No time to write, although there’s not much to write about. Looks like the old Chan Ho Park is back, and that can’t be good. We did make an attempt to come back at the end of the game, but it was too little too late.
Only real good thing is that Pedro Astacio has been released. But Chan Ho remains, and Drese is gone. Go figure.

These west coast games are murder on my personal viewing habits. They start at 9PM, which is when my wife and I pretty much go into “Let’s start getting the baby ready for bed” mode, which mostly involves washing bottles, and getting ’em ready for the next day. So by the time the baby is asleep, and the wife’s gone to bed is when I get time to myself where I can watch the Rangers game. By this time it’s almost 11:30, and I’m not going to make it through 3 hours of a game, so I watch games in fast forward. I watched this entire game in about 45 minutes last night forwarding on my TiVo. Would have been asleep otherwise. Thanks Mr Hicks for letting MLB off the hook about moving us to the AL Central. That’s become a regular complaint of mine lately. I’m fairly sure it won’t do a damn thing, but I still want to gripe about it. Now if TiVo could figure out how to put those 9PM games at 7PM where they should be, I’d be happy. :)
Given the fact we got behind immediately didn’t help much – that makes me want to skip forwards anyway. :) Chris Young gave up a home run to Vlad Guerrero. No shame in that, Vlad can hit a home run on a ball 6 inches below the dirt. But it still doesn’t make for a good game when he hits one in the first inning. That kind of sets the tone for the game, and it’s never a good one. Thing is Paul Byrd never let us in the game. He had an amazingly low pitch count (92 pitches over 9 innings). He allowed 6 hits, and just one earned run, which was Dellucci’s solo home run. This was definitely Paul Byrd’s game.
As a Phillies fan, I remember Paul Byrd when he pitched in Philly, and as well when he pitched for Atlanta. For the most part he was a pitcher you groaned at when he took the hill. Don’t know what’s going on Anaheim, but he certainly seems to have figured it out. At the least last night he did anyway. He killed us, and with Guerrero also on the stick (har har), we didn’t have much of a chance.
You can view my full update for this game here, or you can leave a comment about this game below.

The Father’s Day stuff continued with me on Sunday. After attending the game on Saturday night, I spent a nice day with my wife and my daughter. We went out to the big mall in Frisco to a place called Build a Bear. I made a big polar bear for Samantha to have, and then Lynn and I went out for something to eat afterwards. The reason I mention this is that we left the house at 1PM, right when the Rangers game is on. We live in South Garland, so it took us a little while to drive all the way out to Frisco where the RoughRiders play. Listened to the game till I got out of the truck. When I left the truck, it was 2-0. When I got back in the truck after walking around the mall for awhile, it was 8-1.
I missed just about everything that happened in this game, so I don’t have a lot of insight into it. From what I can read it appears that CJ Wilson did pretty good. His line isn’t all that great (3.2 IP, 3ER, 2K, 0BB), but it would appear they weren’t hitting him hard. It could have quite easily been 0ER from what I can gather, so I suspect he’ll get another shot at it. The only real star for us offensively was Alfonso Soriano, who was 3 for 4. That was odd, as he has no runs scored, and no RBI’s so while he did go 3 for 4, it wasn’t terribly productive. The team as a whole outside of Sori only had 4 hits total for the game.
Doug Brocail didn’t give up much of anything in his 3.1IP of relief. In fact, he had 6 strikeouts, no walks, and just one hit. A really good performance, but I personally don’t have a lot of confidence in him. I hope to be proven wrong, though. Jason Standridge pitched for Texas, and didn’t fare too well. He gave up 4 hits and 3ER plus a walk in his two thirds of an inning pitched, giving him one of those goofy ERA’s of 40.50. Cordero game on for an inning of work. Usually that means he’ll give up two or three runs, but he went 1-2-3, which was unusual for him in those circumstances.
Esteban Loaiza was supposed to start this game for the Nationals, but he was scratched. Spot starter Sun Woo Kim started in his place, which meant we weren’t going to do good at all. Of the spot starters we faced this year, they’ve dominated us. I hate facing those guys, we never seem to do much of anything against guys who weren’t supposed to start that day.
On to Anaheim. I know it’s not make or break, but I have to imagine losing 2 or getting swept out there won’t be good. Need to win 2 out of 3 out there, and then most of next week’s games back here.
You can view my full update for this game here, or you can leave a comment about this game below.

