The Texas Rangers once again had a season to remember in 2011 as they made it to their second World Series appearance in two years and came within a strike of winning it all. It was a special season, but definitely left many fans with a bad taste in their mouth. The bad taste is understandable, but at the same time there was plenty to enjoy from 2011. Now we sit on the first day of 2012 and for the Rangers it is officially “next year.” The moment game 7 ended the focus was on 2012 for the Rangers, but now it is officially here.

The year of 2011 gave fans plenty of good times. There was the season opening six game winning streak to open the season, the 12 game streak in the month of July and month of September when they went 19-7 to close out the Angels and cruise into the postseason. There was the breath of fresh air that Adrian Beltre brought to the hot corner, the brilliance of Ian Kinsler, the dependability of Michael Young and the rise of Mike Napoli. Then the postseason brought the three homerun game for Beltre, the walkoff grand slam for Nelson Cruz and the maturing of Derek Holland.

The year of 2011 was truly a magical season and the only downside was it finished with many people spending the holiday season still talking about Nelson Cruz not coming up with that ball off of the bat of David Freese and Neftali Feliz being so rattled that he couldn’t come back out for the tenth inning. The clutch homerun from Josh Hamilton and brilliant defensive work of Elvis Andrus were long forgotten and many fans spent the months of November and December in a state of sports depression. It is sad, but the words “game 6″ still cause many to feel like they are still stuck in a nightmare.

The good news is that those days can finally be forgotten as 2012 is officially here and we are a month and a half away from spring training. The offseason is not over, but we know that the Rangers should have a “true ace” on the staff and we know that they will now have a veteran closer. We are just a few weeks away from seeing if Neftali Feliz can be as brilliant as a starter as he was during the spring training of 2011 and if Derek Holland and Matt Harrison can once again raise their game to another level. We can look forward to seeing what Napoli has for an encore and what Cruz and Hamilton can do at the plate if they can stay healthy.

This should also be the year of new rivalries. While there has been a rivalry brewing the Angels over previous years, it should finally be there in full force for 2012 with the Angels pulling C.J. Wilson away and also adding Albert Pujols. Napoli sure did his part to get things started last season, but this year it should be even more intense. This will also be the first year for Robin Ventura to be the manager of the White Sox and how that will make the ballpark a little more exciting does not take any explaining for Rangers’ fans. Let’s just say that opening weekend should be a lot of fun.

For baseball fans the months of November and December can be the hardest to get through during a regular year, much less trying to get through them after the way 2011 ended for the Rangers. However, January always brings a bit of fresh air. Spring training seems close enough to touch and the roster comes fully into shape. The New Year is here and once again it should be a special one for Rangers’ fans.

John Bowman is a lifelong baseball and Texas Rangers fan that loves to ponder the deeper aspects of the game. Some of his first baseball memories involve Arlington Stadium nachos, Charlie Hough’s knuckeball, dirt on Pete Incaviglia’s uniform and the voices of Mark Holtz and Eric Nadel as he fell asleep. Follow him on Twitter @TexasWinColumn

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

The 2011 MLB GIBBYs are coming up and there are a lot of Texas Rangers players involved in the competition. GIBBY stands for Greatness in Baseball Yearly Awards and is chosen by the fans at MLB.COM. Here is a look at Rangers nominated and their biggest competition.

C.J. Wilson(notes), Starting Pitcher

Wilson is the first Texas Rangers left handed pitcher to win over 15 games in two straight seasons, and as a result, will end up with a big payday somewhere this off-season. He also helped lead Texas to back-to-back World Series appearances and the five wins over his last six starts had a lot to do with the Rangers home field advantage in the AL playoffs.

Who Should Win: Justin Verlander(notes) will win this one but don’t count out the west coast votes for Clayton Kershaw(notes).

Mike Adams(notes), Setup Man

Adams played for two teams in 2011, both in the role of setup man, pitching in San Diego before heading to Texas. He was one of the few shining stars in the Rangers bullpen on a consistent basis once the playoffs started. After joining Texas, he put up a 2.10 ERA in 27 appearances.

Who Should Win: David Robertson(notes) will take this due to his numbers (1.08 ERA, 100 Ks) and the fact he is a Yankee.

Ron Washington, Manager

Wash has little chance in this race because even his own team’s fans seem to dislike the man. He only took them to back-to-back World Series appearances but gets no credit. He did this through injuries in 2011.

Who Should Win: Joe Maddon and Kirk Gibson won the manager of the year awards but I see Tony La Russa getting a going away present here from the fans.

Jon Daniels, Executive

If you don’t give Wash credit for this team, you have to give credit to Jon Daniels, the man who built it. Daniels is, by far, one of the best young minds in baseball and has Texas in a position to compete every year. Other than his poor handling of Michael Young(notes) at the start of the year, he has done a great job, bringing in Mike Adams, Mike Napoli(notes) and Adrian Beltre(notes), making sure Texas returned to the World Series.

