The Depot: Rangers-Mariners Live Game Blog, News, Notes And Musings

8:02: The sun may be going down in Dallas, but the pool is still open.

8:09: From earlier in the day: Ian Kinsler is not disappointed about missing out on the All-Star Game. … Jeff Miller looks back on the Rangers-Angels games over the last 10 days and the meaning of them all. … Oh, and since Andruw Jones is back in the lineup again today, maybe it’s good to consider what he’s done since getting regular playing time.

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Rangers Ian Kinsler Not Disappointed Over Missing Out On All-Star Team

SEATTLE – Ian Kinsler may go see “The Hangover,” during the All-Star break, but he apparently won’t have one after it.

Kinsler lost out in the voting for the final spot on the AL All-Star Roster, it was announced Thursday. Detroit’s Brandon Inge, who received more than 11.8 million votes from fans for the final spot, will go instead. One note about the integrity of the voting:  Inge’s total, for the last spot on the roster, is more than double what Albert Pujols, the leading vote-getter among all All-Star starters, received in regular balloting.

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Are There Salmon Spawning In Our Home Run Pool?

Oh that would be so gross. But think of the grilling possibilities!

We are playing blind for the moment since I do not have a lineup yet. Should have that soon. Here’s a guess, though: Ian Kinsler will be back in the lineup. Beyond that I don’t have much at the moment, except to tell you that Michael Young has a homer and 16 hits in 45 at-bats (.356) against Seattle’s Felix Hernandez. He has faced King Felix more than any other hitter in baseball.

Now, I’m going back to watching a little bit of bunting practice. Yes, the Mariners are out bunting and have been for a while. And behind the batting cage, Eddie Guardado, one of his sons, Ken Griffey Jr. and Jay Buhner are having a nice little chat.

UPDATE with lineup at 6:20 p.m. CDT: 2B Ian Kinsler, 3B Michael Young, CF Josh Hamilton, DH Andruw Jones, 1B Hank Blalock, RF Marlon Byrd, LF David Murphy, C Jarrod Saltalamacchia, SS Elvis Andrus and pitching for the Rangers … RHP Tommy Hunter.

Like Mom Always Said, Look Both Ways

The Rangers’ little 10-day retreat with the Los Angeles Angels is over, and fewer than 20 games remain before the trading deadline. It’s a good time to review how the individual Rangers and Angels have performed in the nine games played against each other so far this season (10 to play, seven in Anaheim) and what each team’s schedule looks like through the end of the month. (Please point out any errors in amateur Miller math):

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Stars Announce Pre-Season Schedule, Which Includes I-35 Field Trip To Cedar Park

The Stars just announced their pre-season slate, which includes a game in their new minor league rink down in Cedar Park. (All times are Dallas times.)

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Series Preview: Rangers at Mariners

Not only did the Rangers finish off their third series win in three tries against the Angels last night, but they did it against Los Angeles’ three best pitches: Jered Weaver, John Lackey, and Ervin Santana.

And while that’s still an impressive feat (especially on the road), it would’ve been even more impressive last year when Lackey and Santana were pitching well. But neither of the Angels top starters from 2008 have found their form yet after starting the year on the DL, and the Rangers took advantage. Now, as they prepare to start a four-game set with the Mariners in Seattle tonight, they’ll have to do it against some of the AL’s toughest hurlers. Felix Hernandez ranks in the AL top ten in virtually every pitching category you can think of. Brandon Morrow struggled in the bullpen, but has steadily improved since the Mariners put him in the rotation. Despite a 5-6 record, Jarrod Washburn has the sixth best earned run average in the league and features a pitch called “the dolphin” that completely handcuffed the Baltimore Orioles on Monday. And injury-prone Erick Bedard has a better ERA than any AL pitcher not named Zack Greinke, although he doesn’t qualify for the ERA title yet because he’s missed five starts already.

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Pappas Brothers Steakhouse To Host “A Night For Rich Behm”

Our friends at Pappas Restaurants are hosting a special dinner to benefit Cowboys scouting assistant Rich Behm, who was paralyzed from the waist down during that freak May storm that toppled the practice bubble in Valley Ranch. We’re posting this press release because it brings together three things we love: Pappas Restaurants, a good cause and STEAK!

Pappas Bros. Steakhouse proudly hosts a charity dinner in honor of Rich Behm on July 19, 2009 at 6:00 p.m. (the restaurant is closed to general public that evening).  Behm, a Dallas Cowboys scouting assistant, was seriously injured when the team’s practice facility tragically collapsed during a severe thunderstorm in May. His injury – a catastrophic fracture to the Thoracic spine – resulted in permanent paralysis from the waist down.

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The Mavericks’ Summer Plan Unfolds

It would appear whether we are in love with this idea or not, the Mavs are going to get this Shawn Marion deal done this morning. Mark Cuban was serious about being aggressive this summer and this represents a pretty bold stroke. After a few days of coming to terms with this happening, I think I do like this deal on the surface – because the Mavericks are clearly better today when they were yesterday. If that is the bar that we use to measure this, then this summer is a complete success.

Marcin Gortat (assuming that is as done and dusted as we are led to believe) makes the center position clearly superior to anything we have seen in years. Imagine the premise of Erick Dampier as a back-up center! Now, he makes sense on the roster.

Shawn Marion gives you many things you didn’t get at small forward last year on many levels. He defends well (although I don’t believe quite at 2005/2006 levels), he rebounds very well, he scores, he scores above the rim, and he certainly will be on the receiving end of 100 lob passes from Jason Kidd this season.

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Power Ranger: Andruw Jones Delivers Three Homers As Rangers Pound Angels, Recapture First

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ANAHEIM, Calif. - Never let it be said that Andruw Jones doesn’t understand his role.

Upon scanning the lineup Wednesday night and seeing his name in it for the third straight game and the fifth in the last six, the guy who was signed as a part-timer leaned over and whispered with a smile: “You know, I’m playing entirely too much.”

Not if he keeps this up.

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Road To Arlington: Rangers Minor League Report (7/9)

Vin DiFazio at Bama

Every year after the draft, I try to identify one late-rounder who for some reason or other I choose to just flat out root for — deliberately choose to be totally unobjective about — and this year that guy is 12th rounder Vin DiFazio.

A catcher from the University of Alabama, DiFazio grew up in Jersey and lost his uncle Vin — a baseball mentor — in the World Trade Center attacks of September 11, 2001. He went to the University of Connecticut for a year, transferred to a JUCO in Florida and then moved on to Bama where he spent three years, two of which were marred by injuries including a torn meniscus which then spawned a strange neurological disorder that cost him the entire 2007 season and most of the 2008 season.

This spring, DiFazio hit .329 / .421 / .593 for the Tide and Rangers area scout Jeff Wood was paying attention.

DiFazio has a reputation as an enthusiastic, energetic leader and in reading a few stories about him, it’s clear that nobody is going to appreciate the opportunity to play pro baseball any more than DiFazio will. And so far, he’s making Jeff Wood look like a genius.

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