Hey! I have returned. And back on the job of observing this insane world.
I've been on a little pleasure jaunt down to Texas. Family, baseball, good food, great music concert, old friend Frank Vicari--we go back to the 5th grade--who graciously put Stu and me up at his place for two nights in Dallas. What could be finer than all that? The Arcade Fire concert was dynamite, the biggest adventure trying to find a place to eat "on the way." We ended up at a literal trailer cookery called "Pollo Regio," where the pollo was muy bueno, but the general appointments and atmosphere left something to be desired. But the music was great, even though it was a really long trek from car to venue, which was a huge outdoor amphitheater called the 360. Susan and I had to ride a rickshaw bike and we rode the parking lot shuttle back. I really was bothered by the fact that walking any distance bothered the hell out of my left leg. I'm hoping it's still post-op stuff going on--one of the aneurisms was in the artery feeding the left leg--but I don't know. Whenever there's anything like this, you're always thinking: "Uh oh, are we going into permanent deterioration mode on this part of the body now?"
Wonderful time at the ballpark. Cousin Christine who took marvelous care of me on Sunday got to see her team, the Astros, beat the Rangers on Saturday, 6-5 in 10 innings. The game the night before, which went 12 innings and ended in a 1-0 Ranger win was a classic. Great game. Christine wanted me to meet her Aunt Kathryn and Uncle George on her mom's side. Actually Aunt Kathryn and I had met at her sister Leah's wedding who knows how many eons ago. But it was a real hoot. I think we sat there nearly two hours just having laughs and great conversation.
A lot more: the joy of spending time with two of my kids. My dear Susan. Always Susan. I even enjoyed the Amtrak train from Ft. Worth back here to Norman. A comfortable and reasonably on-time ride.
Showing posts with label Texas Rangers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Texas Rangers. Show all posts
Monday, April 14, 2014
Saturday, September 28, 2013
Go Rangers!
Finally, in the last week of the season, I got down to Arlington to watch a couple of baseball games. I had thought when I bought the tickets weeks ago that Ranger fans would be basking in the glow of a post-season appearance in which our chances of taking it all would be good. Fast forward to last Thursday night, September 26, when the Rangers were hosting the first of a four-game series against the Los Angeles Angels, one game out of a chance to get into the post-season playoffs behind the Tampa Bay Rays and Cleveland Indians. Texas has to win virtually all of its remaining games to have a chance at all.
The night before the Rangers had beaten the hapless Houston Astros, sweeping the 3-game series. The Angels are another story. They were looking to be spoilers, and all Ranger fans had good reason to bear them a special animus. For two former Rangers stalwarts, pitcher C.J. Wilson and outfielder Josh Hamilton, had gone for the money and signed fat contracts with these hated rivals in the AL Western Division.
I'm going to make a long story short. (You can follow the play by play in the link below.) It was a great baseball game. The Rangers came back to tie the game, surviving an inning in which they committed four errors, and then go ahead by a run . . . which they promptly gave back at the top of the very next frame. The game was tied going into the bottom of the ninth inning. Texas sent a pinch-hitter, Jurickson Profar, to the plate, and on a 1-1 count, he blasted the ball deep into the right-field stands. The crowd, as they say, went nuts. There is no sweeter treat in the game than a walk-off win. This was one of the best games I've ever seen. It was worth the wait. So the Rangers are still alive, even as I type this. They have won six in a row at this point, and we're now at the last game of the season. They have pulled into a tie for the playoff spot with Tampa. Fingers crossed all around.
Boxscore and play-by-play of this glorious game is here.
The night before the Rangers had beaten the hapless Houston Astros, sweeping the 3-game series. The Angels are another story. They were looking to be spoilers, and all Ranger fans had good reason to bear them a special animus. For two former Rangers stalwarts, pitcher C.J. Wilson and outfielder Josh Hamilton, had gone for the money and signed fat contracts with these hated rivals in the AL Western Division.
I'm going to make a long story short. (You can follow the play by play in the link below.) It was a great baseball game. The Rangers came back to tie the game, surviving an inning in which they committed four errors, and then go ahead by a run . . . which they promptly gave back at the top of the very next frame. The game was tied going into the bottom of the ninth inning. Texas sent a pinch-hitter, Jurickson Profar, to the plate, and on a 1-1 count, he blasted the ball deep into the right-field stands. The crowd, as they say, went nuts. There is no sweeter treat in the game than a walk-off win. This was one of the best games I've ever seen. It was worth the wait. So the Rangers are still alive, even as I type this. They have won six in a row at this point, and we're now at the last game of the season. They have pulled into a tie for the playoff spot with Tampa. Fingers crossed all around.
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| Jurickson Profar hitting his 9th inning walk-off home run to beat the Angels |
Saturday, September 7, 2013
A Measure of Disgust
My protracted silence of late is a measure of my utter disgust with the course of events in Syria. Or rather what our president's reaction to it has been. Where do I start with a bill of particulars? Here is a guy who for reasons not at all clear to me other than he gave "peaceful" campaign speeches was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, putting him in the same company with Ghandi and Martin Luther King. How can it be? Here's a man who's killed how many civilians with drone strikes? Who killed American citizens in the same way with no due process even considered. Who has yet to get us out of Afghanistan, and who now proposes that the U.S. launch strikes on the Syrian regime as punishment for using chemical weapons on their internal enemies, many of whom are the very jihadists we despise and fear. A man who has presided over the most horrific intrusion of into our privacy by NSA over the past several years, simply carrying on the policies of that crazy man George Bush and enhancing them.