Who Should Win: There is no reason in the world Daniels does not win this award.

Nelson Cruz(notes) / Mike Napoli, Postseason MVP

Nelson Cruz broke the record for most home runs in the ALCS with six and tied the all-time postseason home run record with eight. Mike Napoli is only the second player in World Series history with four multi-RBI games. The man he tied is named Mickey Mantle. They are the reason that Texas made it to the World Series.

Who Should Win: David Freese(notes) deserves this over Albert Pujols(notes) because of his World Series histrionics. Freese is why St. Louis beat Texas.

Big Ommissions

I can’t figure out for the life of me why Mike Napoli is not listed as one of the breakout players. He was traded twice in the off-season and was good in Los Angeles but not great. After the All-Star break, he led the majors in BA. Then he tore it up in the postseason. Napoli is an easy choice for breakout player.

Author Shawn S. Lealos has been a Texas Rangers fan his entire life, watching the Rangers’ Triple-A affiliate play for over 30 years. While Texas has moved their Triple-A team, Shawn still remains a loyal Rangers fan and dreams of the year they finally win the big one.

Source: MLB.COM

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

The World Series is an entirely different world. While teams might score a dozen runs in the ALDS or ALCS, the chance of anyone repeating that in the Fall Classic is minimal. For one thing, these are the two best teams in baseball playing for one of the biggest prizes in all of sports. These really are games where wins are based on single runs more often than not.

The Texas Rangers evened the World Series back up, at one game apiece, with a one-run win the night after they lost the first game, also by one run. However, in Game 2 of the World Series, it looked like Texas was headed towards a 2-0 hole until a miraculous ninth and the Rangers bullpen outplayed the Cardinals for the improbable victory.

Jaime Garcia(notes) was the starting pitcher for St. Louis and was masterful. He put down the Rangers in order to start off the game, knocking them down one by one. He ran into some trouble in the fourth when he walked Ian Kinsler(notes) and allowed a single to Michael Young(notes) to put Kinsler in scoring position but struck out Adrian Beltre(notes) to end the inning.

Garcia then knocked out eight more batters in a row until Beltre got back up and got the hit he needed in his last at-bat. It was all for not because Nelson Cruz(notes) flied out to right to end the seventh. Overall, Garcia went seven innings and gave up three hits and one walk while striking out seven. It was a masterful performance that should have helped him get the win.

The problem was that Texas also pitched a great game. Colby Lewis(notes) went 6.2 innings and only gave up four hits and two walks with four strikeouts. The difference was the seventh inning. David Freese(notes) singled to center and Nick Punto(notes) singled to right. With men on the corner, Texas called in Alexi Ogando(notes), and for the second night in a row, Ogando gave up a big run, this one on an Allen Craig(notes) single that scored Freese. Ogando ended the inning and St. Louis led by one, a score that looked impenetrable in this game.

Then came the ninth inning.

Mike Napoli(notes), Nelson Cruz and Adrian Beltre were the unlikely heroes of the ALDS and ALCS, but in this World Series game, the heavy hitters struck back. Jason Motte(notes) came in to close out the game and failed to give his Cardinals the win. He let Ian Kinsler get on base with a single. Elvis Andrus(notes) came up and his a single to center, advancing to second on an error.

Then 2010 AL MVP Josh Hamilton(notes) came up to the plate and hit a sacrifice fly to right to score Kinsler. Michael Young broke the tie with a sacrifice fly to center to score Andrus. With the Texas now leading by one, Neftali Feliz(notes) came into the game, walked Yadier Molina(notes) and then took down Punto, Skip Schumaker(notes) and Rafael Furcal(notes) to pick up the save.

Feliz is unbeatable in the ninth and he did it again. The teams will now take off Friday and head back to the diamond on Saturday as Derek Holland(notes) starts for Texas at home against Kyle Loshe. Texas has not lost back-to-back games since August and they need to capitalize on this ninth inning surge as they head into Game 3 to put the advantage back in their court.

Author Shawn S. Lealos has been a Texas Rangers fan his entire life, watching the Rangers’ Triple-A affiliate play for over 30 years. While Texas has moved their Triple-A team, Shawn still remains a loyal Rangers fan and dreams of the year they finally win the big one.

Source: Yahoo! Sports

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

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The Texas Rangers got a big 9-5 win Sunday night against the Los Angeles Angels, but they also took a pretty big loss.

Outfielder Nelson Cruz(notes) had to leave the game in the sixth inning when he pulled his left hamstring running the bases. Cruz has plenty of experience with hamstring pulls, as he went on the disabled list three times last season with similar injuries. So he probably knew this wouldn’t be good.

