The Dog Ate My Homework

It's one of the oldest excuses in the world - the problem is that I don't have a dog and I haven't done homework for at least two decades - but somehow "the dog ate my keyboard" sounded even worse (and I couldn't find a cute picture to illustrate it). I'm working from behind in the count, just ask the nineteen people to whom I owe e-mails.

The Battle of April: as I write this blog during the rain delay the Rangers are a .500 team, comfortably ensconced in second place in the AL West. I suppose that means we can all rest easy – the worst that can happen is they’ll lose the next two games which would put them at 10-12, by far their best April since the 2004 season, which apparently means that the season is a success in the front office’s opinion, why worry about the other 140 games?

Deal or No Deal: I’ve been reading the articles about Tom Hicks financial predicament, and I have to say I’m not surprised. This is the owner who said to his hockey fan base that they “unfortunately” won the Stanley Cup in 1999. Think about it: he’s offering 49% of his teams for sale. So what he’s saying is: please invest a huge amount of money in these teams, but you really won’t have any say in how the franchises are operated, or the decisions that are made or even in choosing my successor when I retire since I still control the majority of shares. Now explain to me why any right thinking businessman would want to do that? Seems kind of apparent why Mr. Hicks hasn’t found a buyer, or why he’s in so much trouble in the first place. He’d be better off asking Congress for some bailout money. If he would offer exactly 50% I’m pretty sure he’d find more than a few willing investors, and in the end the Rangers/Stars might wind up with the best part of the deal since he’d have a partner who could reign in Mr. Hicks – which is something that’s needed to be done for a long time.

Good Things Happen, Bad Things Happen: Let me start by saying I would still rather see Derek Holland in the OKC boxscores starting every fifth day. However, I was pleased to read the managers remarks on how he is going to going to handle Derek’s workload. But I still refuse to join the chorus of Holland Hype. Ask me at the end of the 2010 season.

Catch as Catch Can: I think I’ve written this before: Ranger fans have been spoiled by the org’s very good luck with producing very skilled defensive catchers who also had some offensive talent. Which means it is time for me to admit to believing in what some fans would consider heresy – defense is a bit overrated. Well, not overrated, but there is nothing wrong with having an average defensive catcher. The reason I’m babbling on about this is that I am throwing my support behind Salty as the Rangers catcher for the next few years. Salty is younger that Teagarden, apparently his defensive skill admittedly are work in progress, but appear to be getting better. Jarrod is a switch hitter – who by the way has been hitting .298 since July 1st of 2008 through today. As far as pitchers preferring to throw to Taylor Teagarden because he supposedly calls a better game: the 1996, 1998 and 1999 championship Ranger teams made it to the post-season with a catcher who supposedly was terrible at calling games. Good pitchers know how to pitch no matter who is receiving behind the plate. If what we read this past winter is true quite a few teams covet Teagarden. If I were Jon Daniels (and thank goodness I’m not) I’d have Taylor Teagarden playing every day at OKC – building up his reputation (and trade value) as well as proving he can stay healthy for an entire season.

"Dōmo arigatō, Mr. Roboto": Did you watch the season (could be series ) finale of “Chuck” on Monday? Then the opening line of this paragraph should make perfect sense to you. Chances are that yet another of my season passes on TIVO will be deleted soon, “Chuck” is on the bubble and that bubble is losing air according to the ratings. Aside from the fact that the show is amusing (Casey’s catalogue of grunts, Jeffster, everyone at the Buy More and “Awesome”) the producers of the show have achieved a minor miracle: they’ve opened my stuck in the 70’s taste to some terrific new music that I’ve actually downloaded to my IPod. Here's the link to the show's music page.

Finally: Winning in April is nice, but it’s a long way off from September. I’ll take good battle for a playoff spot in September over a few skirmishes for a W in April any time.

Praise the Lord and pass the pine tar – Marla Hooch
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Frisco's Tommy Hunter Puts His Game Face On

Burning Questions

Why haven’t you posted the game reports you promised last week?

The two games I attended were the Frisco Roughriders opener on Thursday 4/16 – they lost 11-9 to Springfield and Saturday’s Rangers game against the Royals that they lost. Thursday’s game was kind of ugly, Saturday’s game was heartbreaking – I wasn’t inclined to write about either game. I am going to Monday night’s game at Frisco, no matter what the outcome there will be a game report and pictures from that game and the two previous.

