TEXAS FANS TO GET CONSTANT 'OLD-TIMERS' DAYS'

NOTES, RANDOM ORDER OF IMPORTANCE

WRITE AS IF YOU ARE THE BEAT WRITER FOR YOUR TEAM'S HOMETOWN NEWSPAPER. THIS MAKES IT MORE IMPORTANT TO YOU - AND YOUR READERS.
--EACH STORY HAS A TITLE (ABOVE), AND IN ORDER, BELOW, DATE, PAGE NUMBER, HEADLINE, SUBHED, DATELINE, BYLINE, JOB TITLE, AND THE PUBLICATION'S NAME.

FRB, 11, 2011                                                               PAGE A1

RANGERS FORGO TIMELINE

DRAFT STARS EARLY AND OFTEN

BY LEE GANNON

SPORTSWRITER

DALLAS MORNING HERALD


NEW YORK - UNDER BASEBALL'S BIGGEST STAGE - THE TOTAL RESTRUCTURING OF THE GAME WITH AN ALL-FREE AGENT DRAFT - THE BRIGHT LIGHTS SEEMINGLY BLINDED THE TEXAS FRONT OFFICE.

DURING SATURDAY'S OPENING THREE ROUNDS, RANGER BOSSMAN NOLAN RYAN DID EXACTLY WHAT HE WANTED TO DO: DRAFT GOOD, YOUNG PLAYERS ALREADY SIGNED TO LONG-TERM DEALS.

PICKING FIFTH OVERALL IN A DRAFT THAT "SNAKED" BACK TO THEM, RYAN SNARED OF RYAN BRAUN (7-YEAR, $56.7 MILLION CONTRACT), PITCHER JAMES SHIELDS (3 YEARS, $34M) AND 2B ROBINSON CANO ($24M OVER 4 YEARS).

THEN THE SUNGLASSES SHOULD HAVE COME ON - EXTRA DARK PLEASE.

"TEXAS GOT AWAY FROM ITS DRAFT STRATEGY - GOING YOUNG AND CHEAP AT EVERY CHANCE - IN SUNDAY'S ROUNDS FOUR TO 20," AN AMERICAN LEAGUE SCOUT SAID.

INDEED, THE RANGERS ENDED UP WITH BLOATED CONTRACTS ATTACHED TO ALL TOO FAMILIAR NAMES.

IF YOU FEEL THE NEED FOR NOSTALGIA, ARLINGTON STADIUM WILL BE SERVING UP THE LIKES OF TORII HUNTER, DAN HAREN, KERRY WOOD AND RANDY WINN.

"THERE WERE BETTER GUYS ON MOST OTHER TEAMS' BOARDS," THE SCOUT SAYS.

RYAN SIMPLY READ A STATEMENT SUNDAY EVENING, SAYING THE RANGERS "ENDED UP TAKING AN NFL-LIKE STANCE - GETTING THE BEST ATHLETE AVAILABLE."

HE DECLINED TO ANSWER QUESTIONS, BUT SAID HE WILL AFTER MONDAY'S COMPLETION OF THE 75-ROUND DRAFT.

"THERE'S A LONG WAY TO GO," THE SCOUT SAID. "REDEMPTION IS STILL POSSIBLE."



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THIS STORY MADE THE FRONT PAGE, BUT OUTSIDE OF WINNING THE WORLD SERIES, SPORTS SECTIONS WILL BE FOUND IN OTHER SECTIONS (B, C, ....ETC).

--THE TITLE, HEADLINE AND SUBHED (BELOW HEADLINE, IF USED, MUST BE PERTINENT.

--USE COLOR IN HEAD AND SUBHED. THE HEADLINE IS ALWAYS IN A LARGER FONT. MIX UP THE FONTS, BUT THE ONLY TWO I CHANGE ON BLOGGER.COM ARE THE BYLINE AND PUBLICATION NAME. BOLD MAY BE USED AS WELL.

--AVOID LIBEL - "AN AL SCOUT SAID ..." MAKE UP NAMES FOR YOUR FRANCHISE'S FRONT OFFICE IF POSSIBLE (ALTHOUGH NOLAN RYAN PROBABLY COULD CARE LESS).

--USE A FAKE NEWSPAPER NAME - IT'S ALL FUN AND GAMES, REMEMBER.

--WRITE UNDER YOUR NAME OR A PSEUDONYM - BUT REMAIN ACCOUNTABLE.

--MAKE IT ORDERLY - YOU WANT THE SAME THINGS YEAR AFTER YEAR. BUY A USED ASSOCIATED PRESS STYLE BOOK - AND FOLLOW IT.

--WRITE IN ALL CAPS. UNLESS YOU ENJOY CARPAL TUNNEL SURGERY.

--MAKE YOUR STATS AS DETAILED AS YOU WANT, BUT KEEP THEM UNIFORM THROUGHOUT THE DYNASTY.

------TYPICAL ORDER:
FIRST YEAR
SMALL STORY DATED AT END OF PREVIOUS YEAR ABOUT MLB'S RESTRUCTURING AND HAVING AN UPCOMING TOTAL FREE AGENT DRAFT. A COUPLE OF DRAFT PREVIEWS/EXPECTED STRATEGIES. A DRAFT STORY OR TWO. EXHIBITION ROUNDUP/SEASON PREVIEW.
NOW, GO PLAY (OR SIMULATE) YOUR SEASON, ADDING PERTINENT STORIES ALONG THE WAY (BIG TRADES, MAJOR INJURIES, HOT AND/OR SLUMPING PLAYERS, ETC...)
---SEASON RECAP - LIST STANDINGS, PLAYOFF RESULTS, LEAGUE LEADERS AND AWARD WINNERS.
---TEAM STAT WRAP UP, FROM THE BASICS (AVG, HR, RBI) TO MORE DETAILED, FOR MLB AND/OR CLASSES AAA AND AA.
---SEASON RECAP/SEASON TWO PREVIEW (WHO WILL/WON'T BE RESIGNED, POSITIONAL BATTLE,,,ETC.)
---IN THE FOLLOWING YEARS, START WITH OFFSEASON TRADES AND FREE AGENT PICKUPS AND LOSSES, THEN EXHIBITION RECAP AND SEASON PREVIEW.

--DON'T LEAVE OUT INFO (STATS, CONTRACT STUFF) INTENDING TO LOOK IT UP AND ADD IT TO YOUR STORY LATER - EVENTUALLY YOU WILL BECOME SLOPPY AND MAKE MISTAKES.

--TRY ONE DYNASTY AT A TIME, ALTHOUGH WITH THE PS2, A COUPLE OF MEMORY CARDS GET YOU TWO TEAMS. DO WHAT YOU CAN HANDLE ON THE PS3.

--AS FAR AS GAMEPLAY, I JUST HIT. SKIP THE HALF-INNING WHEN I PITCH, AND USE AUTOMATIC FIELDING, RUNNING AND THROWING.

--HOPEFULLY, THIS YEAR'S VERSION OF THE "THE SHOW" WON'T HAVE LAST YEAR'S GLITCHES, INCLUDING FREEZING, ABOUT A DOZEN PASSED BALLS PER GAME, AND THE INCREDIBLE ABILITY TO HIT WITH TWO-STRIKES.

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SO FAR, IT'S AWESOME.