Friday Happy Hour at the Elysian Fields Bar & Grill
Welcome to the Elysian Fields Bar and Grill, where our four local sports teams are making us pine for the good old days of the Dallas Tornadoes and the Dallas Chapparals.
* The Rangers had thrown just one wild pitch before Thursday’s doubleheader. Then they threw five in one day.
* The Rangers, before the Yankees showed up, had not been swept in a doubleheader at home since Sept. 7, 1989 when the Baltimore Orioles did it to them at Arlington Stadium.
* The Yankees have played 15 doubleheaders since Joe Torre became manager in 1996. They have swept eight and split six. They have been swept just once.
* The Yankees .580 winning percentage all-time is the highest against the Rangers for any American League. Then comes Baltimore at .571.
* Shortstop Michael Young: "At this point we’re not focused on what happened in the first few weeks of the season. We’re trying to keep things simple and make adjustments from day to day. But we can’t just keep dismissing this and say things are going to be better. We have to make them better."
* Cubs manager Lou Piniella on the possibility of Joe Torre being fired: "I feel more for myself than I do for Joe. I don’t think he’s too concerned about the Cubs’ situation, is he?"
* If you were counting, you’ll know the Rockies hit seven home runs at Coors Field in April and that was a new low for them.
* Mariners second baseman Jose Lopez recently signed a four-year contract and he can earn an additional $125,000 per annum passing four tests: body fat percentage, a 60-yard sprint, 20-yard shuttle run and vertical jump during the season. Each successful test is worth $25,000 and if he passes all four in a year, he gets another $25,000. The Mariners want him to stay in shape during the course of the contract.
* Reds manager Jerry Narron on the great start by rookie outfielder Josh Hamilton: "As long as he keeps the plate discipline, he’s got a chance for it to continue. To me, that’s the biggest part of it – he hasn’t chased pitches out of the zone."
* Indians reliever Danys Baez, who was once a Cuban defector: "When I first came to this country I had about three or four phone numbers in my cellphone. Now I have about 300."
* Braves catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia was called up from the Minors this week and immediately set a Major League record for most letters in his last name.
* Just for the heck of it: Todd Stottlemyre.
* Angels manager Mike Scioscia on Vladimir Guerrero: "I didn’t get a chance to see Willie Mays and Hank Aaron, guys who were mega-superstars. But I’ve never seen a guy swing a bat as hard as Vladdy and be able to square the ball up so often.
* Thomas Edison (right, pitching) was a big baseball fan. In 1899 he filmed the short movie "Casey at the Bat." That’s considered the first baseball movie ever.
* The first baseball game was played at the Elysian Fields in New Jersey in 1846. You know it took another 50 years before somebody figured out that they needed the Infield Fly Rule? That’s right. It came in about 1895. Before that, dropping pops for double plays was common practice.
* Marlins pitcher Dontrelle Willis on Miguel Cabrera: "He’s half man, half amazing. He’s the best player in the league; you can quote me on that. This is my seventh year with him. He’s a Hall of Fame guy. I know nobody cares about my opinion, but that kid’s that good."
T.R. Sullivan
Toby
Just for the heckuvit: Johnny Grubb.
I write this after the absolutely horrible Yankee sweep of the doubleheader. Actually, the pitching looked good. Tejeda almost always looks good to me. A bright spot amongst the gloom of Ranger night.
The pitching overall is a 3 on a scale of 1-10, except for Aki, Benoit, and Tejeda. We can add Mike Wood to the pluses…..The defense is awful, seemingly careless almost. Wasn’t this supposedly Ron’s strong suit and emphasis? We all know the hitters are quite capable of much, much better, BUT, they have to start showing it. I don’t fault Jon Daniels for this performance on the field. I figured this year, given the optimism pervading the clubhouse, that this MIGHT be the Ranger’s year. It’s still early, I keep telling myself that.
Just for the heckuvit_2: Pat Putnam
I loved Doug Melvin, and he did so much with so little resources. Some bloggers wax sentimental for the Melvin days, as I do. The only thing that gets me is when TR asks opinions about what to do with Brandon McCarthy, all some bloggers can think of is: We shouldn’t have traded for him in the first place. THAT DOES NOT SOLVE THE SITUATION or answer the question. When TR asks if any opinions have changed as regards Sammy Sosa, why do some bloggers keep referring to checking his bat for cork? Does this answer the question posed? Can’t y’all give Sammy some credit for being prepared NOW, and for hitting homers and driving in runs? I’m willing to give credit where credit is due; it would be nice for some others to give McCarthy leeway to get the ball, and pitch every 5th day, and not give up on another young pitcher. Other pitchers are given the same leeway, why not Brandon? Sammy’s performing, so why not give him his due NOW? Is it germane to bring up the past when we are trying to get the ship righted now?
Just for the heckuvit_3: Bob Brower
I disagree with ol’ Bingo quite often (mostly about the potential value of Wilkerson) but that was an excellent post with some really strong points. Namely that whining about what’s past isn’t productive and isn’t going to make this horrible beginning of the season any better.
