Baseball Renaissance

Jamey Newberg covered the Rangers awards dinner and fan fest:

Memorable moments aside, the significance of the weekend was, like it is every year, its place on the calendar and its clarion call to the baseball fan to get geared up. Michael Young nailed it:

“When you get to this point with FanFest and the banquet, that’s when it starts to hit. It’s baseball season. It’s about time to get ready… . This is a great time to be a Ranger. I see great times ahead for the organization. As players, we feel this organization is set up to be good this year and it’s set up to be good for the future. This organization is ready to take off and I’m excited to be a part of it.”

Play ball.

[photo source]

Happy Birthday, Charlie Hough, who pitched for the Rangers from 1980 to 1990, which means I spent many hours watching him take his sweet time throwing that next knuckleball.

Per Wikipedia:

He left Texas as the franchise leader in wins, strikeouts, complete games and losses. He was famous for his “dancing knuckleball” pitch that he threw around 80% of the time. Hough complemented his knuckleball with a fastball and slider. Hough additionally was well known for throwing a large number of complete games each season and led the league in 1984 with 17.

I saw many of these performances.  Let me tell you — a Charlie Hough complete game took a looooooong time.

Mr. Hough, thank you, sir.  All the best.

Go Rangers.

[photo source; HT Lone Star Ball]

USA Today’s “Three young gunslingers give Rangers a shot at postseason” yesterday profiled three outstanding rookie Rangers pitchers, Neftali Feliz, Tommy Hunter, and Derek Holland:

Regarding Feliz:

The Toronto Blue Jays caught a glimpse of what Feliz could do last week when he knocked second baseman Aaron Hill to the ground with a 97-mph fastball near his chin. He came back with a 71-mph curveball. Hill never had a chance.

Feliz says his greatest thrill was striking out Boston Red Sox DH David Ortiz, one of his heroes. Yet, when he called to tell his parents, his mother had a request: Strike out New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, too.

“So when I did that,” Feliz says, “I told my mom, ‘There you go. There’s your present. Don’t ask me to strike anyone else out, OK?’ “

Just awesome.

Regarding Hunter:

Hunter’s playful personality can get him in trouble, too, as he learned in spring training.

Hunter says he set out to pull a practical joke on a young teammate when he put a cup of water precariously on a locker-room shelf. The idea was to douse his victim, and it worked, only the shower took out a veteran whom Hunter declined to identify.

“I couldn’t get over there fast enough, and then it became too late,” Hunter says. “I knew I was in trouble then.”

When Hunter showed up the next day, everything in his locker had been submerged in three tubs of water, including his uniform, gloves and shoes.

“He came in with a little attitude,” Guardado says, “and we knocked that right out of him.”

What a clubhouse.

Holland, who didn’t have a four-year college offering a scholarship out of high school, received his motivation at Wallace State Community College in Hanceville, Ala. Coach Randy Putman walked to the mound during a game in Holland’s freshman year and screamed at him. He implored him to get tough.

“He laid into me,” Holland says, “and everything kicked into gear after that.”

Thanks, Coach.

Read the whole thing.

Baseball: Awesome stories keep happening.  Awesome.

HT Lone Star Ball

“I’m mad, too, Eddie.”

This squad is everything Rangers fans have wanted for decades, almost my entire life in fact. And yet, after the boys took the wild card lead from Boston by gutting out a huge series win, only 17,910 showed up last night to catch the opener against the Twins, which the good guys won 8-5 [box].

WTF.  That is simply unacceptable.  We must fill Rangers Ballpark.

This Rangers team is badass.  Go watch CJ pitch.  Witness Michael Young get it done.  We basically have three center fielders in Hamilton, Byrd, and Bourbon.  Elvis is in the building.  We have a deep bullpen with three closer-capable enforcers in CJ and Frankie plus Neftali throwing over 100 mph, and the starters are rockin’ solid, too.  Josh and Ian are back at the plate, btw.  You gotta see it.  Get out there.

Head for the park, people.

The Ticket’s Norm Hitzges made the “Why not the Rangers?” call early this year.  Damn straight.

Let’s do this.

D Magazine’s Inside Corner blog recently reported:

The Texas Rangers today announced a new ticket discount that will enable fans to save up to 75% on Monday through Thursday games in August and September.

Southwest Airlines Weekday Values will be in effect for all Monday through Thursday home games beginning with the Minnesota contest on Monday, August 17.

Fans can enter DINGER as the coupon code on texasrangers.com to purchase Upper Box, Upper Reserved, and Grandstand Reserved tickets for $5 or Lexus Club Terrace, Lower Reserved, or Bleachers seats for $10. That’s a savings of up to 75%.

Southwest Airlines Weekday Values will be available for the following games:

Monday, August 17 vs. Minnesota (7:05)

Tuesday, August 18 vs. Minnesota (7:05)

Wednesday, August 19 vs. Minnesota (7:05)

Thursday, August 20 vs. Minnesota (7:05)

Monday, August 31 vs. Toronto (7:05)

Tuesday, September 1 vs. Toronto (DH, 4:05)

Wednesday, September 2 vs. Toronto (7:05)

Monday, September 14 vs. Oakland (7:05)

Tuesday, September 15 vs. Oakland (7:05)

Wednesday, September 16 vs. Oakland (7:05)

For more information, please call 972.RANGERS.

