Tom Delay never ceases to amaze me.........
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=politicsNews&storyID=2005-07-28T004909Z_01_N27400684_RTRIDST_0_POLITICS-ENERGY-CONGRESS-DELAY-DC.XML
I'm waiting to comment on the potential Sori trade until I hear more news. Right now it appears to be about 50/50 proposition about whether Sori remains in a Ranger uniform after the trade deadline this Sunday, July 31st. If a deal gets done, it looks like the Mets are the most likely trade partner with the Twins probably having an outside chance. The Mets seem to have the most to offer as far as the Rangers are concerned. Lastings Milledge/Mike Cameron/young pitching prospect (Petit or Heilma) for Sori and A Gonzalez sounds good to me. Stay tuned......
And for the record, I would HATE to see Sori leave Arlington but if we can get a guy like Mike Cameron combined with one of the best prospects in baseball AND a pitching prospect, I think you have to pull the trigger on that deal.
Big D
Thursday, July 28, 2005
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
Sori Talk
It has been quite awhile since my last update. Despite some minor newsworthy event, I really have not felt the need to update this puppy the last couple weeks. One thing I'd like to discuss is the increasingly likely scenario of Alfonso Soriano getting dealt out of Texas.
More to come later.........
More to come later.........
Thursday, July 14, 2005
The Tigaaaaa and a Darn Good Fight
This weekend actually proved to be worthwhile as we got to see yet another great performance by Tiger Woods at the Old Course and win his 2nd british open and 10th major. To go along with that, we also got to see the first good boxing fight (I don't see many) that I can remember in a long time. Thanks to our kind host (Jay Hills and I guess Riley and Sands), we were able to have the stereotypical guy Saturday night (if Gadoci and Worthy hadn't ignored the memo about no chicks). Nothing like beer, boxing, and a bunch of dudes hanging out on a Saturday.
You all who couldn't make it that night need not worry because we freaked the girls out enough that they decided to hang out on the back porch for much of the night. Special recognition to Marcus "chump ass" Walther aka Bin Laden with that beard he is sporting. He casually decided to stroll in around the 9th round. You deserved whatever ridicule you got that night my friend.
We can also sleep easier now that Cuyler has covered his bet that Tiger would win 2 majors this year. Whatever Tiger was looking for these past few years, he has definitely found it and then some. Granted, Tiger may never win at the % that he did during his magical run in 2000, but the guy gears himself for majors now. And I really see nobody stopping him until passes Jack somewhere around the time he turns 40 (or 2016).
That's all I got for now. I would review Wedding Crashers but Fraser has already beaten me to the punch on his blog. So check his review out.......
You all who couldn't make it that night need not worry because we freaked the girls out enough that they decided to hang out on the back porch for much of the night. Special recognition to Marcus "chump ass" Walther aka Bin Laden with that beard he is sporting. He casually decided to stroll in around the 9th round. You deserved whatever ridicule you got that night my friend.
We can also sleep easier now that Cuyler has covered his bet that Tiger would win 2 majors this year. Whatever Tiger was looking for these past few years, he has definitely found it and then some. Granted, Tiger may never win at the % that he did during his magical run in 2000, but the guy gears himself for majors now. And I really see nobody stopping him until passes Jack somewhere around the time he turns 40 (or 2016).
That's all I got for now. I would review Wedding Crashers but Fraser has already beaten me to the punch on his blog. So check his review out.......
Harden DOMINATES Rangers; Mantle review
First of all, I was watching TXCN or Texas CAble News while "surfing" channels, and apparently it rained like a mo-fo in Houston today. Big time flooding. It was pretty insane. So I hope all you houston readers (probably just Glover) made it out OK.
With that said, the day after the slowest day sports day of the year and we are starting to see light at the end of the tunnel. Football season is fast approaching and it is a very good time to be a sports fan.
A's top Rangers 6-0, but it gets worse:
Unfotunately, out in Oakland, the Rangers got damn close to having Rich Harden throw a perfect game against them. 2 singles (all we got was 2 god darn hits) by Sori and Dellucci were the only thing stopping Harden from throwing a perfect game. He only needed 81 pitches to throw a 2 hitter with no walks. Pretty incredible. I'm as much a ranger homer as anyone, and I don't like the way this thing is heading. I hope we make a deal or something. Because it is looking like the team in its current form probably isn't going to catch Anaheim. And the wildcard is an even bigger pipe dream and with the Yanks/Orioles/Red Sox/Indians/Twins all probably more likely to win the wild card then the rangers. However, if Hart can swing a deal that nets a decent right fielder and/or a starting pitching option (yea right in this market), then the Rangers might have a prayer.