What did you think of Ron Washington’s decision to pull Michael Young and send up Omar Vizquel with the bases loaded?

Every time Ron finds himself in the position to make a game changing decision, he needs to stop and ask himself: What would Johnny Oates have done?


Do you think if the Rangers continue to struggle in April that Ron Washington will be fired?

Let’s remember that all baseball managers, coaches and GM’s are hired to be fired.
There are very, very few that ride off into the sunset on a white horse waving their hats goodbye. The majority wind up sitting uncomfortably at a table with TV lights glaring answering questions while trying to contain their feelings of resentment/sadness/humiliation/anger and whatever else for the guy sitting next to him (who just fired him) while experiencing one of the low points of their career on a very public stage. Think about this kids: if you’ve been laid off or ever worse fired, how you would you like a pack of nosy co-workers standing at you desk while you are cleaning it out asking what you think you did wrong and how you feel about the organization that just let you go and broadcasting to everyone in the company.

Back to the question – do I think he’ll be fired under those circumstances – probably. It appears that he made it through last year’s April debacle because Mr. Ryan hadn’t been in his new position in the organization long enough to feel comfortable making that call. This year it’s different, Nolan is more familiar and comfortable in his role and expectations are different (a little too high in my opinion) But that may be a moot point -at least until Tuesday since Texas is back in second place again after today’s win.

Do you think firing Ron Washington is right thing to do?

Nope.

Unless a manager is truly incompetent, outright combative with players and management , or committing a crime there is no reason to fire a manager during the season . I don’t think Ron Washington is any of those things. The thing I don’t like about Washington is that he doesn’t seem to have learned much the last two seasons. He still makes strange decisions (see last Friday’s Michael Young situation), his team doesn’t appear to play solid fundamental baseball . I’m not talking about defense I’m talking about mental mistakes: on the basepaths, making ill-advised throws instead of making the routine play, not working the counts, – all those “little things” –(I’m not talking about “small ball”) that true contenders do well every day in every game. I don’ t really care about a happy clubhouse – any baseball fan knows that winning teams have chemistry and a great atmosphere – while losing clubs will point fingers at a poor clubhouse atmosphere and blame that on the manager instead of their own poor performances.

Additionally, firing a manager in mid-season, in my mind reflects badly on the ownership and the GM. They had an entire off season to decide if the manager/coaching staff was doing what they wanted. These people don’t miraculously change before they show up at next year’s spring training – they are the same staff lead the team to a great/or miserable/or mediocre season. Yes, I know that most mid-season managerial changes are just a symbolic gesture to the fans and the media “hey at least we’re doing something”. Just once, I’d love an GM to get up in front of press conference and tell the truth: “We can’t fire the players whose performance has been absolutely terrible and put the team in this position – so instead we’re firing the one guy whose contract we can control – even though he’s not the one who pitched poorly, or couldn’t get a base hit with runners in scoring position.” Now do I think Ron Washington should be let go at the end of the 2009 season – maybe. If I were Jon Daniels I’d certainly start looking around to see if there are any better options out there, and I kind of think there are.

Who do you blame?

I’m not playing the blame game. However, I do think it’s interesting that, as always, the hitting coach has his Teflon uniform on and the new pitching coach seems to have one too – wasn’t Mike Maddux hailed by some as the best acquisition the Rangers made this offseason? I’m not impressed – so far.

What’s next for Derek Holland?

Scrutiny.

The Rangers just couldn’t help themselves could they? I don ‘t buy the line that putting him in the bullpen is a “pressure free” move. The way this kid has been billed – if he struggles at all (and he will) it will make him a lightening rod for criticism and second guessing that he doesn’t deserve. I do think working him out of the bullpen is a good idea – just not at this stage of the season. You won’t read any glowing adjectives, or depressed disappointment or thinly stretched justifications about Derek on this blog. Phil Donahue has a great philosophy of life that I’m going to apply to all of Derek’s innings with the big league team: “Good Things Happen, Bad Things Happen”.

Where can I watch the Mariner’s commercials you mentioned last time.

Thanks to Mr. Schmenge for the link to this year’s and the past 4 seasons commercials (listed by year on the left hand side)

Finally – what is your take on this Rangers team?

