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In response to the question of how do you kill a vampire, one online advice column suggests pointing a cross soaked with holy water at the beast, driving a stake through its heart, cutting off its head and stuffing it with garlic.
Reliable sources say that at no time during the Rangers’ 81 home games this season did they see Ron Washington walking around the ballpark with a wooden cross, holy water, a stake, a knife or garlic.Despite that, for the first time in several years, the season will end with the ballpark not being accused of sucking the life out of Rangers teams.The Rangers had an absolutely wonderful run, and it will end Sunday in Seattle. There have been challenges caused by injuries that forced Josh Hamilton, Michael Young and Ian Kinsler to miss more than 100 games total, yet Texas was in the playoff race until the last week of the season.It was a tribute to the team, but it also was refreshing to not hear any excuses — about injuries or the ballpark. If someone called the park a launching pad, it was in passing. The nasty wind currents that made home runs cheap miraculously disappeared or were ignored. No one campaigned for jack-hammering the Cuervo Club, which supposedly boomeranged winds behind home plate toward the outfield, carrying balls over the fence.(A quick aside: With the Rangers financial problems, perhaps critics now understand that adding revenue sources such as the club are vital to the economic health of a sports franchise.)This season was the first in many years that did not include multiple obscenities tossed at the ballpark.And you know what?There were more home runs hit in the ball park this year (2.64 per game) than in Washington’s first two years. Only Yankee Stadium (2.99 a game) gave up more home runs than Rangers Ballpark among the 30 major-league teams. In fact, when the home schedule ended Sunday, the Rangers and their opponents had combined to hit the fifth most home runs in the history of the ballpark.Yet the ballpark escaped blame. And why?"This ballpark played truer this year than it’s ever played," Rangers president Nolan Ryan said, "but the reason you say that is because the pitching was the best it’s been in a long time."And that has always been the weakness in the wind argument. While there is little doubt that the ballpark is a hitter’s park, good pitchers succeed no matter the venue."I think it’s ridiculous," Michael Young said of the effect of the dreaded jet stream. "The wind and the heat are not the reasons we haven’t gotten into the playoffs. Yankee Stadium is the best ball-hitting park in the world right now, and they have the best record in the big leagues. "Colorado’s probably going to make the playoffs. Look at their ballpark. It doesn’t matter. It matters how you execute. When you’re on the field that day, you’re in the same conditions as the team in the other dugout. Whoever executes best is who’s going to win."At times in recent years, the Rangers have been excused for poor pitching. "I think in some cases, the record bore that out," Washington said. "But I think more than anything else, this ballpark is a mind-set. If you think that, that’s what it is. We were trying to get to the point of telling pitchers that if you make a mistake, the ball is supposed to leave out of there. I think this year, we eliminated the amount of mistakes that we made. I just think it comes down to pitching."The Rangers are disappointed that their playoff run fell short, but they will approach the off-season with considerably more optimism than they’ve had recently. They have important roster issues to address, but there is every reason to be confident that their young talent will continue to improve. Perhaps the 2009 season is also one that will help them become mentally stronger, because it is clear now that if they are going to slay the beast known as the ballpark, they do not need a cross, holy water, a stake or garlic.Good pitching is enough.Jan Hubbard, 817-390-7760
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