The Dead Arm Period: I Can’t Think Of Good Title For This Week’s Blog

(Right now many pitchers are going through a dead arm period while this week I am going through a dead blog entry period.)


The great thing about Spring Training is that means “real” baseball is just around the corner.

The bad thing about Spring Training is that other than injuries and the occasional shooting star (Matt Kata anyone?) there isn’t any real news that’s worth dissecting coming out of Arizona or Florida.

With that in mind we bring you a truly random blog entry (since there’s nothing “real” to write about this week).

"Don't forget to swing hard in case you hit the ball" - Woodie Held (lifetime .240 hitter)

One of my favorite sites, Baseball Reference.com, has a neat tool called the Oracle of Baseball that can connect any two major league baseball players through a string a mutual teammates (think of it as the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon: The MLB Version) and yes I know I’ve used it before on this blog – and I’ll probably use it again at some time in the future as filler when there is nothing to write.

Ozzie to Elvis: SS Ozzie Smith played with P Mark Clark (1991 St. Louis Cardinals) who played with C Ivan Rodriguez (on the last Rangers playoff team in 1999) who played with SS Elvis Andrus on the 2009 Ranger team.

“I never had a bad night in my life, but I’ve had a few bad mornings” – Lefty Gomez

Birthdays for the week of March 14-March 19: Former Ranger Jim “The Great Emu” Kern is 61 this week. Brian Wilson –not the brilliant but troubled Beach Boy – this one is the RHP for the Giants is 28. The pride of West, Texas Scott Posednik turns 34 and that good Irish boy Rangers 1B Chris Davis turns 24 on St. Patrick’s Day. HOF Kirby Puckett would’ve been 50 years old this week.

“Although he is a bad fielder he is also a very poor hitter” – Ring Lardner

Did you know: a poll conducted by Real Simple magazine shows that 56% of their readers think social media (like Facebook and the dreaded Twitter) are a waste of time?

Hisle to Hamilton: OF Larry Hisle played with IF/DH Paul Molitor (1978 Milwaukee Brewers) who played with P “Everyday”Eddie Guardado (1996 Minnesota Twins) who played with OF Josh Hamilton on the 2009 Texas Rangers

Did you know: that Ted Williams and Carl Yastrzemski were each only pinch hit for one time during their HOF careers? Here’s the best part: the same player pinch hit for both of them: Carroll Hardy.

“You get smart only when you begin getting old” – Allie Reynolds

By the way:  according to Yahoo weather the average daytime temperature in Minneapolis in April is 57 degrees and the average night time temperature is 36, with an average snowfall of 2”.  I bet those Twins players are really looking forward to leaving sunny Ft. Myers for the nine games they’ll play at home (three of them scheduled at 7:10 pm) at the new open air Target Stadium.

The First Free Agent to the Rangers most current free agent: P Andy Messersmith played with IF Bill Buckner (1975 Los Angeles Dodgers) who played with IF Mark McLemore (1987 California Angels) who played with Rich Harden on the 2004 Oakland Athletics

Finally:  a couple of weeks ago for his President’s Day blog entry on Postcards From Elysian Fields T.R. Sullivan put together a baseball team of US Presidents. He asked for any additions to the Presidential Roster and I offered Thomas Jefferson as a relief pitcher (or spot starter, or stadium designer, or musician to play the national anthem– TJ could do it all)

I close to today with a quote from the tall lefty that applies to the psyche of the current Ranger fandom:

“I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past”



Dreaming of the future that begins on April 5th – Marla Hooch

Burning Questions: Spring Training 2010

A few real questions, a few rhetorical ones and some things just make you say “hmmm?”

Why was it headline news on the first day of Spring Training that Derek Jeter wants to remain a Yankee – doesn’t this belong under the heading of “duh”?

