The defending American League Champion Texas Rangers were 9-2 when Josh Hamilton was injured on 12 April. Since then, the Rangers are 7-11, for an overall record of 16-13. They lost three of four games to the Toronto Blue Jays at home and three of four to the Oakland Athletics on the road. That's six losses in the past eight games. I won't say that the loss of Hamilton explains all the losing, but it explains some of it. The Rangers lost not only a good bat and a sterling glove, but a team leader. Hamilton isn't a rah-rah guy. He simply plays hard, all the time. This has the effect of making those around him better. I sense that players such as Ian Kinsler and Nelson Cruz are pressing. Perhaps they are trying to compensate for Hamilton's missing bat. If so, they need to stop it. If you try to do more than you're capable of doing, you'll end up doing less. It's a law of nature.
The Rangers had better get going, because there will be no cakewalk in the American League West this season. The Los Angeles Angels look mighty good.
Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D. 