Friday Happy Hour at the Elysian Fields Bar & Grill

* Welcome to the Elysian Fields Bar & Grill, where a cold one always awaits John McLaren, who deserved better.

* Gerald Laird on the way the Rangers have played of late: "It's tough, definitely. We feel like this team is on the right track but we've got to play better baseball and put it all together. Every game it seems like we make one critical mistake. We're right back in this thing if we play better baseball but we've got to start soon."

* Josh Hamilton on playing football in high school: "I played quarterback as a freshman. On the varsity. I got killed. I was bigger than my center. I played quarterback and cornerback. The next year they wanted me to play quarterback and defensive end. I said, 'No, thank you."

* President Bush at fund-raiser Wednesday night: "I can't say for sure what I'm going to be doing at this time next year -- I suspect I'll be in Crawford, watching the Rangers on TV."

* Marlon Byrd on facing his old team, the Nationals: "I thought the way they got rid of me was kind of dirty. So it's going to be fun going up against them, beating up on them for three days."

* Rangers are visiting wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Hospital today before they play the Nationals.

* Nolan Ryan and Jim Sundberg are going to the College World Series next week in Omaha. Their dining partner on Monday will be Warren Buffet.

* General Elwood "Pete" Quesada, the first owner of the Rangers/Senators franchise, was quite the decorated soldier including two Distinguished Service Medals, one Distinguished Flying Cross and a Purple Heart. The French gave him the Legion of Honor and the Croix de Guerre while the British made him a Commander of the British Empire as well as the Order of the Bath.

* The Senators beat the White Sox, 6-5, in 22 innings on June 12, 1967. The game ended at 2:43 a.m. The American League, because of that, adopted a rule that said no inning many begin after 1 a.m. The National League never adopted the rule.

* There was also a Washington Senators team in the NFL. This was in 1921 when it was still called the American Professional Football Association. They played just four games. Lost two to the Canton Bulldogs. Beat the Cleveland Indians. Won a second game by forfeit. They were defunct the next year.

* C.C. Sabathia on pitching a shutout in two hours and six minutes: "I knew it was pretty early because it was still light. I was thinking maybe I could catch the Lakers' game."

* Just for the heck of it: Mickey Vernon.

* Chipper Jones does live in South Texas but it appears he wants to stay in Atlanta, telling the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "I don't think there's any reason I can't play through 40 as long as I don't let my body go, which is not going to happen. I'm too active year-round to let my body go. My desire to stick around and play four, five, six more years is strong. I want to accomplish some things here, put up some numbers here as long as the Braves want me."

* Would have thought that Ken Griffey Jr. had more of those 600 home runs against the Rangers than any other team but that's not the case. His 32 home runs against the Rangers are only tied for his sixth best. He has 38 against the Twins. But his .382 average at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington is his highest in any existing park in the Majors.

* David Wells has given up eight of those home runs, most by anybody. Next are Roger Clemens and Tom Gordon with six.