Tuesday's Rangers game -- the starting pitching shut-out the opposition in the first four innings. The Rangers offense put 4 runs on the board in the first inning. The Rangers bats continued to register points on the board throughout the game, and the pitching and defense limited the other teams score. The Rangers pulled out a great offensive win!
Wednesday's Rangers game -- the starting pitching shut-out the opposition in the first four innings. The Rangers offense put 4 runs on the board in the first inning. The Rangers bats continued to register points on the board throughout the game, and the pitching and defense limited the other teams score. The Rangers pulled out a great offensive win!
[You can stop trying to find the differences between the two days games, there isn't any...I copied/pasted]
About the only real difference for my friend and myself was that we sat in chairs along the 1st base line on Tuesday at the Ranger's stadium, and on Wed. we were at the Padres stadium and we bought lawn seats, so we were in the right field grassy area. It was nice, just chilling out on a sheet on some sweet grass watching the game while catching some rays! It was one of those settings you couldn't help but text message your fellow coworkers and say, "Aren't you jealous that you're at work slaving away and I'm laid out sun-bathing in 90 degree weather while watching the home-town boys beat-up on their opponent?!" HA HA!Something that nice to see the past two games has been how the starting pitching has come out strong to start the game! Yes, I am still talking about the Rangers. Sure, it's been helpful that our explosive offensive is still around this year, but at the same time, to get 4 scoreless opening innings out of the pitches two days in a row is something to be exc
ited about if you're a Rangers fan! To the right you'll see Scott Feldman (Tuesday's starting pitcher who got the win and held the Rangers to no runs and only 4 hits in his first 4 innings of work yesterday), who I got his autograph today during batting practice (BP). A real nice fella, very willing to sign for the fans.Today's starting pitcher, who registered the win was Brandon McCarthy, who was taken out of the game after 4 innings of hit-less and scoreless pitching! Maybe I can find McCarthy around BP tomorrow and get his autograph and congratulate him as well!
One of the biggest parts of Spring Training is seeing what the young arms and bats are capable of, in order to see who should fill the last few spots on the teams roster, or who will be capable of "hanging" in the "bigs" should injuries require someone to be brought up. Below is some of the young kids that are being looked at heavily by the Rangers coaches and staff...
[Top -- Justin Smoak (1B); Bottom -- Elvis Andrus (SS)]
Elvis has already "made" the big league squad, as he was the one they moved veteran Michael Young to third base in order to make room for Elvis at shortstop. Elvis seems like a real likeable kid. One thing I can say about his autograph though is that it is really pretty and "perfect"...however, you would NEVER know what it says...I honestly don't even know if it's in English, as he is from Venezuela, but I think since he is still such a young one, and not used to having to sign so often yet, he will soon learn he can't make it so "perfect" as it takes a lot of time for an autograph....HA! But like I said, it's real "pretty" and fun to watch him sign it, as he has it down to an art.
[Top -- Neftali Feliz (P); Bottom -- Derek Holland (P)]
These two young arms are supposed to be some of the most important up-and-rising pitchers for the Rangers bullpen. I've yet to get Feliz's autograph, as I haven't seen him, but from afar while at BP (and he was in the middle of drills), but he is the stud they talk about that can throw in the 100 mphs with no sweat...HA! He did pitch a couple innings in the game today, and actually wasn't all that impressive from what we saw, but I'm sure he just had an off day. However, Mr. Holland and I interacted on a couple occassions of the past two days for autographs. Real nice young kid (looks like he's like 16...HA!).
I think one of my favorite parts about the young kids is just to see/sense their enthusiasm about being associated with the "big leaguers" and seeing them light up when people want their autographs! HA! They are always SOOOO willing to sign autographs! I've already gotten 3 of Elvis' and 2 Smoak's. Sometimes the "bigger" guys you can tell aren't interested in signing so they'll say something like, "gotta run, I'll catch you when I'm finished" and sometimes they will come back when they are finished and sometimes not. But with the younger guys, it seems like they just don't know how to say no (which is quite possible...they'll learn...HA), but like Justin Smoak...I've NEVER seen him turn down someone who asked for an autograph, and you can tell he might be on his way to another batting cage or pitching drill, but he will still sign real quick for everyone standing there asking. Great guy.
[Top -- Kevin Millwood (P); Bottom -- Jarrod Saltalamacchia (C)]
Then of course there are the "big leaguers" at Spring Training too...and many of them are great for signing too (honestly, just about everyone on the Rangers squad is pretty easy to get a signature from...they are all so generous with their time and willingness to interact with their fans). Just about everyone of the pitchers are great about signing -- Millwood included. Salty has been one that has been very generous with his time and signing as well, but he's always got quite a crowd when he's signing, so pretty much only one autograph is typically what you'll be able to get from him, just because there are so many people.
This might sound funny, but when I came into Rangers Spring Training there was one player I really wanted to make sure to get an autograph from, and that's probably just because I really enjoyed his play last year for the team -- Brandon Boggs. It saddens me to know he's going to be so far down on the depth chart with our overload of outfielders, but I enjoyed hearing a report the other day that called him one of the most underrated Ranger players, and quite possibly one of (if not the best) defensive outfielders on the team. I kept an eye on him at BP on Tuesday, but he never seemed to be signing...I was not going to leave this week without getting his autograph though...HA! So then at the game, he was signing along the 1st base line for fans before the game, and my friend and I were the next ones for him to sign for and he said, "Sorry, I've got to get in" so my friend asked "When could we get you next?" He said, "I don't know, maybe after the game." And the man
held his promise (for which we thanked him)! To the left you'll see Boggs signing after the game on Tuesday. The other player signing in the picture is Emerson Frostad (C) -- speaking of players who are in an overpopulated position on the Rangers squad, so they fall WAY down on the depth chart list...HA!As you can tell, the up-close-and-personal setting that Rangers Spring Training offers is what makes it so exciting! The autographs are so fun, because each day you wonder who you might be able to get! Tomorrow will be our last day of baseball fun. Once again it will start with Rangers BP at 10 AM and then Rangers game at 1 PM. Let's hope for another great day of autographs and a big win in the afternoon!
Oh, and also, I got posted as a guest blogger on the Rangers blog of the Dallas Morning News website. You can see my post about yesterdays events here and then today's events here.
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