One of my favorite places in the world (besides a seat at the Ranger game) is sitting by the pool at my dad's house. Something about the water, the sun, and the Texas country music that is always playing usually has the makings for a perfect day.
In the latest chapter of pool hangouts, dad and I were talking about the Masters. Watching golf has never been one of my interests, but golf to my dad is like baseball to me. He absolutely loves it.
Even though I don't watch it much, my favorite golfers have always been Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. If I had to guess, I'd probably have to say those two are near the top of my dad's list as well.
As we sat out by the pool, he started talking about Tiger, a golfer who has a crazy amount of controversy that will probably surround him until the end of his career. Most of the talk was about his game, but my dad said something that would stick out to me a few hours later.
"I don't care about his personal life. Everyone has their weird things in their life, the fact is that the sport needs Tiger to win again."
Fast forward a few hours. I was heading back to Stillwater, listening to the Rangers double-header with Baltimore when it hit me.
Is Josh Hamilton in the same boat as Tiger Woods?
Both have a pretty recent controversial past; Hamilton's being more documented than Tiger's, but both have it nonetheless.
But as I listened to the play by play of Colby Lewis throwing batting practice to the Orioles lineup, I quickly came up with a solution that calmed me down a little bit.
The difference between Hamilton and Woods is that Hamilton isn't ashamed.
But obviously, anyone would love to erase drug and alcohol abuse from their past, and I'm sure Hamilton is the same way. But the difference is that Hamilton has always been open about his faults, while Woods has never wanted to talk about it.
Hamilton's character and strength with the subject is something that even a rival has to respect. He's never once tried to hide any of his past, and has instead worked with multiple people on getting out of the same hole he was stuck in.
Maybe that's why I have always been happy about "The Great Hambino" being a usual sight in the Ranger outfield. Maybe that's why Hamilton gets mostly positive a positive reception from fans on the road (as seen here ).
And to reinforce my opinion, I can honestly say that Hamilton has been one of my favorite players long before he ever hit the record 28 home runs in the 2008 Home Run Derby. Ever since he came to Texas, I've been a fan.
Who knows what the real reason for that is, maybe I'm a no good bandwagoner of good players, scooping them up as often as alcohol abuse is shown on ESPN. Maybe I'm just glad he's doing well, and as soon as he falls off I'll despise him like Boston fans and Manny Ramirez.
I doubt it. I believe that even if, heaven forbid, Hamilton ever takes up residence in the Yankee dugout, I'll still be a fan.
All in all, I see it this way: Tiger Woods can enjoy his "First-Class Plane" attitude and his trophy case. I'll take the "Regular Guy" attitude of Josh Hamilton any day.
And Mr. Hamilton, if you're somehow reading this, you're always welcome next to the pool with me and Dad. I just hope you like Texas country music.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Chuck Morgan's Voice; The Most Welcomed Sound Of Spring
Random beginning: For those of you who don't know, Chuck Morgan is the Stadium Announcer for the Texas Rangers, and also holds the job that I could only wish to do one day.
But that's beside the point. What IS important is that Chuck Morgan's voice is blaring through my television once again, which only means one thing. I will use the phrase that Morgan has coined over the years to let you know what that thing is: "It's Baseball Time In Texas!"
It is indeed time. I'm done listening to baseball games on my MLB At Bat app on my phone and not caring what the final score is. That's all over, and now it means something.
After one game in the book, you have to wonder what the players and coaches are thinking.
"All we have to do is do that 161 more times."
I doubt that's what is on their mind, but the beautiful thing about this blog is that I can at least tell you what's on mine.
Number 1: Mike Napoli
Napoli's performance was impressive to say the least. Obviously, his 2-3 opening day that also had him dropping a 3 RBI bomb to left field was awesome, but with a lineup that not only may be the strongest in the American League, but may be the best in the entire league, what is important is what ninety percent of the fans probably didn't see.
I'm pretty sure there were two, if not three, grounders that came Napoli's way that he fielded beautifully, all the while showing some incredible range. On top of that, there wasn't a single moment where I was worried about his fielding on throws, and he even dug out a terrible throw from across the infield twice, which I can assure you as a former first baseman, is the hardest thing to do.
Number 2: CJ Wilson
All year, the knock on the Rangers will be their starting rotation. Every other team in their division took steps forward in the category, while the Rangers took a step back in losing Cliff Lee. I'm excited to see Brandon Webb, and hopefully watch his comeback season go great. I'm excited to see Tommy Hunter once he gets over this injury. I'm just still not convinced with this rotation, that obviously killed the Rangers in the World Series this past fall.
