I’m not a technophobe; otherwise I wouldn’t have a blog. I’m not adverse to others opinions, as long as they are defined as opinions – not disguised as breaking news or shrouded in the context of “if you don’t agree with me than you are wrong”. I will admit to being a geezer who has spent her life trying to learn the old (but still relevant) maxim of “think before you speak” as well as subscribing to the more modern notion of “too much information”.
I’ve grown weary of the venerated twitter society that believes in instant reaction (even if it isn’t accurate) and broadcasting every impulse as it comes to mind because of just takes too long to actually think things through, even for just a few minutes. I’m shamed by the fact that this generation is being defined by who shouts the quickest and the loudest rather than by who has the most intelligent and tolerant thoughts to express.
Some of my close and trusted are friends are twitterers – good for them – you’ll never see me doing that. By the way, Garry Trudeau agrees with me, he’s written a hilarious send up of the “tweeps” (his words not mine)- “My Shorts R Bunching -Thoughts?: The Tweets of Roland Hedley”
Which brings me back to the original starting point for this blog entry – upon careful consideration a few random baseball and non-baseball thoughts (not tweets).
Upon Careful Consideration #1: A New York Times blogger referred to Christina Hendricks (Joan on “Mad Men”) as “big” – let me remind you that real women have curves. I don’t like to believe there is an anti-Christ – but Anna Wintour and the emaciated body image she promotes for women puts her very close to that category. I for one would chose to look like Christina over any Vogue model or boyishly thin looking teen-age crooner.Upon Careful Consideration #2 - I wonder if Clint Hurdle would consider dialing up Otis Nixon and bringing him into work with Julio Borbon. Not to change Borbon’s hitting style so much as to add another element to it. Think about this situation – it’s September 28th at the Ballpark – the Rangers are a game behind the M’s for the division lead and they’ve got King Felix Hernandez on the mound throwing darts that no-one can hit or even get out of the infield. Wouldn’t it be nice if Julio could learn how to slap the ball into the ground the way Otis did and beat it out for an infield hit (I trust Borbon’s speed that much). Or even better: perfect the drag bunt hit between the 3rd baseman and the pitcher? When Otis was at the end of his career playing for the Rangers I’ve heard that he said he still had so much confidence in those kinds of bunts that he guaranteed if the pitcher went for the ball Otis would get the IF hit. Then maybe the situational hitting (aka small ball) which so many of the Rangers armchair hitting instructors have been begging for might work.
Upon Careful Consideration #3: I can’t remember who said that the controversy about the late night talk shows hosts the past few weeks is actually more interesting than the shows themselves. That’s usually true, although David Letterman’s monologues and Top Ten Lists have been some of the funniest he’s done in quite a while. Personally, I’ve become a Craig Ferguson fan (thanks Rob!) and his show opening from January 14th’ was outstanding not only for his comments on the situation in Haiti but also for putting the right punctuation on the late night show follies. (See below)
Upon Careful Consideration #4 –I wrote this in response to Anthony Andro’s question about the Rangers ownership change on the Starlegram’s Foul Territory Blog – upon re-consideration: I stand by everything I wrote.
We'll have to wait and see just exactly how much the new ownership group is an improvement on the payroll side - although at this point anything would be better than the way Mr. Hicks...er actually MLB has handled the team payroll the past season and this off season.
Based on Mr. Greenberg (and Nolan Ryan's) accomplishments with his Minor League franchises- fan experience at the Ballpark should be improved. Having seen minor league games in many different locations - Nolan Ryan's team in Round Rock is the best minor league experience I've had in my travels. Mr. Greenberg does appear to be interested in all fans whether they sit in the expensive seats behind home plate or up in Canada in the 300's - where the Hicks group only seemed to cater to the corporate and wealthy fans.
I've been around long enough to have been a fan when Brad Corbett still owned the team and have seen all the ownership groups come and go since. There's always that "honeymoon" period when the new guys take over - if anyone remembers in 1998 when the Hicks group came in the fans were all excited because the Rangers were going to be able to spend, spend, spend just like the Yankees - and we all see how that turned out. If the Rangers wind up in 3rd place in the AL West this season (which is a real possibility if the young pitching doesn't perform well and consistently) all that enthusiasm I've been reading this evening will fade pretty quickly.
In the end the best-loved and more successful ownership group (in the eyes of fans) will be the one that hires the front office staff that drafts/develops/keeps players through the minor leagues and signs the free agents that take the Texas Rangers beyond one win in the post season to last team standing in the first week of November.
Finally Upon Careful Consideration: There are about 24 days until Pitchers and Catchers report to Surprise – and that is better than any wordy blog post or tweet I can think of right now.
Don’t forget to visit us at the Newberg Report Booth during Fan Fest on Saturday Janaury 30th –we’ve been exiled to the Cuervo Club this year – but we’ll still be there on Saturday – come and see us – Marla Hooch
