Currently Reading: John McGraw

John McGraw by Charles C. Alexander — Having read (and thoroughly enjoyed) this author’s superb biographies of Ty Cobb and Rogers Hornsby, I’ve been looking forward to his work on Hall of Fame manager John McGraw for quite a while. With the major-league season over, now is as good a time as any to dig into the life and legacy of the pugnacious McGraw, whom Alexander describes as “perhaps the single most significant figure in baseball’s history before Babe Ruth transformed the game with his mammoth home runs.”

Rangers Notes: Young Eclipses 2,000-Hit Plateau

Michael Young reached on an infield single in the seventh inning Sunday to become the first player in franchise history to collect 2,000 career hits.

Infielder Michael Young went 2-for-4 Sunday with a pair of infield singles against Cleveland to give him 2,000 career hits, making him the first player in Rangers history to achieve that milestone.

Young – who is already the club’s all-time leader in games, hits, doubles, runs scored and a number of other categories – tallied his 2,000^th hit in career game No. 1,621, which makes him the third-fastest right-handed batter since 1900 to reach the mark behind only Al Simmons (1,390) and Rogers Hornsby (1,462).

A seven-time All-Star and former batting champion, Young is in his 11^th full season with Texas after being acquired from the Blue Jays as part of a deal that sent right-hander Esteban Loaiza to Toronto in July 2000.

Young’s highest yearly total came in 2005 when he led the American League with 221 base hits, and he has averaged right at 200 hits per season during his time with the Rangers.

“That’s a lot of hits,” manager Ron Washington told ESPNDallas.com. “He’s a guy that after his rookie year or even his first few years, figured things out. … No matter how tough things are, he finds a way. That’s quality.”

Rhodes Released, Signed by Cardinals

Texas cut ties with veteran southpaw Arthur Rhodes on Monday, placing the 41-year-old pitcher on release waivers that allowed him to become a free agent and sign a big-league deal with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Rhodes had been designated for assignment last Tuesday in order to clear room on the active roster for right-hander Mike Adams, who was dealt from San Diego to the Rangers just before the non-waiver trade deadline.

In 32 relief appearances for Texas this season, Rhodes compiled a 3-3 record with an earned run average of 4.81 across 24-plus innings of work, and the club’s deadline deals to acquire Adams and Koji Uehara had pushed him to near the bottom of the Rangers’ bullpen pecking order.

Beltre Re-Aggravates Strained Hamstring

All-Star third baseman Adrian Beltre, who has been sidelined since July 23 with a strained left hamstring, re-aggravated the injury while performing running drills prior to Sunday’s game in Arlington.

Having already missed 14 games, Beltre was gearing up for a rehab assignment before suffering this setback, which is expected to delay any thoughts of a return for at least three more weeks.

Optimistically, Texas hopes to have Beltre back in the lineup before September.

Currently Reading: Rogers Hornsby

Rogers Hornsby by Charles C. Alexander — Remarkably, this seems to be the first and only in-depth biography written about Rogers Hornsby, the cocksure native Texan who is regarded by many as the greatest right-handed hitter of all time. Hornsby’s .424 batting average in 1924 endures as the highest single-season mark of the twentieth century, and historian Charles C. Alexander deftly chronicles his Lone Star State upbringing and Hall of Fame career.