We won the game. Pretty handily. Mark Teixeira and Alfonso Soriano led the way with home runs. Tex has two, Sori had one, as did Matthews. In fact, all the runs in this game came via the long ball. The Nats 4 runs all came on long balls. Frank Robinson was honored before the game, which was nice. In fact, the guy who impressed me most in this game from the other side was Ryan Church. He really put on a show, going 3 for 4 with two home runs. He just looked good. Ricardo Rodriguez was really good (7IP, 3ER, 2K, 0BB), and (crossing fingers) he looks like he might be the answer, as our rotation now has some big holes in it with the departure of Ryan Drese & Pedro Astacio.
But none of that was what this night was about for me. This was the first game I attended with my daughter. A couple of weeks ago, my wife was trying to figure out what to do for Father’s Day, as it was my first one. Without boring you to death with the details, Father’s Day has never meant anything to me, as my dad split when I was 12, so this day was a day when I pretty much “shut down”. Well, now that I have a daughter of my own, my views are likely to be different as I’m the recipient of Father’s Day, not the “giver”. Anyway, Lynn suggested we go to a Rangers game for Father’s Day, since I like baseball so much. This of course was a great idea to me, and I jumped on it. We were going to go on Sunday on the actual Father’s Day game, but a 1PM game at a projected 100 degrees is NOT a good idea for a nine week old, so we decided to go Saturday night. This posed a problem as Saturday night was almost sold out. The only tickets left when we got to the gate were in Section 344. That really doesn’t much bother me, I’m happy sitting anywhere in the park. Plus with my daughter being only nine weeks old, she won’t realize it. I’m sure it didn’t help my wife, since she really needs the scoreboard to be able to pay attention, and in the $5 cheap seats, you can’t see it (as you’re technically behind the thing). Still, it was Father’s Day weekend, and I was attending the first game with my kid. I also found out you don’t need to buy a ticket for a kid that is this young, but with the game being so packed, I bought two extra kids tickets (at $2 each) just so we could have some room for all the baby stuff we brought with us. :) I was just concerned with BEING THERE, where we sat was pretty much irrelevant.
As the game started, I was thinking about all the emotional things you hear about baseball, generations, family, and all that. I did tear up a bit at the start of the game when I realized I was Daddy. It was something I never had for myself, as my recollections tell me I never attended a baseball game with my own father until I was 23 (which was a Colorado Rockies game in Denver their inaugural year in Mile High Stadium, before Coors opened). So I was a bit teary eyed when the game started, as I full well intend on going to a boatload more games with my daughter. I also will be back on August 23rd with her to pass along a tradition I’ve had for years. That’s when I go to a Rangers game on my birthday, or if they’re not in town on my birthday, the closest calendar date game. I picked this up from my mom a long time ago when I was a kid, and is something that I carried on myself back home in Philly when she couldn’t go, and then when I moved to Texas. I was Dad. I was the person taking my wife and kid to a game. I realized at that time I had achieved something in life a lot of people look for, and don’t have – that’s a family to love, and a family that loves them. My wife and I are very perfectly matched, and the child we’ve had I think is a great mix of that. Granted, she’s only 9 weeks old, and we don’t know her personality yet, but being borne from Lynn and myself, she’ll turn out to be pretty good, I would expect. And she’ll love baseball, dammit! :)
We got there early enough so that we could visit the gift shop. Since it was Samantha’s first game, we had to get her a souvenir or two. We were sent some money from my mother so that we could get some stuff for Sam’s first game. As I’m a season ticket holder, I have a 15% discount card off of merchandise, so we made use of that. We got Samantha a really cute little outfit that she’ll fit into in a couple of months that will make her look like a baseball, I think. We also got her a Rangers pennant for her room, and we also managed to get the tickets for the money my mom sent down. All in all, we made out pretty well with stretching money. After the gift shop run, we went around to collect a free gift the Rangers had sent. I signed Samantha up for the Rangers “Jr Rangers Program“. It’s a fabulous deal. You pay $12 for a season, and you get vouchers good for 6 free kids tickets spread out during the season. You also get a player photo frame, a baseball, and a membership card. You also get a free gift once per month (as well as newsletters mailed to the house). So we walked over to the kiosk where you collect the monthly gift. I was expecting it to be a magnet, or a picture, or something small. They handed me a Buck Showalter bobblehead. I was quite surprised at that. Was a major bonus. I have to say the Jr Rangers program is an extremely good value if you have kids that like attending Ranger games. $12 for all that is stupid cheap for what you get. The final bit of merchandise was something I got when I renewed my season ticket package last winter by a certain date. We got a free laser engraved bat, which I had engraved with the words “Samantha Anne Siegler – 1st Game Jun 18, 2005 – Rangers vs. Nationals”. So we got the souvenir thing covered well. :)
I then walked some more (which was starting to get to my wife, sorry honey, I know I pushed it on Saturday) and went upstairs. This was a season ticket game of mine, but I didn’t use my regular seat so my wife and daughter could attend. But I wanted to stop by my regular section so the folks who sit there with me could see my daughter, as could the users in that area. I enjoyed showing off my baby, but by this point we needed to head to our seats, so we headed all the way down to section 344, which is the next to the last section in the outer right field seats. We sat down, and I broke out the scorecard in the program. As I wanted to save the program for Samantha for later on, I wanted to make sure I had scored the game too. I always do that, but rarely on paper anymore, and never in the Rangers program. But this one I wanted to in there. During the game, Samantha was extremely well behaved. She had a couple of small moments of screaming, but nothing major at all. She spent most of the game in mommy’s arms. I held her for a little while, but I spent most of my time watching Samantha, as well as the game. I thought the fireworks would scare Samantha. She did jump at the first one, but then it seemed like no big deal. In fact, any “new” loud noise she moved for, but then basically ignored it. One tip – if you’re sitting in Sections 333 or higher and have a little kid, make sure to cover them when the home run fireworks go off, as they tend to deposit soot on you. She had three bottles at the game. The first one shortly after we had first got there. The second one was during the game, and the final one was after the game was over. The team had a fireworks show for everyone after teh game was over. We skipped that, but Lynn was in the outer concourse feeding Samantha during that, so we got to see some of the really high ones (as we were in a bad place to see the fireworks). We then left to go to the truck, as I’ve learned fireworks shows are a great way to avoid traffic after the game. Walking to the truck we got to see some of the fireworks, and the big finale as we were actually leaving the parking lot.
So to bring this to a close, I was overwhelmed by emotion at the start of the game. It’s more powerful now that I’m looking backwards at the event instead of sitting in the seat in the ballpark thinking about it. I absolutely adored watching my wife and my kid at the ballpark with me. It’s something that I think all parents should experience. Granted, I’m sure it’s enhanced a lot by the fact that I’m a big baseball fan. Non baseball fans probably won’t get that feeling. Having a kid of my own to take to games has been something I’ve been looking forward to for many years. Even pre-dating the time I first met my wife 18 years ago. But having the kid to pass on my knowledge of baseball to will be great. Hopefully she’s not someone who doesn’t like baseball. That will kill Daddy. :)
As a final memento of the day, I burned a copy of the game’s broadcast to DVD off my TiVo, and I saved the box score out of the newspaper the next day for the scrapbook.
I love my daughter. I love my wife, and all the cares of the world didn’t exist when I was sitting there in the park with the two of them.
You can view my full update for this game here, or you can leave a comment about this game below.

