Autographs

I know it's been a long time coming, but I just hadn't gotten around to listing them all, because there was a LOT of autographs collected. Below is a listing of all the autographs I collected during my time in Phoenix, AZ for spring training this year!

Rangers Autographs:
Elvis Andrus (1 picture)
Julio Borbon (2 pictures)
Endy Chavez (2 cards)
Nelson Cruz (3 cards)
Chris Davis (3 cards, 2 pictures)
Scott Feldman (1 picture)
Neftali Feliz (3 cards, 1 picture)
Craig Gentry (1 signature on group page)
Toby Hall (1 card)
Josh Hamilton (5 cards, 1 jersey, 1 magazine)
Matt Harrison (3 cards)
Derek Holland (3 cards)
Hernan Iribarren (1 card)
Marcus Lemon (1 signature on group page)
Brandon McCarthy (1 card)
Luis Mendoza (1 card)
David Murphy (2 cards)
Max Ramirez (1 card)
Kevin Richardson (1 card)
Jarrod Saltalamacchia (1 picture)
Tanner Scheppers (1 signature on group page)
Justin Smoak (1 card)
Taylor Teagarden (3 cards)
Ron Washington (1 picture)
C.J. Wilson (1 picture)
Michael Young (1 card, 1 picture)

Non-Rangers Autographs:
Chone Figgins (1 card)
Tommy Lasorda (1 baseball)

So Phoenix Road Trip 2010 was another big success! 53 Autographs were collected in Phoenix and now I'm ready for more autographs to come during the season! Opening Day is tomorrow and I'll be there most likely collecting even more autographs! Best wishes to the Rangers (and St. Louis Cardinals) this season...would love to see the two of you in a World Series this year!

Dust Storms & Tumbleweeds DO exist!

Today we've begun our trek back home. It's a bittersweet feeling. I'll miss the interactions with the MLB players at BP and watching them joke around with one another. For the second year standing, it's been brought to my attention that Chris Davis and Elvis Andrus are the club clowns! Those two are BIG jokesters and are always laughing and having a great time. It's fun to watch those two with Michael Young, because Young would chime right in...I've really begun to change my opinion on Young and realize he isn't the big cocky veteran that I originally thought he was. He's a very friendly fella and good with the fans too.

It was fun to watch Young WRESTLE Andrus...literally, rolling in the grass...HA! It was humorous to see Davis and Andrus and Young go after one another day after day with the rosin bag. When the three of them were at the batting cages, they were literally hesitant to step out of the cage because they KNEW they were about to get beamed...and they would get beamed (sometimes even BEFORE they would get out of the cage). Then it moved to chunking one another's bats FAR away. Davis grabbed Elvis' bat one day after he nailed him with the rosin bag and chunked the bat probably like 100 yards into the workout field next to the cages. Elvis obviously remembering that the next day, took Davis' bat and chunked it over the FENCE to outside the practice fields complex....HA! Davis obviously not willing to climb the 10 foot fence let the kids fight for it...and two kids took off running around the outside of the complex, as well as jumping the fence to get Davis' bat...HA! Sometimes the entertainment at BP has nothing to do with practicing for the game!

So Spring Training 2010 is a thing of the past. A great time and many wonderful autographs. I plan to post another post later on on this site sharing all the different autographs I got.

Today was the first "half" of our trip back to Dallas. We left Phoenix around 10 AM and my friend drove us on the first part to Benson, Arizona, where we picked up some lunch. I drove from there to El Paso...and let me tell you, I've never seen the desert like that...HA! All the signs along the route constantly warning about possible dust storms in the past were very humorous to me, as it had ALWAYS been bright, sunny, and clear as can be the last three times I've been along this route, but today was a different story!

The dust storms were NUTS! The wings were CRAZY! And dodging the constant tumbleweeds blowing across the interstate (yes, people, those aren't just in Western movies) was like playing a video game! When we arrived in El Paso there was a HUGE rainbow (which we had to find through the dust storms) and when we got out of our car at the hotel we literally almost blew across the parking lot...I'm not kidding! Once we got settled into the room I looked up the weather and it said that the winds were 27 mph, with gusts up to 40 mph in El Paso...SERIOUSLY!! It was NUTS! You can still hear the winds whistling LOUDLY out our hotel window.

So tomorrow we'll make the last part of our journey back to Dallas. We're looking forward to catching up with an old friend (or two) while passing through Abilene. We want to see our friends baby!

Goodnight from El Paso!

