The season started. I was messing with my wife while watching the game – I said “You know when this game is over, that’s one less game in the season to look forward to”. I almost got slapped upside the head for that, but I did get a good solid glare. It was nice to have Josh & Tom back on the TV, but I’m sure Tom doesn’t like those intros where the camera is looking top down. :)
Ryan Drese was our opening day starter, and we haven’t had the same guy do two consecutive opening day starts since Ken Hill in 96-97, so he’s another on the carousel. Speaking of that, we had another opening day center fielder this year which is like 10 out of the last 11 years with a different guy or something. Drese was really well – in fact, other than Vlad Guerrero, he was spectacular. No shame in falling to Guerrero, he could probably golf a ball out of a home run if it was underground! We got our first quality start in the first game of the season. Drese went seven innings, giving up six hits and 3ER. Two of which were directly attributable to Vlad. So while it was disappointing that the birthday boy did not get a win, he pitched really well, and it was a good sign of things to come, I would think.
On the other side, our nemesis, Bartolo Colon went 6.2 innings, giving up just one run and six hits. He did seem to labour a lot more (Colon had 108 pitches in 6.2 and Drese had just 87 in 7 IP). We did have our chances, we left nine men on base, including four in the first two innings. Colon felt beatable last night, but we couldn’t cross the line and get the win, although we played really well.
Offensively, we only had a total of seven hits. Only four of our players had hits, everyone else was an ofer. Soriano went 2 for 5, Tex went 2 for 4, and had a HR, Gary Matthews went 2 for 4, although one of his hits was wiped out when he tried to stretch a single into a double, and almost made it with a really weird acrobatic “slide”. The final hit was from Mike Young, who got a hit to the right side of the field (what a shocker). In fact, one of Teixeira’s hits was a single that should have been a double. It looked like a HR off the bat, but hit the wall, and Guerrero absolutely cannoned the ball back to second – it was quite amazing to watch. I always liked this guy for years in Montreal when no one had heard of him. Glad to see him getting a bigger audience.
We lost the game, which is never good, but I didn’t much mind. It was Game #1. :)
You can view my full update for this game here.
This is it – let’s get going!
Well, tonight’s the night. The regular season starts. I watched the new Washington Nationals play the Phillies on Monday afternoon. I watched David Wells (wearing a Sox uniform and Babe Ruth’s #3) get torched in Yankee stadium. I read about Dimiti Young getting 3 HR and 5 RBIs (for a season avg of 480HR and 800RBI). And, unfortunately, I read a lot about steroids the last couple of months. That was a drag, but today, I don’t give a crap about that. Basically, the baseball season has started. And I couldn’t be happier – except possibly for the birth of my child sometime in the next two weeks. And for “special” 6AM wakeup calls. ;)
Anyway, as I write this, the Rangers game is roughly three hours away from starting. We have an odd 25 man roster to start the season (link) – there were several surprises there. However, all that doesn’t much matter, as real games are ready. I’ve got my Palm all loaded up with the Rangers and Angels roster. I’ll be scoring tonight. Last season, I attempted to score every game the Rangers played. I burnt out on that after about 100 games or so, so I’m not doing that this year. I’m scoring every one I attend, and some other selected ones. But I don’t want to burn out on that – plus with a kid coming, I likely won’t have the time. This evening, I went and updated my roster page with all the moves that were made over the weekend while I “took off”. I have about 4 or 5 players on the 25 man roster I have no roster page for. Once I pick up my copy of the 2005 Media guide, I intend on rectifying that. Unless of course my daughter Samantha decides to make an appearance and change my plans, I will be attending opening day. If my wife goes into labor during the game, I might not stay long, but I do plan on going as of this moment. :)
I’m ready to go, and let’s see if we can beat the Bartolo Colon problem we seem to have.
38 Minor Leaguers suspended for Steroids
In a story I saw tonight that was a major surprise, THIRTY EIGHT minor league players were suspended for steroid abuse. Of the 38, one guy was suspended for a third violation, that being 60 days. Five of the players were from the Rangers organization. The five players were:
Lizahio Baez, Justin Hatcher, Willy Espinal, Robert Machado, & Christopher Russ were the five Texas players. According to the note, only the first two are still playing, they said the final three here were already released. I’m sure the bit about suspending a released player was a formality. I wonder if these players hook up with another team if the 10 game suspension would still be in place.
I have to admit this was a bit of a surprise to me – mostly in the quantity. I can’t say I’m surprised people were suspended. But on the other hand, the minor league steroid policy is much stronger than the major league one, so in that regard I am surprised people were suspended.
