No time for commentary on this game.
ST21: Rangers beat Cubs, 5-1
I was listening to this game as I was doing a Yahoo Fantasy Baseball Draft. I did something I know is against just about every piece of advice. Never draft a player based off of something they’re doing in a game you’re listening to. But it was a Rangers Fan League, so I had to do the homer thing. When Kevin Mench jacked a home run in the game, he was my next pick in the draft. I’m so ashamed. :)
Rod Barajas also added a second home run later in the game to go with Mench’s. That was really all we needed, but we also had an RBI contribution from Laynce Nix to go with the two each from Mench & Barajas. Actually, we didn’t have a lot of offense either. Our total hits were 7. 3 from Mench, 2 from Barajas, and one each from Nix & Teixeira.
The Cubs threw their ace, Carlos Zambrano, who took the loss. He did, however, go 6 innings, giving up 6 hits, and 4ER on one walk, and 5 K’s. He was hurt by the longball – if it wasn’t for the two jacks, he would have an awesome line.
R.A. Dickey had a better night. He went six (being the first Ranger pitcher to go at least 5 innings), and gave up ZERO runs on 3 hits with 1 walk and 3 strikeouts. A very nice line for him. Very nice. Probably helps him in the race for the fifth starter. However, the Rangers site mentions that we have some talks going on with the Braves (who want bullpen help) for former Ranger John Thomson (FA after 06). While I think RA helped himself last night, he needs to do that four or five times in a row – he’s been pretty inconsistant his entire career (to me, anyway).
I also direct you to this article by John Vittas over at MVP Network on last night’s Rangers game, RA Dickey, John Thomson, and a bunch of issues on the health of our players. Was a good read.
The Ballpark is whored out just a little bit more
Just noticed today that the Ballpark in Arlington was whored out a little more. The 200 level of seats is now going to be called the “Lexus Club Level”. More names in the ballpark where one wasn’t before. I seem to recall last season that Hicks said the club was making money. I guess it wasn’t enough. Yeah yeah yeah, I know – “we need more income to sustain and grow the club”. Yeah, Pbbbbbt. Find it elsewhere. Stop whoring Ameriquest Field The Ballpark in Arlington, please. Sigh.
This just adds another product that I will never give any money to or buy anything from. That’s all these deals do, make the “No way” list get larger. There’s a real happy sounding press release about this over at the Rangers site here.
And as long as I’m complaining, what’s with that stupid name for the Hall of Fame Ballot that was announced today? I mean come on…
The Verizon Yellow Pages and SuperPages.com Hall of Fame Hall of Fame Ballot
Excuse me? What’s that nonsense? Does anyone even care that it’s called that besides Hicks, who gets a few more bucks for it? Must need new floor mats for his Lexus. Sigh.
Rangers this weekend
As the season opener is now a single digit away, the mass media coverage is warming up.
Today’s game is actually a night game, and it’s on KRLD @ 8:05PM. Saturday’s game is not on radio, but Sunday’s game is – @ 2:05PM. However, Sunday’s game is also on Rangers TV. If you have the out of town sports package on DirecTV, you’ve been able to see a handful of games (mostly Chicago games with their coverage). However, Sunday’s game at 2:05 will have Josh Lewin & Tom Grieve back on the air.
However, Monday night is the big one. Monday night’s game (8:05) is on TV, but it’s not just the game. There will be a half hour 2006 Season Preview, followed by the usual half hour pregame show, and then the game itself. It all starts at 7PM on Monday the 27th, so make sure and check that out.
After that, starting on March 31st, every Ranger game for the rest of the year is on KRLD. TV coverage kicks in again with the home opener. My TiVo at home has found another 2006 Season preview, when I get home and can check it, I’ll update with that info.
Roster Transaction
- C Keith McDonald traded to the New York Yankees for a PTBNL [ Link ]
ST20: Rangers drop third in a row, 5-4 to ChiSox
The wrong direction streak continues. We lost our third in a row to the Chicago White Sox this afternoon, 5-4. We’re now 8-11-1 in spring training. It’s about now when we start hearing that it doesn’t really matter – but let’s face it. Who wants to have a losing record in spring training – really?
The big catalyst for the Sox today was former Ranger farmhand Scott Podsednik. Pod went 3 for 4 with two runs scored and an RBI. Gustavo Molina (is he related to the other three?) also teamed with Pod going 2 for 3 with 2 RBI’s as well. Between the two of them they covered just about all the “important” offense for the White Sox.
Three of those runs were against Kevin Milwood, who gave ’em up in 4.1 innings. The other two were against Fabio Castro, who finally melts down and gives up some runs. Francisco Cordero and Akinori Otsuka also pitched, but didn’t give up any runs. Combined, our staff went 9IP, giving up 13 hits, 5ER, 6K, & 3BB. 2 to 1 walk ratio isn’t bad, but I’d prefer less walks still. Zero would be nice. :)
Offensively, we had three solo home runs. One each by Kevin Mench (his fifth), Ian Kinsler (fourth), & Mark DeRosa (his first). Botts went 2 for 4, and Blalock & Young both went 2 for 3, so our offense was a little more “bunched”.