On a brighter note, I got to check out the HBO documentary/biography on Mickey Mantle, and it was really a moving story that everyone should check out if you at all are interested in our parents' generation hero worship of Mantle. It also touches on his bad alochol problem and how he really was a poor father for a variety of different reasons.
As much bashing as I heard by those blowhards on "the Ticket's" http://www.theticket.com/ shows today, Mantle really was a fascinating person regardless of your interest in sports. He was one of the few athletes to transcend sport and actually became part of American (mostly-white) culture. For all of his great flaws in his personal life, Mantle was the best position player during the 50s and 60s outside of maybe Willie Mays. Of course, being white and playing for the yankees didn't hurt either. Mantle actually won 7 world series and played on 12 world series teams with the Yanks. He hit 536 HRs and probably would have been closer to 6 or 7 hundred if he hadn't had such bad luck with his body both on and off the field.
The show has a lot of interviews with the usual (Costas and Billy Crystal) and not so usual suspects (Ed Harris??? and Richard Lewis). One of the more poignant portions of this show were the stories by Billy Martin's son about Mickey and his father during their time with the Yankees. I can only imagine the boozing Mickey, Billy Martin (who also tragically died about 150 yards from his own driveway in upstate new york coming home from a bar Christmas Day in 1989), and Whitey Ford did in NYC and all over the country during their playing days. It must have been a hell of a ride hanging out with Frank Sinatra and others.
One of the creepier portions of the show was Ed Harris reciting a poem that he wrote about Mickey when he was 10. It was cute and scary at the same time.
I think Mantle may have been the last true sports American hero for our parent's generation. Maybe Jack Nicklaus or Arnold Palmer could argue, but Mantle's passing definitely affected a lot of the people born in 30s, 40s and 50s. Mantle had the charisma despite his off the field problems not being known to the American public. It does bring up an interesting point that Mantle probably never would have reached his near-mythical status if he played in today's media environment. Back then, players could keep their private lives away from the press as long as you were winning. Much like the Cowboys shenanigans of the early 90s under Jimmy, Mantle and his buddies could get away with whatever they wanted as long as they were winning. But unlike the Cowboys escapades being widely known, Mantle was able to avoid public scrutiny despite playing in the largest media market in the country for the best known team in professional sports.
It also shows that there may never be another hero like Mantle who actually made you feel like he was one of us out there on the field. Because athletes are so over-exposed by today's in your face coverage from the time athletes are very young, you don't feel the personal connection with today's athletes. Even Jordan no matter how great he was on the court never really let the American public into his personal life. Regardless of how many books were written about him, Jordan never let people get to close to him. And when you stop to think about, maybe that's not such a bad thing.
Mantle was so beloved that it was almost impossible for him to assimilate back into society when he retired. It's not hard to understand the demons Mickey faced when he realized his playing days were over. At least Mantle at the end of his life realized how foolish he had been throughout his life, and he let the American public know he had screwed up as a father. He has to deserve some credit for owning up to his mistakes to the public.
I think that Mantle really defines a hero in every sense of the word. Heros are human and Mickey Mantle was most definitely human....
Anyways, check out the program sometime will ya.
With that said, the day after the slowest day sports day of the year and we are starting to see light at the end of the tunnel. Football season is fast approaching and it is a very good time to be a sports fan.
A's top Rangers 6-0, but it gets worse:
Unfotunately, out in Oakland, the Rangers got damn close to having Rich Harden throw a perfect game against them. 2 singles (all we got was 2 god darn hits) by Sori and Dellucci were the only thing stopping Harden from throwing a perfect game. He only needed 81 pitches to throw a 2 hitter with no walks. Pretty incredible. I'm as much a ranger homer as anyone, and I don't like the way this thing is heading. I hope we make a deal or something. Because it is looking like the team in its current form probably isn't going to catch Anaheim. And the wildcard is an even bigger pipe dream and with the Yanks/Orioles/Red Sox/Indians/Twins all probably more likely to win the wild card then the rangers. However, if Hart can swing a deal that nets a decent right fielder and/or a starting pitching option (yea right in this market), then the Rangers might have a prayer.
