Friday Happy Hour at the Elysian Fields Bar & Grill

Welcome to the Elysian Fields Bar & Grill, where Manny Ramirez is welcome to stop by and do a little grilling any time he wants.

* Second baseman Ian Kinsler may be having the best Spring of anybody in camp, with the exception of Matt Kata, but said, "It was about this point in the spring last year where I started going down a little bit. I wasn't having the quality at-bats I had earlier. Same thing during the season. Last year I was up and down too much. That's something I want to change. If I can cut off those downhill moments, that's the way to have a good season."

* Rangers dugout coach Art Howe on managing again in the big leagues: "It's something I did for 14 years but I'm enjoying what I'm doing right now. I had a lot of fun doing it and some success along the way but most importantly I helped a lot of good young players develop along the way. It would have to be the right situation. I don't need it for finances or ego. I just want a ring and I hope to get it here in Texas."

* Right-handed pitcher Fabio Castillo turned 18 in February. He is listed at 6-foot-3, 205 pounds. The Rangers signed him out of the Dominican on July 2, 2005. This is the pitcher that everybody is talking about in Minor League camp.

* That was Rangers pitching coach Mark Connor who was in agony when Ohio State rallied to beat Tennessee Thursday night. He has his Masters Degree from Tennessee, was the pitching coach there in 1974-78 and was head coach in 1988-89. He still lives in Knoxville.

* No, his undergraduate was at Manhattan College where he once struck out 20 in a game against Columbia University.

* In Spring Training, managers don't make players ride the bus to away games. Sammy Sosa was given that privilege when the Rangers played at Mesa on Wednesday. Giants shortstop Rich Aurilia was allowed to drive to Surprise on Tuesday. He ended up in a car accident. He escaped injury but strained his groin running to first base the next day.

* Just for the heck of it: Marv Foley

* Remember Kip Wells and his two starts with the Rangers last year? He's now with the St. Louis Cardinals. Hall of Famer Jim Palmer watched him throw and told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "What I see is great stuff. You've got to be excited by that…I'm standing there and Wells is hitting both sides of the plate with everything. Dave (Duncan) said they had been interested in acquiring him for a while. He just needed to get hurt for it to happen. I can see why."

* Ozzie Guillen on the hot seat? Here's what he says about that: ''A lot of people in baseball are living off their name and what they did 10 years ago. I don't believe in that. If I'm not doing my job, if people don't think I'm doing my job, I expect to be out of here. That's easy."

* Astros rookie Hunter Pence on his first Major League Spring Training: "Kind of like an out-of-body experience in a way. There's no way I'm hitting off Tom Glavine right now. You know watching guys that I know that I would pay to watch play, watching Andruw Jones, watching Vernon Wells, Chipper Jones, A-Rod, just some of the guys I've idolized growing up and have been my heroes it was just an unbelievable experience."

* Padres infielder Todd Walker beat the club in arbitration this winter and received a $3.9 million salary. But it's not all guaranteed. If the Padres release him by Wednesday, they save $3 million. They will also incur the wrath of the Players Association and a possible grievance. Only one other player, Brian Hunter, has ever been released after beating his team in arbitration.

* Were you around on April 29, 1972 when the Rangers beat the Boston Red Sox, 7-6, at Arlington Stadium? Big victory for our boys. That gave them a record of 7-5 in their first year in Arlington. Then they lost three straight. The franchise has never since had an overall winning record.

* Right now the Rangers are 2676-2857, a .484 winning percentage. That's still better than eight other teams in that stretch. The eight who have been worse than the Rangers are Tigers, Brewers, Cubs, Marlins, Mariners, Padres, Rockies and the Devil Rays.

* This should comfort the Rangers. The New York Yankees had a .480 winning percentage (1,339-1,451) in their first 19 years of existence. Then they bought Babe Ruth.