Just for Sport

There is no real connection between Mark Teixeira and Texas, besides the fact that he played 4 1/2 years in Arlington.  In fact, there is probably a greater connection between Tex (I guess that’s where the familiarity comes from) and the good people of Georgia, given that he played at Georgia Tech.

But now, Atlanta fans are getting a taste of what we here in North Texas experienced before we traded him.  Malcontent, hints of wanting to play with another team, and clubhouse dissension all seem to follow this guy.  This blog wants to bring Tex to Baltimore.  Be careful what you wish for.

Rangers fans are surely planning on welcoming Tex "home" tonight when the Braves come in to play.  Before you cheer for him, remember that he undermined Ron Washington, causing clubhouse problems that still linger today.  Remember that the notorious slow starter declined to play just 2 extra minor league games before the season last year because of travel.  Remember that the Scott Boras client turned down an 8-year, $140 million contract before we traded him.

Sound a little like A-Rod?  Think about giving him the A-Rod treatment on his "homecoming."

Today, I walked into The Ballpark in Arlington and rooted against the Texas Rangers.  It was a strange feeling.  The reason?  My Chicago Cubs were in town, finishing up the first series played between the two teams since the Rangers moved from Washington.  My baseball bigamy is well documented, and when we first obtained tickets for this game in February, I worried about who I would cheer for.  Little did I know that by June 21st, the Rangers would have the worst record in baseball, leaving me with an easy decision to make: I would root for the Cubs, the only team in the game with a chance. 

When gametime came, I really was rooting for the Cubs to win.  In fact, when the Rangers won 6-5 on Frank Catalanotto’s walk-off single, I was pretty disappointed.  But, I did find myself rooting for the Rangers at times.  I jumped up and cheered when Hairston made an awesome running catch in left field.  Same thing when Michael Young came through with some clutch hits.  The people behind me must have thought I was crazy.  All in all, I’m just glad neither one of my teams got blown out and that there were no fights.

Here are some more observations from the game:

1 - Apparently, I’m not the only one with an affinity for both the Cubs and the Rangers.  I saw several people wearing merchandise for both teams. (I simply went with the Cubs hat I bought at Wrigley 4 years ago.)  One lady was wearing a Texas Soriano jersey with a Cubs hat.  By contrast, a man was wearing a Chicago Sosa jersey with a Rangers hat.  The funniest one I saw was a man wearing a "Don’t Mess With Texas" shirt under his unbuttoned Mark Prior jersey.  He completed the ensemble with a 1914 Cubs hat.

2 - We got to the game a little more than an hour early and took our seats just over the right field fence.  Both teams had already taken batting practice and there were no players on the field.  At about 12:10 (Gametime was 1:05) a very tall, scrawny man wearing athletic gear and an iPod started walking toward us on the field.  I was confused, because he carried himself like a player, but he didn’t really look like one.  He stopped right in front of us, saw me watching, gave a little nod, and took off jogging around the perimeter of the field.  After taking three laps, he stopped to stretch, then put his uniform and gear on.  It turns out that this very skinny man was Adam Melhuse, who was getting the start at catcher.  I guess the extra work must have jacked him up for the game, because he hit a home run and was solid behind the plate.  It was nice to see the backup catcher who is new to the team take such a serious approach to his preparation, and then watch it pay off for him.

3 - It seems that both teams had some pretty similar things going for them positionally.  Both had their new back-up catcher starting (Melhuse and Rob Bowen, though it remains to be seen what role he’ll have).  Neither gold-glove first basemen played in the field (Derrek Lee was the DH, and Teixeira is on the DL).  Both had rookie phenoms in center field (Felix Pie and Marlon Byrd).  Both had utility infielders playing for their injured third basemen (Travis Metcalf and Mark DeRosa). 

4 - Another similarity: both right fielders struggled with the glove.  Wilkerson was his same slow self, plodding along as if he has no knees.  I honestly felt as if any pop-up to right had a chance to fall in.  Pagan let one go over his head in the fifth that opened the floodgates.  I doubt it will show up in the highlights of the game, but that play looked really bad.  Finally, there was the final play.  Angel almost got to the ball with a dive, but I feel as if he could have gotten there if he had made the correct read.  Just my opinion.

5 - Apparently Vicente Padilla has been working on the Eephus pitch, and he brought it out four times, hitting below 60 on the radar each time.  Three out of the four times it happened, the Cubs hitters stood in the box looking dumbfounded.  The other time, Pagan hit a weak pop-up to center when it looked like he was trying to foul it off.  Padilla seems to mix it in well, either following it or preceding it with a fastball in the 92-95 range. 