Speaking of Jeter’s upcoming contract, let’s make these assumptions: 1. Jeter will remain a Yankee. My guess is his contract (yearly salary not necessarily length) will be bigger than ARod’s considering Jeter’s “status” on his way to Yankee Immortality. 2. My other guess is: Yankee Fans and the local Yankee infused press will not sanction having Saint Derek being paid less than that carpetbagger ARod.

Based on those suppositions here’s what I’m anxious to see: the local and national stat heads had a field day going after the Rangers about “value” of Michael Young’s contract – based mainly on his age. Granted, Jeter is a better player than Young – but – and here’s the big but – Jeter is also going to be 36 years old. Let’s say realistically he’ll want at least a 3-4 year deal. These same BP type number crunchers are always trumpeting their stats that (supposedly) prove that players over 35-36 years old are in decline (without exception). I’m interested to see what they will say about the “value” of Jeter’s contract. Will they stick to their formula of “no player over 30 should be paid anything because our complicated statistical truths state players in their 30’s aren’t any good” or will they come up with some new dense algebraic formula to “prove” that Jeter is the lone exception? The one thing I do know: there will be endless coverage of this contract negotiation in the national press, I envision an entire hour special on the MLB Network on the subject.  I suspect when the negotiations are concluded every player in MLB will be asked their reaction to the contract  and finally the Pope will likely be asked to bless the signed documents – because the only story in major league baseball is the Yankees – isn’t it?

If the Cowboys new stadium was supposed to bring all this “new” business to the Stadium/Ballpark vicinity – then why has another restaurant (Red, Hot and Blue) closed, and the former Mexican Inn and Barbeque place (whose name escapes me) have been standing empty for at least a year?

Enquiring minds want to know….

Rain during the first week of camp, Derek Holland, Josh Hamilton losing somewhat significant playing time in early games, the Khalil Greene situation leaving the Rangers scrambling for a utility IF (or two), more rain, Julio Borbon banged up early – not an auspicious start to Spring Training is it? Josh Hamilton on the trading block – what’s up with that?

Here’s what I love about the report on MLB Trade Rumors (which should really change it’s title to MLB Speculation, Fiction and Re-Tweets – because there is very little truth and not much original writing/research on that website). Anyway back to the report: it’s from a Boston writer – who I assume is with the Red Sox in Florida, talking with a scout – who I assume was in Florida too. These two guys are not in Arizona, they haven’t talked with the Rangers or even “unnamed sources” in Arizona, and this item was based on a “feeling”? As Jamey Newberg said this morning – after Hamilton’s performance in 2009 the Rangers couldn’t/wouldn’t be able to ask for as much in return. So do you think based on that fact the scout already knew that  he might have been trying to drum up some activity (which is proof that agents aren't the only ones "creating" markets for players) – what better way to get that message out than through the obliging twit(ter)…excuse me, reporter.

This reminds of a line of dialogue from one my favorite movies “Broadcast News”: Jane (played by the wonderful Holly Hunter) talking to Tom (William Hurt in his second best movie role): “Another thing I can't stand is when White House reporters [shoot the breeze] with each other after a briefing and then one of them has a theory and the other quotes it in his story as ‘White House’ sources say...”

Sound familiar?

The old adage is: those who can’t do – teach.  Ergo – those who can’t (or don’t have the ambition to) play professional sports become mouthy sports talk show hosts who question professional athletes abilities?

Just asking

Why can’t you buy into the rampant optimism expressed all over the web (and by Rangers team president Nolan Ryan) that the Rangers will win the AL West?