Hey guys – weekend TV games coming up! There’s one on Sunday afternoon, and then Monday night, there’s a half our “2006 Season preview”, as well as a half hour Rangers pregame show, and then a game on TV with Josh & Tom – so get ready. :)
ST19: Rangers lose again, 10-5 to Brewers
Well, we’ve turned into a pretty streaky team trying to tread water in spring training. We lose again, 10-5 to the Brewers to drop to 8-10-1 overall. The two pitchers we were hoping would grab onto the fifth starter position really both stunk up the joint.
Edison Volquez went 2 innings, gave up 5ER on 5H, 0K, & 3BB – one home run.
Juan Dominguez went 3.1 innings, gave up the other 5ER on 6H, 0K, & 3BB – two home runs.
Not good at all. For guys that should be getting into their game given the opportunity, I’d expect more. Moreso from Dominguez who has had a small taste of success at the majors already. Volquez I’ll cut some slack to given how meteoric his rise was through the system last year.
Offensively, the big “standout” was Mark DeRosa, who went 2 for 3, with an RBI and 2 runs scored. Laird, Jimenez, & Durazo scored our other runs. Given I was finishing up my big project at work, I didn’t get to pay any attention to the game, so I don’t know how any of it really “felt”.
ST18: Rangers blown out 9-0 on Tuesday
The Rangers lost totally to the Angels on Tuesday after a day off. The less said about this one, the better.
Soriano, Gonzalez, & the WBC
A couple of former Rangers are in the news the last few days.
First off is Alfonso Soriano. I seem to remember Soriano saying he didn’t want to play the outfield in New York. I know he said that when he was in Texas, but he’s now taking it to the extreme in DC. Soriano is refusing the play the outfield, a stance that put him on the bench Monday, and if he does it again Wednesday could put him on the disaqualified list. Saying “the player refused to take the field”, the Nationals believe that they will be within their rights to put Soriano on the disqualified list. The upside of that is that he wouldn’t get paid, and if that situaton ran it’s course the entire year, Soriano would not be a free agent, he’d still be Nationals property, as service time doesn’t accure if your’e disqualified. I cannot see how Soriano expects to win here, except possibly by forcing a trade. I don’t see that happening either – it’s a bit late in the game. Of course, anything can happen, but I see most clubs who could take his contract being set already. I’m really surprised he’s taking this stance, I can’t see how anything positive can come out of this. I have to say I’m glad he’s out of our hair if he’s gonna act like this.
The other player is former Ranger Juan Gonzalez, who signed a minor league deal with the Red Sox on Sunday. I look at that, and think wow – the Sox must really be hurting to sign Gonzalez. It’s been years since he’s had a full productive season, let alone two of them in a row. I can’t see where he’d be a regular starting player anymore. In the last four seasons, he’s had a total of 186 games combined. His appearances in Kansas City and Cleveland (05) were a joke, and his two years in his seocnd go around with the Rangers wasn’t that great, either. It’s not like I hate the guy, I’d love to see him have some success and put some numbers up, but I think he’ll have a hard time getting to 500 HR, which my gut tells me is the reason why he keeps going. He’s got 434 now, and he’d have to play I would think 3 years to get that, given I doubt he’ll ever be a full time 145-160 game a year player ever again. I used to rag him over the “Baggy Pants” fiasco in the Hall of Fame game several years ago, and his lack of hustle, really. I’m kind of over that – although I still think he’s more suspectible to the slider down and away than any other recent hitter I’m aware of.
It was a great sight seeing Sadaharu Oh tossed up in the air when Japan won the WBC tonight. Would the US have done that to Buck Martinez? No way. That’s why I like these other countries a bit more than the US, as they’re way more into it. The flavor of the latin teams is just something the US can’t match. It’s one reason why I really wished Chan Ho Park did well here – in his first year, entire sections at the Ballpark would be filled with Korean fans cheering him like you saw in the Venezuela & Dominican Republic games in the WBC. That’s the kind of fun that US baseball lacks. The joy that was evident in the Japanese players was great to see. Not that the US players (or any other team for that matter) wouldn’t have been happy – but the sheer joy of it is something you don’t see much in the US players – or at least I don’t.
ST17: Rangers shut out Cubs, 2-0 on Sunday
These are the kind of games that are easy to write for. First off, your team does really well. That makes it a lot easier to write about the team. Second, low scoring shutouts also mean there’s less to write about, as not as many things happened. :)
This game started off with Adam Eaton pitching for Texas. He unfortunately came out of the game in the second, as he was hit by a batted ball. Apparently, he’s OK, but it’s never good to see one of your starters (and the projected #2) come out of a spring training game being hit by a ball. From what I’ve read since, we’re fortunate it wasn’t a serious injury. However, his removal from the game didn’t stop our pitching. Fabio Castro came in and went 3 innings, giving up just two hits. What’s amazing to me about this game wasn’t so much the shutout, but the fact that we didn’t walk anyone. Texas sent out seven pitchers in all, and they all combined for a 6 hit shutout of the Cubs, walking none and striking out 9. A really nice looking game in the box scores. A lot of zeroes. :)
Offensively, we couldn’t get much going against the Cubs, either. Texas only had 6 hits overall (2 by Dellucci). In fact, it was Dellucci who gave us all we needed, going 2 for 2 with an RBI triple. Kevin Mench had the other RBI. In all, we had 6 hits, Chicago had 5. Not a lot of offense, but we had enough, because our pitching carried us on Sunday.
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