Rangers draft paralyzed outfielder Johnathan Taylor

From NBC Sports Hardball Talk:

The Rangers used their 33rd-round pick Wednesday to draft University of Georgia outfielder Johnathan Taylor, who was paralyzed after an outfield collision in March and is considered unlikely to walk again.

Taylor fractured two vertebrae in his spine in a collision with teammate Zach Cone three months ago.  Cone was the Rangers’ second-round pick, and it looks like the team decided it’d be a nice gesture to select Taylor afterwards.

The paralysis has affected all of Taylor’s extremities, so he is considered a tetraplegic.  He has some use of his arms, but no feeling in his legs or fingers.  Still, he is able to use his hands again and even play video games.  Since his spinal cord wasn’t severed, the hope is that his condition will continue improve with time.

Taylor hit .335 with a team-best .442 OBP for the Bulldogs in 2010.  He was playing in Georgia’s 11th game of this season when he was injured.

 

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)

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)

The difference between a World Series team and the Texas Rangers

I wish I could just embed these videos, but you know, they belong to Major League Baseball and they don’t like to embed their videos, but if you will hit the links you can clearly see the difference on about the same kind of play to end the ball game in each game last night. First, here is the spectacular grab by the Giants Right Fielder Nate Schierholtz :

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=14983583

Now, watch almost the identical play by the Ranger’s Craig Gentry.

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=14980403

Thanks for playing.

Ron Washington credits win to watching Seinfeld

So let’s say you manage a Major League Baseball team and two of your top hitters are on the DL. Your team is going through a little slump at the plate. What do you do?

In the case of Ron Washington, you just go watch a rerun of Seinfeld, and get new ideas about the game. Washington credits his lineup change to Seinfeld yesterday as the Rangers defeated the Oakland A’s 7-2.

Washington said he got the idea to change the lineup
while watching a “Seinfeld” rerun on Monday night.

“We got on base 18 times,” the manager said. “Michael was
huge. Beltre was huge with a two-run bomb.”

Will he come back with the same order for Wednesday’s
series finale?

“I’ll see when I’m watching ‘Seinfeld’,” Washington
said.

Pretty good huh? What if Seinfeld reruns don’t work in the future? Maybe Ron can check out Walker, Texas Ranger?

Lewis, Beltre lead Rangers past Athletics 7-2 (DMN)

Don’t look now Josh Hamilton, but your replacement just signed a Ranger contract

Dear Josh Hamilton, you should get well soon, and stay well. A potential replacement for you has just been signed by the Rangers:

Cuban defector Leonys Martin has finalized a $15.5 million, five-year  contract with the Texas Rangers, and the speedy center fielder could be in their  lineup before the end of this season.

Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said there is no immediate timetable for  Martin, who was signed Wednesday to have a future impact. But Daniels  acknowledged that it was possible that the 23-year-old outfielder could move  quickly through the system to the majors depending on his progress and the  team’s needs.

Before Josh Hamilton broke his arm diving into home plate three weeks ago and  went on the disabled list, the Rangers had already moved the AL MVP to left  field and made Julio Borbon their primary center fielder. Borbon went into  Wednesday night’s game at Seattle hitting .262, having raised his average 83  points by hitting .409 (9 of 22) over the previous 10 games.

I predict things are going to be getting pretty interesting in Arlington very soon.

Cuban Defector Signs with Rangers (MyFoxDFW.com)

Rangers minor leaguer gets trashy and suspended by Texas League

Rangers prospect Engel Beltre of AA Frisco has been suspended for an indefinite period by the Texas League. Beltre’s suspension was part of the fallout from an incident involving a few San Antonio fans and some Frisco players in a 6-5 Frisco road loss Tuesday afternoon.

Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said water bottles were thrown on the field by fans and a plastic garbage can was thrown into the stands from the Frisco dugout. Daniels confirmed it was thrown by Beltre, the only player suspended by the league. “It is definitely not something we condone,’’ Daniels said. “It is a black eye for all involved.’’
The Rangers are considering sending the suspended 21-year-old center fielder to Surprise, Ariz., for extended spring training work, Daniels said.

A ball hit by Frisco’s Mike Bianucci first ruled a go-ahead three-run home run in the ninth inning was changed by umpires to a double. Both Frisco manager Steve Buechele and pitching coach Jeff Andrews were
thrown out of the game in an ensuing argument. A strikeout of the next
Frisco batter ended the game and touched off the incident.

Engel Beltre has been in the Rangers’ system since 2007, and he shot  immediately toward the top of the prospect list. He still hangs near the top  four years later as their top outfield prospect, and this year he is at  major-league spring training for the first time.

Beltre was 17 when the Rangers acquired him from Boston in the Eric Gagné  deal at the 2007 trade deadline. He had his best season last year at age 20,  with a fast start at Class A Bakersfield that earned him a promotion to Double A  Frisco.

Player threw trash can at fans (ESPN DALLAS)

Sometimes, baseball just makes no sense

So you go to bed at night thinking the world will at least stay on its axis until you can wake up the next day. I couldn’t sleep for some reason and got on my computer at 3:30 AM and the news came all the way in from left field. (Pardon the pun)

Rangers’ part owner Chuck Greenberg could resign as early as today? What the Hades??

Why?