All in all, a very good experience to have.  It was fun to see the Cubs.  I had only seen them two times previously.  The first was a four-inning unofficial game at Wrigley and the second was the fourth game of a four game sweep of the Astros at Minute Maid.  I don’t really like the feeling of rooting against the Rangers - I got some of the same looks I must have given people wearing Red Sox hats at the home opener.  Saturday I will be at Game 5 of the Lone Star Series, so it will be all Rangers, all the time.  I should have a report after that one as well.

Readers of this blog know that I cheer for many teams, but two teams are closer to me than any others: the Texas Rangers and the Chicago Cubs. What follows is a pre-Spring Training preview of the 2007 season for the Rangers. I chose to do them first because I have tickets to the home opener at Ameriquest Field, so I am already excited and counting down the days (43!). Soon I will post a similarly formatted preview for the Cubs. As always feel free to agree or disagree with any and all assertions in the comments.

Five Things to Watch for in Spring Training

1. Will Eric Gagne be healthy?
If he is, the Rangers will have one of the best bullpens in baseball. Even without Gagne, Texas has guys like Kameron Loe and John Rheinecker that would be shoo-ins on other teams, but will have to fight for their spot on the 25-man roster this year. That can only be good.
2. Will the Rangers obtain a reliable backup catcher?
Some people within the Rangers organization are apparently slightly concerned about Miguel Ojeda as a backup. So am I. In my mind, the Rangers need to somehow acquire someone with some good solid experience that can step in and handle the staff. Catcher is by far the weakest link on this team.
3. What will Sammy look like, and how will it affect the Outfielder/DH situation?
I know that I’m biased as a Cubs fan, but I don’t like the Sosa deal. Everything Ron Washington was brought in for, Sammy is not. He’s not a good clubhouse presence, and he’s an attention-mongerer. Remember A-Rod? I worry about how the clubhouse leaders (still very young guys) will respond to Sammy’s presence. If he does make the club, one of the young, talented outfielders (probably Jason Botts) will have to spend even more time in Oklahoma City. Either Sosa needs to be out of this world amazing or he needs to go away.
4. Will the relaxed clubhouse atmosphere really result in more wins?
We’ll see this spring just how loose the guys seem. The problem with Buck is that many of the players got off to slow starts in previous years because there was an adjustment period. With a couple of key guys (Millwood, Teixeira) being notorious slow starters anyway, maybe a dose of Ron Washington can help this team pick up some wins in April and May so they won’t be out of it in September.
5. Who will be at the back end of the rotation?
Right now Robinson Tejeda is penciled in as the 4th starter (home opener!), but his spot is not exactly secure. The following guys (and possibly some more) will be competing for the final two spots: Josh Rupe, Kameron Loe, John Koronka, Edinson Volquez, and Bruce Chen. Will any of these guys step up and have an amazing spring, or will this season leave Rangers fans wishing for the days of a four-man rotation?

Evaluating Arrivals and Departures

Frank Cattalanotto
I didn’t really like Cat the first time around, but this time there’s a little more depth. When he gets injured this year, at least there will be somebody to step in for him.

Bruce Chen
When they first signed Chen, I thought he was the fifth starter. Now it looks as if he’ll be competing for a spot, and that’s good.

Eric Gagne
A healthy Eric Gagne makes the Rangers the favorites in the AL West. An unhealthy one means they could be fighting for their lives down the stretch.

Kenny Lofton
This was probably my favorite pick-up of the off-season. I know that he’s getting old, but Lofton is a reliable lead-off guy, and all he does is win. He provides invaluable veteran leadership that the team will need down the stretch. Gary Matthews, Jr. apologists will find themselves pleasantly surprised.

Brandon McCarthy
Last year, I was excited to have a legit third starter in Adam Eaton. He ended pitching well in maybe four games all year. If the pitching staff is to be improved, it’s right here with McCarthy.

Sammy Sosa
I don’t like it…right now. I’ll probably like it if Sammy can actually hit a few home runs steroid and cork free. As it stands right now, Sosa, who will be baseball’s all-time Strikeout King very soon, will be joining Brad “Swing-And-A-Miss” Wilkerson in the outfield. For the love of God, Ron, please don’t start those two on the same day. Ever.

Rod Barajas
It hurts to lose a guy like Barajas who can hit and handle pitchers. Laird has been groomed for the starting job, but now there is a lack of depth.

John Danks
I don’t know what to think about this. It seems like the team turned down very good trade offers for him, only to settle for McCarthy later on. Either way, this is one of those trades that will either make us look like geniuses or dimwits.

