A little baseball, a little nonsense, few serious thoughts on life, television, food, the Texas Rangers and whatever else Marla Hooch thinks she needs to share with the intenet
This is the view from my office at Hooch Secret World HQ at 3:45 p.m. on February 11, 2010:
Now, let's keep today in mind on July 11, 2010 as the Rangers are playing the Baltimore Orioles at 2:05 PM- when it will likely be between 85 - 95 degrees (am I being optimistic with the temperature?) with the sun baking the players and the fans at the Ballpark in Arlington.
If you ever visit my house – and you probably never will, thus the moniker: Hooch Secret World Headquarters – you would find stuck to mirrors, books, the fridge, a couple of selected lampshades, my purse, my binoculars and by each of the phones little yellow post-it notes with lists written on them. The same thing happens in my cubicle at work and yes, even on the dash board of my car. This is the inspiration for this week’s blog: a few random lists.
Marla’s Top 5 All-Time Favorite TV Shows:
1. Homicide – Life on the Street – I’d turn down invitations to go out on Friday night to stay home and watch this show – for seven seasons it was television at its finest.
2. St. Elsewhere – did you know that Denzel Washington, Mark Harmon and Howie Mandel were regulars on this show? They’ve never released the entire series on VCR or DVD which is a shame – it’s better than just about any medical drama on television today.
3. WRKP in Cincinnati – how often have I referenced this show on my blog? Too often, probably. I’ve seen all the episodes more times than I can count and they still make me laugh out loud – Captain Rutabaga!
4. The Mary Tyler Moore Show – Aside from the fact it set the standard for ensemble comedy and characters (Sue Ann Nivens, Ted Baxter, Rhoda Morgenstern and Lou Grant) and produced one of the classic comedy episodes in television history (“Chuckles Bites The Dust”). I think most women my age will tell you that the Mary Richards character (smart, single and career minded) was a role model that we appreciated and many of us followed.
5. Star Trek – the original series. Many of you in the Star Wars/Avatar generation will never understand what an amazing series this was back, back, back in the day.
Marla’s 5 Preferred Stadium Sections To Sit In During Her Baseball Travels
1. Section 108 - at Dr. Pepper Ballpark in Frisco. Yes, the world’s greatest usher, Dennis, takes care of that section – which is the primary reason I sit there. There’s no screen to mess up the focus on my camera, you can see every corner of the park, and the full moon that rises over right field is always a sight to behold.
2. Section 114 - at the San Antonio Missions Ballpark (Nelson Wolff Ballpark) The lighting in that stadium is absolutely perfect – I’ve taken some of my best pictures there.
3. Anywhere - at Dell Diamond in Round Rock. It’s the best place to see a minor league baseball game. I really hope that rumors are true that this could be the future home of the Rangers AAA affiliate.
4. Section 315 - at the Ballpark in Arlington - $10.00 seats on Friday, $5.00 parking, a great view and nice breeze – what more could you ask for? (Section 13 runs a close second – but the price of tickets have become too expensive for me to sit there on a regular basis).
5. I don’t remember the section number, but it was by the bullpen on the third base side of Tiger Stadium You never forget where you sat at your first major league baseball game, the stadium is gone – but the memory remains.
5 More of Marla’s Favorite Places To Dine
1. Bodacious Barbeque – Arlington, Texas 2. Konaki Greek Restaurant – London, England 3. Luminaira – Santa Fe, New Mexico 4. Central Grocery – New Orleans, Louisiana 5. The Burmese place in Greenwich Village - (can't recall the name right now, this where the New Mexico Bean and Dr. Richards had their wedding reception ) – New York, New York
The 5 Best Episodes of Spectacle: Elvis Costello With…. (Sundance Channel)
1. The Guitar Pull – Season 1 (Kris Kirstofferson, Roseanne Cash, John Mellencamp, and Norah Jones) 2. The Police – Season 1 3. John Prine, Ray LaMontagne and Lyle Lovett – Season 2 (I could’ve done without Ray LaMontagne – which would’ve meant more time with John Prine and Lyle Lovett) 4. James Taylor – Season 1 5. Bruce Springsteen – Season 2 (and I don’t even like Bruce)
The 5 Things Marla Feels That Rangers Have To Do In Order To Contend in 2010
1. The young pitchers (Holland, Feliz, Hunter) MUST: be much better andmore consistent – if they don’t do that, then the other 4 items on this list don’t matter.
2. Rich Harden has to stay healthy and pitch well, which means he needs to make as many starts as Kevin Milwood did in 2009 (31) but he has to win more games (Milwood won 13)
3. Josh Hamilton has to be the second half Josh Hamilton of 2009 (.288 BA - .754 OPS)
4. Did I mention that the young pitchers need to step up and Rich Harden needs to be healthy and pitch well?
5. The Rangers have to hope that not all of Seattle’s off season moves will work out – otherwise...well, it's too early to start thinking about that
5 Good Books Marla’s Read Recently
1. Dangerously Funny – The Uncensored Story of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour by David Bianculli - it’s about much more than pumas in crevices and David Steinberg’s sermons.
2. An Accomplished Woman by Jude Morgan – Ms. Morgan’s Jane Austen like style writing is a pleasure to read.
3. Murder in the Bastille by Cara Black - the way Ms. Black weaves the city of Paris into each of these Aimee LeDuc mysteries has me reading these books late into the evening just to see who did it.
4. Galway Bay by Mary Pat Kelly – it’ll get your Irish up
1. Watching the minor leaguers on the backfields in Surprise – it’s my first opportunity each year to see some of the “new” guys.
