don’t think about stuff like that," Kinsler said. "This organization is going in the right direction and the important thing is to win.
"The important thing is to get back to the playoffs; we haven’t been there in 10 years. I know you like to talk about personal stuff and after the season maybe I’ll think about my season, but I have a hard time doing that right now."
This is essential Kinsler again. It’s why when Washington was telling his players to keep their heads up after Monday night’s loss had eliminated them from the AL West race, Kinsler flared up. If you can’t win, what’s the point?
But that was bitter disappointment talking. The next day brought another game, and again, Kinsler couldn’t help himself. He had to play to win.
"The goal around here is to win, to get to the playoffs somehow," Kinsler said. "Whether I hit 10 home runs or 50, or whatever, as long as I’m on the field and we’re winning, then I feel like I’m contributing to this team in the right way.
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