Here's my answer:

• the much loved 2004 Rangers were 6-7 on April 19th on their way to a 13-9 April record
• the less than loveable 2006 Rangers were 7-11 on April 19th on their way to a 13-12 April record
• the 2008 edition of this team was 7-11 on April 19th on their way to a 10-18 April record.
  

There are ten games left in April, and if you can tell me which edition of the Rangers (2004, 2006 or 2008) this year’s team most resembles, please let me know, because I have absolutely no idea.

With more questions than answers – Marla Hooch

Proverbial

uważaj pierwsze owoce zawsze bugów
(loosely translated: ‘be careful first fruit always has bugs”)
-- Sophia Urzykowski

I don’t know if my great-grandmother was a baseball fan, but the quote above was one of her favorite proverbs still used by her granddaughter, (my Baseball Mom), that applies to the first week of this Rangers baseball season.

For those who were planning on buying playoff tickets after the first three games, hold on to your wallets – and for those who are already writing this team off as “new season – same old Rangers” after the Detroit series – I advise that you put your pessimism back in the drawer too. We all know baseball is a game of stats, so let me point this out to both sides of the argument: six games is about 3.75% of the entire season. Let’s wait and see what happens. Although I’ll admit I’m concerned about the bullpen – especially the middle relief which did force me to put Maalox on my shopping list this week.

Random Thoughts: I think Jim Reeves nailed it with his column on Matt Harrison this morning … Is Andruw Jones still with the team?...If you really want to place blame for the poor road trip it would be the equipment manager who said no Red Uniforms on the road – the lesson here is don’t tempt the Baseball gods… I really don’t like this year’s crop of Rangers commercials. It seems like they are trying to recapture the aura of the “Molly” commercials of the 1990’s – but in this case imitation is not flattery, it’s just plain flat. I loved last year’s commercials, if you can’t do humor well (and the Rangers haven’t in the past few years) then go with the kind of theme they used last season. If they really want comedy in their commericals, then find out who produces the Mariner’s commercials – they are truly funny…Have to give props to my pal Scott Lucas for his 4/11 Minor League Report – all Todd Rundgren references are greatly appreciated especially when they are used in reference to the “Lizard” … I never voted for the man – but I have to give the former owner/president compliments for his broadcast visits during the opening day game – the comment about Elvis Andrus's command of English (“his is better than mine”) was priceless.

Finally –They are back! Game reports and pictures staring this week: the home opener at Frisco and the Hooch Entourage trip for Red Out Saturday vs The Royals at the Ballpark.


“Nie ma tego złego co by na dobre nie wyszlo”
(sometimes bad things turn out to be good for you) -- Marla Hooch

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That Game We Love

I was watching one of my favorite “guilty pleasure” movies: 1996’s “That Thing You Do” when this particular scene struck me as the perfect metaphor for the 2009 Rangers team.

The Wonders are on are tour for Playtone Records in spite of a disastrous audition – their manager Mr. White (Tom Hanks) offers some straightforward advice before their first state fair performance, prompting this response from guitarist Lenny Haise (Steve Zahn).

Mr. White: “It’s very important you don’t stink today.”

Lenny: “I make no guarantees.”

Yes, I am overjoyed that ownership has finally discovered that buying instant success in baseball is no more stable than a credit default swap. However, Rangers fans don’t need to be reminded that it has been ten years since there was meaningful baseball in Arlington (sorry 2004 doesn’t count for much in my book).

GM Jon Daniels is walking a fine line between continuing to implement a plan for building from within and keeping the local fans interested enough to keep supporting the team. Fortunately, he can point to the success of the Tampa Bay Rays as a model for his “plan” , unfortunately there’s that silver monstrosity looming over the southwest side of the Ballpark parking lots as a reminder of how far behind the Rangers are in currying favor with fans through championships.

I support “the plan” and I hope the most loyal Rangers fan do too. But whether we like it or not, the Rangers have to show some kind of step forward this season to keep everyone else interested (and shut up Randy Galloway). As always it all depends on the pitching and as Lenny said “I make no guarantees”.