Look I think the Rangers are improved – if for no other reason the young players have some quality time at the major league level and (hopefully) are aware of their strengths/weaknesses plus they now know how much sacrifice and dedication it takes compete successfully at that level. However, two of the other AL West teams (at least on paper) are already better/or have improved themselves more than the Rangers. Many are writing off the Angels because of the loss of John Lackey and Chone Figgins – we’ll see, I think they’ll miss Figgins more than Lackey (replaced by Scott Kazmir) and that’s the basis of my conviction: pitching trumps all. Seattle: Cliff Lee and King Felix need I say more?  The Rangers pitching while better, still has too questions (can Harden stay healthy? can Feldman repeat? what are you really going to get from Brandon McCarthy and Colby Lewis? and, most importantly, who among the younger pitchers is going to show truly consistent improvment?)  Many Ranger fans are basing their predictions on the hope of  all the right things falling into place rather than proven performance - which is exactly what the Angels have in their favor and the Mariners have at the top of their rotation as well as at the top of the lineup (Figgins and Ichiro).  If the Rangers can prove they are worthy of all that blind faith, I'll change my mind -although just like Doubting Thomas - I'll have to see to in order to believe.

The final Burning Question today: What did you think of the Academy Awards?

The Dude will abide.

Looking for a fire extinguisher – Marla Hooch

Comments! We Have Comments!

First of all, thank you for reading my blog.

Very honestly: I thought the only people reading were some members of my family, a few loyal friends (Hi! Lisa W, Jamey and Mike) and another friend who says they read it regularly but I have my doubts (you know who you are – if you are reading). It’s always been an exercise in self-expression and free speech that I’ve written mainly to amuse myself – again thank you for playing along.

Now to the subject at hand: comments on the blog.

In response to the poster formerly known as Mr. Anonymous: Yes, I do think the local and national media pay way too much attention to Twitter and that there’s a good possibility that it could lead to a delay getting news to the rest of the non-twitter fans.

I asked a friend if I could take a look at her Twitter account and checked out how many “followers” the local Ranger beat writers have: do you realize that Jamey Newberg has more followers than each of the beat writers? That the total “followers” for all five writers (Sullivan, Wilson, Andro, Grant and Durrett,) is around 3,700 – and I’m pretty sure there are many duplicates who follow all five which brings down the total. That is fewer people than are on Jamey’s mailing list. That is only about 15% of the fans who attend a Ranger game on a weeknight (assuming a crowd of 25,000). Why is the media so intent on catering to just a select few? I understand the competition for getting the story first – that has been around since Pheidippides ran from the battfield at Marathon to Athens. To my mind the Twitter situation is much the same as philosophical conundrum of perception vs. reality: if a tree falls in the forest but no one is there to hear it does it make a sound? Is it really that important to get your 140 letter tweet up first when the majority of fans you want reach can’t / won’t read it?


As for the issue of a delay, here’s an example: last week when Warner Madrigal left his throwing session with forearm stiffness MLB.com had the story up on the blog around 12:40 (CST), the Startlegram around the same time (12:44 CST) while the DMN blog entry wasn’t online until about an hour later (1:40 CST). Granted, it was not as if one of the impact pitchers was hurt, but I’m pretty sure Evan Grant had his tweet of the injury up at the same time as everyone else. However, the DMN blog entry went online almost an hour later. Was it because he already “tweeted” it – so the rest of the non-tweet readers would just have to wait? Is this a portend of the future? I hope not, but to use a twitter buzz word: it is a “trend” worth watching. Plus, I would think that kind of “trending” would be bad thing for the Star-Telegram and Dallas Morning News writers – their employers (newspapers) are in enough trouble - if the writers are relying on Twitter to get the news out first – then aren't they leaving out a large portion of their readers - aren’t the newspapers supposed to be drawing in readers not excluding them?

One more thing to keep in mind about Twitter is accuracy. During the winter meetings I was reading MLB Trade Rumors - they were constantly publishing tweets - what I found interesting is to go back and see how many of them were not true, many weren’t - some not even close. As I’ve said before: it is so very sad that sports media editors are forcing their writers to whittle baseball news to 140 characters – and many times not even an accurate 140 characters. Sports Journalism – in general – has been degrading ever so slowly over the past 25 years (which coincides directly with the rise of ESPN on television) it seems that Twitter is just hastening the process of reducing that once masterful art into a bumper sticker.

