Saturday Review: There’s more to a baseball game than just baseball

OK, let’s get the formalities out of the way:  St. Paul climbs out of early hole to beat Grand Prairie in 11.

The good news is that the Grand Prairie AirHogs are in first place in their division. They had just come back from a road trip and a 9 game winning streak. That’s the baseball side of things. The entertainment side of the game is equally as important.

Watching great baseball is fun. But let’s face it, we fans like to eat at ball games right? We also want to have fun at ball games as well. I’m just saying, for the money, I don’t know how to beat a fun night at QuikTrip Park in Grand Prairie.

AirHog player Greg Porter's wife Morgan, and their baby Dash, along with Ace Bacon and me

What lots of folks don’t realize is this is a business, like everything else. There are players out there that are real people, with real families, along with real dreams and desires, just like you and me. I get the feeling sometimes that because baseball is a game, that we fans don’t stop to consider that this isn’t a serious proposition for these players. If they (the players) don’t produce, they could be sent elsewhere. That’s not a knock on the AirHogs, that’s sports in general. I go to many ballgames in a season, and I see how much the players give of themselves.

And you know who else gives a lot of themselves at ball games? The staff and contractors at ball games. Watch this.

You see this young lady here in the video?

She’s an intern for the AirHogs. That means she doesn’t get paid directly from the organization. She is working on her Master’s degree from a local college, and gets educational credit for her volunteer work.

There are so many people involved to put this grand show on night after night. You might think this would take lots of money to go see a game right? Look at this.

Sooooooo much for sooooo little.

So let’s recap here.

1. A quality baseball team that is in first place in their division.

2. A beautiful ball park that is in the shade when game time rolls around. Did I mention there is a swimming pool in center field? (It’s called Porter’s Pool because Greg Porter was the first player to hit a home run in the pool).

3. Just about any kind of food and drink you need. Yes, a beer and a dog is standard here. Peanuts and cotton candy too.

4. Great entertainment between innings.

5. A beautiful Field of Dreams to watch the great game.

6. Make memories.

Yes, there is a lot more to a baseball game than just baseball. There are tons of things else.

Do yourselves a big favor. Come out and watch some baseball.

Josh Hamilton is trying to stop dipping

I once had smoked those nasty cigarettes for 40 years. I look back to that and wonder what in the world was I thinking?

The smell, the cost, the health risks, just incredible I did that for that long. It finally took a heart attack for me to realize that hey, smoking ain’t that great for me. I was fortunate I could just kick those smokes aside. It was either that or die.

Now come Josh Hamilton. He’s trying to give up a little different addiction: smokeless tobacco, or as we like to call it here in Texas, worm dirt.

Josh Hamilton made a decision early Wednesday morning before he arrived at Tropicana Field. He is trying to quit using smokeless tobacco.

“Today is the first day,” Hamilton said before the Rangers’ series finale with the Rays. “The Holy Spirit … I kept waking up last night thinking about different things and what might be causing me to stumble in my relationship with the Lord. I felt like chewing tobacco was one. So I got up this morning and threw it all away. So when it is time to take a dip, I pray instead.”

From Hardball Talk :

And you think it shouldn’t be too tough for him given that the dude kicked coke, heroin and booze. But I’ve spoken to a couple of addicts before, each of whom said it was actually harder for them to stop smoking. Their explanation: drugs wreck your body so quickly and can bring you so close to death that — despite how addictive drugs can be — the crappy risk/reward ratio of doing them becomes clear way more quickly than smoking’s does. For the former, there is some fairly immediate “oh crap, I’m gonna die” moment.  For the latter it’s a physical and psychological addiction paired with the mere intellectual realization that, yes, in some years this will kill them.

Good luck Josh!!

 

Josh Hamilton is trying to quit the dip (NBC Hardball Talk)

Wake Up Call: Of course Jerry is invited to the wedding

In the biggest publicity stunt since Barnum and Bailey’s Circus came to town, Jerry Jones actually went on ESPN to tell us mere mortal, poor people that he has “special permission” to attend Tony Romo’s wedding this Saturday in Dallas. Isn’t that special?

“I’ve gotten special permission,” Jones said. “But more than anything, [I got
the] right ticket from him and his fianceé — Romo’s wife-to-be. [It's] one of
prettiest invitations I’ve ever seen.