On a brighter note, I got to check out the HBO documentary/biography on Mickey Mantle, and it was really a moving story that everyone should check out if you at all are interested in our parents' generation hero worship of Mantle. It also touches on his bad alochol problem and how he really was a poor father for a variety of different reasons.
As much bashing as I heard by those blowhards on "the Ticket's" http://www.theticket.com/ shows today, Mantle really was a fascinating person regardless of your interest in sports. He was one of the few athletes to transcend sport and actually became part of American (mostly-white) culture. For all of his great flaws in his personal life, Mantle was the best position player during the 50s and 60s outside of maybe Willie Mays. Of course, being white and playing for the yankees didn't hurt either. Mantle actually won 7 world series and played on 12 world series teams with the Yanks. He hit 536 HRs and probably would have been closer to 6 or 7 hundred if he hadn't had such bad luck with his body both on and off the field.
The show has a lot of interviews with the usual (Costas and Billy Crystal) and not so usual suspects (Ed Harris??? and Richard Lewis). One of the more poignant portions of this show were the stories by Billy Martin's son about Mickey and his father during their time with the Yankees. I can only imagine the boozing Mickey, Billy Martin (who also tragically died about 150 yards from his own driveway in upstate new york coming home from a bar Christmas Day in 1989), and Whitey Ford did in NYC and all over the country during their playing days. It must have been a hell of a ride hanging out with Frank Sinatra and others.
One of the creepier portions of the show was Ed Harris reciting a poem that he wrote about Mickey when he was 10. It was cute and scary at the same time.
I think Mantle may have been the last true sports American hero for our parent's generation. Maybe Jack Nicklaus or Arnold Palmer could argue, but Mantle's passing definitely affected a lot of the people born in 30s, 40s and 50s. Mantle had the charisma despite his off the field problems not being known to the American public. It does bring up an interesting point that Mantle probably never would have reached his near-mythical status if he played in today's media environment. Back then, players could keep their private lives away from the press as long as you were winning. Much like the Cowboys shenanigans of the early 90s under Jimmy, Mantle and his buddies could get away with whatever they wanted as long as they were winning. But unlike the Cowboys escapades being widely known, Mantle was able to avoid public scrutiny despite playing in the largest media market in the country for the best known team in professional sports.
It also shows that there may never be another hero like Mantle who actually made you feel like he was one of us out there on the field. Because athletes are so over-exposed by today's in your face coverage from the time athletes are very young, you don't feel the personal connection with today's athletes. Even Jordan no matter how great he was on the court never really let the American public into his personal life. Regardless of how many books were written about him, Jordan never let people get to close to him. And when you stop to think about, maybe that's not such a bad thing.
Mantle was so beloved that it was almost impossible for him to assimilate back into society when he retired. It's not hard to understand the demons Mickey faced when he realized his playing days were over. At least Mantle at the end of his life realized how foolish he had been throughout his life, and he let the American public know he had screwed up as a father. He has to deserve some credit for owning up to his mistakes to the public.
I think that Mantle really defines a hero in every sense of the word. Heros are human and Mickey Mantle was most definitely human....
Anyways, check out the program sometime will ya.
Sunday, July 10, 2005
Entourage -- Taking the leap? and of course a little Rangers sweep!
As my too short of weekend winds down, I thought I'd take a little time to discuss the happenings or most notable things of the weekend in my little world, the Rangers sweep of the Blue Jays and tonight's entourage.
I really though tonight's show was transecendent or however you say that word. I have been a pretty consistent watcher of Entourage since it first came on last year, but tonight's show was the first time that I really felt like I HAVE to watch this show every week. As much as I like Jeremy Piven and his Ari character tonight's show really had me wanting more.... Not sure if anyone else has noticed but during my time with Shane INgraham's brother I defintitely saw some Turtle like aspirations. Don't recall if he was an x-box player or not. Just a thought....
And another thing, Rome looks to be pretty bad ass show too. HBO can do no wrong right now well maybe that Lisa Kudrow show, who knows.