Mark DeRosa
His presence will certainly be missed. Daniels seemed to underrate him a little bit and let him get away, and I’m not sure that you can survive a 162 game schedule without a reliable utility infielder.

Adam Eaton
Good riddance. Go be injured for whatever other team you now play for.

Gary Matthews, Jr.
I hope for the Rangers’ sake that he was a one season wonder, because he could end up hurting us as part of the Angels. The one positive to come out of letting him go is the acquisition of Kenny Lofton.

Overall Impressions
Rotation
The pitching rotation will always be a question in Arlington as long as they don’t do anything about that crazy wind tunnel. Jon Daniels has plenty of guys competing for a job, but there is still a lack of big names.

Bullpen
As I stated before, this bullpen has the potential to be the best in the majors. They had an off year last year, so history says that they’re due.

Infield
Teixeira and Young are among the best of their respective positions. Blalock has shown flashes of brilliance. If Kinsler can avoid the sophomore slump, they should be solid. There will be major problems if any of them are injured, as Joaquin Arias seems to be the best choice for a backup. If I were Daniels, I’d wait and see what Gagne did. If he was all right, I’d dangle Akinori Otsuka, a proven closer, out on the market for a reliable catcher and a good infielder with a bat. Don’t settle for just anything, either, Jon, and for goodness’ sake, don’t get rid of Blalock.

Outfield
As long as I’m pretending to be high-ranking members of the Rangers organization, if I were Ron Washington, I’d run Cattalanotto, Lofton, and Nelson Cruz out into the field as many days out of the year as I could, and I would use Jason Botts as a DH. Sosa and Wilkerson would sit on the bench, or better yet, play in Oklahoma City. Of course, you never know who’s going to get injured or come to Spring Training twenty pounds too heavy, so how well this outfield will perform is anybody’s guess.

Prediction
The presence of Ron Washington, some veteran leadership from Kenny Lofton, and enough depth for Jon Daniels to pull a good deadline deal make for an improved Texas Rangers team. Wash is supposedly going to turn Blalock into a god at third base again, and Teixeira is talking like last year’s crawling start is out of the realm of possibility. The rotation looks to be stronger, too, which will always help. Last year’s team was 80-82, so I see them in the 88-92 win range, enough to win the division over a weaker A’s team, the geriatric Angels, and the inferior Mariners.

By the way, remember how I was going to start using my own team nicknames, TMQ-style? I would like to introduce the AL West to you: Texas Chuck Norrisses, Oakland Circus Elephants (from the logo of the late 80s/early 90s), Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of California of the United States of America, and Seattle Compasses (also from an early 90s logo). More teams to follow.

Note: Sorry to those of you who have commented in the past. I didn’t realize that all comments were going to moderation mode. Comments you make should show up now.

For as long as I can remember I’ve been a baseball bigamist. I claim both the Chicago Cubs and the Texas Rangers as “my team.” I’ve explained this to more people than I can count, but I’ll do it again here. When I was growing up at home, I would always watch the Cubs on WGN during the day. I loved listening to Harry Caray, especially when he did the seventh inning stretch. There were players I liked: Ryne Sandberg, because of the hard-nosed way he always played second base; and Mark Grace, because I had his rookie card and he seemed like a good player to support. Of course, there’s Wrigley Field, the greatest sports venue in the country. A lot of my friends think I believe that because I’m a Cubs fan - really, I’m a Cubs fan because I love Wrigley Field. There’s the old-time scoreboard that’s so prominent in center field, ivy grows on the fences, and people watch the games from the rooftops. That’s probably the biggest factor - the Cubs could be one of the worst teams in baseball (and in the early 90’s this was never far from the truth) and the ballpark would be packed. People would show up for the experience of the game - when they sang “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” they meant it. You have to understand that in the early 90’s in North Texas, I lived among a bunch of bandwagon Cowboy fans, so a team with such a strong following appealed to me.

There was also the Rangers. I learned about baseball from watching the Rangers with my Dad. We would sit on the couch and watch the game, and he would tell me what a hit-and-run was and why the pitcher had a rosin bag. We kept score, even if we were watching from home. In my scorebook many important events were immortalized, including a grand slam by Pete Incaviglia that was probably one of the most clutch hits in Rangers history (not a lot to choose from, I know). My first Major League game was at Arlington Stadium. The Rangers played the Oakland Athletics. Bobby Witt was pitching, and we lost. I remember cheering for Nolan Ryan to come in from the bullpen, believing it could actually happen.