Scooper, thank you for the kind words and the support. I don’t know that many would say I have positive outlook on the Rangers (certainly no-one in Ranger management would). I love the minor leagues, watching the players at AA and AAA always gives you hope: for them, for the organization for the game of baseball in general. As for the major league team – well, my good friend Jamey Newberg is always a better source for optimism. I write what I feel about this organization. Having been a fan since Pat Corrales was managing and John Ellis was the primary DH, I’ve loyally slogged through enough dashed expectations to have learned the lesson of the Italian proverb “Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me”. Or to put it in more modern terms from Pete Townshend (and sung by Roger Daltrey – who turned 66 this week – can you believer it?) “We don’t get fooled again.” I’m glad the Rangers minor leagues have been rated highly – but that has not  shown itself as consisent success on the major league roster  – yet – especially in the most important and always lacking portion of the Rangers history: pitching (don’t forget that two of Texas' first round pitchers drafted in 2000’s are now pitching in Chicago). I hope this season will be different, but I’m yet to be convinced. By the way, I’m not alone in my reticence – Jim Reeves latest column  is a must read on that very subject.

The bottom line is that I know most cases like Twitter (and the fact that most fans are picking the Rangers to win the AL West)  I’m in the minority - it is just one fan’s opinion. The good thing is it seems to have lead to a lively discussion (long live the first amendment!)

Finally – not much baseball to talk about - again - this week.  I can’t get worked up about intrasquad games, or even early Spring Training games – although I’ll be tuned in to Eric and Dave on Thursday, because, well just because.

Thank you again for reading and writing! – Marla Hooch
.

30 Years Ago Today....I Believed In Miracles

It was a Friday night after work. I watched the tape delay of this game, as did all of the US on ABC.  I knew how it ended because Verne Lundquist said very simply at the end of his 6:00 p.m. sportscast that night - "They did it!"

There was a good article by Joe Posnanski on the Sports Illustrated website today.

This is the last paragraph from that article, Al Michaels talking about enduring effect of that game and his legendary call, the last line is absolutely perfect.

"It's interesting, Michaels says he never gets tired of people coming up to him to talk about that call or that game. He never tires of hearing people say where they were when they heard the call. I was in our TV room, my father was on the couch, my mother was out playing cards. I remember jumping up and down when Eruzione scored the game-winner... and I suspect that was the first hockey game I had watched, beginning to end, on television (I did go to a Cleveland Barons game once). Of course, it was the first hockey game that many Americans had seen.

" 'That was the beauty of that game,' Michaels says. 'You didn't have to understand to understand.' "

I understood - - Marla Hooch

P.S. Did you know that the current coach of the USA Women's Hockey, Mark Johnson is a member of the 1980 US Olympic Hockey Team?

White Noise

There’s a strict definition of “white noise”, if you are a sound engineer, stop reading now because I’m going to use the generally accepted colloquial (although inaccurate) definition of white noise for my own purposes today.

White noise is considered to be sound masking, it drowns out every other sound. Here’s a good analogy I found:

"Imagine a dark room where someone is turning a flashlight on and off. The light is very obvious and distracting. Now imagine that the room lights are turned on. The flashlight is still being turned on and off, but is no longer noticeable because it has been 'masked'. "

Here’s my baseball analogy for white noise: imagine the dark room is Ranger fans, the flashlight is real information researched and reported by the likes of MLB.com, ESPN Dallas, The Star-Telegram and the Dallas Morning News. The room lights are sports talk radio, forums, fan run websites and yes, blogs like this. The real information, the flashlight, is no longer noticeable because it is being masked by the room lights of self-appointed pontificators on the air and on the web.

I bring this up because I read a comment from one of the real media today that mentioned a fan based forum as the reason he reported a specific piece of information. Since when did a website fan forum become more important than what the general public wants to know? I’ve long suspected that responding to white noise is becoming more important than reporting concrete information - today once again confirmed my suspicions.

What is a baseball fan supposed to believe?