This was an interesting Kenny Rogers day. First off, he had another great pitching performance. He went 6.1, giving up 8 hits, and just one earned run. Struck out 4 and walked three. His usual 2005 pitching performance. But the Rogers real moment of the day was the remark in the press about how he’s not going to talk to Hicks about a contact extension, he’s “authorized Scott Boras to do that after the all star break”. Great way to get inside the team’s head there, Kenny. He also said there will be no “hometown discount again”. To my knowledge, he never got one. When he left the first time after 95, he was talked out of town by Boras to higher money. When he left after the 2002 season, it was because Boras convinced him there was to be better money than the Rangers were offering, which was WAY overpriced at the time. He had to sign a last minute desperation deal with the Twins. He came back here this current time on a deal that no one else was offering. I think Boras will talk him out of town again. Let’s see how much Kenny REALLY wants to stay here. But I can’t feel that the discussion about this issue will be a distraction, especially if it starts carrying over into the press. Stupid Scott Boras.
Back to this game.. Offensively, we mounted a 15 hit attack, lead by homers by Hank Blalock & Kevin Mench. Blalock was 3 for 5 with 3 RBI’s and a run scored. We also had three doubles (Soriano, Young, Mench). Every starter had a hit in the game, so it was pretty well balanced. We did strike out a bit too much (9 times, 3 by Dellucci), and walked only three times.
I missed most of the game due to baby related stuff that evening, but saw enough to see the important parts. :)
You can view my full update for this game here, or you can leave a comment about this game below.