Looks Can Be Deceiving & Vlad vs. Hamilton

So Thursday started off with us returning the Mariners' spring training home -- though this time, not for a game versus the Mariners, but whether to catch some Mariners' BP. The Mariners/Padres had a pretty practice field campus too (not quite as nice as the Dodgers/White Sox), but it was pretty nice. Once again though, it was setup in a manner in which to allow the players to navigate the fields easily without being bombarded by fans for autographs. Because of this we had limited opportunities for autographs, and actually spent most the time actually watching the BP (which isn't a bad thing...HA!)

As you'll see below, the center field wall of the main practice field has a HUGE picture on it...Ken Griffey Jr. hamming it up for the camera,-- and he didn't shy away from providing some entertainment during the BP as well!

The picture above I like because, one it shows how HUGE that picture on the outfield wall is, and two because it's a good picture of Ichiro about to LAUNCH the ball across the field. Can I just say that that man has an AMAZING arm! He was launching the ball from near the right field wall to a teammate standing on the thirdbase line. And the crazy part is he didn't even have to take steps or hops in that direction to get the ball that far...and yes, it went the whole way without bouncing and the teammate wouldn't have to move either.

And yes, that is Ichiro below. The 36 year old who stands just 5'11" and 170 lbs. Honestly, I can't say when I look at just about any Japanese guy I find myself thinking -- "gosh, he looks big and stong"...because they normally do not (unless we're talking sumo wrestlers I guess), but Ichiro honestly has canons for arms...he is AMAZING! Looks CAN be deceiving...

It turns out that Ichiro and the other mega star on the Mariners team, Ken Griffey, Jr. happen to be friends. When we went to the Rangers vs. Mariner's game the night before, we received a program upon entering the stadium which has an article in it about how Ichiro had "a dream come true" when the Mariners' resigned Griffey in the beginning of the 2009 season. He said he always admired Griffey and hoped to get to play with him, and that dream had come true. It turns out that Ichiro was reportedly pranked frequently by Griffey during the 2009 season! HA! And as you'll see below, they enjoy one another's company during BP too. Matter of fact, they apparently setup bets with each other on who can hit more homeruns during the BP, and they razz one another about it as they switch off hitting balls deep to the outfield. It was quite a sight to see...

Below is just a good shot of Griffey with his BIG picture behind him...

I loved these big baseballs they had around the complex with the Mariners' and Padre's emblems on them. I love the Mariners, so I got my picture with their ball.

Mariner's BP was fun for watching Ichiro and Griffey, but autographs were sparce. I did end up landing a Chone Figgins, which I was excited about, as I like him, but let me tell you, it looks like one big scribbled circle...HA! Was REAL close to getting a Jose Lopez, but oh well...

On the way to the Ranger's BP we stopped and took pictures with one of the giant cactuses, as I had wanted to do that ever since our last trip to Phoenix...just hadn't found a good place and time to get one last year, so this year was not going to slip by again without my cactus pictures...HA!

OUCH....they are very sharp! HA!

I think you can figure out why I took the above picture. I mean REALLY!!?!? Poor guy...

Rangers BP was good. The Big Leaguers shared one of their big fields with their "B squad" for a "B" game versus the Brewers "B" team (as the Brewers were over to play the big leaguers that evening). I watched a little of that and saw Tanner Scheppers pitch. He did well...he is one of the young prospects we are real excited about for the Rangers.

In BP Thursday I got Chris Davis, Hernan Iribarren, David Murphy, Tanner Scheppers, and Luis Mendoza.

That evening the Rangers did take on the Brewers at home. I was a little disappointed that the Brewers didn't play Prince Fielder or Ryan Braun, but I suppose that was to our advantage. The Rangers won by a score of 6-4. Before the game I got the skipper Ron Washington's autograph (I kind of wondered if he was signing in efforts to help his image after the recent breaking news of his coke use last season, but whatever), and then after the game I got Derek Holland.

Overall, I can't help but bring the attention of how amazing Josh Hamilton had played this week when we were in town. Over the last couple seasons all Rangers fans (and their opponents for that matter) have known that Josh Hamilton is our power hitter. He is a force to be reckoned with when he's healthy (and I MUST add, he is the NICEST guy...he really is). So with the signing of Vladimir Guerrero this year, some have wondered if Vlad would take that "spot." Would Vlad be the "power" of the Rangers. The biggest homerun threat. It isn't that we don't have several guys who are homerun threats, but you know, there is always that "big star" who is just thought of as "a homerun hitter." Well, all I can say about this past week as we've witnessed both Josh and Vlad play, Josh has won that title. Considering the 4 games we saw while in Phoenix (I am not including the Tuesday Cubs game since it ended up sold out so we didn't get to watch it except for a few innings through the outfield fence), Josh played in three of the games we saw, and was actually taken out in one of those three games after his second at-bat because he was hit by the pitch on his hand. Here are the stats of the two power hitters in the games we saw -- I will let you draw your own conclusions... Josh went (0-1 left the game after being hit by a pitch in the hand in his second at bat; 2-3 w/ double and HR; 1-3 w/ HR; 1-3 w/HR) and Vlad went ( 1-3 w/ double; 0-3; 1-3; 0-3).

