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Palmeiro, Pudge take late-night tour of Hall

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COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. (AP) — Todd Zeile zeroed in with his camcorder and called over Ivan Rodriguez for a closer look.
They kept staring at the old, beat-up pillow — actually, the catcher’s mitt used by Hank Gowdy on Boston’s 1914 Miracle Braves — and could not believe their eyes.
“You would have to be perfect to catch with that,” said Rodriguez, a seven-time Gold Glove winner.
“I feel like I’m using that sometimes,” said Zeile, shaking his head.
Hours after the Hall of Fame induction ceremonies Sunday, baseball’s present met its past when players from the Texas Rangers and Kansas City Royals took a late-night stroll through the shrine.
“You people are a part of it,” Hall curator Ted Spencer told the Texas contingent. “This is where all of you would like to end up.”
On Monday, they were to meet in the annual Hall exhibition game two blocks away at cozy Doubleday Field, the birthplace of baseball. Those teams were picked to come to Cooperstown to honor two of the newest inductees, Nolan Ryan of the Rangers and George Brett of the Royals.
But on this night, with the doors closed to the public, a lot of these players looked like little kids.
Two-time MVP Juan Gonzalez and his Texas teammates studied Babe Ruth’s bat and looked at Stan Musial’s locker. They marveled at the short-pants uniform the Chicago White Sox wore in the 1970s and stared at a picture of Eddie Gaedel, the midget who once batted for the St. Louis Browns in 1951.
A couple of Royals coaches pointed at turn-of-the-century, heavy-wire catcher’s masks and laughed.
“That looks like something Hannibal Lecter would wear,” one said.
Rafael Palmeiro stood at the far end of the main gallery, gazing down the long row of bronze plaques.
“It kind of inspires me, to see all of them hanging there,” he said.
At 34, the All-Star Texas first baseman has 2,096. Every eligible player with 3,000 has been elected to the Hall.
“I kind of walk through these halls and think, `maybe.’ It’s like a vision, it’s out there and I can see it,” he said, waving his hand as if casting a spell. “It’s way out there, but it’s within reach.”
Rangers reliever Danny Patterson held no such illusions.
“I can’t imagine being here, I’m in awe,” he said. “The only way I’ll make it is by giving up somebody’s 3,000th hit or something. I thought I might get a chance to do it against Wade Boggs.”
The Rangers played Sunday at Tampa Bay, then flew to Utica, N.Y., about 45 miles from Cooperstown. About 20 Texas players took the bus ride for a 75-minute visit to the Hall, and Ryan was there to greet them.
“I was kind of hungry when we got in, and I thought about going to get something to eat and not coming here at all,” Patterson said.
“It’s more amazing than I ever thought,” he said. “This might be a once-in-a-lifetime trip.”
Kansas City played extra innings at home Sunday and then traveled to Utica. The entire Royals team made the trip to the Hall, arriving shortly before 11 p.m. EDT and leaving after midnight for their Utica hotel.
Texas was to play Tuesday night at Baltimore, and the Royals returned home to play Seattle.
Royals rookie pitcher Tim Byrdak brought his camcorder. He lingered in the new home-run exhibit, hovering over a case showing Roger Maris’ bat and uniform.
“It gives you an appreciation of the game you play,” he said. “It brings back the excitement of playing baseball.”
Royals pitcher Jay Witasick saw the one display that mattered most. In an exhibit on amateur baseball, there’s an MVP trophy of a youth tournament with his name on it.
“I knew it was here, but I forgot to bring my camera,” he said.
He remembered, at least, to stop by the gift shop on the way out. Along with several other Royals and Rangers, he picked up some shirts and hats as souvenirs.
Zeile narrated his own tour as he filmed — “there’s a picture of Babe and his car” — and soaked in the whole experience.
“To most guys, the history of baseball is what happened 15 or 20 years ago, things they can relate to,” he said. “I think players today are more interested than they would be perceived, but you don’t get a lot of chances to delve into it. It’s nice to be here and see the pioneers.”
One day, some of these players might wind up with a spot in Cooperstown.
Palmeiro and Rodriguez posed for a picture in front of Ryan’s plaque.
“It’s special knowing that I caught him,” said Rodriguez, an eight-time All-Star. “I’m trying to play hard, too, to make it here.”

Rangers beat Royals in Hall of Fame Game

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Well, this game wasn’t broadcast anywhere, so it’s hard to do commentary on it. :) Nice to see a bunch of home runs, and from the pictures below, it’s wild to see the old uniforms again, especially on people that weren’t here before when the Rangers wore them last.
And Gregg Zaun pulling a Babe Ruth – that was quite amusing. There’s a pretty cute article about this here.

Roster Transaction

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  • Danny Kolb optioned to AAA Oklahoma.
  • Jonathan Johnson recalled from AAA Oklahoma.

G98: Rangers beat Devil Rays, 4-3

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Not available, but we certainly seem to like to let Tampa Bay get back into things late in the game, don’t we? :)
I felt awful for Helling, as he was going so well, until the home run to McGriff in the bottom of the 9th.