I was extremely skeptical about Sammy coming on board but he’s been much more productive than I thought he could. Hopefully he didn’t get his bell rung too bad last night.
I like those older just for the heck of its too. They usually send me off to baseball-reference.com to check out who these people are since I didn’t become a fan until the mid 80′s. What was the deal with this Bob Brower? Injuries? It seemed like he would have been a nice player if he’d been able to play a full season. A little power and nice speed.
Good post, Bingo. I agree with everything you said. Let’s give McCarthy a season before we bury him and chalk it up as a bad trade. I mean, yeah, Danks is a good prospect, but he’s not exactly tearing the league apart either. No wins and an ERA over 5.00.
One thing I’ve noticed about these blogs is how fickle some fans are and how they are so quick to jump to conclusions. Early in the year there were a couple on here who were ripping the Rangers for not stepping up and signing Dice-K. Funny how that talk has quieted down since his ERA has balooned to over 5.00.
Brower was a hard-nosed player, kind of a throw-back. A poor-man’s right-handed hitting Rusty Greer if you will. I remember an inside the park homer he hit once. He was a gutty kid.
It is all fun and games people. The Rangers stink. Hey Bingo, I thought us Paschalites were supposed to stick together? I guess it is just the IMUS in me, ha, ha. I don’t believe, Sosa has cork in his bat, however, he did get caught with it. So since, he won’t admit that he used steriods, then i have got to get yalls goat. The point is we aren’t going to win this year, Sosa, hopefully won’t be here in 2 years, so lets start building for the future, start by trading some of the veterans for young prospects, get rid of Wilkerson and flipper Blalock, trade TEX, he isn’t re-upping and i don’t blame him. Lets just start re-building now! I said it then and i say it now, Hillman is the manager for this team, especially if we are going to go young, which i believe is the only way to build hope for the fans and our future.
I think Mccarthy has great stuff, he just appears to be a head-case, like Bobby Witt was and is. It looks like we have 3 starters Millwood, Padilla and Tejeda. If Tejeda stays consistent then he is going to be a stud. Great deal Daniels. Wilson and Benoit are good bullpen pitchers, Otsuka is good but thats it. That is 6 pitchers for a 13 man staff. Not good. The cubbard is bare in the minors and the rest. Play Kata, he looks like he has something.
I think bingosinatra might have the post of the year here. I strongly agree with him about Sammy: he’s surpassing all expectations, but why are people still bashing him? Are they Rangers fans or not? He’s on our team now, remember? I can’t tell you how scared I was when he got beaned yesterday. It was good to hear the “Sammy” chant, though. About McCarthy: like I’ve said, he does have talent, we just need to tap into it. He has the potential to do better, the offense just needs to step it up behind him, and give him some support. If he had a lead to work with in the first few innings, maybe his confidence would be a little better.
Hopefully the stunning loss(es) yesterday will actually jump-start this team. After all, they can’t really get any worse than this, can they? Hopefully, Tex, Young, Kinsler or Blalock can pull us up off the floor today. Just a note about Hank: even for all his free-swinging inconsistency, he seems to be the guy coming up with the base hits lately.
But here’s my prediction: sooner or later, somebody’s gonna get hot, and we’re gonna win some ballgames. I’m not ready to give up on these boys just yet.
First, thanks to my fellow bloggers who seem to agree concerning Sammy and McCarthy. It makes my day to be agreed with…..
The real reason I got back online, was after viewing the results of tonight’s Ranger-Blue Jay game, a victory by the Rangers, and importantly, a victory and job well done by Brandon McCarthy. We know he has the talent-let’s stay positive, give him the ball every 5th day, and we might have someone special in our rotation. Tonight was a nice first step, don’t you think? It at least gives me hope.
Just for the heckuvit_4: Mike Pagliarulo.
P.S.–to Dwiregod: Yes, we Paschalites, former Panthers must stick together, yet, even the best of Panthers can agree to disagree…..sometimes.
Hey Bingo, i don’t disagree with you, i am just tired of losing. Hey, my T-ball Team, ironically called the Rangers is 6-1. In this league of 5 and 6 year olds, playing defense is the key to winning. Looks like the Major League team should come and watch us play up here in the great city of Grapevine,Texas with the Gaylord Hotel, and the new Uncle Julios which is making a fortune up here, right across the street from Bone Daddy’s in our famous restaurant row. Once you get 3 outs in a game and you score your maximum 5 runs, then it is over. We are going to a playoff tournament in Grand Prairie, Texas in two weeks. Unbelievable the kids are excited.
And another thing, you guys stop being a bunch of homers. We are a below .500 team with a few good players about 6 pitchers short. Play KATA, Play KATA, Play KATA, Play K A T A ……… It is great to see someone play defense in the outfield and then go back to the bench where he is going to sit for awhile. Hairston is killing me. Washington must be this guys uncle or godfather.
It’s too early to say for sure how good this team is. Like I’ve said before, you need at least 50 games, or a third of the season.
Want examples? A few seasons ago the Astros were 15 games under .500 in June and still made the playoffs. The A’s a few times have been at or below .500 in late May or early June and gone on to win 90-plus games. Don’t be in such a hurry to disgard this team.