So you know, though I didn't get Vlad's autograph while I was in Phoenix, I DID get the autograph of our "power hitter" Josh multiple times! =)

It's All In the Hat

Today was a long, busy, day...but it was a good one! It's late, so I'm just going to touch on the highlights so I can get to bed...

• The Dodgers & White Sox share a BEAUTIFUL spring training practice field campus! Very nicely landscaped! However, unlike the Rangers, they have it setup so the players have pathways that are roped off for them to walk down, which keeps the fans from walking with them, so they can easily get out of autographs if they want. I bet part of it is because L.A. fans probably aren't the nicest...HA!
• I got Tommy Lasorda's autograph today...that's cool!
• The owner of the Dodgers seems like a fairly nice fella. I bet he is mega-crazy rich!!
• It was a good day for autographs at the Rangers BP: Neftali Feliz, Taylor Teagarden, Michael Young, Josh Hamilton, Toby Hall, and Julio Borbon (MY FAVORITE!!!)
• I even got a picture with Julio!! When I was getting his autograph I wished him the best for this season telling him I was super stoked for this year for him. I asked how many stolen bases he thought he'd get, and he didn't give a number, so I said, "30" and he said, "at least"....SWEET! I believe it too!
• The Rangers took on the Mariners in an evening game tonight. We WON (finally) 8-1! Josh Hamilton had one homerun and Nelson Cruz had two homeruns!
• I'm pretty sure we won because I wore my hat! Yes, I wore some of my hats the other days this week, but not "my hat"...the one I love the most and wear 99.9% of the time. You'll see it below.

Julio Borbon and me!!



Here are the L.A. Dodgers...

I love Don Mattingly!

I love Andre Ethier.

I love Manny Ramirez.

See, even Don Mattingly is telling Manny how much he loves him!

This is the owner of the Dodgers most likely telling Tommy Lasorda how much he loves Manny.

Attendance Records & Elder Abuse?

I have a male coworker who he and I kind of have a small competitive nature during baseball season. He is originally from Nebraska (which doesn't have a MLB team) in the state -- so he chose the Chicago Cubs as his team growing up. Well once he found out I was from St. Louis, we obviously became baseball competitors. One of the first days that we realized we rooted for the the "rival" squad we had started discussing how fans of the two teams have always been such loyal and spirited fans. They love their teams even after they move away. Somehow we started debating which team has the higher attendance of their fans at home games during the season. I honestly had never done any research on Cubs games attendance, but I figured, how the heck could a team who has barely ever even made it to the playoffs in it's history even come close to the attendance of a team who has the second most World Series titles of any franchise in MLB history.

Well, when I walked into work the next morning I found about 5 pages stapled together on my desk showing the attendance records for all the major league teams over the past 5 years. And as I flipped through each page the Cubs and the Cardinals attendances were highlighted. Well, it turns out that he was comparing them on percentage of attendance in their home stadiums -- which I guess is the appropriate way to do it since the Cubs stadium holds a lot less people than the Cardinals old and new stadiums.

Yeah, let me say I totally didn't believe my coworker when he'd been saying the day before that the Cubs sell out the majority of their home games each year, and yes, that's even including how a good majority of their games are daytime games during the week. For anyone who is not versed in Cubs history or a Chicago native, you have to admit that would be very hard to believe. Yeah, so when he showed me the attendance records I was shocked to see that the Cubs beat the Cardinals in percentage every year that he printed...as the Cubs averaged high 80s to 90s percentage of stadium capacity each year. The Cubs were typically the MLB team in the top 3 teams for highest percentage of attendance each year. But you don't have to take my word for it...you can go check it out here for yourself: http://espn.go.com/mlb/attendance

So I share all that with you today as an introduction to the Rangers vs. Cubs spring training game today. Now, it's not that my friend and I are by any means pros on this whole spring training stuff, but I can say we've never seen packed stadiums for any weekday DAY game. The only sold out game we ever went too (and it turned out that just as we got up to the ticket window two seats were released and we were able to snag them) was the VERY first spring training game we went to last year, which was a Sunday afternoon game for the HOME TEAM Arizona diamondbacks...that makes sense because the Diamondbacks do spring training in Tuscan rather than Phoenix to draw more fans since Phoenix gets them during the regular season. So besides that game, we've really never had much motivation to purchase our tickets for the spring training games in advance, because there usually is no problem buying them at the window at game time.

