Eulogy for a Dream.

It has taken me far too long to sit down and write this post.

Perhaps I was simply too saddened from the recent lifeless play, maybe it was that whole little time crunch called “college”, but it has been simply too long since I’ve written about the local nine.

The 2009 season for the Texas Rangers will not end with a playoff berth, as many hoped it would. It will not end with 90 wins, as many thought it would (including myself) just three short weeks ago. Hopefully it will end with more than 86 wins (today’s number of victories).

This post is not meant to complain about what happened. That particular post may come, or it may not. What happened, quickly, is that a young team simply fell apart down the stretch. Two of its better hitters got hurt, but the pitching began to wear down as well. In short, they just couldn’t get it done.

But so many good things happened this year.

We witnessed the debut of the newest great shortstop in baseball. No Jerod. I would never trade Elvis Andrus for Gordon Beckham.

We saw what happens when the Texas Rangers have a little thing called pitching. Get another year of learning for Scott Feldman, Tommy Hunter, Derek Holland, Neftali Feliz…you get the picture.

Nelson Cruz took a big step this year. Even if Ron Washington refuses to believe it.

You got everything you could possibly hope for out of Marlon Byrd and Omar Vizquel. If Omar’s available, I think he would be welcome back. Marlon? Absolutely, if the price is right and if the playing time is right.

David Murphy bounced back nicely after a slow start. Julio Borbon injected some excitement into the lineup.

We got to see the return of Pudge. I know that’s probably not what we were expecting, but he did make the team better.

The bullpen, all things considered, was pretty solid this year. Great pickups in O’Day and Grilli (yes, that was a good pickup). Nice year from C.J. Pretty nice year from Frankie, when he was in there.

And, of course, the Face of the Franchise. Michael Young may not be the greatest defensive player in the world. He may not have been that clutch at times this year. But there is no one I’d rather have leading my team. Especially going forward into what could be the greatest part of franchise history.

For 2010? There are a lot of things the team should do. But that’s for another day.

Tonight, I’m savoring every last minute of a cold, rainy night in Seattle. Because come Monday, I’m going to be very sad not to be able to hear Josh and TAG. But especially Nadel.

I will miss this team. Here’s to you – the 2009 Texas Rangers. May you be the start of something great.

Thanks for such a great summer. Even though it didn’t end the way we all hoped, it was still great fun.

185 days.