Another game I didn’t get to listen to much (the feed was available from mlb.com with the Padres radio guys). Although I can say that the Padres radio guys made almost no effort to research Ranger player names – they mispronounced almost everyone’s name that had more than a couple of syllables, it seemed.
Was a back and forth game that we ended up on the wrong end of. I don’t have a lot of memories of this game as I write it the next day except that it seemed that we had a problem with balls in the outfield – seemed like too many got over our guys’ heads, or off gloves, or things of that nature.

I got to listen to the start of this game, because I left the house early tonight – I went to the Stars/Penguins game, and went out to dinner beforehand.
Anyway, this is the stereotypical Arizona Spring Training game – a ton of runs scored (22 of them – including a score of 7-5 after 3 innings). A few home run balls, and generally very high ERA’s. Chan Ho Park sounded really ineffective, giving up several runs before even getting the first out in the first inning. The reports after the game say that no one was concerned, that they were just “working” on things, but you always hate to see your “ace” give up that many runs at once. Considering how inconsistant he was last season.
We got a few home runs, including a solo shot by Kevin Mench. There was a three run home run by Ruben Sierra late in the game that gave us the lead for good, which was the point I stopped listening. Doug Glanville continues to sound great in spring – batting well, and if I’m not mistaken making no flubs in the field, which is one of his strong points. I always liked Glanville in Philly, so I hope that he picks it back up here.
As a short side note, I was surprised to hear so many former Rangers in Brewers camp. I suppose I shouldn’t be, with Doug Melvin running the show up there, but it still struck me as surprising. :)

I got a chance to really listen to this game, since my wife was working on Saturday afternoon, and I was home by myself, so I fired up some hot dogs on the grill, grabbed a Coke (in my Rangers mug, of course), and sat down with the radio and a scorecard to listen to the game. Normally I don’t score spring training games, because there’s too many changes to keep track of, but I was testing out a new scorecard I had just picked up from the sporting goods store, and since I only scored the Rangers, it wasn’t that bad. Oh yeah, the game…
Our spring starts out 0-3 with another loss. There’s a joke about only being able to beat a college team, but I won’t go there. From the get-go, our pitching really seemed craptacular today. Never really got it going – in fact, I believe only Colby Lewis pitched good – our only pitcher not to allow anything.
We got down early on a Charles Johnson home run, and we never really clicked after that. Mike Young made some noise with a 3 run home run, but our offense never really got going. Ah well, most of the guys pitching today aren’t going to be with the club come spring anyway, so I’m not really concerned at all. I’m just happy to have a game to listen to after months of football. :)

Our problems with the KC Royals continue into this season. We were beaten quite well during the 2002 season by them, and the trend continues. Of the three games we’ve played so far, we’ve lost both of them. While it’s too early to get really concerned, it’s never a good trend.
Again, I didn’t get to listen to this game, but not because I didn’t want to try – I was sent out of the office on an assignment during the time the game was on, and didn’t get to listen – the Royals feed was being carried on mlb.com. I got back in time to hear the ninth inning, when we made it interesting in the bottom of the 9th, loaded the bases with 1 out and behind by two, but two straight strikeouts ended that. In looking at the box score, it appears the CoCo & Rob Bell didn’t have great outings, and everyone else who pitched (Valdes, Drese, Shouse, & RA Dickey didn’t give up any runs. Was nice to see a Ranger home run, although it came from a non surprising power source – Doug Glanville. I like Glanville from his days in Philly, I hope he sticks on here.
Tomorrow’s game is on the radio, so I’ll be listening to that. :)

Well, the annual spring training tradition of not being able to hear games starts early. Day #1 was a double header, and we didn’t get to hear the second game against the UT Longhorns. I actually would have liked to have heard this game instead of the one against the Royals, and not because of the fact that we lost Game #1. I just felt this game was more interesting.
I didn’t see much on this game, except for the line score – scoring 10 runs over the last two innings. However, the clip that most everyone probably saw was Arod’s at bats. First was his strikeout (which I’m sure the UT pitcher will forever remember), and the massive home run he hit which casued a few fans out in center to go RUNNING after the ball. A 500 footer – I don’t think he’s done anything like that in Texas, but this IS Arizona spring training, after all. :) Makes me wonder what Arod would do if he played in Coors Field for 81 games!
Can’t say much about this game since I don’t have any first hand listening or viewing of it to draw from.
NOTE: This game did not count in the standings.

Ranger baseball is on the air!
Today was the first Ranger baseball game of the year – in a few ways, because weather wrecked the intrasquad games meant for earlier this week. Unfortunately again, the first game was a day game, and day games are problem for me because I have to listen at work, and I can rarely pay attention to the games. This one was no exception. Was really nice to hear Eric & Vince again, but I didn’t get to pay much attention. I listened from the top of the second to the point where the game was tied 2-2 (bottom of the fourth), then had an emergency at work, and didn’t get to hear anything else except the end of game when we lost.
Still, I’m looking forward to a great season, and overall I didn’t think we played that bad. The home run given up by us was by a pitcher I’d be shocked if we still have on the major league roster, so I’m not too worried about that.