Well, today we got off the highway to attend the Rangers vs. Cubs game AT the Cubs stadium at about 12:40 PM...game time 1 PM. We were about 1.5 miles from the stadium and we were completely stopped in a line to get to the stadium. Now I must say I started getting rather discouraged as I noticed more and more people wondering up and down the sidewalk flashing signs saying "I Need Tickets". Umm...me too? Yikes. Still being hopeful since there were the same deal going on as we pulled up to the Diamondbacks game in Tuscan the year before, I couldn't help but have flashbacks of the attendance conversations I'd had with my coworker. Yikes...Cubbie fans come all the way to Phoenix too!?!?!?!

Yeah, after SLOWLY moving along in the line for 50 minutes we got up by the stadium and parked in a cheap $3 parking lot. We had asked the lady who was collecting money for the lot if the game was sold out and she said, that's what people are telling her as they come back to their cars. I asked if they normally sell out and she said, "No, the stadium holds some 13,000 fans, and they usually just average about 11,000" Well, we had waited this long in the line and in the car, might as well get out and go see the stadium and stretch out leg some, so we began the trek up to the stadium past all the scalpers.

Yep, it had been sold out, but I figured why not walk around the stadium and listen in some and see if maybe we could view in from a gate or something. Well we got around to the outfield fence and were able to do just that. We actually watched from the top of the 3rd inning through the middle of the 7th inning by standing at the barred fence in center field peering over the fans sitting and standing in the lawn seats. Wow, it was certainly a packed house, and yep, the Cub fans were getting a good game alright. We got there in time to see the Cubs score 3 runs in the 3rd inning and it remained 3-0 the whole time we stayed watching. Nothing for Rangers fans to get excited about.

Turns out that the Rangers lost 4-1...yep, another loss, but at least we only paid $3 (parking) to see it...HA!

About the most excitement we got for the day today was on our trek back to our car when a gentleman walked up to this elderly old white gentleman who was sitting in a lawn chair just right off the sidewalk. The elderly gentleman had a cooler next to him and he was selling bottled waters for fans to purchase to take into the stadium. Well turns out that the gentleman who approached him was the home owner of the house behind that man, as well as the two next to it. Well this gentleman was apparently NOT going to have someone running a "business" out of the small little corner of his lot (right next to an electric pole, which the man even spouted off about how even if he was sitting up against the electric pole, that still wasn't city property, but rather HIS property). I mean it was CRAZY. This middle aged white man just started yelling at the top of his lungs at this older man, telling him to get off his property and that he's told him before and he better get out right now. I mean just going OFF! It literally started about 4 feet in front of us...and we just were like...uh, let's keep going. Well, obviously with the commotion everyone nearby started looking -- including two large black gentleman who were all smiles after just selling off their last scalped tickets (well at least that's what they just told us, not real sure who would buy tickets for $70 to get into the game in the 7th inning...but whatever). Well I kinda thought these two gentleman might come to the older man's aid, but uh, they just kinda said something and then were like us -- didn't want to get in the middle of that...HA! I mean I guess if that's that dude's property he has every right to boot someone off it, especially if he's said something to him before as he claimed, but at the same time I was thinking, um, couldn't it have been handled differently? Maybe Adult Protective Services should have been called for verbal abuse of the elderly?! HA! Yeah, not sure why the elderly gentleman decided to setup there, seeings how he could have done it on the other side of the street with everyone else who was selling water to fans on that side, as they weren't getting yelled at, but maybe that was his point...water sales were too saturated on that side. All in all it was nuts to overhear...

So tomorrow maybe we'll get to sit and watch a game...HA! It IS another "away" game as the Rangers are playing the Mariners at the Mariners' stadium, AND it's an evening game, so people will be off work and more able to come, but it's just the Mariners, right!?! HA! Maybe we'll try to swing by the stadium before game time JUST in case...HA!

NOTE: Yeah, so the crowd at the Cubs vs. Rangers game today was 13,157, the fourth-largest crowd in HoHoKam Park's (the Cubs home Spring Training park) history. NUTS!

Busy Monday -- Rangers Still Winless Since We've Been Here

So yesterday was a long day, starting a little earlier than needed, as previously mentioned, since we got out to the fields for BP at 10 AM and learned they don't practice that early on days that they have evening games (which just so happens to be 3 of the 5 Rangers games we will catch while out here). So around 2 PM we made our way back out to the fields again. Below is a picture of one of the streets we take to get out to the fields...




Each time we drive down this road I feel like I should see the big letters H-O-L-L-Y-W-O-O-D on the mountian ahead. Especially since we also see a lot of big palm trees all around...