As for the RAngers, I watched them off and on all weekend, and I have to say they are peeking my interest. I knows it's easy to want to throw in the towel on this team (Kenny Rogers incident most notably -- thank god I was in Europe during that meltdown), but damnit they sure are a fun team to follow. Despite the local media's best efforts to bury this team, they just are doing enough to stick around. They after all, are only 5 games back at the break. Certainly not an insourmantable task. And sure Maybe John Hart might not make a move this year, but as long as we stay the course with our farm system this team is just going to get better. We have Blalock and Young locked up for a long time. Tex will hopefully soon be there. Screw Boras, Tex should fire his ass and then sign a huge freaking contract. That would be a statement by Hicks to show Boras who is in charge out in Arlington. No one player is bigger than an organization and star players now realize it. Sooner or later, Tex will realize that and hopefully Boras will go away. Either way, the rangers arms have never seen a brighter future.
D-Diamond, V-Volquez, D-Danks are all very much for real. Talk already is that Volquez may be up in the 2nd half rotation, which seems possible considering he's 21, a pedro clone (just wait till you see him on the mound), and throws mid-90s with a plus curve. DAnks is going to be front-line starter, at worst will be a #2 or #e guy and at his top end could be a #1. And he is the one thing the RAngers haven't had in a lonnnngggg time, a power lefty in the starting rotation. But if Volquez or Danks doesn't become the #1 guy, Diamond is probably the best bet to be a true "ace" in the sense of the word. Diamond dominated at Div. I-A college ball at UNO (New Orleans) and has dominated at all levels of minor league ball so far http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/thomas_diamond.shtml). It's really not a matter of if Diamond gets called up to the rotation, but when. Most likely to start the '06 season and worse case by next year's all star break. He is 22 after all. His time is coming. Just think about how poor are starting pitching looked during the late 9os and I feel damn lucky to see the starting pitching luck start to go our way.
Of course, health is always a concern but just think about a rotation like the following:
Chris Young/Ric Rodridguez/Volquez/Danks/Diamond. We can win a world series with that rotation. It has that much potential.
It is John Hart's job to stay the course and not be swayed by whims offered by the media. We build around Michael Young, Blalock, Soriano (YES Soriano bashers come from far and wide any time the guy makes a mistake), and Teixeira. The rest of the positions need to be considered.
Catcher is a work in progress. Buck is going with Barajas until he breaks down or performance gets really bad. I expect Laird to start in '06 and I'm ready for that position to get settled and hopefully Laird will be the answer. Teagarden backing up isn't a bad proposition very soon either.
Left field is locked down by Mench until further notice.
Center is still a position of concern but there are some potential takers of CF talent in a trade(Preston Wilson, Matt Lawton come to mind quickly). I think Nix is a good option until Hart deems it necessary to go after a big name guy. I don't want to give up too much that's for sure. Because Preston Willson carries a big $$$ price and Lawton is a notorious poor 2nd half guy. I still wouldn't mind rolling the dice on Lawton. Because the guy seems like a gamer to me, has a good OBP for a leadoff hitter and he could be the extra oomph this lineup needs. Just a thought, because I love Nix's approach and defensive ability. Just a little worried about his bat right now.
Right Field is a situation in flux but that's a good thing because good rightfields are not hard to come by. I expect us to make a move for a more permanent solution in right this offseason. For now, Hidalgo/GMJ monster will have to continue until further notice. Sinisi is a guy to watch for the '06 and '07 seasons.
DH seems like a pretty simple situation. Dellucci for the next year or so and Botts should be at least platooning by '06. Maybe even later this season. I have seen Botts in person and the dude reminds me of a switch hitting richie sexson. But I think he has better bat coverage than sexson. Things are definitely optimistic at DH.
The bullpen has a pretty good ancher with Coco until further notice. The setup position is a little rocky but options are emerging, Dominguez and Loe seem like the most logical answers now. Orel and Buck will have to continue to work to find answers. Bullpens across MLB are melting down at epic levels.
So sit back over the next 76 games (86 already played) and see what happens. The most logical trade option is finding a right-handed bat on the cheap. That is the easiest way to help this team and not give up much to do it. Stay tuned. And stop knee-jerking every decision. Thank you DAllas media for really continuing to pretty much suck.
I really though tonight's show was transecendent or however you say that word. I have been a pretty consistent watcher of Entourage since it first came on last year, but tonight's show was the first time that I really felt like I HAVE to watch this show every week. As much as I like Jeremy Piven and his Ari character tonight's show really had me wanting more.... Not sure if anyone else has noticed but during my time with Shane INgraham's brother I defintitely saw some Turtle like aspirations. Don't recall if he was an x-box player or not. Just a thought....
