As we sat at the table and took questions—first from the crowd, and then from Ben Rogers, who was moderating the Newberg Report Book Release night—Delino DeShields leaned into the microphone and spoke in his usual soft tone: “Center field, left field, second base, first base, I don’t care (…) I just want to play.” […]
A defiant shining of feel-good news: It’s the 12/20/17 Rangers Upset Update
I reached into the glove compartment and procured a paper towel to wipe yesterday’s life off my glasses. wipe, wipe, rub, rub. It was going to be a full day, and I needed to see clearly. I turned the windshield wipers on high and tried to keep the deluge of December precipitation off my windshield. […]
Rangers Mailbag? Rangers Mailbag (Including Cole Hamels Beard Talk?)
I haven’t ever done a mailbag before, mostly because of my own sense of inadequacy. Imposter syndrome is real, and every day that I cover the Rangers, I’m acutely aware that I’m the guy in the (clubhouse, manager’s office, Winter Meetings) who knows the least about baseball. Spending a decade as a musician before you […]
It’s still the pitching, stupid.
A quick addendum to the earlier article about potential starting pitching targets: I asked Jon Daniels if—after the acquisitions of Doug Fister and Mike Minor—any position players were starting to creep up the priority list. Despite recent rumors that the Rangers might be interested in Carlos Santana, Daniels said that pitching was still the first, […]
Joey Gallo and the Impossible Possible
In 2015, Joey Gallo hit a home run that I will remember forever. The Rangers were in Los Angeles, and Clayton Kershaw was on the mound. He threw a 1-1 slider to Gallo that stayed just high enough for Gallo to make solid contact. And when Gallo makes solid contact, well… we know what happens. […]