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Gil LeBreton 
Texas Rangers players finally stand up to adversity
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
They made errors, they ran mindlessly into double plays, they struck out chronically with teammates in scoring position and, over one 14-day period, they managed to lose 12 games.
And when the Texas Rangers came home on the final weekend in April, they had dug their manager a deep and waiting hole.
But a funny thing has happened over the past 10 days. The Rangers grew a backbone.
Whether it will last is anyone's guess. But they headed for Seattle last night having won three consecutive series.
Instead of kicking around the baseball, there's a noticeable skip in the Rangers' step. Over the three-day weekend, they outpitched the team with the best ERA in baseball.
It's called accountability, and we hadn't seen it much here in these past two Aprils.
If they were spineless enough to prompt our criticism 10 days ago, however, the Rangers now deserve our earnest applause.
Was it outfielder Josh Hamilton who said last week that the heat on manager Ron Washington should be redirected onto the players?
Hamilton and the rest of the clubhouse have stood up and shouldered it.
Washington may not be a better manager than he was 10 days ago. But hopefully, he's a more relaxed one. By its more focused play, his team has stood up for him.
And I'll bet the new team president has noticed.
Nolan Ryan handled his first big test in the Rangers' front office in typical Ryan style. He didn't take the easy, knee-jerk solution and fire Washington after the seven-game losing streak.
Instead, he stood tall and took the tougher road, offering a dose of patience, ignoring the e-mailers and angry customers calling for Washington's head.
A baseball franchise can't continue to change philosophies and front-office faces and expect to be successful. It can't succeed by playing an unending game of Gotcha!, firing general managers and managers for a botched trade or a road trip lost.
If you're judging Rangers GM Jon Daniels, you need to weigh his entire body of work, not just the largess he handed the San Diego Padres. The same goes for Washington, who was on the brink of losing his job mostly because of the way his team played against the Red Sox and Tigers, the reigning World Series champs and preseason AL favorites, respectively.
When a team thin with major league talent slumps, as the Rangers did, its recourses are limited. It can't simply replace a starter with someone from the bench and expect a meaningful boost.
A big trade, therefore, was not an option. Nor was the eternal trite cry, "When are the Rangers going to spend some money and get some pitching in here?" You don't buy pitching in April.
The jump-start had to come from within the organization, from within its rebuilt minor league system.
Outfielder Brandon Boggs earned his shot at the big club, and he has delivered. Paschal High product German Duran, also promoted, has given the infield a new energy. And with four of his starting pitchers on the disabled list, Washington has seen Sidney Ponson, Scott Feldman and A.J. Murray step up and shoulder the load.
Honk if you saw any of this coming.
I like the philosophy -- summoning the farm clubs in Oklahoma City and Frisco to halt the April slump. There needs to be more. First base remains a black hole, and I don't think the tag-team at catcher is a long-range solution.
Though Ryan and Daniels may not realize it, and Washington's wanna-win-every-day attitude would balk, Rangers fans would likely embrace a wholesale infusion of youth.
I understand why Daniels plugged the roster these past two seasons with the likes of Sammy Sosa, Frank Catalanotto and Ben Broussard. But the ghastly start this April all but mandates that it's time to move forward.
It's not fair that Catalanotto, a true professional with a .293 career batting average, is stuck on the bench, watching his career fade away. But he's a victim of the current circumstances. He needs to either play first base or, if possible, be traded.
Washington can count the number of trustworthy arms in his bullpen on one hand. If the bullpen is going to get torched every second or third day, an infusion of new young arms couldn't possibly hurt.
Maybe the bleeding really has stopped. Maybe the best new addition in the Rangers' clubhouse is a backbone.
Congratulations. For now, they saved the manager.
Bring on the kids. The customers can handle it.
Gil LeBreton, 817-390-7760
