Notes on the David Feherty Dust-up

Until about two seconds ago, we didn’t have a “golf” category on InsideCorner. Odd. Anyway, if you’ve been following along at home, you know that CBS golf analyst David Feherty has gotten himself in hot water over something he wrote in D Magazine. I say boooooooo to the humorless people in a much more long-winded fashion over on FrontBurner.

Monday Morning Announcements: Let’s Get Happy!

DISCLAIMER: If you are here for the information and analysis and get weary of self promotion, I must apologize for the following post. It is about our happy hour event at Pappadeaux’s in Dallas this evening and it’s part of trying to create a complete community for Rangers fans to feel engaged and welcomed. So, with that in mind. …

Technically, the Rangers are off today, except for the half-dozen who will be working the room at Pappadeaux in Dallas (3520 Oak Lawn) from 5:30  to 7:30.  This will serve as your final reminder of our event, which we’ve dubbed a “Home Run Happy Hour.” And it’s actually two – Two! – happy hours. Michael Young, Ian Kinsler and Marlon Byrd are scheduled to headline our little party. Scott Feldman has agreed to represent the pitching staff, which is due some applause after a huge turnaround since the first two weeks of the seasoan. Taylor Teagarden and Chris Davis will stop by, as well. And we may have another guest or two.

There is no real format for tonight. It was designed to be an opportunity for you to meet and mingle with the players and ask them your own questions in a low-key environment. That was the design. That was before the Rangers went out and stole away first place by going 5-2 on the road trip. It was also designed as a chance for you to meet the folks behind InsideCorner and the folks who have come to very quickly make this a great little baseball community. There is no admission to the event. We are simply hoping folks will stop by, have a beverage or an appetizer (or two) and maybe stick around to have dinner afterward. The format will consist of a couple of periodic short Q&As that I’ll conduct with the players, but in the perfect world, you’ll get to ask the questions you want on your own face-to-face. We’re not discouraging autograph requests, but we will try to limit them to one per player.

That said, I’ve been so tickled with the number of folks who have said they would be showing up, but we’re still trying to get a handle on what kind of party we’ve got on our hands. A number of people sent in informal RSVP’s when I touted this event last week. If you’ve done that already, great. If you havent and are thinking you might be showing up tonight, it would be great for us to know how big you expect  your party to be. All you’ve got to do in the comment section here is let us know how big your party might be. And if you think there is something you’d like me to ask the players in the Q&A, send it along as well. If you think you might want to have dinner after the event and talk some more baseball with me, the RSVP section would be a great place to let me know what size our group party will be.

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Road To Arlington: Rangers Minor League Report (5/11)

And the hits keep coming.

Another pitching prospect emerges, this time from the sixth round of the 2008 draft. A tall lefty who deals a steady diet of high-80′s sinkers augmented by two breaking balls that he throws for strikes, the 22 year old made five strong appearances, four starts, for Class-A Hickory where he posted a 17-4 K/BB as well as a 2.06 G/F ratio in 23.2 innings before his promotion to Advanced-A Bakersfield this week.

Richard Bleier doesn’t have the jaw-dropping stuff to be considered an elite prospect, but he throws strikes, keeps the ball down and has an idea of how to keep hitters guessing. As a long as he keeps doing those things, he’s got a chance. And when you see a guy do what he did yesterday in his Cal League debut, you have to put a big checkmark next to his name.

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