Whelp, it turned out that 2 PM was exactly the time we needed to get there because as we got over to the big leaguers fields the players were just trotting over to the large workout open field for stretching and warm-ups. We were able to get a few autographs of the "big" names as they headed over to the field to begin workout: Nelson Cruz, Elvis Andrus, & Jarrod Saltalamachia.








BP was good...it was in the mid-afternoon hours, so it was real sunny and I got a little sun on the lowerhalf of my face (thanks hat and sunglasses...HA!), but it was fun! Other autographs I got while at BP included David Murphy, Derek Holland, Chris Davis, Kevin Richardson, & Brandon McCarthy.



Gametime was at 6 PM versus the Giants. I was excited that I was going to get to see Julio Borbon play for the first time since being out in Phoenix (as he was in the split squad game we weren't at on Sunday afternoon). Julio Borbon is one of my favorites, and I just know that barring injury, he will have a 30 stolen base season! Can't wait to see how many double steals him and Elvis will put up during the season with Borbon batting 1st and Elvis 9th...they will wreak havoc!



Here is Julio warming up before the game...

[That's Julio with another of my favorites...Brandon Boggs!!]

Overall the game wasn't a great one. Rangers lost again...8-5. Josh Hamilton got hit by a pitch on his hand, so he left the game early. About the only highlight for the Rangers from the game was Nelson Cruz' homerun. Below are a few pictures of him playing toss between innings.

During the game my friend got a couple text messages and calls from people who were apparently watching the game on the cable channel it was being broadcast on back in Dallas. They must have done a camera shot of Rich Harden leaving the game and signing a few autographs because my friend was in that shot. Overall, with the loss, most the guys obviously weren't to interested in signing autographs, but still some of the great young minor leaguers who finished the game signed some autographs on the way out, so we picked up a Craig Gentry, Marcus Lemon, and Mitch Moreland autograph.

As for today it is an easy, low-key type of day. After the long day yesterday, the easier day is welcomed today -- hey, it's vacation, we are supposed to take it easy some...HA! Today the Rangers are playing the Chicago Cubs and since they Rangers stadium is on the far west side of Phoenix and the Cubs is on the far east side of Phoenix, we figured it wouldn't be worth going to BP this morning because they only let the public in at 10 AM and we figured the players wouldn't be around much later then then because they'd have to get going across town for the 1 PM start. So today we're just catching the 1 PM game at the Cubs stadium. The Cubs stadium was the one we went to last year and spent about an hour driving around trying to find it and then ended up getting pulled over for making a right turn at an intersection that was a no-right-on-red intersection...opps! Well the cop was nice and only gave us a warning. Here's to hoping we don't get pulled over today...HA!

Hopefully today we'll get our first Rangers win since being out here. And for anyone still counting...still no Vlad autograph, but we still have a few days left!

Lesson Learned

Well you have to learn the spring training schedule somehow, and what better way to learn it than a leisurely stroll beside the empty practice fields on a pretty Phoenix morning.

So yesterday my friend and I were wondering just how long the major leaguers would be practicing for out at the fields since they didn't have a 1 PM game, but rather an evening game. We got excited at the thought that instead of the public getting in at 10 AM and the players leaving by 11:30 to prepare for the game, that they might stick around at the fields till like noon or 1 PM. Well we couldn't have been more wrong...

So we arrived out at the fields with all the other people ready to head over to the Rangers big leaguers field at 10 AM...and when they let us all in we get over to their fields to learn that they don't practice at all in the mornings when they have an evening game. GREAT! So, having the pleasure of the Rangers sharing their stadium with another MLB teams -- the Royals -- we figured since we were already out here, might as well head on over to the Royals practice fields and maybe I could get a Ankiel, or Greinke, or Kendall autograph. So we get over to their fields only to learn that they too have an evening game today, so their players weren't out on the fields yet either. NICE! Well, at least it was pretty outside...

So we got back to the hotel and actually hit the sports cards shop across the street from our hotel. Learned that the sports card shop we frequent in Arlington back at home is actually VERY nice and has a lot more stuff, as this one here was pretty pathetic. Oh well.

Now we need to plan the rest of the week, as we have two more "evening game" nights this week, meaning we won't have Rangers BP to go to at 10 AM...I'm thinking we might try to go catch some other MLB squads BP then. We'll see.

Whelp...it's 1:15 PM here now, so we're gonna start getting ready to head back to the Rangers practice fields hoping they start at 2 PM (not 3 PM).

