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Posted on Wed, Apr. 09, 2008

Texas Rangers home opener went well until game got started

By RANDY GALLOWAY

Star-Telegram Staff Writer

ARLINGTON -- Challenger, the eagle, soared. The B-1 bomber roared. Neal McCoy sang pretty.

Pregame ceremonies for the 2008 home opener at The Ballpark went well.

So, eventually, did the weather. A rainy Tuesday morning in the Mid-Cities gave way to bright afternoon sunshine.

Otherwise, however, forget it.

When it came to the basic baseball stuff -- pitching, hitting, fielding -- the Rangers wasted no time in demonstrating why the remaining 80 games at the Arlington yard could be anything between mediocre and miserable.

Pray for mediocre but don't necessarily bet against miserable.

Orioles by 8-1 wasn't merely an ugly display in front of home-team fandom, the boredom also overflowed like hot ballpark nacho cheese splattering on your best pair of New Balances.

Coming off a season-opening road trip that was at least encouraging, the Rangers did nothing that would entice an announced house of 48,808 to make a return visit anytime soon.

It was already obvious long before Tuesday's first pitch that the franchise had finally bottomed-out in fan interest (otherwise, Tom Hicks would never have hired Nolan Ryan in February to run the show), making this kind of home debut even more discouraging.

The actual head count for the opener was more like 43,000, but it may be the largest crowd the Rangers will draw at home this season. The Yankees and Red Sox visit only once, and not until August and September.

By then, construction workers at the next-door Boss Hawg Bowl may outnumber Rangers fans in The Ballpark.

While always being one who thinks it logical to overreact on Opening Day or the home opener (who cares if 155 games remain), baseball voices balk at such foolishness. Manager Ron Washington, who is not paid by the gate count, wanted it known his only Tuesday disappointment was: "We lost the game. We will show back up tomorrow."

Based on what had just been observed, that could be a warning.

Ryan, as he was departing the ballyard, was low-key but more to the point.

"With a crowd like today, you want to make a good showing," he said. "For the home opener, everyone gets excited, particularly when we had some optimism coming off the road. But on face value, we have to look at it as just one game."

One bad game in every area, but starting with the Rangers' legacy of never having the pitching to compete.

Jason Jennings did nothing to change that perception. Pitching down the road from his hometown of Mesquite, and pitching for his "home team" when he was growing up, this marked a special starting assignment, and he admitted as much.

Dreams don't always come true, such as trailing 4-0 when Jennings got the hook in the fifth inning. It was, by far, the worst rotation effort of the young season for the Rangers.

If there's a consolation, Ryan has firsthand knowledge of Jennings, since both were employed by the Astros last season. Coming off elbow surgery in August, Jennings is still building arm strength "and what we are going to see is inconsistency for a while," said Ryan. "But with Jason, we'll also see him improve over time. He's a veteran pitcher. When he's fully healthy, he will be better."

You gotta hope.

Another thing is the Rangers have been wildly inconsistent in run production thus far. In four losses, they have scored five runs. In three wins, they have scored 26 runs.

Coming into the season, this was a team advertised, at least in some quarters (not here), as being offensively strong. "We are struggling at the top of the order right now," said Ryan.

Out of eight home runs in seven games, five have come from Ben Broussard and Gerald Laird, bottom-of-the-order guys. Those two also account for more than a third of the RBI.

Not to pick on just one guy, but good grief, can anybody in the majors at the moment have a more feeble hack than Marlon Byrd, now 0-for-15?

Lefty Brian Burres was making his first start of the season for the Orioles. The last time the Rangers saw him was in August. Burres didn't make an inning in being raked for eight runs (that was in the Rangers' historic 30-3 win).

This time? Six shutout innings while constantly pitching out of trouble.

For a home opener, the Rangers gave nobody any reason not to negatively overreact. Or not to be totally underwhelmed.

In other words, just what this struggling franchise didn't need in making a first impression in Arlington.

Randy Galloway can be heard on Galloway & Co. weekdays 3-6 p.m. on ESPN/103.3 FM.