Texas League News/Wrapup (by Todd Newville)

The Double-A Texas League completed its regular season on Sept. 1st and the playoffs commenced on Sept. 4th. The league is divided into two divisions – the North and the South – and into first and second halves. The Frisco Rough Riders won both the first and second halves of the South division.
The Riders played the San Antonio Missions for the right to advance to the Texas League championship series - and swept the series in three games. The Missions had the next best overall record along with the Midland Rockhounds. But, San Antonio had the better head-to-head record against Midland, so they got the playoff nod against Frisco.
The Northwest Arkansas Naturals and the Arkansas Travelers met as the respective first and second-half winners of the North division. Even though Springfield had the best overall season record for the season, they were left out in the cold as far as playoff implications go. Too bad, but that’s how the cookie crumbles sometimes. With that, the Travelers swept the Naturals in three tilts.
So, it will be the Frisco Rough Riders taking on the Arkansas Travelers for the Texas League championship - starting at Arkansas on Sept. 9th. As far as individuals go, the Texas League sported a bunch of prospects who proved their worth over the course of the regular season. As the unofficial “Texas League correspondent” for MILB radio, I thought I would give you a quick rundown on some of the fantastic players I had the opportunity to interview this summer at Dr. Pepper Ballpark in Frisco, Texas.
First, the Riders already have seen Chris Davis, Matt Harrison, Taylor Teagarden, and Max Ramirez make an impact at the major league level with the parent Texas Rangers. Through Sept. 7th, Davis was hitting .279 with 14 homers, 42 runs scored, 18 doubles and 42 RBI. Harrison (who threw the first no-hitter ever at Dr. Pepper Ballpark earlier this year) was 7-3 with a 5.76 ERA. His inflated ERA is due to a couple of bad outings several days ago, but he beat the Boston Red Sox on Sept. 6th for the Rangers‘ first win this season over Beantown. Harrison has certainly given the Rangers some quality starts as of late and the “big club” has all the confidence in the world in him.
Teagarden had three hits in 11 trips to the plate at Texas through Sept. 7th. He started the year at Frisco and followed that up with a trip up to Oklahoma City. Two hits for the Rangers so far have been home runs - and he has a bronze medal to show off around the clubhouse in Arlington thanks to being part of the USA squad that just finished a trip to Beijing, China, for the Olympics.
Plus, Teagarden has proven to be a very quality signal caller for the Rangers. He has been behind the plate for the last two 1-0 wins for the Rangers - and there have only been three in the last decade for the franchise. Ramirez has a .233 average with two homers and nine ribbies with the big club. On Sept. 6th, he hit a grand slam against Iowa in the Pacific Coast League playoffs to help the Oklahoma Redhawks win an important playoff game 9-6 and keep their hopes alive. Ramirez has bounced around from Frisco to OKC to Texas all summer long - and still has time to find a way to help each club along the way.
Okay, enough about the Rangers. How ‘bout other Texas League phenoms?! As an esteemed and privileged contributor to MILB Radio from time to time, I thought it might be pertinent to catch you up on others who I’ve interviewed over the last summer. First, Jon Zeringue of the the Midland Rockhounds finished tied for third in the circuit with 23 homers (along with Tulsa’s Tony Blanco) and was third in RBI with 89.
Tommy Everidge of Midland led the Texas League with a whopping 115 ribbies, followed by Kyle Blanks of San Anotonio (107). Blanks (who hit 20 round-trippers this year) also finished third in the league in batting average, hitting the horsehide at robust .325 clip. Drew Sutton (another MILB Radio guest) was 5th in the league in hitting at .318 as he also clouted 20 homers with a league leading 101 runs scored.
Switch-hitting Dexter Fowler of the Tulsa Drillers (who like Teagarden was an Olympian this summer) was second among Texas League batters at .332 and scored 90 runs. He also had a league-leading 58 stolen bases along with a .429 on-base percentage. Dan Cortes of the Naturals was 10-4 this year while Andrew Carignan had 24 saves for Midland - second only to Fernando Salas’ 25 saves for the Springfield Cardinals.
Yes, it was certainly a good summer for many Texas League performers and MILB Radio guests. We hope you’ve enjoyed hearing about these players on the show this season. Look for more next season. In the meantime, stay tuned and we’ll keep you informed on what’s happening in the world of minor league baseball.