First Error Of The Season

B-1 bomber fly-over jumped the “gun” and flew over during the national anthem. Scared the whole crowd.

Millwood: Pitch-by-Pitch / Inning-by-Inning

(more…)

George W. Bush Is In The Building

Opening ceremonies have started and for some reason The Who’s Teenage Wasteland (Baba O’Riley for you sticklers) is blaring from the speakers. Former president George W. Bush is hanging out with Nolan Ryan in the tunnel behind home plate. I have a picture below but it’s really blurry. Nerves?

(more…)

Hicks Wants To Hear Stars Co-GMs’ Self-Analysis Soon

The Stars’ season will end on the road this week, specifically Friday night in Anaheim. And then, owner Tom Hicks said Monday morning on the field before the Rangers’ opener, meetings looking at the 2009-10 season will commence soon.

Hicks has said he supports coach Dave Tippett despite missing the playoffs for the first time since the 2001-02 season. And he has yet to decide about the twin-GM set-up with Brett Hull and Les Jackson.

Said Hicks on the GMs: “We’re going to have our end-of-the-year meeting sometime next week or the week after that, so I’d be premature to say anything until after I hear what they have to say.”

(more…)

Let’s Play A Game

We’re still not anywhere near first pitch, but the weather is improving somewhat and folks are starting to stream in wearing their red. The first-pitch tosser, a guy named Bush, should be in the park by now and warming up.

In the meantime, let’s play a little game. You may recall that in a previous life, we had a pitching-oriented game. Well, apparently my intellectual property had to remain at the old home. So, instead, let’s go focus on hitting. But we will have a prize for this game. I promise.

It’s a simple game, really. All I want to know is: Who hits the Rangers first homer of the season? You give me the player, the inning, the count and the number of people on base. If you want, you can give me an estimated distance, in the event two people nail all the other stuff directly, the closest to the distance would serve as our tiebreaker.

Here’s a sample entry:

Nelson Cruz, second inning, 2-0, bases empty, 392 feet.

See it’s simple. Go.

Yet Another Multi-Media Alert: Talkin’ Baseball With Bob Sturm And Dan McDowell

If you are in the car, stuck in traffic on the way to Arlington, I’ll be on with the BaD boys at 12:10 on The Ticket (KTCK-1310 AM). You could also listen while you are in the parking lot or on your little transistor radio. And, if you are stuck at work, well, I’m sorry. But you could always hook up on the computer.

Ron Washington: “We Are Ready.”

The manager plans to deliver a pretty simple message to the Rangers before the opener today.

“I’m going to tell them we’ve improved our defense, we’ve improved our execution, our mindset is different,” Washington said. “Everything is a team accomplishment. We’ve got a lot of guys who were here for a big part of last year, I think the familiarity we have with all these guys is going to be important. These guys know what we’re looking for; that’s important. I’ve told them, ‘We are ready; we are ready.’ “

Three Up And Three Down: Things To Like And Things To Worry About On The Rangers Roster

And so it’s about to begin. Season No. 38 of Texas Rangers baseball. The bunting is out. The ribbon boards are lighting up a brilliant, but windy and cool morning. The Secret Service appears to be sweeping the area. And baseball is on the horizon. Now that the roster is set, there are some things to really like about what the Rangers have done with their club and, as usual, some things to really worry about. We’re not here to question the quality of the starting pitching – we’re sure you’ll do plenty of that the first time a pitcher falls behind a hitter 3-and-1 today – but we’re simply looking at how the Rangers constructed this roster from the talent they had available.

What follows is a brief look at areas that should be improved and areas that are still concerns.

(more…)