I can’t say I’m surprised given how much he’s been pushed around the field lately, now being pushed mostly off of it. It seems inevitable given how much noise about it we’ve heard the last few days.
If he is moved, I’ll write about it a little more then. Just kind of waiting back and seeing what will happen if he is moved.

Rangers fan Josh Rodgers sent me a couple of fun little Rangers videos this morning he made. Check ’em out:

That’s a bit of a surprise. Saw a minute ago where the Rangers are sending Frank Francisco (and cash) to Toronto for catcher Mike Napoli. Saw it on a Twitter post a few minutes ago.
This is interesting, as might signal that Alexi Ogando might have to stay in the bullpen if we lose Frankie.
We also had catching set – with Torrealba & Treanor sharing duties. If Napoli comes in, I suspect it will bump Treanor to AAA – or off the club. Neither of which I’m sure he’ll be thrilled about. Assuming there isn’t another corresponding move to move one of the catchers out (can we trade Torrealba that quickly? Probably Treanor), it’ll be interesting to see how that plays out.
Edit: Should have read the complete Twitter update before I posted this. Rosenthal says it won’t force those two off the roster, it will fulfill that “last bench spot” we tried to fill with Jim Thome. C, 1B, & DH. Other than catcher, that’s what Mike Young was doing. It will be interesting to see how the at bats play out if there’s no injuries along the line.
NOTE: If you’re reading this on an RSS feed, sorry for all the duplicates.

Back in October when I was watching the Rangers in the playoffs, I wrote a little about a scoreboard image that TBS put out. They, like most networks (Fox, mostly) do this thing where they insert their own scoreboards into the stadium – usually during returns from commercials and whatnot. TBS showed the following image, which was a complete fake:

At the end of November, I asked Chuck Greenberg on his Facebook page what was going on with the rumored scoreboard improvements, and he said something was going to be announced shortly, and it was. Little did I know that TBS’ fake image wasn’t too far from what we are going to get in 2011. Look at this:

It was announced on December 2nd (yeah, I’m behind) that several new scoreboards will be installed in the park. The most obvious is the one shown above; the one above Home Run Porch. Here’s some text on the sizes from the official press release:

The current video board on the roof of the Home Run Porch, which is 24 by 36 feet (864 square feet) will be replaced by a new board that measures 42 by 120 feet (5,040 square feet). In addition, a new video board that will be 25 by 29 feet (725 square feet) will replace the Coca-Cola matrix board on top of the office building in centerfield. The old video board used standard definition technology while the new boards will both be high-definition.

The scoreboard that is being replaced now had been there since the place opened in 1994. A few years ago (five or six now – I can’t recall) the video board was replaced from it’s 1994 original to a newer one. But that upgrade was essentially “the same thing”. Meaning, it didn’t go from SD to HD. It was a drop in replacement. It did look nicer than the original board, but it wasn’t a sonic upgrade in quality. It still had the tiny square video board up there, which was microscopic compared to other things around. So while that was nice for a couple of years, it was time for an upgrade. So that fake TBS image got me thinking – why can’t we do that?
I know the physical structure up there keeps us from having a scoreboard the size of Jerry Jones’ behemoth. But given that restriction, I think what’s proposed is the best we can do short of replacing the Home Run Porch, which I think nobody is in favor of. From the two press shots I have above, it looks like the entire board is capable of video, it’ll be one giant video board up there. It will get broken up into “pieces” showing stats, ads, and whatnot. What I’m HOPING is that for video replays we get a full board reply of it, and not just a “square” or “rectangle” portion. I want the entire area to be a video display, like shown in the second one. I also hope these video boards get in on the party for the “Ring of Fire” bit that Chuck introduced a couple of years ago. :) However it’s used, it will be a definite improvement.
There’s also a replacement for the “Coke Bottle” dot matrix board in center field. Originally it was a lower tech dot matrix screen, and around the same time of the home run porch upgrade, it was a much higher quality dot matrix board. Now it’s going to be a video board similar to the one in home run porch, according to the press release. That will be quite cool, although given I believe it’s being dropped into the existing Coke bottle frame, it will be a square and not a widescreen board, so I wonder if there will be horizontal bars on it like there are with older TV’s and widescreen footage. :)
Finally the video board in left field, which replaced the old manual scoreboard just two seasons ago will also be replaced with an HD video board. This is good too, because the same “small square” problem that plagued the home run porch video board plagued the video board on the left field wall. On top of it, the screen that protects the board from balls and players running into it gets in the way of being able to see it clearly. I wonder if there will be some other way to protect the screen, or the HD upgrade will help. Either way, that too will be an improvement. Having said that, the 2009-2010 left field board was great for non video information. The way Chuck used the board to display in game stuff, and other information was quite good. Just couldn’t read any text shown on the “video square” due to it being too small, and the screen in front of the videoboard getting in the way. Will have to do a report once the boards are in and I can attend a game and see ’em in action.

