A Fan's Guide to C.J. vs. Yu

If the rain lets up and tonight's game against the Los Angeles Angels, the first of 19 games between the AL West rivals this season, is able to be played at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, fans will be treated to arguably the most anticipated pitching matchup in the history of DFW, possibly the universe.

C.J. Wilson vs. Yu Darvish.

Old friend, turned heated rival vs. Savior sent from far-away land.

Evil vs. good. You name it, tonight has it.

C.J. Wilson spent seven seasons in Texas as a starter-turned reliever-turned closer-turned reliever-turned starter. In his last two years as a Ranger, Wilson was the the team's best starter, yes even better than that Cliff Lee guy, statistically speaking, anyway.

He also torqued a lot of people off, including the majority of his teammates, with his pompous attitude and downright arrogant interviews. There was the instance back in the day when Hank Blalock called him out after he made a remark along the lines of him being smarter than most baseball players, which, hate to say it, is probably true.

Wilson had his warts, but he also was a very valuable piece to the franchise and was a huge part of the two-time defending AL champions.

Sports Connection

Connecting you to your favorite North Texas sports teams as well as sports news around the globe.

TWU plans ways for fans to watch NCAA Division II championship game

Baltimore Orioles honor bridge collapse victims before Opening Day

So tonight (or tomorrow) when he and Darvish are announced, you will hear lots of boos and lots of Yuuuus.

Following is a fan's guide to attending the game tonight, and how you will react to the return of the great Christopher John Wilson, who will let you know he's been on Funny or Die a bunch, most recently here when they took a few jabs at him (note: that's not the real C.J.)

Reasons to cheer:

Went 19-5 over two seasons in a stadium that's supposed to be pitchers' personal hell.

Put up a 2.94 ERA in 2011, the lowest ERA by a Rangers starter since Nolan Ryan.

Won 31 games over two seasons and put up over 200 innings in each.

He has light switches that he can turn on AND off.

Can land the team airplane.

Reasons to boo:

Tweeted out Mike Napoli's cell phone number as a "prank" and then questioned Napoli's sense of humor when he got upset.

Talks about how big his television is.

1-5 with a 4.82 ERA in six postseason starts as a Ranger.

All of this. (Thanks to the late, great Michael Gruber, formerly of KTCK 1310 AM)

Said he would be prepared to hit Yu's vast array of pitches.

Can land the team airplane.

So there you go, folks. The decision is yours. We can't tell you what to do, but here's all the evidence you need. Make your decision. Go and be loud.

Copyright FREEL - NBC Local Media
Contact Us