This guy cannot be trusted. The last thing on earth the American people should be doing is even contemplating the idea of getting involved in another conflict in the Middle East? Are you crazy? I trust that Congress will soundly tell Obama that they don't approve of this proposal. Indeed, they would only be reflecting, for once, the will of the majority of the American people, who want no part of this madness.
This guy cannot be trusted. The last thing on earth the American people should be doing is even contemplating the idea of getting involved in another conflict in the Middle East? Are you crazy? I trust that Congress will soundly tell Obama that they don't approve of this proposal. Indeed, they would only be reflecting, for once, the will of the majority of the American people, who want no part of this madness.
Thursday, August 22, 2013
If You Can't Say Anything Good . . .
So they say if you can't say anything good, you shouldn't be saying anything at all. It appears that that's been the case since I've gotten back from Florida, which now seems like it was a long time ago. But in fact this been very little good news since my return. (Aside from the wonderful winning ways of the Texas Rangers lately.) But rather than say nothing at all, let me just give you a few short bullets about what's happened in the past week – all the good news:
- The Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan has leaked another 300 tons of radioactive water into the soil. You will not believe how much radioactive water has been released into the ocean and into the ground there since the 2011 tsunami. It is staggering. Scientists don't really know what the long-term effects of this is, but – surprise! – They are concerned about marine life. Check out this article.
- A military judge has sentenced Pfc. Bradley Manning to 35 years in prison for leaking classified information. Manning is a whistleblower, he's not a traitor, he's not a criminal. It used to be that whistleblowing was adjudged an honorable thing to do. We are a long way from that in paranoid America today where terrorism and terrorists are everywhere.
- Along with the security state apparatus, which is everywhere. We just found out that NSA "accidentally" collected the email communications – or was it Internet transactions? – of over 50,000 Americans who had no connection whatever to terrorism. Does anybody really believe these people at NSA or in the White House when they say anything at all about this domestic spying and how they've got it under control now? I don't.
- Another crazy rube, admittedly "off his meds" with a gun in an elementary school. This time in Atlanta. Some brave soul in the school actually managed to talk him out of killing anybody, so nobody was hurt. But don't you worry: some idiot perfectly protected by the laws that the NRA has stifled will succeed in blowing a bunch of innocent people away with a gun in the not-too-distant future. There is no safer bet in America.
- The Syrian government has killed hundreds of its own people with poison gas near Damascus. The USA Today this morning had a picture of about 25 dead bodies laid out on sheets, and most of them, or I should say all of them, were kids. There's something so repulsive about this so repugnant to human decency, that it puts a serious question to my pacifism. The last thing I want is for the United States to get involved in punching the Middle Eastern tar baby again, but the moral dilemma presented by something like this is almost insoluble.
- Closer to home in the little city of Duncan, Oklahoma, three teenagers shot and killed a 22-year old Australian baseball player who was jogging near his girlfriend's home. They were bored and just decided to kill somebody, one of the thugs explained. They did it "for fun." Does this really need any commentary? It was a .22 caliber handgun. Story here.
Friday, November 25, 2011
Quoting Kuntsler
The dust is finally settling, and I do hope I don't have to hit the road again till next year. I'm tired of traveling, tired of airplanes, airports, highways, and living out of a suitcase. We got back from Louisiana last Sunday. Our son Stu arrived about an hour before us, and he just left this morning after an all-too-short visit.
It's catch up time in a bunch of arenas, not the least of which is re-energizing this blog; I've been pretty spotty over the past week or so. And then there's all the blogs that have to be read . . . friends and relatives and my regulars. Of course, there's no way on God's green earth I keep up with all the blogs I dip into. There are few I read religiously, very few. James Kuntsler's "Clusterfuck Nation" is one of the exceptions to this rule (off the top of my head, I can think of only one other: "Baseball Time in Arlington" about the Rangers). Kuntsler and Matt Taibbi are writers who employ what I'd call the slashing style. No pussyfooting around with language niceties or foggy expression of their beliefs. And so Kuntsler begins his piece at the beginning of this month thus:
His outrage at the Penn State sex scandal is near boundless. He begins "Rudderless" like this:
No, Kuntsler's not happy. He's angry and disgusted. Who can say these are unwarranted emotions?