With that being said, all last year the rotation had an elastic feel to them. Whenever they'd get down, they'd bounce right back and recover quickly. CJ showed that characteristic again yesterday. After a rough first inning in which his defense didn't help him out, he bounced back and held a tough Red Sox lineup in check, which is all the Rangers needed to grab a win. If the pitching staff can give up 5 runs and still grab a semi-comfortable win, then it will be a great year.
Number 3: The Fan Base
The crowd was electric yesterday, and I could even tell that by watching on TV. What's even more important than that, there is another sellout for the second game of the year... Last year the attendance dropped from 95% full on opening day to 65% for game 2, but in both of the first two games this year, they're at 97%. In my mind, the greatest crowd to ever gather at the Ballpark was when I went to Game 2 of the ALCS last year. Even when I watched the World Series on tv, I still don't think they were anywhere near the passion the crowd had for Game 2. Yesterday was close though, the fans were going crazy and very into the game, which is exactly what you need after a year like last year.
What that does is not only give the players even more confidence in their game then they already have, but it also gives someone else confidence. If you look back to one of my earlier posts about Bandwagon fans, you will get the full jist of what I'm talking about here. More fans means more money, more money means more payroll, more payroll means better players. It's an easy math equation that even I understand, and I barely passed algebra. As much as it kills me that I couldn't get tickets to Opening Day, I know that those fans are boosting the team in more ways than just one, so I'll make myself comfortable in my recliner and enjoy the air conditioning until I can get back for a game.
That's all I've got, and just in time because I'm missing the game!
Go Rangers, Pokes, and UCONN HUSKIES!
But that's beside the point. What IS important is that Chuck Morgan's voice is blaring through my television once again, which only means one thing. I will use the phrase that Morgan has coined over the years to let you know what that thing is: "It's Baseball Time In Texas!"
It is indeed time. I'm done listening to baseball games on my MLB At Bat app on my phone and not caring what the final score is. That's all over, and now it means something.
After one game in the book, you have to wonder what the players and coaches are thinking.
"All we have to do is do that 161 more times."
I doubt that's what is on their mind, but the beautiful thing about this blog is that I can at least tell you what's on mine.
Number 1: Mike Napoli
Napoli's performance was impressive to say the least. Obviously, his 2-3 opening day that also had him dropping a 3 RBI bomb to left field was awesome, but with a lineup that not only may be the strongest in the American League, but may be the best in the entire league, what is important is what ninety percent of the fans probably didn't see.
I'm pretty sure there were two, if not three, grounders that came Napoli's way that he fielded beautifully, all the while showing some incredible range. On top of that, there wasn't a single moment where I was worried about his fielding on throws, and he even dug out a terrible throw from across the infield twice, which I can assure you as a former first baseman, is the hardest thing to do.
Number 2: CJ Wilson
All year, the knock on the Rangers will be their starting rotation. Every other team in their division took steps forward in the category, while the Rangers took a step back in losing Cliff Lee. I'm excited to see Brandon Webb, and hopefully watch his comeback season go great. I'm excited to see Tommy Hunter once he gets over this injury. I'm just still not convinced with this rotation, that obviously killed the Rangers in the World Series this past fall.
With that being said, all last year the rotation had an elastic feel to them. Whenever they'd get down, they'd bounce right back and recover quickly. CJ showed that characteristic again yesterday. After a rough first inning in which his defense didn't help him out, he bounced back and held a tough Red Sox lineup in check, which is all the Rangers needed to grab a win. If the pitching staff can give up 5 runs and still grab a semi-comfortable win, then it will be a great year.
Number 3: The Fan Base
The crowd was electric yesterday, and I could even tell that by watching on TV. What's even more important than that, there is another sellout for the second game of the year... Last year the attendance dropped from 95% full on opening day to 65% for game 2, but in both of the first two games this year, they're at 97%. In my mind, the greatest crowd to ever gather at the Ballpark was when I went to Game 2 of the ALCS last year. Even when I watched the World Series on tv, I still don't think they were anywhere near the passion the crowd had for Game 2. Yesterday was close though, the fans were going crazy and very into the game, which is exactly what you need after a year like last year.
What that does is not only give the players even more confidence in their game then they already have, but it also gives someone else confidence. If you look back to one of my earlier posts about Bandwagon fans, you will get the full jist of what I'm talking about here. More fans means more money, more money means more payroll, more payroll means better players. It's an easy math equation that even I understand, and I barely passed algebra. As much as it kills me that I couldn't get tickets to Opening Day, I know that those fans are boosting the team in more ways than just one, so I'll make myself comfortable in my recliner and enjoy the air conditioning until I can get back for a game.
That's all I've got, and just in time because I'm missing the game!
Go Rangers, Pokes, and UCONN HUSKIES!
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