Thirty eight. Wow.
25 Man Roster Set
I’ll have a more in depth piece on this later, but I have ot run out the door in a few minutes to attend a church service. Here’s the Starting 25 for opening day:
Pitchers (12): Carlos Almanzar, Doug Brocail, Ryan Bukvich, Francisco Cordero, Ryan Drese, R.A. Dickey, Ron Mahay, Chan Ho Park, Matt Riley, Kenny Rogers, Brian Shouse and Chris Young.
Catchers (2): Sandy Alomar, Jr. and Rod Barajas.
Infielders (6): Hank Blalock, Mark DeRosa, Adrian Gonzalez, Alfonso Soriano, Mark Teixeira and Michael Young.
Outfielders (5): Chad Allen, David Dellucci, Richard Hidalgo, Gary Matthews, Jr. and Kevin Mench.
Here’s all the moves that had to be made to get the roster to look this way:
• Optioned catcher Gerald Laird, outfielder Laynce Nix and RHP Nick Regilio to Triple-A Oklahoma.
• Assigned outfielder Andres Torres, infielders Ian Kinsler and Cody Ransom, and pitchers Vlad Nunez and Keith Stamler to the club’s minor league camp.
• Purchased the minor league contracts of infielder Mark DeRosa and outfielder Chad Allen.
• Designated RHPs Travis Hughes and Agustin Montero for assignment.
• Placed the following players on the disabled list (all retroactive to March 25) – RHP Pedro Astacio (groin strain), RHP Joaquin Benoit (shoulder), RHP Frank Francisco (elbow) and LHP Erasmo Ramirez (tendon strain in left middle finger).
• Placed INF Greg Colbrunn (right wrist) on the disabled list retroactive to March 29.
There’s one exception to all this. Carlos Almanzar’s mother died earlier today, and because of this Carlos was placed on the bereavement list. Nick Regilio, who was technically sent to AAA, was technically recalled and will be with the club on Tuesday in Anaheim.
Roster Transaction
- P Carlos Almanzar placed on bereavement list
- P Nick Regilio recalled from AAA [
link ]
Roster Transaction
- The following players were optioned to AAA: C
Gerald Laird, OF Laynce Nix, P Nick Regilio - The following players were reassigned to minor
league camp: OF Andres Torres, IF Ian Kinsler, IF Cody Ransom, P Vlad Nunez, P
Keith Stamler. - The following players placed on the 15 day DL
(all retro to Mar 25): P Pedro Astacio, P Joaquin Benoit, P Frank Francisco, &
P Erasmo Ramirez - IF Greg Colbrunn placed on 15 day DL,
retroactive to Mar 29 - P Travis Hughes designated for assignment
- P Augustin Montero designated for assignment
- OF Chad Allen purchased from AAA
- IF Mark DeRosa purchased from AAA
- Link for all these moves is
here.
Rangers poll on ESPN
Check out this page on ESPN. It’s a Raners based poll on the upcoming season.
Mark DeRosa added to roster
Darn. I was really hoping we’d add Ian Kinsler to the roster. Mark DeRosa was added to the 40 man roster on Thursday. There is a quote by John Hart about Kinsler saying “This does not mean he does not make the club,” Hart said. “Things can still happen.”
I’d be surprised if DeRosa & Kinsler make it.
I believe this move hasn’t formally been announced since DeRosa has to take someone’s roster spot, so that’s being worked out.
ST29: Ryan Drese is great in win over Royals, 3-0
I’m going to be on vacation until Tuesday, so I’m not going to do updates for the remaining spring training games, but I’ll be back when the regular season starts on Tuesday.
I will cover roster moves made during this time, though.
Well, that didn’t take long
A couple of days after Juan Gonzalez was named the starting RF of the Indians, he was placed on the disabled list. This is a record for him. He usually plays about 10 games before being “hurt”. This time he played zero!
In reading a story about this move today, I read an interesting fact about his (lack of) durability. It said this: For Juan Gone, this is his 11th trip to the DL in 14 seasons, and he has been limited to just over one season’s worth of games in the last three years.
In fact, looking back at his career stats, Juan hasn’t played what can be called a “full season” of games since 1999, when he was in 144 games. The next closest would be 2001 with 140. He had 115 in his year with the Tigers, and 70/82 in his two years back with the Rangers, and a paltry 33 last year with Kansas City.
It all can be traced back to his baggy pants in the Hall of Fame Game. :)
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