Note: Don't expect an update on here for todays BP autographs and tonight's game tonight because we won't get out of the game here tonight till about 10 PM...which will make it midnight central time. Then we've still gotta get home, so yeah, y'all will pretty much all be knocked out hard asleep by time I'm getting back to the hotel. HA!

The Rangers Newest Autograph Craze (And Hamilton's Reminder of His Power Too)

Today was our first day to go see the Rangers! It started of course with batting practice (BP) at 10 AM. Allow me to introduce you to the Rangers newest craze for autograph collectors...

I obviously wasn't shy to bring out the camera whenever he was around either...HA! I too am hoping to land his autograph (got REAL close twice, but haven't landed it just yet. Plan to before the week is over though).

Vladimir Guerrero appears to be a quiet fella who comes to play. He tends to keep to himself, but entertains a smile when the other guys joke with him -- yet doesn't seem to initiate the jokes. He was fun to watch hit the ball -- obviously.

Though I wasn't able to get a Vlad autograph this morning at BP, I did land several other autographs: (cards) Endy Chavez, Josh Hamilton, Matt Harrison, & Justin Smoak; (pictures) Michael Young, Scott Feldman, CJ Wilson, & Neftali Feliz; and (jersey) Josh Hamilton.

Pretty much BP was the highlight of the day, because the game didn't go as well...

...but of course, Vlad still kept our attention...

Vlad wasn't too impressive from the plate today. Well I guess I'm expecting homeruns each time he is up. He ended up 1 for 3 with a double and run scored. Bless his heart, it hurts me to watch him have to run -- he just looks so awkward...he just seems like he has two long tree trunks for legs -- great for powering a ball over the outfield wall, but difficult to hussle around the base-path with.

Josh Hamilton, however, had a superb day from the plate! I liked to think it was because I got to interact with him a few times for autographs today, but in actuality it was credited to it being his young daughter's 9th birthday. Apparently this morning at breakfast Josh promised his daughter that he'd hit her a homerun for her birthday -- and he is apparently the type of guy that likes to take care of business as soon as possible as her blasted a 2-run homer in his first plate appearance in first inning. Unfortunately, that was the last lead the Rangers would have all game. Hamilton unloaded a double in his second plate appearance, but as we all know, baseball is a team sport, so Josh was not able to carry the team on his own. The Rangers ended up losing the game 9-3. It was a poor showing by the pitching squad, and a lack of offense coming from the bats. Still, I think it's important to note that today's Ranger's squad was a split team, as half the team was in another part of town playing the Los Angeles Dodgers team. With this being the case, having to split our offensive bats and pitchers between two games doesn't allow a coaching staff all his weapons, so we're hoping tomorrow's game will have a better ending.

I must say one of my highlights of the day was finding one of my new "favorites". I have to say I like finding the young talent and following them. In the past my "boyfriends" have been Brandon Boggs and Julio Borbon, both of which I still love and root for on a daily basis. One of my newest young favorites actually got the start at second base today in the game we watched. [Note: We just got word this morning that Ian Kinsler is out for at least a week with a high ankle sprain...this stinks because it means we won't get to see him play this week we are here, and he probably won't be out at BP much with his injury keeping him out of much intense practice]

His name is Marcus Lemon...he is 21 years old, and has the most beautiful eyes and smile! HA!

I told him I thought he has the prettiest eyes when I asked him if he'd take a picture with me...HA! I don't think any of these pictures above do his eyes and smile justice...so you can check his headshot out here on his roster page on the Frisco Roughriders website.

We will be heading back out to Rangers BP in the morning and then to the evening game tomorrow night against the San Francisco Giants. Here's to hoping for a little warmer weather (as it was chilly today in the shade and when the wind blew through -- highs today were mid to high 60s...which is below normal for this time of year in Phoenix) tomorrow and a win! And a Vlad autograph wouldn't be too bad either...HA!

It Was a Party on I-10

After waking up to our hotel room smelling strongly of garlic bread, we decided that was our sign to get out of El Paso! So the journey across the boring southern part of New Mexico and then up through Arizona to Phoenix began.

After entering the Arizona border and passing The Thing we were coming over a hill and noticed Benton, Arizona up ahead about 3 miles, but closer ahead of us was traffic at a complete stand still. Both the westbound lanes of I-10 heading into Benton were completely stopped. So we pulled up behind the pickup truck ahead of us, the semi-truck beside us, and shifted into park. Shortly there after we noticed everyone else around us getting out of their cars, getting food and drinks out of their coolers, getting on cell phones, etc. After about 10 minutes of not moving, we decided to turn off the car like everyone else. We decided to join the "party" and got out of the car. We learned that the family "parked" in front of us was from Odessa and they had two dogs they let out to play, along with three kids. Behind us was a gentleman who was Arizona born and raised, but has a brother who lives in Houston, so he asked what part of Texas we were from. We took some pictures of all the traffic completely stopped and all the people out wondering around by their cars, but I will have to upload them and post them later on. It was interesting being stopped and parked on an interstate.

