Check this video out of Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory throwing out the first pitch at yesterday’s Reds’ home opener.
Worst First Pitch EVER
G1: Rangers lose the opener, 4-1 to the Angels
Well, the Rangers opening day had a lot of themes from the past. One was that our pitching wasn’t up to the level that the opponent’s was. Another was a lot of wasted opportunities, both in the form of too many men left on base, and no hits with runners in scoring position. In fact, that’s the theme of this night. Twice we had two men on with nobody out and got nothing.
In fact, the only run we did get was a gift, as it came a couple of pitches after Anaheim catcher Mike Napoli dropped a foul ball, allowing Ian Kinsler to hit a home run. That was it. In fact, there was a very long stretch where we didn’t get any hits at all, something like 4 innings towards the end of the game.
Kenny Lofton was as advertised, walking to start the game, and immediately stealing second. That was his 600th steal of his career, and he added another one later on in the game. He is already everything you want in a leadoff hitter, and surprisingly, he got to lead off in three of his at bats, which is unusual in itself.
Gary Matthews was all over this game, making quite a few plays. He had six putouts in the outfield alone, and he also did commit an error out there, which led to a bases loaded opportunity for us, which we did not cash in on. He made a couple of great catches in the outfield – if it wasn’t for Gary, we probably would have more runs than we did.
Hank Blalock was our best offensive player, getting two of the only 5 hits overall we had. Tex & Lofton had singles, and there was the aforementioned home run by Kinsler to round it out. Not a lot of output – and we had John Lackey on the ropes early, we let him off the hook. He didn’t deserve that win, but then we didn’t step on his throat when he was down, either.
This was a surprisingly sloppy game, both sides committed two errors.
It was quite odd seeing Sammy Sosa in a Rangers uniform. I’d always seen that footage of him in a Rangers uni back in the 80’s in Fenway Park, but to see it now is quite bizarre, to tell you the truth.
A game we probably should have won. But still, it was nice to sit there on the couch with a few beers, scoring the game. Yeah, we lost, but I enjoyed watching the Rangers again.
I also just noticed I never did an update for the final spring training game two nights ago against the Brewers. At this point, I don’t think I’m going to bother. :)
My Roster Updated
I’ve got all the roster pages for the starting 25 set up. Hopefully I’ll be able to keep up with that as the season goes along. :) Less than six hours to go now!
In other site news, I’ve decided to remove the advertising banners from the site. The amount of money I was making from them was so small, it wasn’t even funny – on the order of less than $10 a month. I think I can live without that big loss here.
The Big Roster Moves
- The following players had their contracts purchased: P Bruce Chen, IF Jerry Hairston, INF Matt Kata, OF Sammy Sosa, P Mike Wood
- The following players were designated for assignment: P Ezequiel Astacio, OF Marlon Byrd, & C Guillermo Quiroz
- P Eric Gagne placed on the 15 day DL, retroactive to Mar 28
- C Miguel Ojeda optioned to AAA
- P Francisco Cruceta outrighted to AAA
- IF Adam Fox outrighted to AA
- Here is the official press release for all these moves.
Roster Set
The 25 man roster has been set:
Position Players:
C – Gerald Laird
1B – Mark Teixeira
2B – Ian Kinsler
SS – Michael Young
3B – Hank Blalock
OF – Brad Wilkerson
OF – Frank Catalanotto
OF – Kenny Lofton
OF – Nelson Cruz
DH – Sammy Sosa
Bench:
C – Chris Stewart
UT – Matt Kata
UT – Jerry Hairston Jr
Starters:
Kevin Millwood
Vicente Padilla
Brandon McCarthy
Robinson Tejeda
Pen:
Akinori Otsuka (closer)
Kameron Loe
Joaquin Benoit
C.J. Wilson
Ron Mahay
Scott Feldman
Mike Wood
Bruce Chen
Mike Wood & Bruce Chen are roster quirks, as they’ll both be dumped once Jamey Wright comes up to be the fifth starter, and Eric Gagne is ready. Wood I have no real opinion on, but Bruce Chen on the roster is almost as bad as Wright.