Let’s give the Rangers credit for trying to help out the fans in these tough economic times: I love the fact that local wags will drone on and on about everything they think is wrong with the Rangers, but not one single writer or talk show host pointed out the fact that the Rangers “fan value” has them placed as the fifth cheapest out of 30 major league teams. This article in Startlegram business section is where you’d find that information, as well as all of the price breaks the Rangers are offering. I know I’m going to have to be more conservative with what I spend on major league tickets this season – and I’m really liking that Friday night discount on tickets and parking.

Looking forward to: the return of Red uniforms. Don’t kid yourself, baseball is a sport full superstitions, and the fact that three division championships were won wearing red is not lost on the baseball gods. The red uniforms of the ‘90s were a little less bold than the red tops Texas will wear this year. I seem to remember similar red uniform tops from the Rangers during the Buddy Bell era of the 1980’s that someone (maybe Doug Rader) said made them look like blood clots running around the bases.

Remaining wary of: Andruw Jones and Nelson Cruz. I’m not sold on either, might be persuaded to change my mind on Nelson…but not yet.

Have high hopes for: Jason Jennings – maybe building up his innings in the bullpen will help build his stamina, refine his pitches and turn him back into an effective starting pitcher.

Let’s turn it down a notch: I am an enthusiastic supporter of the minor leagues. I see more minor league games than major league games. The Rangers have some good solid pitching prospects on the horizon – the key phrase is on the horizon. The Achilles Heel of Jon Daniels plan is that the pitching prospects are well behind the quickly maturing offensive prospects. That’s not necessarily a slam on JD – developing pitching has been a Rangers failing for the 30 years I’ve been a Rangers fan. I am worried about the build up the likes of Neftali Feliz and especially Derek Holland are receiving. They are both very nice prospects – but when I read that Holland should be replacing Brandon McCarthy in the rotation by May I feel the hyperbole is going a bit too far.

Here’s something worth pondering: I did some research on left handed pitchers. I took the lefties with the best ERA over the last five seasons and looked at how many innings they pitched in the minor leagues before their first major league call-up.

• Jon Lester: 393 IP


• Tom Glavine: 368 IP


• Eric Bedard: 311 IP


• Cliff Lee: 299 2/3 IP


• Johan Santana: 294 IP


• CC Sabathia: 232 2/3 IP


• Mark Buehrle: 217 1/3 IP


• Cole Hamels: 201 IP


• Barry Zito: 170 IP

Right now Derek Holland has 217 2/3 IP in the minors.

There are only three pitchers on that list who had fewer IP before they came up to the majors. Barry Zito came out of major college program which does add more IP's. If anyone is putting Holland in the same category as Hamels – then I don’t trust their judgment. That leaves only Buehrle – he’s a good pitcher, but he’ s only one out seven whose had a successful career with less than about 300 IP in the minor leagues before going to the majors.

I would like to see Derek and Neftali get some major league experience this year, and I am sincerely hoping that they will be pitching with a Rangers team that is very competitive in the AL West but not until late July or even August.

Reading the tea leaves: I’m predicting an 81-81 finish for second place in a very weak AL West. I know that’s only three games better than last season, but I do think the defense will be significantly better and I hope the pitching will be better too. If the pitching is signficantly better - all predictions are null and void. Any wins over 81 are a gift to be savored.

Finally: a few words from Tom Boswell written almost thirty years ago that remain timeless in their sentiment.

“Baseball isn’t necessarily an escape from reality, though it can be; it’s merely one of our many refuges within the real where we try to create a sense of order on our own terms. Born to an age where horror has become commonplace, where tragedy has, by its monotonous repetition, become a parody of sorrow, we need to fence off a few parks, where humans try to be fair, where skill has some hope of reward, where absurdity has a harder time than usual getting a ticket”

--- “Why Time Begins On Opening Day”

It’s time to start watching that game we love.

Happy Opening Day everyone. Go Rangers! – Marla Hooch

P.S. Ballpark photo courtesy of the always entertaining Scott Lucas
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Spring Cleaning

Cleaning off my desk, emptying my suitcase, deleting a few shows from my TIVO and downloading the Spring Training pictures from the camera while waiting for a new season of ranting, raving and rambling about the great game.

