Anyone who knows me knows that I love to play baseball videogames. I have for as long as I can remember. So every year about this time, I end up reading about the newest crop of baseball videogames. With that in mind, I bring you this link from ign.com. It shows a few screenshots from EA’s latest (and likely final) entry into the baseball game line, “MVP Baseball 2005”. The screenshots are of Ameriquest Field The Ballpark in Arlington, and how it looks in the game.
Looks pretty good – last year’s EA entry had some nice looking ballparks, and these shots make our ballpark look pretty nice. I wonder how they’ll deal with “Section 43” of the ballpark (that’s the little triangle down in the right field corner). Most baseball games either ignore it or get it all wrong – I’ve yet to see one get it right. What’s even better about this ganme is the stupid bell isn’t in the screenshot! If only Hicks would take after the videogame makers… ;)
This page is part of a larger article showing the rest of the AL West teams, and how they look – which itself is part of a larger series eventually showing all the parks.
Magglio Ordonez
I’ve decided to stay out of commenting on Magglio Ordonez. After being teased with Carlos Delgado, I don’t see much possibility of Ordonez becoming a Ranger. I thought Delgado might, but I see little to no chance of Ordonez.
So I decided not to keep up with all the minuatue of that. :)
Delgado picks Marlins
Well, Carlos Delgado picked the Marlins tonight. This has to be seen as a cash grab – at least to this Ranger fan. The park he’s picked as his home is probably the worst for a left handed hitter.
From a purely baseball standpoint, it was either The Ballpark in Arlington, or Oriole Park. But not Shea or Pro Player.
Oh well, done with that. One interesting sidepoint to this is that I’m now reading where Rusty Greer might be our backup DH option should we fail to do anything with Magglio Ordonez (which I suspect we will).
Would be nice to see the Red Baron again.
Carlos Delgado is done
Well, it looks like to the bitter jaded fan that Carlos Delgado was using the Rangers to jack up the price of his contract with other teams. That may very well be the case, but my gut feeling says no.
The Ft Worth Star Telegram and the Dallas Morning News both say that the Rangers have dropped out of the Delgado bidding after he turned down our 4 year $48 million offer. It really would have helped us. A LOT. Would have done wonders in this lineup. Read where we were also going to give him uniform #25.
So with Delgado out, that means our regular LH DH will likely be David Dellucci. While not a scrub, he’s not the thunderstick that Delgado could have been.
Sigh. If they still want to bring in someone from the outside to be a DH, the only likely candidates are Jeromy Burnitz, who doesn’t thrill me, and Magglio Ordonez. Mags could be good, but there’s two things against him. First is major knee surgery (which is what Brian Jordan had I think), and second (and most importantly), Scott Boras.
Go Eagles!
Didn’t pay much attention to baseball today. Today was a football day for me, and I have to say my hometown Iggles finally got it done, getting to the Super Bowl. So it was a good day for me. :)
Delgado offers
Overnight a few articles have come out saying what the Rangers have apparently offered Delgado.
This wire story says that it’s 4 years, and $40 million.
This New York Times Article last evening said it was 3 years and $39 million, but later in the evening changed it to 4 years and $48 million.
Don’t really know what to believe, although all the reports seem to indicate that we’ve offered 4 years, which is what he’s wanted. I suppose we’ll find out for sure tomorrow, which is according to several reports when he’ll decide on the Rangers.
Delgado Watch
Rusty Greer Update
Sad that I have to write about Rusty Greer in the “Former Rangers News” category.. There was a short blurb about Rusty over on the ESPN website this afternoon. It said this:
The Twins have been trying to lure long-time Rangers dynamo Rusty Greer to a spring-training invite. But it appears Greer is leaning toward retirement.
I really wish two things here:
1) We would have extended a spring training invite to Rusty, even if it was only for show. Would have been nice to see him in the Spring Training footage on the news.
2) Rusty really does retire. I’d hate to see him in anyone else’s uniform.
Bush to throw out first pitch
Read today where George W. Bush will be throwing out the first pitch of the season in the home opener for the Washington Nationals. That game is April 14th. Politics aside, I always felt the one thing I liked about baseball in the past was that the president would usually throw out the first pitch at a Senators game (both the Twins variant and the Rangers variant). Having the president throw out the first pitch is something just “American” to me, and I always loved seeing that old footage. Hoever, since baseball hasn’t been played in DC since 1971 (when I was 6), I’m a little too young to remember it. Now I’ll get a chance, and I like that. I hope Bush (and whoever comes after him) makes it an annual tradition, like I think it should be.
In other Nationals news, you will hear a lot during the leadup to the start of the season about how the original Senators went to be the Twins and the replacment Senators came here to be the Rangers. That’s not entirely true. The Twins/Senators franchise wasn’t the original Washington Senators team. There was one in the late 1800’s which ended up being contracted out of existance. The Washington Senators from 1892-1899 weren’t any better than the Senators that came after them, but they did exist, and it always irritates me that the press gets it wrong all the time by calling the Twins/Senators the “original Senators”. They weren’t.
Rangers give extensions to Hart & Showalter
This morning comes the (pretty much expected) news that Texas Rangers GM John Hart and Manager Buck Showalter have been given contract extensions. Can’t say I’m surprised by either move.
The former I’m not terribly sold on, I still think that Grady Fuson would have been a better GM than John Hart is. Hart still seems to not turn up for bad news, he seems (to my eyes) to only want to talk about good news. On the other hand, I don’t view him with the vitriol that some do (Randy Galloway for example). I doubt any GM is out to tank the team, but I just would have preferred Grady Fuson. Hart’s contract is for two years renewable annually. That’s what the news stories say. We’ll see if it really is just two years, and isn’t some sort of “open ended” thing due to the verbiage of “annually”.
Buck Showalter on the other hand I was a bit more intersted in seeing an extension on. I rather like him, and was glad to see we’ve got him on board for awhile. His new extension (three years) locks him to the Rangers through the 2009 season (with a club option for 2010). The 2005 season is the third of the original four year contract that Showalter received. If you believe the stories, Showalter was the behind the scenes power that forced Fuson out and kept Hart as GM, as it gives Buck a GM that’s easier to his own whims and decisions. I don’t know if I’d go that far, but it’s obvious Showalter is a powerful person. I’ve spoken with him a few times, and as a fan, he always seems (to my eyes) to go out of his way to make sure the fans are included, thought of – something that not many baseball men do anymore. I like that.
So I give the moves a thumbs up, but not all the way up because of the extension (and the open ended nature of it) to Hart. You can read more details on this over at the Rangers website here.
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 326
- 327
- 328
- 329
- 330
- …
- 521
- Next Page »