The new stuff doesn’t stop with the seating bowl. All the TVs and displays around the stadium concourses and food stands will be replaced. In the press release, Chuck Greenberg called them (I’m paraphrasing) a testament to 1994 TV technology. I have to agree with that. There were MANY of them which were old, broken down, or worse, would display the entire screen in a yellow tint. They needed to go. The new system will be similar to what’s in Cowboys stadium where all the video boards will be linked together, so their prices and displays can be controlled from a central location. The idea being when there’s one of Chuck’s new “Blue Light Specials”, the prices will be updated everywhere at the same time. It should look and work out pretty cool. But just the mere replacement of the old shabby tube SD TV’s around the park will help.
One thing though – there have been for a few years now advertising boards in the concourse that show nothing but advertisements. These giant video boards cause hell with anyone who is using a portable radio. I know they broadcast the radio signal in the stadium, but if you have all these video boards that cause incredibly LOUD interference when you get anywhere near them, it renders radios useless. I’ve had to stop walking anywhere near them, because the interference in my headphones is so loud it literally hurts.
Finally, they’re upgrading the audio system too. Has this text from the press release:

The Rangers Ballpark in Arlington audio system is receiving a total overhaul with the old speakers being replaced and the additional of technology upgrades and production equipment to compliment the enhanced video product.

Some years ago the audio system was supposedly upgraded too (around the time Chuck Morgan came back from Kansas City if I remember right), and to be honest, it didn’t make a whole lot of difference. Hopefully this upgrade is more successful.
So I’m definitely interested in all these upgrades. Somewhere when this happened, these upgrades were referred to as just one of the ongoing ballpark upgrades to come. There was some talk about replacing all the static boards above the center field offices with one giant video board that ran that entire space. I’m hoping that’s part of the following off season’s video upgrades. Chuck also said something about ballpark changes not changing the overall design of the park, that he’d complement, not change. This would explain why the oft told story of replacing Sections 301-306 with a giant video board out there won’t be happening, either.
I also hope they can remove the Cuervo Club and restore the natural wind balance to the ballpark, but that’s probably just a dream, sadly.
The Rangers have a four and a half minute long video on their site showing these changes via a “virtual flythrough”. Click here to check that out (if MLBAM ever gets off their butts and allows video streaming, I’d have it here).
Sorry for the delay in getting this online. I know it happened about 7 weeks ago, but I kept getting distracted by other stuff, and I wanted to give this the writeup it deserved, not just say “Hey, read the press release”. :)

This week was the Hall of Fame 2011 class induction announcement. I think to nobody’s surprise, there were two player inductees to go with the previously announced Pat Gillick. Bert Blyleven & Robbie Alomar.

Blyleven finally gets in after a zillion years of not getting enough votes. Given the general lack of huge names this time around, it seemed like a lock after he got so close last year. If you’re reading this site, you’ve read the big ticket sites and know his numbers. There was no way I thought he’d go in as a Ranger, I figured he’d go in as a Twin, and I read tonight that this was the case.

Bert was here for the 1976 & 1977 seasons, although 77 was his only full year here, having come over mid season in 76 from the Twins. He compiled a 23-23 record here, with ERA’s of 2.72 & 3.03. While his playing career says he played when I was old enough to remember him, he spent the majority of his time in AL teams. He was only in the NL from 78-80 when he was in Pittsburgh. I don’t remember him much at all, but his numbers are great. Felt he should have been in for awhile.

Robbie Alomar got in, and after getting 90% this year, and I forget what last year on his first year, one thinks it was some sort of penalty for the spitting incident. Still, he was an awesome second baseman, and deserved to be in as well.

I’m a bit surprised that Jeff Bagwell didn’t place higher, and some of the “almosts” (Barry Larkin, Jack Morris, Lee Smith), might have a shot next year when the class is even weaker than this year in general. Could be next year it’s just Barry Larkin. We’ll see.

