I watched this full game Saturday afternoon, even scored it with my new scoring software. Managed to keep track of all the goofball substitutions, too. All but the last one. The White Sox did me a favor, and didn’t substitute anyone (except pitchers) until the ninth inning, when they pinch ran for one guy. The sub was one of the “who is that” guys, so I ignored that substitution. Rangers didn’t go the same way, it was the usual spring training mess. But I managed to keep on top of it.
This was also the first TV broadcast by John Rhadigan, who is replacing Josh Lewin as the TV play by play guy. My review of his first outing is that he was nervous, but didn’t make any major gaffes. The only possible downside I see is that Rhadigan might be too much like Lewin’s predecessor, Bill Jones. I liked Bill Jones too, but Jones was a lot like Tom Grieve, and when Grieve is parterened with someone who is like him, it doesn’t get as much out of Tom. Josh was so “out there”, he got a lot of stuff out of Tom that we probably wouldn’t have heard of anywise. It’s unfair to John to label him Bill Jones II this early on, but I don’t see Rhadigan being as “out there” as Josh was, so hopefully he can find a way to get a lot out of Tom, too.
Finally, I was disappointed we got IMMEDIATELY into the food in the booth stuff in the first game. I really REALLY was hoping that would have gone out the door with Josh.
Game wise, Matt Harrison looked awesome. He made the big guys in the Chicago lineup (mostly Adam Dunn) look silly. Which is big. Matt is one of the guys who needs to ramp it up this year. Time for him to get it going and pitch the way he should be. This was a good sign, although the team was mostly made up of lesser players (Chicago did what we did to them a few days previous). Still, it’s hard to argue with Matt’s line. 4IP, 2H, 0R, 0BB, 4K. He looked good.
So did the other guys who followed him. Mason Tobin, Pedro Strop, Tucker, & McClung. The only Ranger pitcher to give up a run was Cody Eppley, who gave up the lone Sox mark on the scoreboard.
Offensively, we had two outbursts that accounted for all of our runs. Andres Blanco tripled down the right field line, scoring two. That was in the second. In the fourth, Doug Deeds (who is having a nice spring) singled, scoring the other two. That was it for the scoring, we were done in the fourth.
But it was nice to have Rangers baseball back on TV. Be nice in about a week and a half once the wholesale changes stop. Makes it a lot easier to score. :)