Oh please Jerry. Do me a favor and get back to the negotiating table and break this impasse with the NFL Players Union, and lets play some football ok?

Because of the lockout, NFL teams are not allowed to speak with players or agents. However, there have been some charity events where players and coaches have crossed paths.

Technically, Jones doesn’t need special permission from the league to go to Romo’s wedding. Personal events and situations where team officials would interact with a player — such as weddings, funerals, serious illnesses or
medical emergencies — don’t need to be cleared through the league office.

Romo has sent out wedding invitations to all of his teammates and most, if not all, are expected to attend. Romo is marrying former television reporter Candice Crawford.

“It’s going to be a fun day,” Romo said earlier this week. “When you have the right one, you just know.”

Boy Howdy, we are happy now.

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ABOUT LAST NIGHT

What you missed while wondering how to reduce the price of gasoline.

Dirk Nowitzki can break a kid’s heart

Kid scores on bicycle kick, bored internet is impressed. [Off the Bench]

And oh yeah, Mavs WIN!!!

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TODAY IN REX MORGAN

Shouldn’t you be a little concerned when things are too good to be true?

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Thanks for reading the blog, have a great day!

Oh, it got a little scary in Arlington last night

We here in north Texas had a dose of scary weather last night. I saw baseball-sized hail and the weather was bad enough to postpone the Rangers-White Sox game.

A violent thunderstorm and the threat of tornadoes stopped the Texas Rangers-Chicago White Sox game in the fourth inning on Tuesday night and authorities went even farther with their precautions, evacuating fans from the stands at Rangers Ballpark.

With civil defense sirens blaring because the Arlington area was under a tornado warning, fans were directed away from seating areas — many through the ballpark’s dugouts — and were reportedly funneled to underground tunnels inside the park.

Reporters on the scene (and folks watching on TV) tweeted ominous photos of clouds, precipitation coming down and fans filing through any open exit.

Thankfully, the line of storms yielded no tornadoes. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News wondered where all of the fans were going to go, because they all didn’t seem to fit underneath the ballpark where they were being directed.

They finally resumed the game much later, and in the Ranger’s case, probably wished it had been postponed.

Texas Rangers evacuate ballpark after tornado warnings(Big League Stew)

Josh Hamilton has no regard for his own well being

Josh Hamilton just came back from the disabled list for a hairline fracture to his upper arm. Do you think that entered his mind last night when the Rangers played the White Sox?

In a memorable eighth inning on the bases around 1 a.m., Hamilton slid headfirst into first base in beating out an infield hit, slid headfirst in stealing second and made a nice hesitation headfirst slide to avoid a tag on a wild pitch to get to third. He was stranded there, but he certainly made a statement that his body felt good and that he was going to stay aggressive on the bases.

“I see what you’re saying, but you guys have to have something to write about,”
Hamilton said to a small group of media early Wednesday morning. “If I stop
doing that, then I won’t be true to myself as a baseball player or true to my
teammates or the fans that watch me play the game.

“I just don’t get why you keep harping on it. Just expect it out of me. If I get hurt, we’ll continue
to do this thing. It’s ridiculous. I can’t worry about that. I never think about it.”

So what did all the sliding show?

“That I want to win,” Hamilton said. “Isn’t that what I get paid for?”

Ugh. I think I know where this is heading.

Josh Hamilton not altering his style of play (ESPN Dallas)

Leave it to humans to ruin a good thing

The Milwaukee Brewers came up with a great idea to get people free tickets to the ball game. Of course we humans had to glutonize (is that a word?) ourselves and attempted to take something innocent and fun, and gorge ourselves.

From Sportress of Blogitude:

The Milwaukee Brewers came up with an awesome promotion, “Where’s Bernie?” and clever little scavenger hunt where 1,400 Bernie Brewer lawn ornaments were scattered across parks throughout the 5-county metro Milwaukee area as well as in parks in Madison, Appleton, and Green Bay. Four hundred of the Bernie Brewers had prizes attached to them in pouches and even better, 100 had even cooler things inside (via the Milwaukee Brewers’ official site):

Each pouch contained Brewers game tickets, and many also included  additional prizes such as certificates for a night in a Miller Park  Suite and game-used memorabilia; and Milwaukee County Parks passes for  golf, water parks, and the Mitchell Park Domes.  In addition, 100 of the  lawn ornaments had been autographed by Brewers players and personnel.