That’s probably a little too much sidetrack. The point is supposed to be for me to point out that in the 2006 offseason, the Cubs and Rangers are going two opposite directions, starting their respective managerial hires. The Cubs organization is somehow deluded into thinking that grabbing the biggest name on the market is going to make them a winner. Getting Dusty Baker out of there was the right move - I’ll never forgive him for pitching Prior and Wood over 200 innings each in 2003 - but Lou Piniella isn’t the direction we need to be going. Maybe this team needs a little fire, but I think it needs somebody who can manage in the National League more than that. Also, we need a lead-off hitter and a bullpen.

I have some optimism for the 2007 Rangers. If we can somehow convince Matthews to come back and land one or two more pitchers (Matsuzaka, please!), we’re going to be okay. The more I hear about Ron Washington, the better. First off, I like the idea of taking people away from the Athletics. But this article makes me do backflips. You mean guys like Barry Zito, Jermaine Dye, and Torii Hunter are talking about the Texas Rangers because of our new manager?!?! Jon Daniels is even cooler than I thought! Maybe the Rangers could become the Tigers of the 04-05 offseason: all of the good free agents collectively decide to join one team because of its potential for growth. Hey, Jason Schmidt, we’ve got Barry Zito and the best infield in baseball. You want in on this?

Anyway, this offseason is a crazy one for me. I read that both of my teams put in bids for Matsuzaka, so unlike most fans, I’ve got about a 2-in-7 chance that my team will land him, rather than a 1-in-7 chance. Things are looking up for both teams (honestly, how can it get any worse than last year for the Cubs?). It would help if they would stop making useless trades with each other. Nevin for Hairston? Stop torturing me.

Okay, before I go, some input is required. I’m thinking about pulling a TMQ and nicknaming all of the sports teams I write about based on their mascot, team logo, collective persona, or other trait. My idea for the Rangers is: Texas Chuck Norrises. Perhaps the Cubs could be Windy City/B - until they win the World Series, in which they could be Windy City/A. Thoughts?

Note: This post originally appeared on April 2, 2006.

Well, the Indians and White Sox are only in the fourth inning (on a rain delay), and in the three and half innings since the season started, every sportswriter’s second favorite “sleeper” pick has already lost their ace (Sabathia) to injury. So much for predictions. I have a few of my own, and I hope to add to them. First I’ll react to some of the things I’ve seen on espn.com and in The Mag, then make some more predictions. Ready? Let’s roll.

ESPN The Magazine released their top-to-bottom division predictions, and I believe that they’re all over the map. For starters, they predicted the Athletics to win the AL West and in the same paragraph, mentioned the idea that Billy Beane might be trying to move Barry Zito. The back half of their rotation is bad enough; they can’t afford to lose their ace. More reactions:

- Nobody at ESPN can write about the Rangers without mentioning the amount of home runs at Ameriquest. Nothing wrong with that, but they rarely ever mention that 65.6% of them were hit by the Rangers. They have power, and nobody gives them credit because there’s a stigma about the ballpark.

- Harold Reynolds, John Kruk, Peter Gammons, and Steve Phillips all picked the Cardinals to win the pennant on Baseball Tonight earlier. Tim Kurkjian picked them to win the division in The Mag. I think they just assume that they will win because they have in the past, but this offseason they lost Reggie Sanders, Larry Walker, Matt Morris, and Mark Grudzielanek and did virtually nothing to replace them. People seem to forget the 6.21 ERA that Ponson put up last year, not to mention the horrible demeanor that can wreck what is usually a professional clubhouse. I’m also not buying that Scott Rolen is back until I see it. The only thing that gives them a shot is Pujols.

- I can’t believe people think the Astros will succeed again. They added absolutely nobody to help their putrid offense, and Biggio isn’t getting any younger. At some point his aggressive play will catch up with him in the form of injury. It’s a shame, but it’s reality. The only way they break .500 is if Clemens comes back. It will be justice for the way they treated Bagwell.

- Everybody’s favorite sleeper is the Brewers. Again, this is based on a late run they made last season. But, Overbay’s not there anymore and Ben Sheets is injured. They have a bunch of rookies, no bullpen (except Turnbow, but somebody’s got to get him the ball) or bench, and only three legit starters. This is going to be a huge bust.

- Okay, call me a homer (I am), but nobody’s giving the Cubbies a chance because Wood and Prior are on the DL again. I saw an interview with Mark Prior recently, and he’s got the exact right attitude for someone who has to come back and prove himself all over again. And he’s not injury-prone - they’ve all been freak occurrences. As for Wood…I don’t know. Maybe he can be effective from the bullpen again. The bottom line is that nobody’s talking about the addition of Juan Pierre and Jacque Jones, and that Ronnie Cedeno is poised to break out. They’ve got a platoon of infielders that can be effective off the bench or traded. I see things looking up for them, not in fourth of fifth place in the Central like everybody’s saying.

