Shannon Stone’s mother makes a request of Josh Hamilton - Shannon Stone’s mother makes a request of Josh HamiltonWith 2011 drawing to a close, the Shannon Stone tragedy at Rangers Ballpark is appearing on most, if not all, of the year-end retrospectives.  And while many of those lists will simply note the accident that led to the 39-year-old father falling to his death after trying to catch a ball thrown by Josh Hamilton, the New York Times Magazine scored an interesting interview with Stone's parents. Though neither Al or SuZann Stone get into the details of the fall or its effects on young Cooper Stone — a public stance that has been m.o. since the tragedy — they relate a story about how Al once caught a foul ball from Buddy Bell when Shannon was young.  Shannon Stone liked Bell as much as Cooper likes Josh Hamilton now and the foul ball quickly became a family treasure. Because of that, Al and SuZann knew exactly why Shannon made the effort he did — and why Hamilton shouldn't think twice about continuing the practice of throwing baseballs into the stands as souvenirs.   READ MORE

Olney puts Rangers bullpen in top-10 - ESPN.com's Buster Olney continues his rankings heading into 2012 today and looks at the bullpens. He lists the Rangers as tied for tenth. Here's what he says:  10a. Texas Rangers:  They've got a lot of great pieces and this could be a special group, depending on how a few things shake out:  A. Can Joe Nathan get back to being a frontline closer, as he takes over for Neftali Feliz?  B. Can Koji Uehara bounce back, after pitching terribly for the Rangers following a midseason trade?  C. Will the Rangers add another bullpen piece -- perhaps Alexi Ogando, if Texas chooses to shift him back to a relief role, or Andrew Bailey, who has been the subject of Rangers-Athletics trade talks?   READ MORE

The 100-Loss Team's Road Back To The Playoffs - It seems to me that the belief is it will take the Astros seven years to rebuild. That's a long time and a number I'm not entirely satisfied with. So with a semester of Statistics 210 behind me I decided to look up every 100-loss team to find out what history says about how long it takes a team to get back to the post season after a 100-loss season.  I began by collecting data from 1961 to the present. I decided not to count the 100-loss season or the season in which the team made the playoffs. I wanted to focus on what would be considered the rebuilding years; Making the playoffs meant that team wasn't rebuilding anymore and expectations for that season were likely high.   READ MORE

Astros welcome new faces on, off field in 2011 - As eager rookies emerge, Crane takes ownership of team.  The Astros didn't make many headlines on the field in 2011, but there certainly was no shortage of news away from the diamond.  Not long after completing their 50th season -- and suffering through a club-record 106 losses -- the Astros were sold to a group led by Houston businessman Jim Crane and soon learned they would be moving to the American League in 2013.  Yep, after a half-century in the National League, the Astros will be welcoming a new batch of teams and a new style of baseball to Minute Maid Park in 2013.   READ MORE

With Lehtonen set to return, the Stars opt for Bachman in backup role - With Kari Lehtonen apparently ready to return to the lineup Thursday the Dallas Stars have made some key decisions on their other goaltenders.  Andrew Raycroft, who has been the backup to Lehtonen since last season, will go on waivers Wednesday morning in order for Lehtonen to be activated in time for Thursday’s game against Columbus. That move signals that Richard Bachman will now move into the role of Lehtonen’s backup.  “It’s no secret that we’ve been taking a look at Richard the past three weeks and he’s got a good number of starts,” said Stars GM Joe Nieuwendyk. “It’s always a difficult decision because Andrew is a veteran guy and he’s a good teammate, but we made the decision at this time that we are going to go with Bachman.”  The 24-year-old Bachman, called up due to an injury to Lehtonen, has appeared in nine games and started the last eight games for the Stars. He’s posted a 5-2-0 record, 2.76 goals against average and .912 save percentage. He’s had some ups and downs, but the Stars like the overall performance.   READ MORE

Ribeiro Finding Groove for Stars - Mike Ribeiro will be the first to admit that throughout his first 11 years in the National Hockey League, he has been a bit of a slow starter. And that form definitely held true for the 31-year-old Stars center so far this season.  Through the first 18 games under Glen Gulutzan, the Montreal native had 11 points (2-9-11). But in Dallas’ last eleven games he has twelve points (4-8-12), including goals in each of the Stars’ last two games, a loss to the Blues on December 26th and a win over Nashville three days prior.  Stars head coach Glen Gulutzan has definitely noticed a big difference in Ribeiro over the last few games compared to how he was performing earlier in the season.   READ MORE



---Staff and Wire Reports contributed to this story

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