Wake Up Call Received...and Nolan Wins Another Smackdown

The Texas Rangers won twice last night.

The first win was against Seattle 11 to 6. Apparently they got my wake up call yesterday as every starter had at least one hit and they pounded out 15 hits during the game.

The second win came during the postgame millabout when the team found out that Nolan Ryan and his group won the auction to purchase the team. It should be a formality to get MLB approval for the new owners. So it looks like Nolan Ryan won yet another smack down, this time beating Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and his group.

There is now some speculation that Cuban was only involved to drive up the price of the team because he bought some of the Hicks Sports Group debt at a discounted price. If that is true, he was set up to win either way. He either gets part owner ship of another team or earns millions when his debt gets paid off.

Locally, many fans love Mark Cuban even though he's arrogant, opinionated and outspoken. He has one major thing everyone loves in the owner of their favorite team: he's willing to spend money to win and that's something the Rangers haven't seen in a while. I think many people would have loved Mark Cuban to own the Rangers, except for one thing. He was going against local legend, Nolan Ryan. That made Cuban the villain, a role he's not accustomed too unless it involves David Stern and the NBA.

Generally, my sources (the voices in my head) tell me people around here are very happy that Nolan Ryan's group won the auction because he has proven, at least this year, that he's the right man for the job. As for me, I'm just glad that the whole thing is over (or is it?) and apparently, the team is happy too.