As the Stros wander off to their second losing season in the past 15 seasons (21-26 record, lost 6 of their last 7), this earlier post reminded that it could be much worse. Along those same lines, it’s comforting to read this Jim Reeves/Ft. Worth Star Telegram op-ed confirming that the other Texas Major League club continues to toil in its perpetual state of futility:

What’s happened to the Rangers (18-29) this season isn’t one man’s failure, or even two. This is an organization-wide travesty that starts at the top with [owner Tom] Hicks himself. Most of all, it’s a players’ failure and for anyone who cares to debate that point, I refer you to the team’s .248 batting average, 5.15 team ERA and 39 errors going into Monday night’s homestand opener against the Twins. Argue with those numbers, if you can.
Of course, this is all Greek to Hicks, who just happens to be in Greece this week to see his Liverpool soccer team play. Guess he figured his baseball team could continue to fall apart without him. Or maybe he just wanted to see a real offense at work.
Absence, in this case, definitely makes the heart grow fonder.
Hicks is the root cause of many of the Rangers’ problems, whether he’ll admit it or not, and not all of it even has to do with the fact that he spends money like he owns a team in Tampa or Kansas City instead of a top 10 market.
It was Hicks who hired the youngest and rawest general manager in baseball history and didn’t insist that he at least add a veteran baseball voice as a sounding board in the front office. Then the owner compounded the problem by signing off on a manager with absolutely zero major league managerial experience.

Gosh, the plight of the Rangers makes a starting rotation that includes Woody Williams, Matt Albers (mercifully demoted yesterday to AAA Round Rock) and Wandy Rodriguez almost seem tolerable.