No time to write about this game.

No time to write about this game.

A few complaints. Why take Chris Young out? As evidenced by what followed, he could have done better. And second, why do we keep putting Cordero in with huge leads? He always gives up a few runs. That’s starting to annoy me.
But the rest of the night was great. We were led by Chris Young, who seems to be the #2 of the staff. He’s got that feel about him the last several starts that he’s a big time big league pitcher. Sure, he’s young (har), and he’s got a lot to go through still, but you can’t help but feel good about the way he’s pitched lately. He pitched a 7 inning 2 hit shutout with just one walk and seven strikeouts. I would have left him in for more, but you can’t argue with how well he pitched last night. It was fabulous!
And Alfonso Soriano led the charge with two home runs, and 4 RBI’s. Soriano’s swing looked great all night – he actually had two more swings that looked like home run balls off the bat. One died on the track in center field just to the edge of Greene’s Hill. The other one REALLY looked like a HR ball, but died on the track in front of the scoreboard, and was caught by Ryan Langerhands for an out in one of the best outfielder catches I’ve seen in this ballpark. One handed over the head, crash into the scoreboard, and land face down in the dirt on the track. Was very impressive. Was also nice to see the Ranger fans giving him a hand on TV for that. Classy move.
Mike Young went 1 for 3, and is now batting .309 after being pretty slow early in the season. Teixeira is at .286, although his power numbers seem fine, and seems to be a pretty good candidate to get elected to the All Star game by his peers, as the moron fans seem to be electing Tino Martinez, who doesn’t deserve it. My gut feeling says we’re sending Mike Young & Mark Teixeira, along with Kenny Rogers & Chris Young to the All-Star game. I feel that we’re not sending Blalock this year – have no hard facts on that, just a feeling.
It’s nice to finally beat the Braves. We’re now 1-6 lifetime against them.
You can view my full update for this game here, or you can leave a comment about this game below.

The losing streak comes to an end with a 6-2 win on Sunday afternoon over the Marlins. After the way the road trip went, I personally find it hard to get excited after a win there, but a win is a win I suppose. We’re still only 2.5 games out of first, and seem to have enough to stay in contention (although likely not get anywhere in the playoffs should we get there).
RicRod was called up formally for Sunday’s game and went 5 innings, giving up just two runs on 7 hits and three walks with 7 strikeouts. That’s a terrible WHIP, but since only two crossed the plate, it’s not all bad. :) Another 2005 newcomer John Wasdin was perfect in his four innings of relief, getting the odd save. We had surprising pitching from a surprising source. Like most Ranger fans, I felt good about RicRod last year, then felt awful when he got wailed on with a batted ball, and it ended his season. I really hope he can rediscover that form of mid last year, as it would be a big help to us in the back half of the season. Can’t say I’m thrilled about Wasdin, even given what he did last night. I don’t see him as a permanent piece of the puzzle at all.
We go home now to play the Braves. Hopefully being at home helps out, as we could use several wins, and I’m not confident about getting ’em against the Braves and the surprisingly good Nationals this coming weekend.
(For those of you who don’t get the “Topes Win” reference, it’s a Simpsons gag.)
You can view my full update for this game here, or you can leave a comment about this game below.

Looks like the Philly stink carried into this game, too. We lost when our bullpen couldn’t hold the lead. Kenny Rogers, our best pitcher this season by far had his worst outing of the year, giving up 5 runs in his 5.2IP. Rather un Kenny like, for sure. Juan Dominguez pitched in this game (his first appearance of 2005, I believe), and was OK. Not terrible, but he did give up a run.
Kevin Mench did stake us to a 4 run lead on an absolute no doubter grand slam in the second inning. But that was about it, really. We didn’t garner any sustainable offense, if my memory serves (I’m writing this two days after teh game).
The most amusing moment in the game came from Kenny Rogers. He tripled into the right field bermuda triangle, and after he called time out, immediately bent over with some heavy breathing – they showed video of the bullpen guys laughing at Kenny for his triple. Kenny also had an RBI in the game earlier, so he more than held his own offensively. :)
The rest of the game was just annoying. :)
You can view my full update for this game here, or you can leave a comment about this game below.