Millwood hopes to 'ring' true in '06

Great baseball nicknames are a thing of the past, but a Rangers official came up with one as he watched Kevin Millwood walk across the clubhouse Wednesday.
"There goes 'The Ring Man,'" the official said. "If he pitches the way he's capable."
The implication is clear on a club that has never had a first-hand look at a World Series ring. It's also in line with what other Rangers officials are calling Millwood after signing him this winter to a five-year contract that could be worth up to $60 million.
They have anointed him as their No. 1 starter, a commodity the Rangers have long been looking for with mixed success at best.
That is the single most compelling reason why the Rangers were willing to give out such a lucrative contract to a 31-year-old right-hander who led the American League with a 2.86 ERA while with the Cleveland Indians last year.
He was also the leader on a staff that led the AL with a 3.61 team ERA.
"I think he's ready to assume that mantle," Rangers manager Buck Showalter said. "I think he's capable of matching up with the other guys. That's a pretty lofty area, but he's one of those guys."
Some pitchers have been known to shy away from such a designation. Millwood does not.
"I'm fine with it," Millwood said. "If that's going to take pressure off of other guys, that's great. Everybody has to think they're No. 1 when they go out there. If they don't, they are in a lot of trouble. That's not putting any more pressure on me that I already do myself."
Acquiring a No. 1 starter was a primary goal for general manager Jon Daniels last winter. It was the reason why he was willing to trade third baseman Hank Blalock and a young pitching prospect to the Florida Marlins for Josh Beckett and third baseman Mike Lowell.
That deal fell through when the Marlins sent Beckett to Boston. But Daniels did not give up and did not run away when agent Scott Boras sat down to talk with him about Millwood.
"We have been missing that the last couple of years, somebody with his ability and leadership, somebody strong enough to pitch deep in the game and deep into the season," Daniels said. "That's something we haven't had. The more you hear about Kevin's makeup and intangibles, the more you like him. But the reason we signed him is his ability."
The search for a No. 1 starter in Arlington goes back a long ways. This is a franchise that has never had a Cy Young Award winner and just three 20-game winners in 34 years in Texas.
Rick Helling was their last 20-game winner back in 1998. After that season, the Rangers tried to sign Randy Johnson. The following winter, they tried to trade for Roger Clemens.
They struck out both times.
Finally, in the winter of 2001-02, they signed Chan Ho Park to a five-year, $65 million contract and that proved to be a disaster. It also made Rangers owner Tom Hicks think twice about giving out big contracts to pitchers.
Hicks changed his mind after meeting with Millwood in Dallas in December.
Hicks asked Millwood about pitching at hitter-friendly Ameriquest Field in Arlington and loved what he heard.
Millwood told Hicks, "I'm not pitching against the ballpark. My job is to be better than the other pitcher."
That's what Hicks wanted to hear, and pitching coach Mark Connor wants to impart that attitude to the rest of the staff.
"Cleveland doesn't really have a great pitcher's park either," Millwood said. "But seeing what the whole staff was able to do last year was pretty special. We don't have to lead the league in ERA here. We just have to be a little bit better than the other guy.
"Everybody knows the Texas Rangers have been an offensive powerhouse putting runs on the board. I don't care where you are pitching. As long as you give this team a chance, you're in the ballgame. You don't want to give up five runs a game, but you can win a lot more games here giving up five runs than in a lot of other places."
Millwood, despite leading the league in ERA, was only 9-11 for the Indians last year because he had the seventh lowest run support average in the AL.