Pittsburgh Pirates

New Rangers Manager Jeff Banister: Who Is This Guy?

While the Rangers' hiring of Pittsburgh Pirates bench coach Jeff Banister to take over Ron Washington's vacated managerial post didn't come completely out of nowhere, it's certainly a surprise. For those outside the organization, the first sign that Banister was a serious candidate for the gig came ... More >>

Tanking Update: Time Is Running Out For the Rangers to Start Losing Again

The last time Unfair Park mentioned that the Rangers were looking a little too competitive, the team proceeded to lose 14 of 20, so we decided we should speak up again. Under the temporary -- for now at least -- leadership of Tim Bogar, the Rangers have won 9 of their last 10 games. They've risen o ... More >>

Tom Cruise Reaches

As the strapping Jack Reacher, the star scores.

The NFL's Game Changer

Chris Kluwe is prying open America's last closet: major-league sports.

A Texas Rangers Midseason Report: It's Time to Go All In

With the baseball season at the symbolic halfway point, we asked former Unfair Parker Sam Merten to root around in his beard and see if he could come up with anything to say. He obliged ... and obliged ... and ... Sports are unpredictable. That's why we watch. And there's no greater evidence than t ... More >>

Now It's ESPN's Turn to Sack the Cowboys For Having Merch Made in Cambodian Sweatshops

In October we noted a report from Pittsburgh-based Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights that said the Dallas Cowboys are having team-branded clothing made in "gross sweatshop conditions at the Style Avenue factory in El Salvador" -- which Cowboys Merchandise Ltd. chief operating officer Bill ... More >>

Adventures in Lousy Sports Stadium Logic, Starring University of North Texas and D

Researchers say the new UNT stadium will pump $29 million a year into Denton's economy. You'll never guess where the researchers work.​The University of North Texas unveiled its shiny new football stadium last week, a $79 million complex designed to bring some juice to Denton come college foot ... More >>

A Rangers Repeat? History Suggests Odds Are Long.

One Hit Wonders

Oh Say You Can See Christina Aguilera Singing "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Super Bowl

​The National Football League and FOX just made it official: The star of Burlesque will perform the National Anthem as part of Super Bowl XLV pregame festivities at Cowboys Stadium on Super Bowl Sunday. Says Christina Aguilera in the press release that just popped up in the in-box: "I have been pe ... More >>

Clint Hurdle Gone. Batter Up?!

​Neftali Feliz is the American League Rookie of the Year. Deservedly so. Cliff Lee's Arkansas friends can't imagine him leaving Texas for New York. Fingers crossed. But now Texas Rangers' hitting coach Clint Hurdle is the new manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates. What becomes of Josh Hamilton's ... More >>

Greenberg Asks Rangers Fans to "Believe"

Sam Merten​Win or lose, tonight's the final home game of the 2010 Texas Rangers season. And, yes, even the die-hards must admit at this late date (November 1, itself a remarkable achievement) that the Rangers' chances of winning the World Series look slim. But Rangers owner Chuck Greenberg, postin ... More >>

World Series Food: What the Players Ate

City of Ate's already covered the dining options for World Series spectators. But what about the players, for whom choosing the right meal could mean the difference between a lifetime of championship ring-flashing and never-ending heartbreak? Here, a look at what a few highly successful players ate ... More >>

Fat Lady May Be Warming Up, But Rangers Haven't Won The West ... Yet

​I'll say it, Texas Rangers' fever is at an all-time high. Sunday night's 6-4 win improved Tommy Hunter to 8-0, allowed the Rangers to win three of four from the Anaheim Angels and pushed their lead to seven games with 63 remaining. More than 160,000 fans went to Arlington Thursday-Sunday. Wi ... More >>

Josh Hamilton Partying Like It's ... 2008

​Back in March at Texas Rangers spring training out in Surprise, Arizona I asked team president Nolan Ryan his expectations this season for Josh Hamilton. Is the real Josh the player who had 54 RBI by June 1 in 2008 or the player who hit only 10 homers between numerous injuries in 2009? "Some ... More >>

Would-Be Owner Chuck Greenberg has the Money and Moxie to Lead the Texas Rangers Back to Relevancy and into the Playoffs

Chuck Greenberg is, Dare I Say, a Little Like Mark Cuban?

​In case you haven't noticed I'm a bit of a cynic. A skeptic. A glass-half-empty kinda guy. Okay, I can be an a-hole. But I'm genuinely fired up for the 2010 Texas Rangers. Why? New owner Chuck Greenberg. Met him for the first time last night at Jamey Newberg's shindig, which was basical ... More >>

A Poignant Farewell to Bobby Bragan

Bobby Bragan, during his brief tenure as Pittsburgh Pirates manager in the mid-1950s​Anyone who loves baseball 'round these parts knows the name Bobby Bragan -- his association with the Fort Worth Cats alone (in the late '40s and early '50s, then again in '05) was enough to make him legend, not to ... More >>

Texas Rangers Fans Can Again Dream Of A Merry Baseball, With The Departure Of Owner Tom Hicks

Your First Friday (Acid) Flashback: Dock Ellis's LSD No-Hitter Gets Very, Very Animated

Back in 2005, Keven McAlester wrote one hell of a fine story for the paper version of Unfair Park about former Texas Rangers pitcher Dock Ellis's immortal acid-drenched no-hitter, done, of course, while he was a Pittsburgh Pirate. Piece wasn't just about the feat, of course; if memory serves, it was ... More >>

Rangers, Hicks Continue to Speed Date Would-Be Buyers. This Week: Dennis Gilbert.

Dennis Gilbert​Last month, the Startlegram outed former Barry Bonds and Jose Canseco agent Dennis Gilbert as a would-be buyer of Your Texas Rangers, which the Beverly Hills-based Gilbert wouldn't confirm at the time. That made sense: He's still in pro ball (he reviews contracts for the Chicago Whi ... More >>

The Hard Lie

How former Ticket host Greg Williams destroyed the most dynamic duo in Dallas talk radio through drugs, deceit and disaffection

So, Mark Cuban's About To Buy...The Chicago Cubs? What Happened to the Pirates? So Confused.

That's what Radar Online is reporting, so we're taking it with a pillar of salt. Nonetheless, says here that "the tech entrepreneur and Dallas Mavericks owner is set to offer $625 million to buy the Chicago Cubs from Tribune Co., according to a source familiar with the matter. 'Mark is desperate to ... More >>

Whose Balls Are Worth More?

Balls Out

How to throw a no-hitter on acid, and other lessons from the career of baseball legend Dock Ellis

White Heat

As a white player on a black baseball team, C.C. Risenhoover saw both sides of the racial divide

The spring of our discontent

Raphael Palmeiro is hurt. Johnny Oates is grumpy. Pudge Rodriguez is acting like a spoiled brat. Lee Stevens just wants to play baseball. Welcome to Texas Rangers spring training.

A bush league of their own

Long before the Texas Rangers, major-league baseball was played in Dallas by a minor-league team called the Dallas Eagles

Letters

Senor baseball

Luis Mayoral's job with the Rangers isn't all brown and white

Letters

Echale salsita

Passion and pride ignite upon the dance floor of Dallas' salsa community

He wants to freak you

Jeff Buckley tries to make pop music you've never heard before