King of Comedy

The makeup of a club. The chemistry. Whatever you want to call it is important. It affects how guys get along on the field and the overall harmony in a clubhouse. It does not show up in the box score, but winning teams usually have a great clubhouse. The bad ones don't. I like what I see in Arlngton.

Here's my take on the  Rangers clubhouse.

Michael Young is the Rangers captain. He's the leader. The guy is playing with a fractured finger and he does not complain about it. As the story goes, somebody asked him about the finger and he says that he is going to have the same pain today as he is going to have in two weeks so why not play anway? He's a gamer. He leads by example.

Josh Hamilton could be the soul of the club. For obvious reasons. He might be the most talented athlete I have ever seen and his story ...well, you know his story.

The heart? That belongs to Eddie Guardado. In addition to being the biggest prankster in the clubhouse, every Eddie is everybody's big brother. He's the first person pitchers go to when they need advice and he is always there with a helping hand.   Here's his take on reliever Frank Francisco:

"Francisco has a big heart. That's what I look at. I don't look at the ball player. I look at what a guy has in his heart and he has a big heart and I like that a lot. ...What is going to get you there is your family and what's in your heart and I always tell him that."

Eddie can also take a joke. On Thursday, Rangers manager Ron Washington called Guardardo out of the steam room and told him he had to speak with GM Jon Daniels because the pitcher had just been traded.

Guardado's shock or fury didn't last long. Daniels couldn't keep a straight face and burst into laughter. From what I hear, Guardado had it coming ...