It's catch up time in a bunch of arenas, not the least of which is re-energizing this blog; I've been pretty spotty over the past week or so. And then there's all the blogs that have to be read . . . friends and relatives and my regulars. Of course, there's no way on God's green earth I keep up with all the blogs I dip into. There are few I read religiously, very few. James Kuntsler's "Clusterfuck Nation" is one of the exceptions to this rule (off the top of my head, I can think of only one other: "Baseball Time in Arlington" about the Rangers). Kuntsler and Matt Taibbi are writers who employ what I'd call the slashing style. No pussyfooting around with language niceties or foggy expression of their beliefs. And so Kuntsler begins his piece at the beginning of this month thus:
Portents of winter and the toothless chatter of flag-draped traitors vies with a fog of lies spread by Koch Brother messenger boys, Reagan nostalgia hucksters, suck-ups in office, Murdoch empire servlings, Banker PR catamites, and Jesus terrorists to occupy the national mind-space with a narcotic Jell-O of half-formed wish fulfillment scams. The nation is hostage to a confederacy of racketeers. Banking. Big Pharma. The Higher Ed / Loan nexus. GMO agri-biz. Fast food. Mandatory motoring. You name it. What a disgrace we are, and the worst of us are the least to know that.Is there a clearer expression of the calamity that is our current state of affairs than "hostage to a confederacy of racketeers?" Is there a stronger expression of condemnation of what we've become than "disgrace"?
His outrage at the Penn State sex scandal is near boundless. He begins "Rudderless" like this:
The Penn State football sex scandal, and the depraved response of the university community at all levels, tells whatever you need to know about the spiritual condition of this floundering, rudderless, republic and its ignoble culture.Correctly, trenchantly he interprets the hideous affair as a metaphor for America. And he's right on. He's revolted by every aspect of the scandal: "The intersection of America's fake warrior culture of football with the nation's fake moral and ethical culture is instructive. It has many levels . . . " from the cover-up by the university higher-ups to "the pretense that college football is a character-building endeavor." From "the phony 'prayer' session held in the Penn State stadium just before Saturday's 'big game' with the University of Nebraska" to the student demonstrations of support for Paterno and the football program to cable news wall-to-wall coverage of this event while several other earth-shaking events like the European debt crisis hardly got mentioned.
No, Kuntsler's not happy. He's angry and disgusted. Who can say these are unwarranted emotions?
Friday, October 28, 2011
It's Over
My beloved Texas Rangers lost the seventh game of the World Series tonight by a score of 6-2. What more is there to say?
Thursday, October 27, 2011
There Are Not Words . . .
. . . to express the horror, the rage, the crushing disappointment of watching the baseball team that you have given your heart to for over a quarter century get within one strike of winning the World Series twice and then go on to lose the game in the bottom of the 11th inning to a weaker team, a team that but for a series of miracles would not even be in the World Series. I cannot find the words for the feeling that gives you. The best commentary on the game from the Texas Ranger point of view is at BBTIA with the accompanying comments from shattered Ranger fans.
Here is an email exchange I had with one of my very best friends. We jumped through all the doctorate hoops at LSU together. He's a true baseball fan, and a true friend. He understands.
Here is an email exchange I had with one of my very best friends. We jumped through all the doctorate hoops at LSU together. He's a true baseball fan, and a true friend. He understands.
Bro,Have been out of pocket several days—just back from the Southern [Historical Association convention]. Of course, your name came up on several occasions, especially after the painful loss in the World Series. If there has ever been a more painful loss in the World Series, I don’t know when it was. Marius and I were going to turn in at decent hour (we were in Baltimore on Eastern Time) but got hooked about the middle of Game 6. We ran into a number of stunned Texans at the conference. I felt for you, bro
George, you are one of the truest of friends to understand the unbelievable hurt. There are not words to describe the crushing disappointment, the devastation. Baseball is the cruelest of sports. Bart Giamatti said the game was designed to break your heart. How utterly right he was. Of course, there are myriad explanations, all in retrospect, as to what might have been done in game 6 to avert disaster, but the ballplayers say they just "didn't get it done." That's as good a place to leave it as any.Box score and play-by-play are here.
Save this one observation: Ranger pitching, except for a few shining exceptions, just went south for most of this Series. As for the loss of the whole thing, I don't think there's a baseball team out there that could have recovered from game 6. Like I told my similarly saddened sons: this is like a wake service that never gets over. I don't think I can recover till next April, and maybe not even then.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
God Awful!
Yes, I am a grown man. An educated man. A man of some culture. A man who entertains serious thoughts on a fairly regular basis. A man who published commercially: books, poems, other writings of all kinds. A man who prides himself on being rational and having the ability to separate wheat from chaff.
All of the above, but I have to tell you, against all reason and despite all these protestations, I am completely and utterly distraught over what happened tonight to the Texas Rangers in their own ballpark in the third game of the World Series. The were crushed by the St Louis Cardinals 16-7 (when it's that bad, it's humiliation, not just defeat). Ranger pitching sucked, their defense sucked (3 errors, all costly). The bats were acceptable, but they could have been golden in this game and it would not have mattered. The team played a really lousy game. They were God awful. It got so bad I turned the game off before it was over. Almost an unimaginable act.
I'm just sick. And really berating myself inwardly for being so attached to a damn baseball team. There are some pretty famous essays about this game that speak to this aspect of it, how it causes you to die a little, how it breaks your heart. I could write such a thing myself right now.
Play-by-play and box score are here. See also here for NY Times account.
All of the above, but I have to tell you, against all reason and despite all these protestations, I am completely and utterly distraught over what happened tonight to the Texas Rangers in their own ballpark in the third game of the World Series. The were crushed by the St Louis Cardinals 16-7 (when it's that bad, it's humiliation, not just defeat). Ranger pitching sucked, their defense sucked (3 errors, all costly). The bats were acceptable, but they could have been golden in this game and it would not have mattered. The team played a really lousy game. They were God awful. It got so bad I turned the game off before it was over. Almost an unimaginable act.