It became official Monday afternoon, as a MRI exam revealed a Grade 1 strain of the hamstring. Though that’s a less-severe injury, it will still put Cruz out for three weeks. Team doctors will give Cruz a plasma injection in an attempt to speed the healing process.

With the Rangers trying to hold off the Angels in the AL West, and the calendar about to turn to September, Cruz’s injury comes at a bad time. On an individual basis, Cruz had broken out of a bad slump, perhaps fueled by ditching his batting gloves. In the weekend series versus the Angels, he batted 8 for 12 with two home runs and six RBIs.

The Rangers’ lineup should get a boost when Adrian Beltre(notes) returns later this week. But who might fill in for Cruz could become an interesting question. Class AAA outfielder Leonys Martin(notes) will likely be the immediate replacement.

But the Rangers might try to take a bigger swing. According to the Dallas Morning News, Texas is looking to acquire Lance Berkman(notes) from the St. Louis Cardinals. Berkman, who’s believed to have cleared waivers, has had a resurgent season, batting .289/.405/.570 with 30 homers and 81 RBIs.

Rangers president Nolan Ryan said the chances of getting Berkman were “remote,” but acknowledged it was a possibility. No word on what the Cardinals would seek in return, but Berkman is playing out a one-year contract and is owed $1.33 million for the rest of the season.

Getting Berkman would have a comedic element to it, as he opted to sign with the Cardinals instead of the Rangers in the offseason because he felt Texas would be “an average team” after losing Cliff Lee(notes) to free agency. Signing with St. Louis obviously worked out for Berkman individually. But with St. Louis 10 games out and sitting with an elimination number of 18 in the NL Central, he’ll probably have to move on if he wants to see the playoffs this year.

Follow Ian on Twitter — @iancass — and engage The Stew on Facebook

Related: Nelson Cruz, Cliff Lee, Lance Berkman, Los Angeles Angels, St. Louis Cardinals, Texas Rangers, injuries

The Texas Rangers have had little trouble scoring runs during their recent
surge, a trend which may not bode well for struggling starter Fausto Carmona(notes) and
the slumping Cleveland Indians.

Texas’s high-powered offense visits Cleveland on Saturday night to continue
their four-game set.

The Rangers (32-26) beat the Indians 11-1 on Friday for their sixth victory
in seven games. The lopsided win marked the fifth time during that stretch Texas
has scored at least seven runs and the third with at least 10.

Josh Hamilton(notes) went 3 for 4 with a three-run homer, and Nelson Cruz(notes) added a
two-run shot. Hamilton is 6 for 14 (.429) and Nelson Cruz is 4 for 10 (.400)
with two home runs lifetime against Carmona.

If Carmona (3-6, 5.31 ERA) is to help Cleveland (33-22) snap out of a funk
in which it’s lost seven of 10, he’ll likely have to improve vastly from his
previous three starts.

The right-hander has lost each of those outings while sporting a 10.06 ERA,
giving up 21 runs and 21 hits through 17 innings. Carmona allowed nine runs -
seven earned – over four innings Monday in an 11-1 loss at Toronto.

He hasn’t fared much better recently against Texas, going 0-3 with a 6.86
ERA in the last four starts while allowing 10 walks and 15 runs through 19 2-3
innings.

The Rangers’ offense has benefited starter Derek Holland(notes) (4-1, 4.96), who
has never faced the Indians.

Though Holland’s record looks impressive, he’s received 6.89 runs of support
per nine innings to overcome an ERA nearly a full run more than his 4.08 mark
last season. The left-hander has allowed at least three runs in eight of 11
starts while pitching into the seventh inning in four of them.

He went six straight starts without a decision before beating Tampa Bay on
Monday, allowing five runs through 5 2-3 innings.

Although Holland has pitched poorly his last two starts, he’ll be facing an
offense that has cooled considerably.

The Indians, who still owns the AL’s best record, have scored 11 total runs
in their last seven defeats while amassing 26 during the three wins in that
10-game stretch.

“We’re going through a rough spot like everybody else,” manager Manny Acta
said. “I’m very thankful we still haven’t gone through one of those long
stretches like everyone else, and we want to keep it that way.”

Grady Sizemore(notes) once again hit in the middle of the lineup rather than
leadoff to compensate for the absence of slugger Travis Hafner(notes), who strained his
right oblique in batting practice May 18.

Cleveland has dropped a season-high four straight at home after Friday’s
loss, which also continued Texas’ dominance against the Indians. The Rangers
have won 14 of the last 17 meetings and nine of the last 10 at Progressive
Field.

“The past two nights we’ve played some good baseball,” manager Ron
Washington said. “I just hope we can continue it because at any moment (the
Indians) can rise up.”

Elvis Andrus(notes) went 4 for 5 with a three-run double and has hit safely in each
of his 15 career games against Cleveland. His .414 lifetime average versus the
Indians is his highest against any AL team.