Boston Red Sox vs. Texas Rangers: mighty clash of the best
Nolan Ryan, the phenomenal MLB player and now the president and CEO for the Texas Rangers has high expectations from his team. After reaching the World Series finals and losing to the San Francisco Giants at the very end is definitely a blow to the franchise.
With so much trouble that the team has had to face in recent years, it just comes to show that Rangers players are bigger and stronger than the problems they have had to face before.
First, the Rangers went bankrupt and the management had to be changed and new owners and leadership took control. With the players finally settling in, they recently saw Chuck Greenberg, their manager leaving the team in the beginning of the Spring Training.
With so much drama off the field, the players did not fail to perform on the field.
Last season they won the American League West’s regular season with an impressive 90 wins and the postseason was marked with eight more victories. As the Rangers get on the field with their heads held high due to their American League Championship win in
a much anticipated opener, they would have to be careful because the Red Sox are back and they have restructured their powerful team.
Although the Red Sox missed the play-offs last season, they are seen to be the fan favourites. Adding Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford, two of the most productive players in baseball to the team definitely made them an American League East favourite. A
lot of predictions of 100 wins have emerged, but Boston is just focused on winning the first game and then building up on that. Kevin Youkilis approach summarises it up, “I don’t put numbers out there, I just go out and just play the game and all the numbers
and all the wins will play themselves out after 162 games.”
Gonzalez has been added to first base and Youkilis has been switched to third base for the Red Sox. He fills in the spot that previously used to be with Adrian Beltre, as he signed an eight year contract with the Texas Rangers which would make him richer
by $80-million. In his only season with the Red Sox, he managed a .321 league best with 28 home-runs, 49 doubles and 102 RBIs. Will it be awkward for him to face his old team as an opponent rather than a team member? “It’s kind of a little weird, but it’s
just another game,” Beltre said. “Hopefully get the first couple of games out of the way and start the long journey.”
C. J. Wilson who was on a roll last season as he won 15 games after being moved to the rotation from the bull-pen. He is going to be starting against Jon Lester. Wilson had an ERA of 0.86 and was 3-0 in his three starts against Boston. They only managed
to hit .157, 20 strike-outs and only two runs in the 21 innings against the Ranger’s talented Wilson. He quotes, “Every victory is important, but last year I pitched really well against the Red Sox, so I’m sure they have a little bit of a bone to pick with
me.”
Whatever unfolds in the field between these two teams remains to be seen, but both sides are here to prove a point and the showdown will definitely be worth watching.
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