Please understand that not all blogs and fan run websites are white noise. There are excellent sites that add to the “flashlight” of discussion – people like Grant Schiller, Jamey Newberg and the boys at Baseball Time In Arlington work hard to bring thoughtful analysis as well as other features (like Grant’s many interviews) to the ‘net. The one thing all these sites have in common is that they keep the incendiary commentary to a minimum, if at all. Unfortunately, they too are often drowned out by the other Ranger fan “white noise”.

When I first discovered Ranger cyber-fandom back in the late 1990’s I actively participated in several forums – it was great fun, the give and take was thought provoking – in some cases I was persuaded to change my mind. But much like the political tone of the last few years, nearly all of the online Ranger forums have devolved into standoff’s, shouting matches – a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing. As for sports talk radio – that is the original white noise and the loudest. Do any of those stations do any real investigative reporting? Moreover, do any of their show hosts actually attend the sporting events they discuss so flippantly? It seems that the only contribution of sports talk radio has made is to turn their own non-fact- based-speculation into something resembling news, and of course, adding to the volume of the white noise by fanning the flame of “hot sports” opinions as gospel.

Which brings me to this blog. I’ve been worried for quite a while now that I am just helping turn up the meter on the white noise to 11. Maybe I am, no let me change that to: I am pretty sure I’m doing that. I don’t think fans should be silenced, for many of us the visceral experience of baseball is a welcome relief from the pressures of daily living. But It seems there are so many voices talking and so few listening that there are times – most notably last season – that I thought about giving up this blog.

I am not a reporter, I don’t have access to the “inside story” (I have never figured out why some people think because I know Jamey Newberg that I do – trust me I don’t – I’m just another fan in the stands reading his reports like everyone else). Lord knows I’ll never have the analytical skills that Jamey and Grant have.

So after all of this navel gazing, what conclusion have I reached? Well, as Jeff Goldblum said in the Big Chill - “I don't know anyone who could get through the day without two or three juicy rationalizations”. (If you don’t remember the rest of quote – rent the movie)

Here’s my juicy rationalization: One of the friends who encouraged me to start this blog told me to write what I see and what I think – I have tried to do that. I have a passion for the game of baseball, and especially for this Texas Rangers team. More importantly, I love writing. I was a communications major in college, I thought I was going have some kind of career writing – I was wrong. For a long time I put that part of me in a box under the bed and pretended that I didn’t care – until the combination of modern technology, long buried aptitude and my love of baseball intersected one afternoon on the Dallas Morning News forum 12 years ago. Selfishly, I don’t want to give this up, and I won’t (at least not this season).

What I will do is make this promise to the 5 or 6 people who do read my piece of “white noise”:

-- I will do my best not to write a knee-jerk opinion. I will try to put a little thought, and more importantly back my opinions up with something salient – like stats, or a plausible theory – never “just because I'm right and you're wrong”

-- One thing I’ve never done, and will continue to avoid is name calling. Nothing bothers me more than I when I talk to a fellow fan who christens an athlete with a derogatory nickname (99% of the time originated by some local sports talk show host). Some players aren’t as talented or as good as others– that doesn’t make them worthy of that kind of treatment, and I have resorted to reminding that the least talented player on the Rangers is probably 100 times more of an athlete than the one bestowing the condemnation.

-- I will try to refrain from bombast (unless there is October baseball in Arlington)

 I will continue to write what I see and what I think and I’ll try to keep the white noise to a low hum.

Back to baseball next week – Marla Hooch

.

Here Comes The Sun

George Harrison sang: “it’s been a long, cold, lonely winter”.

However, George also said in that same song: “I feel that ice is slowly melting. Little darling, it feels like years since it’s been clear. Here comes the sun…”

When the sun rises over the desert in Surprise Arizona, we Ranger fans will shake off the remmants of the 12 inches of snow from last week Thursday and walk with a bit more “spring” in our step today as the season of hope begins.

Happy Pitchers and Catchers Day everyone – Marla Hooch










P.S. Still miss you George …