And then there’s the other Ranger players on the ballot this year. The biggest name of them is Rafael Palmeiro. While his finger wagging didn’t help, I believe that he was telling the truth when he did that. Getting in front of Congress and lying is just dumb. Granted, there’s Barry Bonds, but that’s another story completely. Still, if you look at the point where Palmeiro was drawn into all this, he was at the back end of his career at that point. If he started cheating around that time, it didn’t make any sense to me. Why start cheating when you already have the numbers, and are at the tail end of your career? Not to say it’s impossible, but my gut feeling says he didn’t do it. If I had a vote, I would have voted for him. Apparently not a lot of others did, as he just got 11% of the votes (64 of them). Unless some new conclusive evidence shows up, I can’t see that going up at all.

Juan Gonzalez was on the ballot too, and got less coverage than Raffy. Juan was “fingered” by Canseco in his book, and while he denied it, Juan’s general grump attitude will never help him. A lot of noise has been made about various players getting hurt by the press when it comes time to vote, because they didn’t talk to the press, etc… He got 5.2% and 30 votes. Wonder who those guys are, as none of the local DFW guys voted for him that I’m aware of.
The only other former Rangers on there were Harold Baines (4.8% – 28 votes) & Kevin Brown (2.1% – 21 votes). Both Baines and Brown will be dropped after this year, because they’re below 5%. Juando will stay on – barely, but I can’t imagine him going anywhere, he’ll probably get dropped after 2012.

Back to the guys who DID get in. Blyleven joins a crew of players and managers who have suited up for the Rangers, but aren’t in the hall with a Rangers cap. Only Nolan Ryan is in there with a Rangers cap.

Time for one of my catch up posts. I haven’t posted any “words” really since the World Series ended except for one post about free agents. I was somewhat annoyed that we lost the World Series. In fact, within seconds of the final out, I had deleted the game from my TiVo, cancelled all future recordings of Baseball Tonight and MLB Tonight, and deleted all the games except the one we won. I’ll watch that one again at some point, just not now. I was quite cold about it when they lost, my wife was probably a bit surprised.
Anyway, some things have happened since then, and I wanted to get in a few words about what’s transpired since I last talked on the site. But before I get to that, I did want to say a few words about the season that just passed.
2010 Season: It was absolutely the single best season of baseball since I started this site. The season that just ended was my 12th since this site started. The Rangers got to the playoffs in the first year I was doing this site (1999), and not again until this year, although I thought we had a shot in 2004. But this was by far the best season they’ve had in my time with the team (obviously). Even if they didn’t get to the World Series, it was a great run. Even my wife noticed it – during the playoffs she remarked that it seemed like I was more into the season than I’d been the last few years before this. I was at the playoff game in 1998 & 1999. Those sucked. 2010 was something different. I went to one game in each round. I was at Game 3 of the ALDS where we lost rather annoyingly to Tampa Bay. I was at Game 1 of the ALCS where we lost to the Yankees. I saw three playoff losses in three different seasons spanning 12 years – all to the Yankees. But then I got go see a WORLD SERIES game with my own eyes. It was the busiest, the craziest game I’ve ever been to in my life, and I’ve been going to baseball games since about 1975 or so. Again, I have Chris Wilson of Fleishman-Hillard and Donna McLallen of Chevrolet to thank for making that dream of mine come true. Thank you again both of you – there was no way I would have been there without you two. It obviously didn’t end the way any Ranger fan wanted it to, but it was by far the best ride the Rangers have given their fans – ever.
Free Agency Begins: The Rangers, having gone all the way into November while still playing, got started later with movement than other teams, although they oddly DFA’ed Rich Harden during the playoffs, which I thought was an insult. I wrote briefly about the moves, but I’ll repeat ’em here:

• Jorge Cantu (not coming back)
• Frank Francisco (could go either way)
• Cristian Guzman (is he still here?)
• Cliff Lee (Uh, that’s five dump trucks full of money please – if he wants ten, give it to him)
• Bengie Molina (I’d take him back if he wants to play)
• Matt Treanor (he’ll come back)

