Friday Happy Hour at the Elysian Fields Bar & Grill
Welcome to the Elysian Fields Bar & Grill, where we all wonder whatever happened to Kyle Lohse. 
* Ron Washington on Vicente Padilla: "His attitude has been awesome. He has been really good associating with his teammates, awesome bullpens, really working hard. He was embarrassed last year and doesn't want to go through with what he did last year. He's been great but we're taking it one day at a time."
* Former Rangers manager Pat Corrales is celebrating his 50th year in baseball and recently told MLB.Com's Bill Ladson: "I thought, and I still think, I could handle the game of baseball, but the game of baseball is not the important thing. It's handling the press, it's handling the general manager, handling your owners, and I didn't do that very well. That's the part of the game I didn't know. I know now. I call it the game within the game."
* Rangers hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo says Josh Hamilton has more power than Sammy Sosa or Juan Gonzalez.
* You know of course that Feb. 29 is also known as "bissextile day" or extra sixth day. The Atlanta Braves celebrated bissextile day in 1972 by giving Hank Aaron the first $200,000 contract in Major League history.
* President Bush on Red Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka: "His press corps is bigger than mine…and we both have trouble answering questions in English."
* Mark McLemore, who is in camp as a special instructor, played 630 games in the field for the Rangers in 1995-99. The Rangers were 335-295 in those games. That's 40 games over .500.
* Last Major League team not to train in either Florida or Arizona? The Angels were in Palm Springs Ca. in 1980-81.
* Dodgers third base coach Larry Bowa is adamantly opposed to the new rule that requires base coaches to wear helmets. Said Bowa, "I'll write a check for 162 games if I have to."
* There are 45 Major League players with a .300 or better batting average (min. 600 AB) with runners in scoring position. Michael Young is fourth at .343, Frank Catalanotto is 13th at .321 and Hank Blalock is 36th at .303.
* Young is second with two outs and runners in scoring position. He is hitting .351 in those situations. Ichiro Suzuki is hitting .366. Catalanotto is eighth at .322 and Blalock is 18th at .310.
* By the way 11 Rangers batters have been hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in this decade. It happened three times to Catalanotto. Twice to Kevin Mench. But Ivan Rodriguez is the all-time franchise leader by hitting into a double play 12 times with the bases loaded.
* The average lifespan of a baseball used in a game is seven pitches.
* Atlanta manager Bobby Cox on Dodgers outfielder Andruw Jones: "He looked better in a Braves uniform."
* Rusty Greer on wearing the Rangers uniform as a special instructor on Thursday: "The uniform fits good, I've just got to keep going up in (size)."
* Greer on what he's doing in camp: "Just hanging out and getting in some conversations with old friends. But more importantly with the younger guys who haven't experienced winning in Texas. I'll be there if anybody has any questions."
* Greer was the one who put the nickname "Shrek" on Mench.
* Tom Hicks wants Nolan Ryan and Jon Daniels to have the same length of contract. Joked Daniels, "My recommendation is Nolan Ryan should get a lifetime contract."
* Commissioner Bud Selig was the guest speaker at the Rangers annual sponsors' dinner in Scottsdale on Thursday.
Rudy thinks Josh Hamilton has more power than either Sammy Sosa or Juan Gonzalez? WOW! We must have a real stud. Personally, I've never watched him play, but if Rudy makes such a statement, then, to me, JD deserves a lot of credit for his rolling the dice on such a player. I hope he pans out on and off the field.
As to Padilla becoming a "human being" and opening up the wall that has surrounded him...IT'S ABOUT TIME! You are paid $30 million to play a game for Heaven's sake! Act like a man, have a little humility, personal responsibility, and realize teammates, fans, etc..are watching you. I'm glad Padilla has finally come around, according to our illustrious Manager, but after a couple of years of his antics of not talking (whether he speaks English or not is beside the point), his mind-numbing slowness on the mound, his lack of attention to the duty at hand, and his obvious plunking of opposing batters was wearing VERY THIN, and if he has "reformed", realized he's paid alot of money and that he'd best produce like he's capable, well we might have a pitcher this year. Goodness knows, we haven't had one in ages. This guy has the "stuff", but unfortunately, the "stuff" has clogged up his cranium.
Go Rangers--the Bandwagon is rolling!
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It's easy to get excited about Hamilton's ability. Let's hope he stays healthy in every sense. 500 at bats a season from this bohemoth over the next few years should be very fun to watch.
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