The Rangers found inspiration in a film yesterday:

If nothing else, Rocky IV gave the Rangers a short break from the dreariness of one of the club's worst starts in history. Saddled with the worst record in the majors, a handful of Rangers gathered around a TV Tuesday afternoon, drifting in and out of the movie.

"Hey, it's a legendary movie," said Gerald Laird, who broke into song along with Tepper during the poignant (or not) scene of Rocky remembering his fallen friend Apollo Creed. "It's the best Rocky film out. It's just full of inspiring moments. It lifts you up. I may just watch it again tomorrow."

Laird wasn't the only one moved by the movie. Michael Young said he had the whole thing memorized. Mark Teixeira came back into the clubhouse doing a little Rocky shadow-boxing and even admitted he once wanted his hair cut like Soviet arch-villain Ivan Drago. And a couple of others noted that Drago's wife in the movie looked suspiciously like a woman who had a dalliance with rapper Flava Flav on reality TV, which is not coincidental since the woman, Brigette Nielsen, was one and the same.

Starter Mike Wood, who was five when the movie debuted in 1985, made the most of his cameo role. Called up for just the night, Wood retired one of the first five hitters of the game and still got out of the first inning without allowing a run. Wood allowed a leadoff single to Shannon Stewart, got a double-play grounder from Travis Buck, then proceeded to walk the bases full. But Bobby Crosby bounced to third to end the rally.

I assume they'll play "Eye of the Tiger" when they visit Detroit and "Gonna Fly Now" vs. the various bird teams.