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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 27, 2004)
SPORTS THE BATTALION Tuesday, April 27, 2004 No A-Rod, no problem ^Rangers tied for first atop AL West By Stephen Hawkins THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ARLINGTON, Texas — fter three straight last-place nishes in Texas, Alex odriguez wanted out. Now the American League VP’s former team is tied for e AL West lead, while odriguez and the New York [ankees are struggling. The Rangers, built around a fcre of young players, are 11-8 alter the opening stretch of the ason against division oppo- nts. They’re even with naheim for first place — and xas won five of seven against e Angels. “Us being young and every- ing said about us, we came out d just wanted to play well,” tcher Gerald Laird said onday. “It’s just chemistry. Our am is really open and we like to ave fun and do a good job.” When Texas traded odriguez just before spring aining, having already let go sluggers Rafael Palmeiro d two-time AL MVP Juan mzalez, there were plenty of |ire predictions of a 100-loss ason. Imagine the thoughts after the angers lost their first two games, three weeks later, Texas tops division after a three-game eekend sweep of Seattle that Iminated with a 14-6 win. The Rangers are still scoring 1 a lot of runs (5.8 per game) iHespite the departed power hit- rl ters, and lead the majors with a ®15 batting average — the only Bam over .300. Their pitching staff, the worst in the majors Bree of the last four seasons, has ■4.34 ERA, fifth-best in the AL. 1 “We have a lot of confidence in our young guys,” manager Buck Showalter said. “I’m not intentionally low-keying. It’s ality. We’ve played 19 games |ut of a 162-game schedule. So r, so good.” Especially for a team coming four straight last-place finishes. During the three seasons with Rodriguez, the Rangers lost 270 games and were atop Be division for only three days, Bne of those after winning last Bear’s season opener. I While Rodriguez is finally starting to shake his slump in Blew York, the Yankees were Iwept by Boston last weekend to drop to 8-1 1 and 4 1/2 games lut in the AL East. The last time Jeffrey Washington • KRT CAMPUS Texas Ranger first baseman Mark Texeira disrupts a throw from Anaheim Angel second baseman David Ecksteins during the first inning of the Rangers' 7-6 win April 1 2 at the Ballpark in Arlington. Texas and Anaheim are tied for first place in the American League West. riHiYl'i Hi in New York was three games under .500 this late in the season was 1997, the last time they did n’t finish first. “It’s not going to get any easier. I’d rather go through this now than any other time,” Rodriguez said. “We will turn this around.” The Rangers, whose last divi sion title was in 1999, have sure turned it around without A-Rod. The last time Texas was three games over .500 was at 30-27 in June 2000, the summer before Rodriguez arrived. The Rangers then lost eight in a row and spent most of the time since at the bottom of the AL West. Things are much different this season. Not only its record, but the feeling sur rounding the team. “We have a sense of direc tion. We talked about it all win ter, and I think it was ultimately culminated with the trade,” gen eral manager John Hart said. “We were going to commit to as many young players as we could. We also realize we do have holes, this is not a finished product.” But a pretty good one. Michael Young, one of the AL’s best defensive second basemen, has made the transi tion to shortstop to fill the void left by Rodriguez and is hitting a team-high .378. His only two fielding errors came on consec utive plays in the home opener. Alfonso Soriano, the second baseman who came over from the Yankees in the A-Rod deal, is hitting .338. He has just 10 strikeouts in 78 at-bats. The Rangers are also getting good production from young players such as Hank Blalock (.325, four home runs, 17 RBIs), Laynce Nix (.364, 5, 13) and Laird (.356), who played in 19 major league games before this season. Veterans such as Eric Young (.378) and David Dellucci (.314), signed to one- year contracts to fill gaps, also have been solid. “We’re a confident group of guys right now,” Michael Young said. “We believe we can go out and win, and that’s a good feeling to have.” Even with starting pitchers Colby Lewis and Mickey Callaway on the disabled list, the pitching staff has not self- destructed. The struggles of Chan Ho Park (1-3, 5.19 ERA) contin ue, but Kenny Rogers (3-0, 3.96) has been a solid No. 1 starter in his third stint with Texas. Archery Continued from page 8 archery team will be that it has to fund itself -just like the other 29 club sports currently at A&M. But without a significant growth in archery, that money can be better used elsewhere. It could be used toward the other 16 varsity sports currently sponsored by A&M, or it could go to a new varsity sport that already has NCAA sponsorship - even if the budget allo cated for archery is minimal. Either way, it is money better spent if it increases the Athletic Departments’ success across the board. Although archery does give A&M some pres tige to those who follow the sport, it does little else. Archery brings very little revenue, if any, to the Athletic Department. Without a chance of growth in the sport and an NCAA-sponsored championship on the hori zon, the benefits that archery brings to A&M don’t justify the money spent for it. Byrne’s decision to put the archery program under review is the best decision for A&M’s Athletic Department. Sometimes feelings have to be pushed aside in the business world. CONGRATULATIONS. YOU NOW HAVE A THING CALLED CREDENTIALS. Diplomaframers.com is your ultimate source for diploma frames in styles to fit every budget. 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