$10 tickets! Get your ass out there, DFW.

These Rangers have a shot, and the core of this team should stick around for a while.  Show them your support.

Let’s do this.

[photo: My friend Greg emailed me this photo after Holland’s command performance against Seattle on July 30 (box). I added the text and do not know the original source.]

@MLBRangers just linked to video of this lucky, living-legend-at-his-school kid who gloved two Josh foul balls in one at bat.  He got a big standing O, which was awesome.

However, he was not the highlight from the stands from this Rangers-Red-Sox series.  Imho, that honor belongs to these two.

How to describe them?  Think Trent and Sue from Swingers meets Step Brothers, with Nascar caps and tank tops, jorts and Richard-Simmons workout shorts.

They were outstanding.  This is not Idiocracy.  This is genius.  They provided a public service as they roamed section to section, engaging the crowd, air high fiving strangers from a hundred feet, singing, dancing, and cheering on the home team.  They even neutralized the occasional belligerent Red Sox fan with their all-encompassing enthusiasm and exuberant joy.

The Rangers should comp the pair season tickets.  They bring the fun.  I wanted to interview them after the game, but they were gone.  My guess is they were hanging out with Nolan Ryan in some suite by then.

You gotta love the ballpark.  Awesome stories keep happening.  Awesome.

[Btw, you can also follow my Baseball Renaissance at Twitter, TwitPic, TwitVid, and Flickr.  Let me know how I can follow yours.]

Jeff Miller of D Magazine’s Inside Corner blog reported:

Ian Kinsler said Sunday morning that he feels no ill effects from being hit in the eighth inning on Saturday night and, after a post-game chat with Boston catcher Jason Varitek, has no ill will toward the Red Sox.

Kinsler said the inside fastball from reliever Fernando Cabrera first struck his left shoulder, then his helmet. That followed being buzzed by Manny Delcarmen an inning earlier: “It didn’t really get me that good. Me and Varitek had some words [right after he was hit]. We were able to talk after the game and figure it out. We’ve already put it behind us. They were trying to throw me in all day yesterday. Manny Delcarmen obviously lost one up and in. I know Manny; he’s not going to do anything like that. I guess getting out of the way is something you’ve got to live with. It’s obvious they weren’t throwing at me.”

On Sunday, Kinsler went 2 for 3 with a walk, driving in 2 and scoring once.  He homered in his first at bat post beaning.  The Rangers won 4-3, taking the series and the wildcard lead. [Box score]

Rock.  Tremendous rock.

[photo source]

A Fernando-Cabrera 8th-inning pitch hit Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler right in the ear hole.  This clip does not include Manny Delcarmen throwing inside on Kinsler just one inning earlier.

Kinsler made a put out in the top of the 9th (in between Feliz strikeouts) and finished 2 for 3 at the plate with a solo home run.  The Rangers won 7-2 with strong performances by four rookies: Holland, Bourbon, Andrus, and Feliz.  Awesome night.  [box score]

The Rangers did not retaliate in the 9th, other than to close out the victory.  Payback will come someday.  Maybe today?

I’m sitting 12th row at third.  I’ll live tweet it a little bit here.  This should be a blast.

Go Rangers.

[Update on August 18: Sigh. Either the MLB or ESPN had the video clip killed.  So stupid. I dig the MLB Network online and via iPhone. Whatever you do, minimize your ESPN intake. Consume no less than absolutely necessary.]

You gotta know when to hold ‘em.

I hope the Rangers keep Neftali Feliz, Justin Smoak, and of course Elvis Andrus and Derek Holland.  Even Roy Halladay is not worth three of these guys.  See “Ryan confirms Halladay discussions” via MLB.com.

Forget ESPN, btw.  For highlights, watch a Gameday Wrap-up at MLB.com.  Tonight’s does not do justice to Holland’s performance: 8 and 2/3, 2 hits, 1 earned run, 1 walk, 10 strike outs.  Rock.  Tremendous rock.

I wish I could have been there.  Not being able to decide on any given afternoon to go to a Rangers game that night is one of the few drawbacks of living in Austin, Texas, instead of Arlington where I grew up.  With the trade deadline looming, this was a must-attend game.

I was looking forward to Jamey Newberg’s take on both the game and the trade talks.  His report, already posted, does not disappoint.

The Texas Rangers are 14 games above .500 on July 30.  That’s a beautiful thing.  We are winning with pitching and defense.  As a lifelong Rangers fan, I am still having trouble processing this state of affairs.

Tomorrow I expect I’ll listen to The Ticket and check Twitter when I can to see if any trades hit the wires.  I hope we hold onto who we’ve got and see where they take us.

In this Google Voice test, Fred and I rap Manny, steroids, Pete, baseball, cheating in other sports, and other oh-so-fun, tired-head topics. I don’t presume that anyone wants to listen to us.  Still, it would be cool if we had a record of some past calls, so this might be interesting if only for me and Fred.

I am kinda amazed by the possibilities of this Google Voice stuff.  This could not have been easier to record and post.