Alejandro’s Alternative Almanac: Too Hot To Write

Alejandro ascends from the gardens and front lawns of your friends and neighbors to search for some shade, a lime, and a cold Corona because it’s too hot to rant too much about baseball this week.

This is the week that was: Josh Hamilton is pretty good, so is Chris Davis. Scott Lucas noted earlier this week with the promotion of LHP Beau Jones to Frisco, every player the Rangers received from the Braves in the Mark Teixeira trade is playing AA or in the major leagues.

This the week that will be: Saturday Aug 2nd at Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City is Mickey Mantle and “The Fridge” Night. The Redhawks will be giving away Mickey Mantle Bobbleheads and William “Refrigerator” Perry will be signing autographs at the game too – yeah, we can’t figure out the connection either. Wednesday July 31st is a busy night for all three lower level teams: it is “Must Win Wednesday” at High A Bakersfield – we’re not sure what the consequences are for the Blaze if they lose (we thought enduring a summer at Bakersfield was a punishment itself). Also on Wednesday at Low A Clinton it’s “Morrison Night” – we couldn’t find any additional information about exactly what that is, so we’re assuming it’s a tribute to Doors lead singer Jim Morrison with a sing-a-long to Light My Fire or Hello I Love You. At Short Season Spokane this Wednesday Night it will be “Raining Money” meanwhile for the Arizona Rookie League Rangers in Surprise it will just be plain old hot with an expected high of 107 .

The Oracle of Stadium Dr.: From Startlegram beat writer Jeff Wilson – “[Josh] Hamilton leads baseball in RBIs and – by a wide margin – in autographs signed. Just about everyone who wants one gets one, at home and on the road.”

Sometimes it’s better to keep your thoughts to yourself: Ron Washington: “ "I'd like a bona fide leadoff hitter…I'm talking about a high-on-base, steal-bases, cause-havoc leadoff hitter,” So having Ian Kinsler at the top of the lineup with his league leading Batting Average (.328) Hits (141) Runs Scored (87) and .381 OBP (in the top 10 in the AL) is a really, really a bad idea? And we don’t buy the rest of Ron’s statement that Kinsler should be batting lower in the lineup in order to drive in runs. We’d like to ask if maybe the reason Ian is having a career year is because his offensive game is best suited to batting leadoff? We hope that Ron’s wishes fall on deaf ears and recall that Ron also told us that he thought that Ben Broussard was going to be his secret weapon in the lineup this year.

The Words Of The Prophets Are Written On Subway Walls … or maybe just somewhere on the internet (Part 2): This December when the Free Agent Frenzy is in full swing let’s remember this quote from Baseball Prospectus writer Joe Sheehan “I cannot emphasize this enough: there is SO much money in the game right now that open-market contracts are all going to seem insane “

Birthdays: Former Ranger manager Doug Rader turns 63 this week. Retired Ranger IF now an Agent Scott Fletcher is 50. The pitcher who recorded the final out that clinched the last Ranger division title in 1999 – Mike Venafro - turns 35. The 1971 AL MVP and AL CY Young winner, Vida Blue, celebrates his 59th birthday this week. One of the greatest names in baseball, former Expo-Twin-Royal’s OF Bombo Rivera is 56. Finally, "The Old Perfessor" Casey Stengel was born this week in 1890 (don’t you miss seeing his picture on the Monday Morning Manager?)

Last Call: From Seattle Mariner’s Broadcaster Dave Niehaus who was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame this weekend: “I’m a fan, No. 1. I’m a lucky guy. I love the game. If I wasn’t out here doing the games broadcasting I’d be out here sitting in the stands”

Es demasiado caliente -- Alejandro for Marla Hooch

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