I'm just sick. And really berating myself inwardly for being so attached to a damn baseball team. There are some pretty famous essays about this game that speak to this aspect of it, how it causes you to die a little, how it breaks your heart. I could write such a thing myself right now.
Play-by-play and box score are here. See also here for NY Times account.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Tidbits
Gleaned from various spots on the Web today:
- The OWS (Occupy Wall Street) movement is gaining steam. (Can there be the slightest doubt that this avenue for the mass of aggrieved to protest the present state of affairs will be seized by them? To wit: the gross inequity of our system and the drones at all levels of government who seems to consider it their job to keep things that way.
- Writer Taylor Clark argues in Slate that The Strokes' Is This It is the best album of the past decade. "Is This It" was a decade-defining record that set the agenda for how rock sounded and even looked throughout the aughts." Naturally, a bizillion people will disagree, some vehemently, but that's what the nature of these sorts of pronouncements are all about. BTW, I have the album and think it's really good, but I would have to study the question more deeply to be definitive about the best of the decade.
- Also debate going on today in Slate whether too many kids go to college. I vote yes.
- Tomorrow the magical, mystical iCloud descends upon us, for good or ill. Pretty long piece on the Atlantic website argues it will be ill.
- Washington has benched Mitch Moreland tonight for the playoff game in Detroit. Michael Young will be at first, Nap DH, and Torrealba catching.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Did You Think I Was Gone?
Well, as a matter of fact, I was gone. I forgot to mention that I had to give a talk to the Louisville Civil War Round Table. I did that on Saturday evening, but we went over there on Friday and did not come back till Sunday. Add to those days, last Wednesday and Thursday, when I should have done blog entries and that will get you to right here.
I've got a lot on my mind. Here are some of the things, in no particular order: This whole Occupy Wall Street movement. Listen I'm all for these people on the streets. I am not naive enough or starry-eyed enough to think these freelance, free form demonstrations against the perfidious forces of greed that are eating the middle class up and have already pretty well destroyed the others is going to alter any of these forces. But I think the course of events is trending inevitably to more people on the streets, but I think it increasingly likely that they are going to be really pissed off people, not like the green tea and crumpet types who are politely trying to alert the country to a substantial body of opinion out here in the hinterlands that hates the banks and are doing a slow burn the more Wall Street flips them the bird.
In this regard, a recent entry from The Reformed Broker's blog is instructive:
You want to know why everyone in this country hates you and wants you dead, you big stupid fucking bank?
Here's why, pay attention:
Actually there's too much on my mind to talk about it all here. But I cannot close without observing that the Texas Rangers are up on Detroit 2 games to none in the American League Championship series. Today's game was made in heaven. A really tense eleven innings with Texas winning on a walk-off grand slam home run by Nellie Cruz. Awesome! Recap, box score, video, pix: all right here. Go Rangers!
I've got a lot on my mind. Here are some of the things, in no particular order: This whole Occupy Wall Street movement. Listen I'm all for these people on the streets. I am not naive enough or starry-eyed enough to think these freelance, free form demonstrations against the perfidious forces of greed that are eating the middle class up and have already pretty well destroyed the others is going to alter any of these forces. But I think the course of events is trending inevitably to more people on the streets, but I think it increasingly likely that they are going to be really pissed off people, not like the green tea and crumpet types who are politely trying to alert the country to a substantial body of opinion out here in the hinterlands that hates the banks and are doing a slow burn the more Wall Street flips them the bird.
In this regard, a recent entry from The Reformed Broker's blog is instructive:
You want to know why everyone in this country hates you and wants you dead, you big stupid fucking bank?
Here's why, pay attention:
(Reuters) – Bank of America Corp will pay $11 million to ousted executives Joe Price and Sallie Krawcheck, a large payout at a time when banks face protests over pay but smaller than the eight-figure packages some executives received before the financial crisis.
Krawcheck -- a former Citigroup Inc executive who came to Bank of America in 2009 and was one of the top-ranking women on Wall Street -- will receive a one-time payment of $5.15 million, according to separation agreements filed by the bank on Friday.
Price, a Bank of America veteran, gets $4.15 million. Each will also receive $850,000 over a one-year period.
Price was head of consumer banking and Krawcheck led wealth and investment operations.Don't know how long the suffering people of United States are going to put up with this kind of idiocy.
Actually there's too much on my mind to talk about it all here. But I cannot close without observing that the Texas Rangers are up on Detroit 2 games to none in the American League Championship series. Today's game was made in heaven. A really tense eleven innings with Texas winning on a walk-off grand slam home run by Nellie Cruz. Awesome! Recap, box score, video, pix: all right here. Go Rangers!
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
I'm So Sorry
Most Exciting Day in Baseball History
This is one of those nights when I'm so sorry for all those people out there who are not baseball fans. For this night brought to a close the 2011 season with an incredible array of games. I don't think I've ever seen a single season last day packed with so much drama. The division winners in all six divisions had been decided. But the wild card teams, the fourth team to get into the playoffs in each league, had not. One of the amazing things about this year is that the wild card spot at the beginning of September looked like it was no contest at all. Boston Red Sox and Atlanta Braves were both ahead of the immediate trailing team (Tampa Bay Rays and St Louis Cardinals, respectively) by about 9 games. This is like a horse being 9-10 lengths ahead down the stretch. In short, it's a huge lead. But, wonder of wonders, both those teams lost out on the final day of the season. The collapse of both these teams during September was epochal.