G97: Rangers win again over Tampa, 5-3

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Not available, but we certainly seem to like to let Tampa Bay get back into things late in the game, don’t we? :)
Loaiza looked weak at the start, but got much better after the first two innings.

G96: Rangers keep winning, this time 11-8 over Devil Rays

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Not available, but in the first inning that I did listen to on the radio, there was some really nice D all in the first inning:

  • Mateo guns out runner going to third
  • Pudge throws out an attempted steal
  • Pudge throws out runner going to first on dropped third strike

G95: Rangers top Angels 9-7 on my big photo day

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Remember last week when the Rangers lost a game due to the sun in left field? Well, I got a big look first hand at this. I showed up at the ballpark at 4:30 when the gates opened to take some pictures at the ballpark that will show up on this web site shortly. Anyways, I spent a lot of time out in left field on all three levels of the ballpark, and JEEZ! It was friggin sunny as all hell, and I got a bit sunburnt. I can imagine how bad it was for Rusty, you can hardly see anything up high.

I had bought a cheap seat because my real purpose in going was to take pictures for my seat selector. So, I got in for $5, but I managed to get into the 200 level right before the game started, and I ended up sitting in section 225, one section over from Hornman. :) This was their “Christmas in July” game, there were Christmas trees and Christmas music being played before the game. It was pretty cute.

Anyway, the Angels struck fast, with Mo Vaughn rumbling all the way around from first base – in fact, Mo scored the first three runs! We were down 3-0, and with Burkett pitching, I didn’t have a good feeling when we went down 3-0. However, we busted out in the bottom of the third for a big six spot, which was highlighted by Rafael Palmeiro’s grand slam. This was the second grand slam that I’ve seen with my own eyes this year (also saw Roberto Kelly’s slam awhile back). That put us up 6-3, and in the 4th, we kept the Angels off the board, so I was thinking things were going to go well for Burkett, who didn’t pitch all that well, he needed to be rescued three times with inning ending double plays. The Angels crept back getting another run in each the 5th and 6th, bringing them back within one. We then scored two in the bottom of the sixth, which included a solo shot by Zeile. However, in the 7th and 8th, the Angels scored another run in each, bringing them back to within one run again. We picked up an insurance run in the bottom of the 8th, and Zimmerman came in to close the game in the 9th (Wetteland is still having back spasms). In fact, the 9th was the only inning the Angels didn’t get a hit (they scored one run in every inning except the 4th and 9th).

We used a lot of pitchers tonight – Burkett went 5.1 and was just “eh”. We also used Venafro, Patterson, Munoz, Crabtree, & Jeff Zimmerman. This was a really exciting game for me, both from the grand slam I saw to the general “feel”. It was a great game to be at.

We swept the two game series, and Oakland finally lost, so we’re up 6 on the A’s, 9 on the Mariners, and 12.5 on the Angels, who are down for the count.

G94: Rangers top Anaheim in series opener, 9-5

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Well, the big 6 run third inning is what did it for us last night. We spanked Omar Olivares, who was charged with all 8 earned runs the Rangers got in the second and third innings. 5 singles, a double, and a triple did all the work in the third inning. Was very nice to see.
Again, however, we got our fifth win in a row without a home run. We’re scoring without the longball, and I like that, because I hate relying on the home run for runs. The last couple of nights on the TV, John Rhadigan was talking to the fireworks operator, who sits out in center field right under the big red Coca-Cola sign. They said that he’s been waiting to shoot off fireworks, but it hasn’t happened much – we’ve had only two home runs since the All-Star game, and they both came in in our lone loss of the second half so far.
Aaron Sele pitched OK – he wasn’t dominating at all, but it was enough for the win, his 9th of the season. He did give up two back to back home runs in the 4th, but that was about his worst stretch of pitching. I don’t think he’s going to get to 19 again, but I think 15 is definitely within reach for him by the end of the year. Munoz, Crabtree, & Zimmerman came on to finish up after Sele went 6. Crabtree gave up a couple of singles, but no runs again by the bullpen. Zim earned his second save, as Wetteland is having some back spasms, and is resting.
This win puts the Angels 11.5 games back of the Rangers in last place in the AL West – if we win tomorrow night too, I have a feeling Anaheim might “give up” on this season. Surprisingly the A’s are staying close to us, we’re only 5 games up on them, and have been exactly that for a couple of weeks. The A’s beat the Mariners last night, dropping Seattle to 9 games out. Did get a peek at Safeco Field on ESPN last night – looks REALLY gorgeous. Damn, we won’t get there till next season, and if this rumour about the Rangers going to the NL Central next season I heard two days ago is true, then we won’t see Safeco at all, probably!
I’m headed out to the ballpark tomorrow night, but I won’t be watching the game much. You’ll see what I mean shortly. :)

Roster Transaction

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  • Ryan Glynn sent to AAA Oklahoma.
  • Danny Kolb recalled from AAA Oklahoma.