--How pretty was the Rangers' season-opening 9-1 win over Cleveland? Pretty enough to impress the team president, Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan. "It was the best opener I've ever been a part of," said Ryan, who has been around the game for 40-plus years. The Rangers had a former president (George W. Bush) throw out the first pitch, displayed new uniforms to a sellout crowd and then throttled their opponent.
--Why is April such an important month for the Rangers? When they've been hot in April, they've stayed hot for the rest of the year. Since moving into Rangers Ballpark in 1994, they've finished April at least three games above .500 four times. On three of those occasions, they won the AL West; on the other they finished 89-73. --SS Elvis Andrus became the third youngest player to start on opening day in Rangers history. Andrus was 20 years and 223 days on Monday. C Ivan Rodriguez was 20 years and 130 days in 1992, and SS Benji Gil was 20 and 181 in 1993.
BY THE NUMBERS: 525 -- Amount of dollars, in millions, of the loan that Rangers owner Tom Hicks' Hicks Sports Group defaulted on in the last week. Hicks elected not to make an interest payment while trying to negotiate with banks and other lenders to allow HSG to access its interest reserve provision. Hicks said there will be no impact on the Rangers or the NHL's Dallas Stars while HSG negotiates with banks.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "Hey, if this is it, it's not a bad way to go out: hitting .650." -- Catcher Adam Melhuse, who was granted his release at the conclusion of spring training when he didn't make the club. Melhuse, 37, said he is more likely to retire than to take a job catching in the minor leagues.
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