Boston and Atlanta collapses
Nobody knew who were the wild cards till the last minute. For the Rays to get in, Boston had to lose to Baltimore, a weak team. They did, but how they did was amazing. Boston went into the bottom of the 9th inning in Baltimore leading 3-2. And then they gave up two runs with nobody on and two outs. Amazing! (Box score and play-by-play)
And the Rays themselves had to beat the accursed New York Yankees. By the eighth inning in St Petersburg, it appeared this was a forlorn hope indeed. The Rays were down by 7 runs, 7-0. But here comes the miracle: the Rays score 6 runs in the bottom of the 8th. Trailing by a run in the bottom of the 9th, with two out, they tie the game on a home run by a guy named Dan Johnson. Who? This guy is a journeyman ballplayer, one of the worst hitters in baseball. He hit .119 for the year. Hit two homers, counting this one. Had an on-base percentage of .187. These are miserable numbers, trust me. He hits the ball out to tie and game goes into extra innings. Tampa goes on to win the game in the bottom of the 12th inning on a homer by a guy who had already hit one in the game. Box score and play-by-play of the game.
In the other league, St Louis had to win and Atlanta had to lose. St Louis, playing against the Houston Astros, the worst team in baseball, won handily. Everything depends on the Atlanta game, and Atlanta is leading by a run in the top of the 9th. But they cannot hold the lead against the best team in baseball, the Philadelphia Phillies. Their game goes into extra innings and the Braves lose it by a run in the 13th inning. Box score and play-by-play of the game.
Wow! I am just out of superlatives. I am so pumped for the post-season. Go Rangers! (who won a close one tonight and secured home field advantage for the beginning of the American League Divisional Series).
This is one of those nights when I'm so sorry for all those people out there who are not baseball fans. For this night brought to a close the 2011 season with an incredible array of games. I don't think I've ever seen a single season last day packed with so much drama. The division winners in all six divisions had been decided. But the wild card teams, the fourth team to get into the playoffs in each league, had not. One of the amazing things about this year is that the wild card spot at the beginning of September looked like it was no contest at all. Boston Red Sox and Atlanta Braves were both ahead of the immediate trailing team (Tampa Bay Rays and St Louis Cardinals, respectively) by about 9 games. This is like a horse being 9-10 lengths ahead down the stretch. In short, it's a huge lead. But, wonder of wonders, both those teams lost out on the final day of the season. The collapse of both these teams during September was epochal.
Boston and Atlanta collapses
Nobody knew who were the wild cards till the last minute. For the Rays to get in, Boston had to lose to Baltimore, a weak team. They did, but how they did was amazing. Boston went into the bottom of the 9th inning in Baltimore leading 3-2. And then they gave up two runs with nobody on and two outs. Amazing! (Box score and play-by-play)
And the Rays themselves had to beat the accursed New York Yankees. By the eighth inning in St Petersburg, it appeared this was a forlorn hope indeed. The Rays were down by 7 runs, 7-0. But here comes the miracle: the Rays score 6 runs in the bottom of the 8th. Trailing by a run in the bottom of the 9th, with two out, they tie the game on a home run by a guy named Dan Johnson. Who? This guy is a journeyman ballplayer, one of the worst hitters in baseball. He hit .119 for the year. Hit two homers, counting this one. Had an on-base percentage of .187. These are miserable numbers, trust me. He hits the ball out to tie and game goes into extra innings. Tampa goes on to win the game in the bottom of the 12th inning on a homer by a guy who had already hit one in the game. Box score and play-by-play of the game.
In the other league, St Louis had to win and Atlanta had to lose. St Louis, playing against the Houston Astros, the worst team in baseball, won handily. Everything depends on the Atlanta game, and Atlanta is leading by a run in the top of the 9th. But they cannot hold the lead against the best team in baseball, the Philadelphia Phillies. Their game goes into extra innings and the Braves lose it by a run in the 13th inning. Box score and play-by-play of the game.
Wow! I am just out of superlatives. I am so pumped for the post-season. Go Rangers! (who won a close one tonight and secured home field advantage for the beginning of the American League Divisional Series).
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Sorry . . .
. . . for those of you who are not baseball fans. This is a post about baseball. Just back from watching the LSU Tigers tear up the Ducks of Oregon, a much trumpeted offensive power (supposedly), on Saturday, I settled in to watch the final game of the three-game series between my Texas Rangers and the Boston Red Sox, a team with a powerhouse lineup, who barring some kind of miracle, will make the American League playoffs.
It was a highly satisfying win. Not only did the Texas starter Matt Harrison pitch very well, but the Ranger bats continued to pound the ball. With this win, Texas also takes the 10-game season series from the Red Sox, 6 games to 4. You can find the box score and play-by-play here. Texas maintained a slim 2-0 lead going into the 6th inning. At that point the roof fell in on Boston. The Rangers sent hitters to the plate and scored 7 runs on 5 hits and 4 walks. The big blow was a three-run triple by Josh Hamilton.
