That's The Way Baseball Go

mlb: Ian Kinsler shows us all how not to dive.

Mon, 20 May 2013 16:40:44 -0500

mlb:

Ian Kinsler shows us all how not to dive.

David Wright’s grand slam in the WBC - 3/9/13

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 19:59:04 -0500

David Wright’s grand slam in the WBC - 3/9/13

Video

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 23:27:30 -0500

Thas the Way Oscars Go

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 22:40:00 -0600

I was severely disappointed when the award for Best Real-Life Person Being Adapted by an Actor in a Supporting Role was dropped this year at the 84th Academy Awards. Since the girl with the dragon tattoo, as I am told, is not actually a real-life person, the Texas Rangers’ very own Ron Washington was a shoe-in via Moneyball.

In fact, I hear the only reason Phillip Seymour Hoffman decided to show up was to hear Washington’s acceptance speech. While Ron was not able to share his eloquence with the ABC viewers, I was able to snag a VHS of his prerecorded acceptance speech. The following is the transcript:

“Thank you for havin’ me on. I enjoy comin’ on the Oscars anytime I’m on it. Today is a great day for the Major League of Baseball. I knows - I knows exactly what I capable of doin’, and I’m glad Brent Jennin’s could portray that. Anyone that knows me an’ the game of baseball…know what Ron Washington is about. An’ Jennin’s know me. I’m not surprised by anything Jennin’ do. I’m not surprised by anything Brad Pitt do. I’m not surprised by anything Jonah Hill do. They’re a class ac’. You know the ac’ors today do what they do, and iss fun time now.”

Josh Hamilton Re-Relapse?

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 12:53:00 -0600

Josh Hamilton Re-Relapse?:

Pray for Jo-…me to stop laughing.

Happy Valentine’s ;)

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 17:48:00 -0600

Happy Valentine’s ;)

Happy Superbowl Sunday!

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 18:53:52 -0600

Happy Superbowl Sunday!

Josh Hamilton Relapse?

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 22:03:51 -0600

Josh Hamilton has been spotted in a DFW bar drinking alcohol. If he was your average baseball player, this would not be a big deal at all, but because of his past with an alcohol addiction, it’s a little more concerning. I’m hoping the media is turning this into a bigger deal than it needs to be, what with him seeking a long-term contract with the Rangers. Good luck Josh; we’re all rooting for you to overcome these obstacles.

Remember when I bought tickets to an Angels game back in...

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 11:37:45 -0600

Remember when I bought tickets to an Angels game back in September? Well apparently, they thought that meant I wanted to be on their stupid mailing list. Think again, Angels.

thealcalde: Play ball! A photo from the Disch-Falk Field...

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 17:09:21 -0600

thealcalde:

Play ball! A photo from the Disch-Falk Field dedication in April 1975.

Workin' 9 to 5

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 19:23:47 -0600

As many of you know, and most of you don’t (because you probably don’t care all that much), today was my first day of my new internship with the Frisco RoughRiders!

It all began at 6:30 AM when I woke up. This is, like, how late I stay up on weekends, so this time wasn’t exactly ideal. Then I instantly realized I had pink eye. Yes, pink eye on my first day. Classic. Also, I realized I forgot my straightener, and it happens to be packed in some random box in a garage in New Braunfels. That meant using a curling iron, which I just don’t do because I look like a poodle. So after I finished getting ready, I headed out to my car in the Dallas rain, so then I looked like a wet poodle. I thought it was smooth sailing when I got into my car, but I was wrong. I already have an extreme fear of driving in the rain, but it really came to fruition when my left windshield wiper broke. Thus I spent half of the time leaning into the passenger seat to see through the only clear side of the front windshield. Also, I was scared I was going to be late because of all the traffic, so Mother, Father, if you’re reading this, I’m very sorry about those tolls I drove through and those bills with the pictures of me in my car leaning into the passenger seat. And now I know why women don’t usually drive standard. Do you know how hard it is to press down the clutch in heels???