Turns out there had been a terrible single car accident with the car rolling. A helicopter had to air-lift some people to the hospital apparently, and one individual was dead on the scene. Once they finally started letting the traffic get by on the far shoulder, you could see the highway patrol holding up the white sheet to block the view of the body on the ground. Yikes...

So after a 45 minute delay, we eventually got into Phoenix this even around 6 PM (mountain time zone). We were pleased with the neighborhood and environment our hotel this year was in -- it was cheaper than the one last year, though nicer, AND it's directly across the street from a sports card shop -- PERFECT for being here in town to get autographs...HA!; however, when we got to the hotel, they informed us that they did not have our room clean yet. Rather surprised seeings how it was 6 PM, but whatever. So they allowed us to go ahead and go move our luggage into the room and then we'd go get dinner and come back and it should be clean. So, after moving our stuff in we traveled up and down the neighboring streets to see what restaurants and fast food places are around. We ended up getting Chili's for dinner and then returned to the hotel 1.5 hours late to find our room still hadn't been cleaned.

So now we are in another room, which HAS been cleaned. Now we are are ready for bed at 11:35 PM, mountain time.

The cool thing is we will be going to sleep in the mountain time zone, but waking up in the pacific time zone -- thank you day light savings time...HA! It's because Arizona does not follow day light savings, so when the other states are all springing forward an hour tonight, we in Arizona jump time zones! Pretty neat how that works ,huh?! ;)

Round II -- Spring Training Here We Come!

So we're at it again! We have begun our second roadtrip to Phoenix to see the Texas Rangers and other teams in the Cactus League duke it out in spring training competition! Of course, one of the best parts is going to batting practices (BP) in the mornings and getting autographs. One plus on this year is we were able to begin the trip a day earlier, as my friend (who is a teacher) works in a school district which had the Friday before their spring break off (nice, huh?! Making any other teachers jealous!?!?). So I went ahead and requested the day off from my job and we got a day earlier start this year!



So, just as last year, we are breaking up the 17 hour drive, by staying the first night in El Paso, Texas. That made for a 10.5 hour drive for today (yes, folks, you can drive for 10 hours and still be in one state...Texas is THAT big)! So here we are safe and sound in good ol' El Paso, Texas. After 10+ hours of this old body riding in a car, I'm sore and wornout, so tonight's entry is going to be shorter; however, I thought I'd end it with some brief "points" so far from our trip...

• Gasoline is sure a lot higher today than it was a year ago. We pulled up our records/budget from last years trip and the most we paid for gasoline last year was $2.09 a gallon in Benton, Arizona. So far today, we've paid prices from $2.61, up to $2.79 a gallon. Yikes...good thing we are getting two of our nights in hotels free from credit card points!


• I've decided that the Murphy's gas station by the "new" Super Walmart in Abilene IS officially the windest place in all of Abilene. I was strongly beginning to believe this theory when I was there at homecoming, but today's trip sealed the deal.


• I think State Troopers and the Border Patrol switch shifts from Friday's to Saturdays. Last year when we made the trip to El Paso on a Saturday we only saw a few state troopers along the way and more border patrol than I could count on my fingers and toes. Today, with the trip being on a Friday, we saw 14 hundred state troopers and the only border patrol we saw were at the check point station. This was kind of sad, as last year seeing all the border patrol was a bit of entertainment, as we liked watching for them and their trucks hidden down in the ditches. It was like we were anxiously awaiting to see a truck racing through the desert chasing a group of illegals or something. Sure, it never happened, but I'm pretty sure the anticipation of it helped a boring trip move along.
• I'm pretty sure the lack of the border patrol this year also took some of the excitement out of our large lettering of "JUAREZ BOUND" which we had chalked on the back window of our vehicle. Oh well...

Goodnight, from El Paso, and the next time I write, it should be from sunny Phoenix, Arizona! As for me, I think my body (which believes it's after 10 PM, even though it's only 9 PM here) is ready to get to bed. As for my friend, yeah, she's already out cold! HA!

My Autographs

As promised, here is some information on the autographs I got while at Spring Training. I will start by saying the types of "merchandise" that I took to get signed included a white Rangers T-Shirt (which you've seen in pictures previously on this blog), some baseballs, some baseball cards, and two baseballs a friend got and asked for me to try to get signed for her boys. I can say that on those two baseballs for my friend's boys I got multiple autographs: Ball #1 -- Ian Kinsler, Michael Young, Elvis Andrus, & Josh Hamilton; Ball #2 -- Kevin Millwood, Scott Feldman, David Murphy, Elvis Andrus, & Josh Hamilton.