Brilliant, right? Sadly, some jerks were hellbent on selfishly profiting off the promotion, ruining the innocent fun of it all for everybody else. Via WISN:

The treasure hunt was to begin at 5 a.m. Tuesday.  WISN 12 was at  Lincoln Park, where statues were claimed within minutes. Statues at  Bradford Beach were also found and claimed within minutes of the start  of the contest.

Fans on the internet complained this morning that statues were taken  ahead of the 5 a.m. start time. Other fans complained that statues were  being collected and placed on eBay.

One Brewers fan posted a picture on Twitter this morning of the 35 statues she collected.

Bernie Brewer statues have now appeared on eBay for up to $250.

Let that be a lesson for you people. E-bay is the ultimate goal here.

People Suck: Brewers’ ‘Where’s Bernie?’ Promo Ruined By Hoarding, Social Media (Sportress of Blogitude)

Welcome to Texas Adrian Beltre

The Texas Rangers and free-agent third baseman Adrian Beltre are close to completing terms on a multiyear deal, a source told ESPNdeportes.com on Sunday.

“They are still talking and have not completed the details, but an agreement appears imminent,” the source told ESPNdeportes.com.

Wow, how great would Beltre make an already great hitting line-up?  This deal looks imminent so expect breaking news on this contract at any time now. The question now becomes, what happens to Michael Young when Beltre takes his position at third base? There is talk about making Young a “super” utility infielder and letting him be the DH. If that’s the case then no need for the one year contract for Guerrero. But if Young doesn’t like that deal, maybe he gets traded and save the Rangers some money.

What am I bid for a Major League Baseball team?

Have you ever heard of a Major League Baseball team being auctioned off? I haven’t either. The sale of the Texas Rangers becomes more bizarre as the days wear on in the Texas heat. Like my friend Willie Martin and I were discussing yesterday, baseball is a large game with many smaller games inside that game. So is the sale of the Texas Rangers.

The judge in this case could decide tomorrow on whether the team’s auction will be held as scheduled on Aug. 4 despite objections from major lenders and the ballclub’s court-appointed chief restructuring officer. 

J.P. Morgan Chase, the lead bank for the top lenders, filed a separate lawsuit Friday saying it holds the right to block the transfer of the $2 million a year lease on Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. That move has a chance to stall any sale of the team.

If that weren’t complicated enough, then there’s Mark Cuban throwing his hat in the ring as a possible investor. Why would he do that? Which side is he on? The Greenberg-Ryan side, or is he really wanting to be the owner of the baseball team himself? Interesting.

Major League Baseball wants Greenberg-Ryan as the owners, and the lenders want the chance for other potential investors to be allowed time to raise the ante so their losses won’t be as great. It’s all very confusing. Stay tuned.

The Grand Prairie AirHogs losing streak reaches 13 games – As some of you may know or not know, I have been spending most of the summer going to AirHogs game in Grand Prairie. I’ve been amazed how after it’s all said and done, it’s all a business. Forget trying to know who’s on first because they will probably be gone the next day. It’s just business. And you think it’s easy on the players?

To me, it seems very difficult to know how to cope with a 13 game losing streak, and then I take a step back and watch and listen.

Kids. They don’t care what the record is….Kids can come to Quick Trip park and get autographs! Kids can have fun no matter what the record is.

So there ya have it. From the 1st place Texas Rangers, to the last place Grand Prairie AirHogs, baseball always stands the test of time. We may get older, but baseball stays the same.

When I was a kid in Sweetwater Texas, I could fly like the wind. Center field was my home. It’s where opposing fly balls went to die.

I think back about center field every time I attend a game now. Baseball is the same. It’s me that has changed.

Rangers acquire left-hander Lee

From ESPN:

Cliff Lee was going to a contender no matter what. Turns out it was the Texas Rangers, not the New York Yankees.

” Lee texted to ESPN The Magazine’s Amy K. Nelson. “It’s official. From last [place] to first.”