It's highly likely that the Rangers and Red Sox will meet in the playoffs next month. If this is an indication of how Texas will fare, I'm more than ready. And this year I'll be in town to see all the games. Not like last year when I was out of the country in Europe and missed the division series altogether.
UPDATE I: A friend of mine pointed out this engaging NYT book review of the reissue of the one of the best baseball novels ever written, Robert Coover's The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop. I've never run into a true baseball fan who hasn't read this book.
It was a highly satisfying win. Not only did the Texas starter Matt Harrison pitch very well, but the Ranger bats continued to pound the ball. With this win, Texas also takes the 10-game season series from the Red Sox, 6 games to 4. You can find the box score and play-by-play here. Texas maintained a slim 2-0 lead going into the 6th inning. At that point the roof fell in on Boston. The Rangers sent hitters to the plate and scored 7 runs on 5 hits and 4 walks. The big blow was a three-run triple by Josh Hamilton.
It's highly likely that the Rangers and Red Sox will meet in the playoffs next month. If this is an indication of how Texas will fare, I'm more than ready. And this year I'll be in town to see all the games. Not like last year when I was out of the country in Europe and missed the division series altogether.
UPDATE I: A friend of mine pointed out this engaging NYT book review of the reissue of the one of the best baseball novels ever written, Robert Coover's The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop. I've never run into a true baseball fan who hasn't read this book.
Monday, August 22, 2011
And so . . .
. . . another week begins. I wish I could say I have a raft of good news to report.
Some might consider the fact that Gadhafi's rule in Libya is coming to a close some good news (here's a challenge: what's the right way to spell this guy's name? I have seen about four different ways.), but I will reserve judgment on that until we see what that gumbo of elements that toppled him will do now that they're in power. These rebels don't have any model to go by. Gaddafi has ruled that country as dictator for over 40 years. Governmental institutions will have to be built almost from scratch.
The Martin Luther King memorial opened on the Washington DC mall. I don't know about you, but I think the thing is ugly. I suppose there's an argument to be made by portraying him as a 90-ton colossus, but I think the argument for understatement is stronger. This is an Ozymandias figure.
James Kuntsler reminds us in his usual acerbic fashion that nobody out there, especially politicians "can really articulate the direction in which history is propelling us. This 'recession-depression' narrative doesn't even adequately capture it. This is the end of a certain way of doing things - the industrial growth-spurt fiesta. We're in permanent contraction now." I have to agree with him when he avers that "History is not your therapist. This is the New Age you never expected." Right. We have no idea where we're going. About all we do know is we don't want to go there.
My fantasy baseball team, the Creaky Geezers, have gone into a weeks-long swoon after leading the league for most of the season. I lost three top starters, all of them of the do-not-trade type to the DL at the same time. Two are still there, probably till the beginning of September. This happened when the starting pitching stopped producing wins and quality starts. So with home runs, hits, RBIs plummeting as well, the team has sunk to 8th in the 10-team league. This, to be honest, really pisses me off because now I'm viewing the asses of some really dog teams.
On the other hand, the real life Rangers took the first game of a four-game series from the Boston Red Sox 4-0 behind strong pitching by C.J. Wilson. They still lead the AL West by 4 games. Baseball keeps me sane.
Some might consider the fact that Gadhafi's rule in Libya is coming to a close some good news (here's a challenge: what's the right way to spell this guy's name? I have seen about four different ways.), but I will reserve judgment on that until we see what that gumbo of elements that toppled him will do now that they're in power. These rebels don't have any model to go by. Gaddafi has ruled that country as dictator for over 40 years. Governmental institutions will have to be built almost from scratch.
| Would MLK have liked this memorial to him? Not if he had any artistic sensibilities, I'll bet. |
James Kuntsler reminds us in his usual acerbic fashion that nobody out there, especially politicians "can really articulate the direction in which history is propelling us. This 'recession-depression' narrative doesn't even adequately capture it. This is the end of a certain way of doing things - the industrial growth-spurt fiesta. We're in permanent contraction now." I have to agree with him when he avers that "History is not your therapist. This is the New Age you never expected." Right. We have no idea where we're going. About all we do know is we don't want to go there.
My fantasy baseball team, the Creaky Geezers, have gone into a weeks-long swoon after leading the league for most of the season. I lost three top starters, all of them of the do-not-trade type to the DL at the same time. Two are still there, probably till the beginning of September. This happened when the starting pitching stopped producing wins and quality starts. So with home runs, hits, RBIs plummeting as well, the team has sunk to 8th in the 10-team league. This, to be honest, really pisses me off because now I'm viewing the asses of some really dog teams.