Since I wrote that, there’s been some noise that the Rangers are going to try and sign Victor Martinez. If they sign him, I’d say that’s it for Molina. I’d say Treanor comes back to act as a backup to whomever they sign for #1. Additionally, Doug Mathis, Brandon McCarthy, & Esteban German refused AAA assignments and are now free agents. I’ll guess German comes back on a minor league deal, the other guys are probably gone for good.
Vlad Guerrero’s Option Declined: That was initially a surprise when it was reported, but then some noise came out about the decline being agreed upon when the contract was signed. The idea being the decline buyout was a way to sneak some extra cash in the deal and bypass issues at the time relative to the bankruptcy proceedings. That seems plausible, but it still doesn’t sit right. I even called up XM Radio and relayed that decline concept to the on air talent. They didn’t seem to buy it, and while I do buy it somewhat, my gut says that’s not the whole truth. As I’ve said several times this season, I’ve been following Guerrero since his Montreal days. I even drove down to Houston once to see an Expos game against the Astros in the ‘dome, just so I could see Vlad back then. It was awesome to see him be his old self this season, but he wilted down the stretch. Plus he looked awful in the outfield in the World Series. Despite my past love of him, and how much he worked, I don’t think I’d be too upset if he didn’t come back. This kind of reminds me of the Sosa move a few years ago. Bring him in, see what happens. Only it worked well for most of the season here. I’m not really sure what will happen.
Ron Washington’s Contract Extended: I think a lot of people thought Wash was on thin ice after the cocaine story in spring training. While that may or may not be right, by season’s end, he certainly proved he deserved the job still. You just look at how the team performed this season, he appeared to do his job well, and there were tons of stories about how players responded well to him. I like his attitude with people and whatnot, and he seemed to have fun, despite being the boss. His extension was for the 2011 & 2012 seasons. I would have personally done three, but this is still a good move. Needed to lock him up. Also need to take care of Jon Daniels, while we’re at it.
Scott Feldman has Surgery: After getting a nice contract following the 2009 season, Feldman tanked in 2010. I figured he was easy a 20 game winner in 2010, that was an epic failure on my part in the prediction department. Word is he won’t be ready at the start of camp, and will come in late. That could work to his benefit if he comes on like he was in 09, and not in 10.
Zack Greinke: Also some noise being made about possibly trading with the Royals for Greinke. To get him, we’d have to give up some painful names. While some of our talent pool has been moved out, we still have plenty, and they’re sure to want two star pitching prospects. To get Greinke, you don’t blink at giving up one. Two? Depends on who they ask. But if we can’t resign Lee, I’d expect us to make a move to go get Greinke.
Rangers playing in Round Rock: The last game of spring training will be a game down in Round Rock on March 30th. That will be cool. That’s a Wednesday, so traveling down for that is unlikely, as I have to bloody hope I’m back to work by then. If I’m still unemployed then and can see the game, I’ll be bummed out.
Eric Nadel nomiated for Frick Award: What can I say about that? If you’re reading this, you know what Eric Nadel is to the Rangers. I grew up listening to Harry Kalas in Philly, and I get that same feeling listening to Eric that I did listening to Kalas as a kid. Eric also seems humble about all this, which is cool. I’d love to see him get the award and get in.
Mariners lose their voice: I realize this isn’t a Rangers remark, but since I brought up Nadel, I wanted to mention the loss up in Seattle of their voice Dave Neihaus. I’ve heard a handful of his games, but not enough to form an opinion on him. However, my friends in Seattle who knew him well probably have the same feeling towards Neihaus that I mentioned in the bit above with Nadel & Kalas. I’d be lying if I said I know what that feels like first had. Eric Nadel is still with us, and God willing for a ton of years down the road. Kalas died after I left Pennsylvania, and while I saw all the news stories, and read all the accounts (and several books), I didn’t “live through it” – I didn’t talk to the other fans in my town and all that. So I can only imagine what the Mariner fans are feeling right now. I suppose if Eric Nadel wasn’t there, I’d be in shock, too. There is one thing though. Neihaus was the Mariners ONLY voice (oh I know they have more than a single broadcaster, but you know what I mean). They came into existance in 1977, and he’s been their lead broadcaster all that time. Eric Nadel, while being here for a long time wasn’t an original broadcaster. Same for Kalas in Philly (team existed for about 87 years before Kalas started). Since I can’t give any first hand accounts of Neihaus, I’d like to direct you to this blog post by Terry Melia of Upper Deck. He was kind enough to send me that a few days ago, and I wanted to get it up here for you to read. It’s worth your time, even if you’ve never heard a single Neihaus broadcast ever.