- I’m tired of people picking the Braves “because I picked against them last year and got burned.” They have a total of two pitchers - bullpen included. You might be able to convince me of Chris Reitsma, but not yet. I love Francoeur and all those guys, but it’s not happening. The Mets have done too much.

Peter Gammons has his picks for individual awards out, and I can’t say I’m impressed. Here’s what he picked:

AL MVP: Bobby Crosby
This has to be an April Fool’s joke. I know that the media loves him and he plays hard, but he’s not an MVP. Steve Phillips points to the A’s record last year with and without him while he was injured, but being a good clubhouse presence doesn’t win you the MVP. Last year he played 84 games and had 9 HRs and 38 RBIs. If you were generous in your calculations, you would discover that he was on pace for 20 HRs and 80 RBIs. A look at his ‘04 stats confirm that this is not atypical (22 & 64). These aren’t even Moneyball numbers. Even Pujols had to wait until his fifth year in the league to win, (Crosby’s in his fourth) and Bobby is not even in Pujols’ league. Peter should have gone with Teixeira or A-Rod. He should also remove Grady Sizemore from his list.

NL MVP: Albert Pujols
You can’t argue with this. What you can dispute is Chipper Jones on the runner-up list with Derrek Lee conspicuously absent. Chipper hit his prime…maybe 10 years ago? Not happening.

AL Cy Young: Josh Beckett
Unfortunately for Beckett, the Red Sox won’t be scoring as many runs this year. I just don’t see anybody who goes on the DL at least once every year for a blister contending. Santana or Halladay would have been better picks. You can’t really expect Gammons to write a column without predicting something outrageous for the Red Sox, though.

NL Cy Young: Jake Peavy
Nice sleeper pick.

Okay, hopefully the rain delay will end soon. My picks for individual awards:
MVP: Mark Teixeira (AL), Albert Pujols (NL)
Cy Young: Bartolo Colon (AL), Carlos Zambrano (NL)
Reliever of the Year: BJ Ryan (AL), Chad Cordero (NL)
Rookie of the Year: Kenji Johjima (AL), Matt Murton (NL)
Rookie Pitcher of the Year: I just looked over a list of eligible players and recognized maybe three names. No prediction. Here’s hoping for Edison Volquez and Angel Guzman.
Comeback Player of the Year (Position Player): Magglio Ordonez (AL), Barry Bonds (NL)
Comeback Player of the Year (Pitcher): Zack Greinke (AL), Mark Prior (NL)

Playoff Picks Revisted:
Here are my playoff teams that I picked a couple of months ago:

Mets
Cubs
Dodgers
Cardinals (WC)

Yankees
Indians
Rangers
Athletics (WC)

I reserve the right to change my picks, because it’s my blog and I was able to catch a few spring training games on TV. I’m going to leave the NL alone, but my AL picks get an overhaul. I have become increasingly less convinced about the Indians and more convinced about the Blue Jays. I’ve got the Blue Jays in the East, the White Sox in the Central (I was skeptical about Jim Thome, but it looks like it really was Philly that was the problem), and the West stays the same.

Ten Bold Predictions for 2006:
I was 1/2 for 10 last year (still an outside shot that Bonds retires at 715. Griffey almost made the season). They’re supposed to be bold, so no backing down.

1. David Wright will finish in the top 5 in MVP balloting. Oh yeah, bold…okay, top 3.
2. Roger Clemens will wait until the end of May to make his decision, making everybody think Astros…but he ends up with the Rangers.
3. Manny Ramirez will get injured messing around in the outfield, forcing David Ortiz to play in the field, effectively ending MVP conversations about him.
4. Nomar Garciaparra will end up playing second base for the Yankees.
5. Carl Crawford will demand a trade and end up in…Kansas City. The Royals will subsequently pass the Tigers for fourth place in the AL Central.
6. Dontrelle Willis will lead the NL in ERA but struggle to stay above .500. 12 wins for D-Train.
7. Tony LaRussa will retire after this season.
8. Bobby Jenks gets roughed up sometime early in the season, loses the closer role, and slips into anonymity as his weight approaches 350 pounds.
9. League leaders in home runs: Paul Konerko and Cliff Floyd.
10. This year’s big name to get nailed for steroids: Milton Bradley.

Rain delay’s still not over, so…there’s still a chance that prediction number 8 comes true tonight. Happy baseball!