And another thing, Rome looks to be pretty bad ass show too. HBO can do no wrong right now well maybe that Lisa Kudrow show, who knows.
As for the RAngers, I watched them off and on all weekend, and I have to say they are peeking my interest. I knows it's easy to want to throw in the towel on this team (Kenny Rogers incident most notably -- thank god I was in Europe during that meltdown), but damnit they sure are a fun team to follow. Despite the local media's best efforts to bury this team, they just are doing enough to stick around. They after all, are only 5 games back at the break. Certainly not an insourmantable task. And sure Maybe John Hart might not make a move this year, but as long as we stay the course with our farm system this team is just going to get better. We have Blalock and Young locked up for a long time. Tex will hopefully soon be there. Screw Boras, Tex should fire his ass and then sign a huge freaking contract. That would be a statement by Hicks to show Boras who is in charge out in Arlington. No one player is bigger than an organization and star players now realize it. Sooner or later, Tex will realize that and hopefully Boras will go away. Either way, the rangers arms have never seen a brighter future.
D-Diamond, V-Volquez, D-Danks are all very much for real. Talk already is that Volquez may be up in the 2nd half rotation, which seems possible considering he's 21, a pedro clone (just wait till you see him on the mound), and throws mid-90s with a plus curve. DAnks is going to be front-line starter, at worst will be a #2 or #e guy and at his top end could be a #1. And he is the one thing the RAngers haven't had in a lonnnngggg time, a power lefty in the starting rotation. But if Volquez or Danks doesn't become the #1 guy, Diamond is probably the best bet to be a true "ace" in the sense of the word. Diamond dominated at Div. I-A college ball at UNO (New Orleans) and has dominated at all levels of minor league ball so far http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/thomas_diamond.shtml). It's really not a matter of if Diamond gets called up to the rotation, but when. Most likely to start the '06 season and worse case by next year's all star break. He is 22 after all. His time is coming. Just think about how poor are starting pitching looked during the late 9os and I feel damn lucky to see the starting pitching luck start to go our way.
Of course, health is always a concern but just think about a rotation like the following:
Chris Young/Ric Rodridguez/Volquez/Danks/Diamond. We can win a world series with that rotation. It has that much potential.
It is John Hart's job to stay the course and not be swayed by whims offered by the media. We build around Michael Young, Blalock, Soriano (YES Soriano bashers come from far and wide any time the guy makes a mistake), and Teixeira. The rest of the positions need to be considered.
Catcher is a work in progress. Buck is going with Barajas until he breaks down or performance gets really bad. I expect Laird to start in '06 and I'm ready for that position to get settled and hopefully Laird will be the answer. Teagarden backing up isn't a bad proposition very soon either.
Left field is locked down by Mench until further notice.
Center is still a position of concern but there are some potential takers of CF talent in a trade(Preston Wilson, Matt Lawton come to mind quickly). I think Nix is a good option until Hart deems it necessary to go after a big name guy. I don't want to give up too much that's for sure. Because Preston Willson carries a big $$$ price and Lawton is a notorious poor 2nd half guy. I still wouldn't mind rolling the dice on Lawton. Because the guy seems like a gamer to me, has a good OBP for a leadoff hitter and he could be the extra oomph this lineup needs. Just a thought, because I love Nix's approach and defensive ability. Just a little worried about his bat right now.
Right Field is a situation in flux but that's a good thing because good rightfields are not hard to come by. I expect us to make a move for a more permanent solution in right this offseason. For now, Hidalgo/GMJ monster will have to continue until further notice. Sinisi is a guy to watch for the '06 and '07 seasons.
DH seems like a pretty simple situation. Dellucci for the next year or so and Botts should be at least platooning by '06. Maybe even later this season. I have seen Botts in person and the dude reminds me of a switch hitting richie sexson. But I think he has better bat coverage than sexson. Things are definitely optimistic at DH.
The bullpen has a pretty good ancher with Coco until further notice. The setup position is a little rocky but options are emerging, Dominguez and Loe seem like the most logical answers now. Orel and Buck will have to continue to work to find answers. Bullpens across MLB are melting down at epic levels.
So sit back over the next 76 games (86 already played) and see what happens. The most logical trade option is finding a right-handed bat on the cheap. That is the easiest way to help this team and not give up much to do it. Stay tuned. And stop knee-jerking every decision. Thank you DAllas media for really continuing to pretty much suck.
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