After I got to Dr. Pepper Ballpark, though, everything instantly took a 180 degree turn. I met a lot of really great people. There was only one Aggie who did his little thumbs up thing at me. I don’t remember his name, but I have until May to learn his and everybody else’s, right? A lot of the things I did were kind of busy work (mostly just going through donation requests), but hearing about the impact the RoughRiders make on the community and how much effort the team puts into its relationships really makes me proud to be a part of the team. Well, not the actual team, but, well, you know what I’m saying. I copied and pasted a lot of things today, sent a lot of already written e-mails, but when a high school PE teacher in Stephenville requested a donation for their Jump Rope for Heart program and I was able to ship him something (which the team doesn’t usually do), it felt so great. Just one call. It was so rewarding to be able to tell him and show him that we appreciate what he’s doing for his community! I can’t wait to get even deeper into my work. So I have my team polo, my own e-mail address and phone number, my office and the ballpark keys, and all the Dr. Pepper I could drink. Now all I need to know is - how should I decorate the bulletin board above my computer?

I’m laying in bed typing this all out. I’ll probably turn on old episodes of The Office on Netflix until I fall asleep. Looks like I’ll have the sleeping pattern of a middle-aged loser. The working world is tougher than it looks!

Feliz Navidad!

Sun, 25 Dec 2011 21:19:35 -0600

Feliz Navidad!

Photo

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 13:09:10 -0600

Frisco RoughRiders

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 12:57:19 -0600

I’d like to announce on my blog that I am the new Community Development and Foundations Intern for the Frisco RoughRiders (AA affiliate of the Texas Rangers)! This means I will be picking my stuff up from Austin and moving it up to the DFW area by January 9th. I can’t tell ya’ll how excited I am! And now, along with baseball updates on here, I’ll be adding updates about the goings-on and progress of this internship.

MVP on PED

Sat, 10 Dec 2011 19:41:22 -0600

Busted! Ryan Braun apparently has tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs. If this is true, he’s the first MVP to test positive for steroids and will face a 50-game suspension.

T-t-t-t-traded

Sat, 10 Dec 2011 17:15:00 -0600

I’m sure most baseball fans have heard of the huge baseball things that happened on Thursday.

It’s so hard to see him in this uniform, but C.J. Wilson signed a five-year, $77.5 million deal with the Angels. This note on his Facebook page is all he left for us Ranger fans:

I just want to say thank you to all the ranger fans who have supported me, and my efforts in the community the last six years in Texas. Surely it’s both hard for some to understand that I left for a different team let alone a division rival- it was bittersweet for me as well. At the end of the day the rangers didn’t make a push to keep me on the team.
The angels an marlins wanted me on their teams and proved it. everything written about an asking price etc was media speculation and never had an ounce of truth. The rangers are a great organization with talented front office and players and will be a difficult team to beat and it’s very sad to leave such awesome teammates and fans.
The last few years in ranger stadium were special- going from a losing team to bankrupt to american league champs was a complete transformation and obviously everyone should be proud of it. The charity will continue even stronger now and we will continue to support North Texas kids as well as SoCal kids. Please keep that spirit of philanthropy alive for your local causes like cooks children’s hospital, Scottish rite, dallas children’s and the boys and girls club.

I’ll miss him, but I trust Jon Daniels’ decisions on not resigning; he’s such a great GM. I’m worried about C.J.’s success and play-time over there, though. He may have been the Rangers’ ace, but the Rangers’ pitching, especially as of late, has been mediocre. It’s a pitch-eat-pitch world out there, and I don’t know how well Wilson’s going to do now.

Along with Wilson, the Angels acquired “King” Albert Pujols with a $254 million, ten-year deal. $254 MILLION FOR TEN YEARS. I know that he was offered $200 million by some other teams, but this just seems so extravagant to me. He has three MVP titles to his name, 445 home runs, and he led his team to the World Series (still don’t want to talk about the Cards) this past year. He led the majors in batting average, slugging percentage, and OPS at the end of the 2011 season (still don’t want to talk about the end of the 2011 season). He’ll be great, one of the best, for the next couple of years definitely. But ten years from now? I’m not so sure. He’s already 31 years old, same age as C.J., and the Angels could have used some of that money on younger players who could really develop over that time.