Other moves:
Gagne placed on DL, retro to Mar 28
Miguel Ojeda optioned to AAA
Guillermo Quiroz, Marlon Byrd, and Ezequiel Astacio all DFA
And Francisco Cruceta and Adam Fox have been outrighted to AAA & AA respectively.
I’ll have my roster updated some time on Sunday, although I don’t know when exactly, as I have a lot of church stuff going on during the day, and I’m having some more family health problems back home that have consumed a lot of my thoughts.
UPDATE: I created placeholder roster pages for the additions, and put people in the right places so my roster page will be accurate, but I haven’t had time to create the 4 or 5 roster pages for players on the 25 that I didn’t already have pages for. That will come in the next couple of days. Also, uniform numbers for guys not on the 25/40 change a bunch at the last minute when the season starts, so some of the guys might still change their numbers.
Here is the official press release from the Rangers about all this.
Phillies Spring Training Pictures
Forgot to post these over here. I put these pics up on a Picasa Web Gallery of mine, thought I’d mention them over here. These are pictures from four days at Spring Training. It’s quite different in Philly, as they don’t train where they play, so at game time, they show up like any other. It’s ot like in Surprise where you can get an idea where all the activities take place.
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Game in Frisco Rained out
Due to a lot of rain in the area today, the game that was to be played in Frisco tonight between the Rangers and the Brewers has been rained out. There will be no makeup game.
No word on the final 25 man day roster yet, as I understood things, it had to be submitted to the mlb offices some time today. Curious to see a list of all the official moves made. The Rangers announced they will announce the 25 man roster after Saturday night’s game.
ESPN’s Rangers Preview
ESPN’s 2007 Season Preview for the Rangers is online here. As Adam over at Lone Star Ball said, it’s got some amusing things in it.
Rangers fans are already tired of Kameron Loe, Bruce Chen and Jamey Wright;
Well, readers of my site know I feel about Jamey Wright, and I’m no fan of Bruce Chen, either. But I’d like to know what fans they’re talking about with Kameron Loe. It’s certainly no actual fans who follow the Rangers. Now I know national writers take a different slant, and local fans have a touch of the “homer vote” in them, but that remark seems a bit out of line. I mean really, the fans are already tired? How does he figure that? I mean, honestly.
Everything’s bigger in Texas (except for baseball’s third-smallest ticket prices),
Darnit – don’t tell Hicks that, please. We’ll be hearing about how the $75 seat in the lower bowl is a bargain price. Yeesh! All of their writers weigh in on where they think the Rangers will finish. None of them pick the Rangers as first or second. They’re all third or fourth, and only two of them (Gammons at 81, and Neyer at 80) have them winning 80 or more. The low guy (Olney) has ’em at 70-92. I don’t think so.
I don’t think we’re winning 95 games here, my personal feeling is 87-88 wins, and second place, probably NOT a wild card.
Apple’s iTunes & MLB
Just saw this news story over on one of my tech sites I visit regularly.
Apple has signed a deal with Major League Baseball to bring sports highlights to its iTunes Store for $1.99 USD. The content includes a “MLB.com Daily Rewind” highlight show, as well as two weekly “Game of the Week” full-length games.
To help promote its new downloads, MLB is offering a free “2007 Season Preview Show” to all iTunes users. An iTunes “Season Pass” for the highlight show will cost $7.99 USD, and run $19.99 USD for all full games. Apple TV owners will also be able to stream the highlights and games directly to the television for viewing in the living room.
I use iTunes all the time, so I am downloading their free season preview episode as I speak. I’m not entirely sure if I’d want to pay money for highlights. That’s what Baseball Tonight is for. However, if you’re an iTunes fan, you might want to check out their preview – it’s free for everyone. If you have iTunes on your computer, click this to be taken directly to the preview in their online store.
Chan Ho Optioned to AAA
If Chan Ho Park was griping about starting the season in the Mets bullpen, he’s really gotta be steamed now. The New York mets optioned him to AAA today. (Linkage)
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