Silver Slugger Awards: On Nov 11th, Vlad Guerrero & Josh Hamilton were granted Silver Slugger awards. I don’t think that’s really a surprise to any Rangers fan, given the way they hit. It was Vlad’s eighth such award, and Josh’s second. Josh also lead the league in batting average, something that’s seemingly overlooked. The second time a Ranger has lead the league in batting average in six seasons. In other award news, no Rangers got a Gold Glove. Bah.
Clint Hurdle hired by Pirates: This is a mixed story for me. I really didn’t want Clint Hurdle to leave. After such a long time without a change under Rudy Jaramillo, I wanted some stability, not a third hitting coach in three straight seasons. Still, most Ranger fans probably figured that Hurdle wouldn’t be here for a really long time. He’s too good of a baseball man to have a coach job. He probably should be a manager. So it’s not a surprise that he’s on his way out to be a manager again. But the Pirates are definitely a challenge. Eighteen straight years of losing baseball. I follow the Pirates somewhat. With my wife being from Pittsburgh, I pay attention, although not nearly as much as I do for the Rangers and the Phillies. Still, they have some good talent up there (although not much pitching). It starts with Andrew McCutchen, but they have some other good young kids like Pedro Alvarez, Jose Tabata, and I also like Ryan Doumit. So I wish Hurdle a lot of luck – he’ll need it, but I would love to cheer on the Pirates again – they have in my opinion the single best ballpark in baseball, but such a bad brand on the field. Back home, we need a new hitting coach again. A Rangers story said they’re looking for a hitting coach with “presence”, whatever that means. I just want them to stop farting around and hire Rusty Greer, making Julio Borbon give back the uniform number.
Josh Lewin let go: Not too long after the season was over, it was announced that Josh Lewin was being let go by the Rangers, and the search would be on for a new TV play by play guy. I already wrote about this in some detail, I’ll just refer you back to my old story (please read it). I only bring this up again, since his new gig was announced – he’s a weekday radio host at 105.3 The Fan now where he has a 3 hour a day radio show. I need to listen to that, but I still cannot stand sports talk radio. If they did away with all call ins, I might try, but man, having random sports fans call in is death. 95% of them don’t have a clue. On the whole I liked Lewin, but the bits about him I didn’t care for will probably work better on the radio, so I really should try, see how it is. I will repeat one mantra from my previous Lewin story. Do NOT promote Dave Barnett to TV. I might actually watch less TV for that reason, and go to radio solely.
Neftali Feliz wins AL Rookie of the Year: This story just happened today, and mostly tried to do these in reverse order… Today Neftali Feliz was named the AL Rookie of the Year. Again, this isn’t a surprise to Rangers fans. But despite his being on a milk carton for portions of the playoffs, he was spectacular for us in 2010. Despite not starting the year as the closer – that’s even more amazing. This is the second time a Ranger has won it – the other time being Mike Hargrove in 1974 (which was way before my time as a Rangers fan!). I’m really glad Neffy won this, as he deserved it, and I honestly hope he stays there for a bit. Yeah, CJ Wilson made the move to starter and it worked, but I think I’d be more comfortable with Feliz as closer. Please, Neffy. Stay as the closer.
To sum up, there were a ton of great moments to the season. I won’t summarize them all, but my two favorites were probably seeing the World Series game in person with my own eyes. And oddly enough following Anthony Andro from the courthouse the night of the auction for control of the team. That grand slam in Seattle at the same time? Pretty darned cool moment in Rangers history.
As I write this story, my blog stats counter tells me I’ve written 926,387 total words over 3,324 entries here on the site. That’s a lot. I’ll need roughly 74,000 words written between now and the end of the 2011 season to pass a million words here. It’s probably doable, but I’ll need more entries like this one and less that say just “That sucked!”. I thank you for visiting, and those of you who remember me almost quitting about three years ago.. Boy am I glad I never did that now. :)
Looking forward to next season. A lot. And the new scoreboards. Make it happen. :)
P.S. In the “From Left Field” department, Doctor Who was named the best Sci-Fi show of all time. Like there was any doubt. :)

Kenny Bybee rocks. Check this out!

And the Hot Stove begins. The Rangers unrestricted Free agents are:

• Jorge Cantu (not coming back)
• Frank Francisco (could go either way)
• Cristian Guzman (is he still here?)
• Cliff Lee (Uh, that’s five dump trucks full of money please)
• Bengie Molina (I’d take him back if he wants to play)
• Matt Treanor (he’ll come back)

And if Cliff Lee wants 10 dump trucks full, you give it to him.