Let's clear up a few last thoughts before we put on our game face:

Here and Back: I spent a very short but productive three days in Surprise last weekend. Came back with these impressions: maybe, just maybe Brandon McCarthy has a chance to make a contribution to the rotation…Elvis Andrus can play a little defense, and speaking of defense I don’t know about the infield, but after watching the plethora of Ranger OF’s I feel pretty good about all of the guys who’ll be tracking down fly balls this year…Chris Davis had 6 hits (in 8 AB’s) with 4 RBI and 2 HR’s while I was in Arizona – coincidence? I think not – Chris might want to hire me…I did get to see plenty of minor league pitching –Derek Holland, Kasey Kiker, Jacob Brigham and Tim Murphy (I was very impressed with Murphy and Brigham’s outings) … the Mariners minor leaguers don’t wear names on their uniforms – and I need to find out who #34 on their “A” squad was from the March 28th game – he could be some serious competition in a few years based on the way he pitched that day… I saw Justin Smoak taking BP, Engle Beltre hit a HR, Jason Hart coach first base and Steve Buchele coaching at third…met up with many good old friends and made a few new ones...found out the venerable Jim Reeves is a fellow “Life on Mars” fan (more on that later) … and was reminded that parking is a serious business. The parking lot attendants at the stadium are members of the Sundancers – a large group of volunteer retirees who work at the stadium. When you drive into the parking lot it’s like landing on an aircraft carrier: there a lots of grey haired guys in panama hats with flags and cones pointing you to the spot where you must park – God forbid you try to park in any other place than the one they’ve designated for you. Thinking about them still makes me smile.

Here's are the links to my Spring Training pictures:

Minor Leaguers and Former Minor Leaguers (now known as Major Leaguers)

I have a new camera that has lots of bells and whistles I haven't quite figured out yet. The one feature I have mastered is "continous shooting" - that gave me the delightful opportunity to capture an entire sequence of the pitching motions, here are the links for:

RHP Jacob Brigham - LHP Tim Murphy and LHP Kaskey Kiker

Leaving and Staying: Well, it’s over. The last episode of “Life On Mars” aired last night. It was terrific, up until the last five minutes. I was a little disappointed in the ending. If you know anything about the BBC version of the show – their finale was a shock – I was hoping for something as good. But I should have known better: it’s American network TV which means original, unique and edgy aren’t allowed – it had to have an “happy” ending – and it did – although I did love the very last shot of Gene’s white buck stepping out on the planet (“Life on Mars” – sort of clever). There are several good articles online today about the show: the New York Daily News uses "Life on Mars" as comparison between US and BBC TV series. The British shows are often created for a finite number of episodes that seems to produce a different creative process and much more interesting stories. Certainly it leads to less convoluted story lines than most long running US television shows that often lose track of their characters and become repetitious. This review from Salon.com is probably the best summation of the show, especially the music – which is why I’m listening to Elton John on the IPod as I type this. Another aside: I love the Salon author's swipe at the HBO series that glorified the vapid and shallow. By the way: I really hope Jason O’Mara winds up in another series – because I am smitten. I have no idea what will be replacing “Life on Mars” on ABC –probably just another reality show or mushy drama about lawyers in love. That is one less season pass on my TIVO – however, the good news this week is that “Friday Nights Lights” has been renewed for two more short (thirteen) episode seasons. Thankfully, NBC is allowing just a little bit of innovation: the high school kids (Tyra, Riggins, Lyla and Matt) have all graduated – and new cast of characters will populate the Dillon High Schools next season with Eric and Tami Taylor.

I don’t spend all my time watching television: I occasionally spend time a book or find few things to read online too. Just finished “The Yankee Years” by Tom Verducci and Joe Torre – it wasn’t as good as I had hoped. Instead of being a true autobiography, it was Tom Verducci gushing on about the Yankees with commentary by Torre. I will say that Joe has secured his spot in heaven after enduring George Stienbrenner – and Torre was really very evenhanded with his reminiscences of “the boss”. The book I did like- it was long but worth it was Arthur Schlesinger’s"Journals: 1952 – 2000" – for a geeky history nut like me it was a great read. I am now starting on some Japanese travel books in preparation for my trip next month to Sapporo – the home of Ramen noodles. You might also want to read this very nice piece and make a contribution in the comments section (it won't be difficult to figure out which one is mine).

Opening day is almost here.


88 hours and 30 minutes until the first pitch --- Marla Hooch

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