Note:  This is not been made offical by the Rangers or anywhere else.  Just how I see things shaking out:

I knew the rangers schedule was pretty favorable for the month of May but I went ahead and looked all the way through the All-Star break and it turns out there are only a 4 teams (out of 19) that have a winning record and we play 11 of 19 series at home.  If we continue to get good pitching, I see no reason why this team can't be 54 - 33 by the time we hit the break.  Here is a snapshot of the schedule through July 11th: (note xWin and xLoss is only my opinion and not based on any mathematical formula.)

I'm an optimist but this seems reasonable to me.  I think this team would really have to play poorly for this not to happen.  What are your thought?

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Last week, I was able to attend a luncheon hosted by the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce where Nolan and Chuck Morgan were guest speakers.  There was a video tribute to Nolan, Chuck got up and introduced Nolan, then Nolan made his way up to answer questions from the audience.  There were only about 8-10 questions asked and answered but I will give you the highlights.

I asked, "How is the search for the pitching coach coming along and have the Brewers granted permission to talk to Mike Maddux?"  He said they were searching for the best candidate.  The Brewers had not granted permission and they hope to name a coach in 2 week.  Nothing we didn't know.

Someone else asked, "What do you plan to implement as far as a work out plan for the pitchers this year."  He talked about working the guys out harder to make them both physically and mentally tougher.  He mentioned the pitchers throwing live batting practice sessions for about 15 minutes and then mentioned, saying he hadn't told the players this yet, but they were going to run wind sprints for about 10-15 minutes after the BP session, then get right back on the mound for another BP session.  He said the guys don't really know what their capable of until you push them to their limits.  He said we want pitchers that can pitch under any condition and that "can hit an inside-the-park-homerun and immediately go out there for another inning.”

I asked another question, “Rick Adair is a guy that had a lot of success as Detroit pitching coach, any chance he transitions into that role.”  Nolan said there are two guys they were targeting, presumably Maddux and Peterson, ahead of Adair but he was on the short list if those two guys fell through. 

He talked about the need for starters to have 3 quality pitches because they generally have to go through the lineup 3 times but relievers only needing 2 pitches. 

He ended the Q&A telling a story about Bo Jackson hitting the longest HR ever hit in Arlington Stadium.  He said he even turned around to see where the ball was going to end up.  The next day he went thru the tunnel about 4:15 to stretch with the team.  He got out there and none of his teammates were there.  He thought maybe the game had been canceled and he hadn’t been told.  Then, he looked up in the centerfield bleachers and the whole Rangers roster was in the bleachers sitting where Bo’s ball landed.  UPDATE: Later that night, Nolan got a call at 2am from Danny Darwin.  Darwin had seen the highlights of Bo's prolific HR on the news.  Nolan answered the phone, which woke him up and Darwin asked, "How'd you hold that ball?"  Later that week, Nolan was watching Darwin pitch on TV in San Diego and Darwin gave up a long homerun.  Darwin then got yanked and Nolan could see that Danny made his way to the dugout and up the tunnel to the clubhouse.  Nolan called Jack Murphy stadium and asked for the visiting clubhouse equipment manager, whom he was friends with.  The equipment manager answered, waited for Darwin to make it to the clubhouse and told him he had a phone call.  As soon as Darwin answered the phone, Nolan ask, "How'd you hold that ball?"  We all got a chuckle. 

I am lucky enough to get to go to a Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce luncheon featuring Nolan and Chuck Morgan.  I believe they will open up the floor to questions at some point and I would like to know what you all think I should ask them.  I will be happy to report back their responses after the luncheon, which is Oct 23rd.  Let me know what to ask them in the comments.  Thanks.