On the other hand, the real life Rangers took the first game of a four-game series from the Boston Red Sox 4-0 behind strong pitching by C.J. Wilson. They still lead the AL West by 4 games. Baseball keeps me sane.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Believe It or Not, Bad Things Can Happen at Ballparks
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| Fans react after Shannon Stone's fall over the railing in left field at Ranger Ballpark in Arlington. The little boy in the red Ranger hat and red shirt is his son Cooper |
It wasn't until this morning when I picked up the USA Today that I discovered to my horror that during the game a fan named Shannon Stone, a fireman who was there with his six-year-old son, had been killed by a fall from the stands in left field. My God, what a tragedy! I think of all the times I drove with my boys down to Arlington to watch the Rangers. It was, and is, a father-son ritual for millions of dads. Stone had reached out for a ball tossed into the stands by Ranger left-fielder Josh Hamilton. The incident has been a searing experience for Hamilton, who normally does not toss balls into the stands. But he responded to Shannon Stone's request in the first inning when he saw him there with his son. So in the second when a foul ricocheted to Hamilton, he tossed it to Stone. It was a little short. The man caught the ball and flipped over the railing, falling to the concrete 20 feet below. Hamilton says he can still hear the little boy screaming for his dad. (See this article as well.)
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Disgusted
Oh, there's a lot going on in the world. New York passes a gay marriage bill. And I read that we taxpayers are paying more for air conditioning the troops in Afghanistan & Iraq than we are for the entire NASA budget. (Are you frigging kidding me??) Just roll that one around in your head for a second or two. Does it give you a headache? All kinds of other stuff happening, too.
But what's really on my mind right now is the drubbing the Texas Rangers have taken over the last four games they have played. The team looks like crap of late. (I have noted before how one's feeling of well-being and contentment if one is a baseball fan is directly proportional to the fortunes of your team.) All at home. And against a couple of chump teams: the Houston Astros and the New York Mets. The Rangers managed to win 1 of these games. It was my painful experience to watch two of these games. The last game of Houston series, game 1 in this stretch of 4, the Rangers blew in the top of the 9th inning. The closer, Nephtali Feliz, has a meltdown and gives up 4 runs. And the last game of the 3-game series against the Mets today was just a horror show. Mets little dribbly-ass hits rolling through the infield. At least three atrocious calls by three different umps, all of which cost Texas runs. Sloppy defense. I don't even want to talk about it anymore.
Just one more thing. I wonder what kind of penalties are attached for ballplayers to say that the umps made some awful calls? Both Ron Washington, Ranger manager, and Derrick Holland, the Ranger pitcher, refused to say anything about the awful umpiring. Is it about later retaliation? Hell, Washington got tossed out of the game. Anybody watching knew what he thought of the calls.
Here's the article that got me to thinking along these lines. The whole damn thing was disgusting.
But what's really on my mind right now is the drubbing the Texas Rangers have taken over the last four games they have played. The team looks like crap of late. (I have noted before how one's feeling of well-being and contentment if one is a baseball fan is directly proportional to the fortunes of your team.) All at home. And against a couple of chump teams: the Houston Astros and the New York Mets. The Rangers managed to win 1 of these games. It was my painful experience to watch two of these games. The last game of Houston series, game 1 in this stretch of 4, the Rangers blew in the top of the 9th inning. The closer, Nephtali Feliz, has a meltdown and gives up 4 runs. And the last game of the 3-game series against the Mets today was just a horror show. Mets little dribbly-ass hits rolling through the infield. At least three atrocious calls by three different umps, all of which cost Texas runs. Sloppy defense. I don't even want to talk about it anymore.
Just one more thing. I wonder what kind of penalties are attached for ballplayers to say that the umps made some awful calls? Both Ron Washington, Ranger manager, and Derrick Holland, the Ranger pitcher, refused to say anything about the awful umpiring. Is it about later retaliation? Hell, Washington got tossed out of the game. Anybody watching knew what he thought of the calls.
Here's the article that got me to thinking along these lines. The whole damn thing was disgusting.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Opening Day Revisited
Today is the first game for my Texas Rangers. They, like many other teams, did not open their season yesterday, but will start today in Ranger Ballpark down in Arlington, Texas. I am recording the game as we speak so I can watch it later and zip through all of the commercials. Without really meaning to, I learned that the score as the game is in progress is not good: Boston is up 4-2 in the fifth. :-(
But I really didn't mean to talk about the Rangers. What I did want to say was that for the first time in my life and love affair with baseball, which, by the way, stretches all the way back to 1954 when I was 11 years old, for the very first time I am involved this year in a fantasy baseball league, which adds another whole dimension to the game's inherent interest during the season. For those of you reading who may not understand what fantasy teams are, I can explain in a few words. You have a team composed of real players. How well your team does depends on how well these real players do during the season. Before the season starts you and everybody else in your league picks the players that will be on their fantasy team. That's really all you have to know. During the season some of your guys will get hurt and go on the disabled list (DL). You have to find ways to work around things like this. You can trade players or acquire players who are not connected with another team throughout most of the season. What makes my fantasy league even more fun is that both my sons are in it. So I'm really looking forward to the season.
I tell you all this because doubtless through the next few months I'll have occasion to comment on how my fantasy team--they are called the "Creaky Geezers"--is faring. For those who might be the least bit interested, the best guys on my team are Joey Votto at first, Adrian Beltre at third, Matt Holliday in the outfield and Cole Hamels, starting pitcher. Just like the actual Rangers, the weakest part of my team is pitching. Of course I don't expect to win anything this first time out in fantasy baseball. My goal is just to finish in the top five of this ten-team league. That's probably doable.