2. The fact that Nolan Ryan had the organization start putting the names of all the minor league players on their jerseys at Spring Training – I think he was as confused as I was trying to figure out who he was watching.
3. Jason Botts in Glendale – looking forward to seeing my friend back in the US
4. Jovial evenings of erudite conversation and companionship with good friends at Scoreboards.
5. The fact that 2010 Spring Training is just around the corner.
Getting ready to make a quick trip to Target for some more post-it notes - - Marla Hooch
P.S. I'm one of those people who watch the Super Bowl just for the commercials - the Letterman/Leno ad blew away the competition:
Do you know what was the best part of our charity event on Tuesday night?
It wasn't just the great Chuck Morgan - who always knows what say, how to get the crowd into the moment and adds that special touch class (that the Rangers haven't always had) to every event he hosts.
It wasn't just seeing Sean Duncan and his kids there. Sean was one the first players who sat and signed autographs at our inaguaral Newberg Report booth at Rangers Fan Fest in the Arlington Convention Center (was it it really 10 years ago?).
It wasn't just Grant Schiller starting the evening's Q & A with some good questions for Rangers Assistant Director of Player Development Jake Krug.
It wasn't just watching Chuck Greenberg's responses to all the questions and suggestions from the loyal and mighty fans of the Newberg Nation (as one questioner called us); and the fact that he volunteered to auction the Rangers jacket he was wearing that night. (By the way: in all the time that Mr. Hicks owned the team, I never once thought about refering to him as just Tom. Mr. Greenberg made a point of telling everyone to call him Chuck, and I felt pretty comfortable doing that right away).
It wasn't just the fan who gave Chuck Greenberg his Ranger cuff links to wear to the first owners meeting he attends representing the Texas Rangers.
It wasn't just Annette Leslie's moving speech about her son Carson's and Michael Young's friendship.
It wasn't just watching professional acutioneer Luther Davis (a fan of the Newberg Report) get the crowd to bid up those charity items that Annette, Cristina Barbosa-Young and others donated.
It wasn't just the first beer that I ever received via text message.
It wasn't just Michael Young giving honest answers and conveying his enthusiasm about his teammates and "something really special" that is on the horizon for Ranger fans in 2010.
You know what the best part of the evening really was? It was announcing that the combined auction results with a matchng donation from Michael and Cristina raised over $12,000.00 for Wipe Out Kids Cancer. I know somewhere Carson Leslie is raising a high-five and saying "allright!"
If you got an automated e-mail from this site showing a link to the story on Sunday, I apologize, I had blog entry up for a short time on Sunday night about the Ranger events from last weekend – I had to delete it – long story not worth the time and bandwith to explain.
Friday night’s banquet was very nice, the food was good (Grant really liked the dinner rolls) and the Omni Hotel is beautiful. I was very disappointed that the Rangers decided to go back to having all the players at a head table set away from the fans. The past couple of years they’ve had players, team officials and other Ranger related personnel seated at each table with the fans. My perception is that many season ticket holders attend the banquet every year, and if the Rangers are really committed to being fan-friendly I think this is the group they need to start with. I think most fans understand that the big corporate sponsors will get Michael Young, Ian Kinsler and Josh Hamilton at their table – however, I do think the fans who attend the event really enjoy having anyone connected with the Rangers (minor league players, Ranger alumni, media types, coaches) at their table.
Saturday’s Newberg Booth at Fan Fest, although a bit cold was as always terrific. I’ll admit I was a bit miffed when the Sports Service guy came in and turned off the space heaters in our area in the middle of one of our autograph sessions – saying that was uncool is probably a bit of an understatement. The players who signed with us were gracious, humorous and all of them were great with the fans. You can see my pictures of all them using the link in the entry below this one.
I was trying to program my new DVR yesterday and ran across the NFL Pro-Bowl, and I have to ask – why are fans so worked up the record holders in baseball using steroids, but you don’t hear anyone ranting about the same for football? You can’t tell me that those players aren’t using some kind of PED’s – so aren’t their records just as tainted, or don’t football fans care about that?
Finally – a few words about February from Whitey Herzog:
“You sweat out the free agent thing in November then you make the trades in December. Then you struggle to sign the guys left in January. In February I finally get down to sewing all the new numbers on the uniforms. “
Grant – would you like another dinner roll? – Marla Hooch
Saturday at the Freeze Fest... er I mean Fan Fest - The Newberg Booth participants were great - the weather was not.
The Newberg Report Booth was re-located this year to the Cuervo Club - unforunately the Cuervo Club doesn't have any heat, so things were just a bit nippy inside - but that didn't keep the fans from coming out for autographs from: Kasey Kiker, Brandon Boggs, Justin Smoak, Ben Snyder, Tanner Scheppers, Zach Phillips, Mitch Moreland, Blake Beavan and Eric Hurley.
One more Newberg event this week: a book release party at Sherlock's in Dallas featuring Michael Young, Assistant Director of Player Development Jake Krug and impending owner Chuck Greenberg.
Still thawing out my hands and feet from Saturday - Marla Hooch
Those are three words you will never read from those who Twitter.
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
It wasn't just seeing Sean Duncan and his kids there. Sean was one the first players who sat and signed autographs at our inaguaral Newberg Report booth at Rangers Fan Fest in the Arlington Convention Center (was it it really 10 years ago?).
Jim Reeves is only semi-retired (thank goodness) he’s writing occasionally for Dallas ESPN.com – his column on Tom Hicks is absolutely on target.
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.