After talks between the Seattle Mariners and Yanks fell apart Friday afternoon, the Rangers jumped in and reached agreement on a trade for the left-hander.

The M’s sent Lee and reliever Mark Lowe to Texas for first baseman Justin Smoak and minor leaguers Blake Beavan, Josh Lueke and Matthew Lawson.

The Mariners will also send $2.5 million to the Rangers to subsidize the $4 million still owed to Lee. Texas has financial limitations due to bankruptcy hearings associated with the sale of the team. There has been speculation the Rangers — despite leading the AL West — would not be able to add weapons for the stretch run.

And there still could be trouble. An anonymous official of an MLB team said the Rangers taking on $1.5 million in salary “is going to be an issue” since the team is currently being run by the league. It is not clear if the bankruptcy court would allow the team to take on that kind of debt.

Lee is 8-3 with a 2.34 ERA this season for the Mariners, his first in Seattle. The Phillies traded him this offseason after acquiring Roy Halladay.

Lee won the Cy Young while with Cleveland in 2008. Over nine seasons he is 98-55 with a 3.84 ERA.

It’s unusual for a team to trade a start pitcher within it’s own division, but the Mariners have been a huge disappointment. Heading into Friday’s action, they trailed the Rangers by 16 games.

When asked how he felt about the deal, Lee texted “good I guess. Gonna be on a very good team. Definitely gonna be hot!”

By trading for Lee now, the Rangers potentially gain four more starts from the lefty than they would have gotten if the acquired him at the trade deadline.

The Yankees had offered Seattle a three-player package, centered around catcher Jesus Montero — who is rated as one of the best prospects in baseball, despite questions about whether he can be a catcher in the big leagues — second baseman David Adams and a young prospect.

But the deal began to unravel, a source told ESPN.com, when the Mariners became concerned about the health of Adams, who is out with a sprained ankle.

A source told ESPN.com that Seattle and Texas were very close to a deal for Lee on Wednesday. But the Mariners were pushing for Smoak, the Rangers balked and that deal stalled.

So on Thursday, the Mariners turned their attention to the Yankees and began closing in on that deal. But when those talks blew up, the Rangers — who by then were aware of all the reports about that Seattle-New York deal — got back into the picture and agreed to trade Smoak. So the pieces came together very quickly at that point because the two teams almost had a deal done 48 hours earlier.

And now Lee is on his way to Arlington.

“Bout to go get my stuff from the field,” he texted. “Gonna miss my teammates and coaching staff! Good people!”

ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark, ESPN The Magazine’s Buster Olney and ESPN.com Amy K. Nelson contributed to this report.

Just general thinking..oh yeah, it’s called scattershooting

If you Google the word “scattershooting” you will find lots of Texas results or results that are Texas related. I wonder why that is?

It’s Sunday evening and I have tons of things in my head, but nothing specific. Just thinking about a lot of things at once. Attention Deficit Disorder? I dunno. Here’s what I do know though, in order for a blog post to be interesting, it has to be interesting. Well duh, what does that mean? It means I shouldn’t write about myself but write about what’s interesting for the readers. Hello? No one really cares what I think, and I really don’t blame them for that.

The Rangers are in first place and the last game of the series with the Astros is tonight. Looks like the Rangers win the Silver Boot …again. Will Roy Oswalt become a Ranger? Will the Rangers ever get sold to Nolan Ryan et al? It’s somewhere in the future at this point.

Well boys and girls, it’s almost the national party that is the 4th of July! Hard to imagine time goes so fast that it’s almost the middle of summer already. I’m always amazed at how fast time goes from July 4th, until school starts. Seems like only minutes.

This week begins my last week at school. Yay. I had some good classes this semester.

I’ve also been watching lots of baseball this summer. The Grand Prairie AirHogs rock!

So I’ve been working, going to school, and blogging the AirHogs and I’ve been having a blast. I’ve been going to church, and trying to also do some volunteer work at work. I’ve been very blessed. I’m thankful for many things.

Oh, and here is a great picture of my team from work. We had an outing at the bowling alley. I had fun in spite of my 97.

Don’t look now, but it’s almost time for Cowboys training camp…the cycle continues.

Well I guess that’s about it. In honor of the Eagles who were in town this weekend, I’ll leave you with this…

Thanks for reading my blog!