The face of the franchise in 2010 just became the all-time face of the franchise with the Texas Rangers.
With the bases loaded and two outs, Michael Young did what I've watched him do for so long: He delivered in a clutch situation, knocking a ground ball single back up the middle for his 1,748th hit, the most in club history. He passed Pudge Rodriguez, and at age 34, the durable Young should run the record up pretty high. I'm confident in saying the Rangers will have their first hitter in the prestigious 2,000 hits club before too long.
No one deserves it more than Young.
He's such an easy guy to root for. Young never makes excuses. He never whines. I've watched nearly every Rangers game for the past four years and I've seen him argue with an umpire a grand total of one time.
The Lakers and the Celtics will do battle in Game 7 of the NBA Finals tonight. Turn it on for two minutes, and you'll undoubtedly see a player complain like a 2-year-old to a referee. Different sport, but same idea. Young is one of the most professional athletes I've watched play any sport.
This record belongs to him.
No knock on Pudge. He's one of the best hitting catchers ever. The team record was safe (and clean) in his name.
It's just that I have a hard time associating with the three teams that won the AL West in the late '90s. Juan Gonzalez and Rafael Palmeiro, two players linked to using steroids in the Mitchell Report and in Jose Canseco's book, were key players on those teams. And even before anyone knew they took steroids, I wasn't near the fan I am now. Baseball was mediocre at best during those times.
In 2002, the year I started watching the Rangers on a consistent basis, the game still wasn't clean. It wasn't until 2006, the year Major League Baseball implemented a mandatory drug-testing program, that I began to really get into the game. The game is cleaner and better than it's been in a long time, perhaps since the league went on strike in 1994.
I'd bet good money that Young's been clean his entire career. There aren't many great players of the early 2000's I'd say that for. Young's one of them. So is Albert Pujols and Derek Jeter. I have a tremendous amount of respect for guys like that, who stayed away from the stuff, even during a time it was most prevalent. Do a google search of 'Michael Young' and 'steroids' won't even come up in a suggested search.
I worked Wednesday night, when the Rangers beat the Marlins, 6-3, in Miami, and I didn't get to see Young's hit when it happened. I watched the replay about five times, though.
It's guys like Young who make me proud to watch this team as much as I do. I've been behind the organization's direction/youth movement for a while now. Watching the team blossom these past two years has been exciting. As of today, we're a season-best nine games over .500 at 37-28, two games ahead of the Angels in the West.
Historically, Texas been anything but a winning franchise. The Rangers haven't won a playoff series in team history.
The goal this year hasn't changed. The team's good enough to win the West. If and when that happens, should the team make a run in the postseason, it'd be one of the happiest sports days of my life. But I'd feel even better for Young, who's been with the Rangers every minute of his big-league career since 2000. No one deserves a playoff run more than the face of the franchise.
Rangers' all-time hits leaders, as of 6/17/2010:
1. Michael Young: 1,748
2. Ivan Rodriguez: 1,747
3. Rafael Palmeiro: 1,692
4. Juan Gonzalez: 1,595
5. Ruben Sierra: 1,281
6. Jim Sundberg: 1,180
7. Rusty Greer: 1,166
8. Toby Harrah: 1,086
9. Buddy Bell: 1,060
10. Hank Blalock: 943
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