And how upset will the Angels be when they spent all that dough on Wilson and Pujols when the Rangers win the division? (hehe)

Some other noteworthy contracts? Jose Reyes and RHP Mark Buehrle to the Miami Marlins, with a six-year $105 million deal and a four-year $58 million deal, respectively. You may remember Buehrle’s no-hitter against the Rangers in 2007. And you most likely remember his perfect game versus the Rays in 2009 (only the eighteenth in MLB history). I was really hoping that Texas would acquire him, as some rumors suggested, because he would definitely be a good fill-in for our long lost ace.

My favorite trade, though, pretty much because of how he’s responded to the whole thing, is Craig Breslow’s trade to Arizona, along with Trevor Cahill. He’s tweeted:

and the best:

Humor goes a long way with me, so good luck Craig with the Diamondbacks. And better luck to every team facing the Angels. Only 70 days left until pitchers and catchers report!

Finals Week

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 15:50:00 -0600

Sorry for the lack of posts; I’m extremely busy, as I’ve had 5 tests, a paper, and a project due this week. The highlight of my studying, though, was in my Integrated Communication for Sports book. It referred to the Yankees as the “Evil Empire”. Thank you, “Sport Marketing, 3rd Ed.” for telling it like it is.

And now…back to studying.

Here, in a you-are-there Grey Villet picture made seconds after...

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 17:12:28 -0600

Here, in a you-are-there Grey Villet picture made seconds after Robinson’s steal, Yogi Berra takes very vocal issue with the umpire’s call as Robinson himself trots back to the Dodger dugout. One of the most enjoyable aspects of this photo, looking at it 55 years after it was taken, is that it so clearly and immediately reminds us of what an intense competitor Berra, like Robinson, really was. Today, he’s often regarded as a universally admired, almost cuddly elder statesman of the game. But back then, when the game was on the line, Yogi Berra was a bad, bad man. (source)

It's Time...

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 15:38:58 -0600

…to finally discuss what happened during the 2011 World Series and return to the Internet. Besides my cute little jack-o-lantern picture, I have failed to update this blog because it’s been too hard to look at the word “baseball”. Not only did the Rangers lose in Game 7, but the season is over, and I’m left to watch…hockey. Not that there’s anything wrong with hockey, but alas it’s no baseball.

And though I was upset after the loss in 2010, last year the Rangers weren’t one strike away from winning the World Series. Twice. Last year, Nelson Cruz wasn’t one foot away from catching a fly ball. Last year I felt a little like we were riding on Cliff Lee’s coattails. This year, though. This year. This was it. Everybody on the team was on the level they needed to be. Don’t get me wrong; Texas isn’t done winning. I just don’t know if I’ve ever gotten my hopes as high as I did last month during those seven games.

To quote my father, “That’s what the Rangers do. They get your hopes up and then break your heart every time. But true fans keep coming back.”

It’s not even a question that I’ll keep coming back. I’ll even return to blogging, offseason or not. But that doesn’t mean every time I hear Tinie Tempah’s “Written in the Stars” I don’t die a little inside.

The other night, I went out with some friends. I was talking to these two guys, and the topic of baseball came up. I then mentioned my blog. The rest of the conversation went as follows...

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 14:59:45 -0600

The other night, I went out with some friends. I was talking to these two guys, and the topic of baseball came up. I then mentioned my blog. The rest of the conversation went as follows...

Guy #1: So why don't you have a boyfriend?
Me: Good question.
Guy #2: What's wrong with you?
Me: [laughs] I really don't know. I hope nothing...
Guy #1: Well here's some advice. Get rid of your blog.
Guy #2: Yeah, two words. Turn. Off.

And soooooooooo...I'm still not getting rid of this blog.