Berkman Living Up to On-Base Billing

Remember back to the 2011 World Series if you dare: The Texas Rangers, of course, lost a heartbreaking series to the St. Louis Cardinals after losing a lead twice and being just one strike away from hoisting their first world title ... twice.

A big part of the Cardinals' arsenal that year came from Lance Berkman, the native Texan who haunted Rangers fans for a couple of weeks that October.

Now, he's one of the good guys and he's doing just what the Rangers' front office and Rangers fans hoped he would — as an on-base machine and a pitcher's worst nightmare, someone who's near impossible to get out on a regular basis.

It's just seven games, but so far, Berkman leads the league in on-base percentage with a .571 mark, walking seven times and striking out just three times — quite a bit different than the guy he's replacing in the Rangers' lineup.

Berkman walked three times on Monday, and has now reached base in every game this season. Monday night ended Berkman's streak of at least one hit in every game, but three walks will do.

The career .409 on-base percentage is shining through right now for Berkman, who has long been known as one of the most patient hitters in baseball. If he can keep this up all season and stay healthy the Rangers will miss Hamilton even less than they might think right now.

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