But I really didn't mean to talk about the Rangers. What I did want to say was that for the first time in my life and love affair with baseball, which, by the way, stretches all the way back to 1954 when I was 11 years old, for the very first time I am involved this year in a fantasy baseball league, which adds another whole dimension to the game's inherent interest during the season. For those of you reading who may not understand what fantasy teams are, I can explain in a few words. You have a team composed of real players. How well your team does depends on how well these real players do during the season. Before the season starts you and everybody else in your league picks the players that will be on their fantasy team. That's really all you have to know. During the season some of your guys will get hurt and go on the disabled list (DL). You have to find ways to work around things like this. You can trade players or acquire players who are not connected with another team throughout most of the season. What makes my fantasy league even more fun is that both my sons are in it. So I'm really looking forward to the season.
I tell you all this because doubtless through the next few months I'll have occasion to comment on how my fantasy team--they are called the "Creaky Geezers"--is faring. For those who might be the least bit interested, the best guys on my team are Joey Votto at first, Adrian Beltre at third, Matt Holliday in the outfield and Cole Hamels, starting pitcher. Just like the actual Rangers, the weakest part of my team is pitching. Of course I don't expect to win anything this first time out in fantasy baseball. My goal is just to finish in the top five of this ten-team league. That's probably doable.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
We're Back to Life!
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| A Day Like No Other |
It's better than Mardi Gras, better than Easter, better than the Fourth of July. Better than just about any holiday you can mention. Maybe it's not better than my birthday, but it's close, and indeed, now that there have been so many birthdays, it may be even better than that.
It's Opening Day of the baseball season, of course, and now we're going to have baseball for the next seven months. The five months without it are the longest, darkest of the year. Exactly why Opening Day is such a rush is no mystery. Baseball fans get entwined with their team like English Ivy crawling up a tree trunk. It's almost like a marriage. During the winter, you're dormant.
But come opening day, you come back to life. And baseball will nourish you over the sunny seasons. Your ups and downs over the spring summer and fall months are in exact sync with the fortunes of your beloved team. Anticipation of this day has been growing in the hearts of all true baseball fans, getting ever more fervent, since early February, when the pitchers and catchers first reported to the training camps.
And for Texas Ranger fans everywhere, the day is even more special, because for the first time ever the Rangers, as the defending American League Champions, are the team wearing the bulls eye. Everybody's gunning for them. What a delicious spot to be in.
Naturally, I've got some qualms about the team this year. I worry about the usual thing: pitching. We've got a couple of starters on the DL as the season begins, and spring was not a particularly good one for the relief corps in the bullpen. Hitters? There are no worries there. The addition of Adrian Beltre over the winter makes a potent lineup even more so. So I'm not worried about scoring runs. This is a team that is capable of scoring 900 runs this season. I've just got my fingers crossed that the pitching staff doesn't give up that many.
Friday, October 22, 2010
There's Only One Story Today
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| About 3-4 seconds after the final out in Texas 6-1 win over NY Yankees that sends the team to the World Series for first time ever. This is the whole story here: a picture of how all Ranger fans feel. |
My Texas Rangers are going to the World Series!!
It was not even close tonight. Yankee manager Joe Girardi said it best after the game: "They out-hit us, they out-pitched us, and they out-played us." Precisely. You do that and you're going to win baseball games. I have been waiting with my two sons for this day since the early 1980s. It is really impossible to say what this feels like. I've been following the Rangers since the early 1980s, and from that time to this have endured some really crappy baseball teams. Somehow all that is background. Everything that's happened before now seems like it was pointed just to this moment, when all the heartache, disgust, and bone-weariness with losing, with errors, with sloppy base-running, and more than anything else, awful pitching. All that. It's all gone. This team is so together, there's such unmatchable chemistry that--you heard it here first--the Rangers will win the World Series (against either the Philadelphia Phillies or the San Francisco Giants, it's not decided yet) in fewer than seven games. This is a team of destiny.Here's the box score and play-by-play.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Post #700 -- GO RANGERS!!
I cannot believe that I've actually posted 700 times to this blog. It doesn't feel like that. What is does feel lis is as if I've been gone a year without posting to Powderfinger, whereas it's only been about two-and-a-half weeks. At this point all I can report is what's on my mind . . . and that's my Rangers and the fact they are a game up in the ALCS (American League Championship Series) after crushing the hated Yankees tonight 8-0. They now lead the best of seven series, 2 games to 1, and that one they should not have lost. My boys must get two more wins before they earn the right to go to their first World Series ever. But I do firmly believe that this is the year and the Rangers are a team of destiny. I am so excited, I almost can't stand it. Which makes me wonder once again what it is about a sports team that so captures the affections and grabs the emotions of people. When it comes to the Rangers, I have to confess, I'm a little bit loco.
Check this out. The game is still going on. The Rangers will score another run to make it 8-0. But Yankee Stadium is well-nigh EMPTY! All those lovable Yankee fans have left. How sweet it is.
Check this out. The game is still going on. The Rangers will score another run to make it 8-0. But Yankee Stadium is well-nigh EMPTY! All those lovable Yankee fans have left. How sweet it is.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Rangers Clinch!
For the interested:
- Here is the box score of the clinching game.
- Here is the game-by-game schedule and results--and lots more good stuff.
- Here are the team stats.
Can you believe I'm going to be out of the country during the entire first round of the playoffs? Who knew?
GO RANGERS!!
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