I've mentioned a couple of times in my previous comments that while Hurdle's hitting philosophies injected a huge amount of discipline into Rangers hitters' mindsets last yr, the Giants actually exploited some holes in his main theory of letting the ball "get deep".

Specifically, the Giants were able to come inside consistently with tailing fastballs that jammed up the power hitters severely. Cruz and Hamilton looked lost against that strategy. IMO, you want to get the bat head out quickly on those inside pitches, especially the ones that are tailing in. If possible, move up in the box a little and make contact out in front of the plate before the pitch really starts moving laterally. Hurdle's tutelage doesn't seem to allow for the proper adjustments for what SF was trying to do, at least from what I can see from my vantage point.

Thad Bosley has a different message: Always be looking to drive the ball -- I take that to mean he wants guys pulling the ball with power when they get the pitch they are looking for. The (S)mall sample results (against a very good pitching staff) so far indicate possibly an excellent transition for the Good Guys. That could be especially so for a guy like Andrus, who has 3 extra base hits already, after having only 15 all last yr! OBPs haven't seemed to be going down, and strikeouts certainly aren't back on the rise, both of which I was a little worried about when I read about Boz's plans in the Spring.

I think Boz's strategy would have helped the Rangers in the WS last yr. To be sure, the Giants staff is extremely talented, and they sent several good teams down to defeat in the post-season. But I don't think Bosley's teachings could do anything but help in a similar series against a top pitching staff this Fall.

So, can the Rangers, who are obviously stacked across the roster with hitting talent, going to be able to score 900 runs again? This team would probably win 100+ games if they do, given normal developments in most things pertaining to health, defensive performances, and youthful pitching growth curves being considered. This could be a Rangers team for the Ages.

I think Thad Bosley is going to unlock some talent reserves for Andrus, Borbon, and possibly Chris Davis. Let's start locking up long-term these younger guys who show they can hit as well as play defense!

You saw Boston's pitchers jamming Julio, because of his lack of power stats. He did move up and got the bat out front for his triple... Bosely has helped Julio. Josh has become a real good hitter, when they come deep inside. We're seeing results early, because staffs a running pitches from last years data. Lester & Lackey are no slouches.

The 2010 Rangers scored exactly three more runs (787) than they did in in the year before (784). And in all of Rudy's other seasons, the offense was over 800 runs, usually WELL ABOVE 800 runs or even 900.

Unless Hurdle was spending time in the bullpen helping the pitchers, making shrewd roster moves or shoring up the Ranger defense, I'm not sure why Hurdle gets so much credit around here.

Why don't you ask Josh Hamilton, Chief. That Rudy toe-tap was killing him.

Hurdle was fun when he was interviewed.
Made me feel like I was getting an "Insight Baseball Sound Clip"

Clint Hurdle cut down our strikeouts and increased our batted balls in play ratio across the board. If we can combine the two and get back to scoring Jaramillo era runs then wow.