C.J. Not Happy With Outing, For Once

There probably isn't a more polarizing figure in the Texas Rangers clubhouse than starting pitcher C.J. Wilson.

Wilson loves to talk, and is a rare breed in Major League Baseball — he's highly intelligent and has many outside interests other than baseball.

That's not a knock on other baseball players, it's just the way the baseball culture is.

But the fact that Wilson loves to hear himself talk can also get him on the bad side of Rangers fans from time to time when he talks after subpar performances, often saying the other team "got lucky" or he "threw good stuff".

But after Monday night's game, which wasn't bad but wasn't the ace performance the Rangers needed either, Wilson was humbled by the ovation he got as he was pulled from the game after 5 1/3 innings with the Rangers trailing 2-1.

It was very charitable," Wilson said. "I don't know how much of it I deserved. I didn't pitch very well tonight for my standards, but it was better than I've been pitching the last few weeks, so that's progress."

Wilson is the first pitcher in MLB history to lose the All-Star Game, an ALDS game, an ALCS game and a World Series game, and has had far from the stuff in the postseason that won him 16 games with a 2.94 ERA in the regular season.

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But he fought on Monday night, and in his Game 1 loss to Chris Carpenter.

There's a good chance Monday night was Wilson's final start in a Rangers uniform, as he'll likely end up pitching on the West Coast next season as he'll probably command more money in free agency than the Rangers will want to pay. And based off this season's postseason performance, that would be a hard notion to argue with.

But he's not finished trying to help his team win, saying he'd be available out of the bullpen for Games 6 and 7, if necessary. He also claimed he's a good sacrifice bunter if Ron Washington needs a pinch hitter.

The C.J. Wilson rollercoaster ride is over now though, you're free to unbuckle your safety belt and take a deep breath.

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