Now, as for the autographs for myself, I have listed below all the players on the Rangers 40-Man Roster and the Non-Roster Invites that were also at the Ranger's Spring Training (trying out for spots on the 40-Man Roster). You'll see the names below listed by position and which list (i.e. roster or non-roster). The number in parenthesis after their name is my own ranking system based on the level of difficulty I found it to be for getting that specific players autograph (taking into consideration batting practice signing opportunities and game signing opportunities). A (1) means I found them incredibly hard to get an autograph from (meaning most likely I didn't get one from them), and a (10) meaning they were giving away autographs like hot cakes. And finally you'll see listed after that number what (if anything) I got their autograph on.

Coaches
Ron Washington (5) – t-shirt
Gary Pettis (4) – baseball
Dave Anderson (N/A – never saw him)
Mike Maddox (1 – I don’t think I saw him sign for a single person)

40-Man Roster Players:
Pitchers
Joaquin Benoit (N/A -- injured)
Willie Eyre (N/A – never saw him)
Scott Feldman (8) – t-shirt
Frank Francisco (N/A – never saw him)
Matt Harrison (9) – t-shirt
Tommy Hunter (N/A – never saw him)
Eric Hurley (N/A -- injured)
Warner Madrigal (N/A – never saw him)
Brandon McCarthy (7) – card
Luis Mendoza (9) – t-shirt, card
Kevin Millwood (9) – t-shirt
Dustin Nippert (7) – t-shirt
Vicente Padilla (N/A – never saw him)
Josh Rupe (N/A – never saw him)
C.J. Wilson (8) – t-shirt, baseball

Catchers
Max Ramirez (N/A – at WBC)
Jarrod Saltalamacchia (7) – t-shirt
Taylor Teagarden (8) – card

Infielders
Joaquin Arias (1 – I don’t think I saw him sign for a single person)
Hank Blalock (3) – t-shirt
Chris Davis (8) – t-shirt, card
Ian Kinsler (7) – t-shirt
Travis Metcalf (N/A – never saw him)
Michael Young (6)

Outfielders
Brandon Boggs (6) – t-shirt, card
Marlon Byrd (1 – I don’t think I saw him sign for a single person)
Frank Catalanotto (N/A – saw him but never attempted to get autograph)
Nelson Cruz (1 – I don’t think I saw him sign for a single person)
Josh Hamilton (8 – this man had more people following him everywhere he went than any other player, but whenever he would start signing, he would sign for hours if needed till he signed everything everyone had for him to sign…a GREAT guy!) 2 cards
David Murphy (8)

Non-Roster Invites to Spring Training:
Pitchers
Kris Benson (8) – t-shirt
Casey Daigle (N/A – never saw him)
Brendan Donnelly (N/A – never saw him)
Neftali Feliz (5)
Jimmy Gobble (N/A – never saw him)
Brian Gordon (N/A – never saw him)
Eddie Guardado (7) – t-shirt, baseball
Derek Holland (9) – t-shirt, baseball
Jason Jennings (8) – t-shirt
Doug Mathis (8) – baseball
Elizardo Ramirez (N/A – saw him but never attempted to get autograph)
Joe Torres (N/A – never saw him)
Derrick Turnbow (N/A – never saw him)

Catchers
Emerson Frostad (9) – card
Adam Melhuse (N/A – saw him but never attempted to get autograph)
Manuel Pina (N/A – never saw him)
Kevin Richardson (N/A -- injured)

Infielders
Elvis Andrus (9) – t-shirt, on 2 cards
Justin Smoak (9) – t-shirt, baseball
Omar Vizquel (2 – I tried to get this man so many times!! I only saw him sign like three times the whole week, and each time was only a few autographs)

Outfielders
Andruw Jones (3) – card

The ones I'd still really like to get are:
Omar Vizquel; Mike Maddox; Joaquin Benoit; Vicente Padilla; Joaquin Arias; Marlon Byrd; Nelson Cruz; & Neftali Feliz

We'll see...who knows what autographs the season might still have in store for me! ;)

4 in a Row

Well, Texas is a little grand-er once again, as we have been reunited with the state and our fellow Texans. -- we know they all missed us! ;)

We arrived safely into El Paso, Texas this evening after stopping for the Rangers vs. Rockies game in Tucson, AZ on the way back home. It was a good game, in which the Rangers pulled out yet another win 11 - 5, which makes for 4 in a row! See, I told you we are their lucky charm! Don't worry boys, we'll be there for opening day too! =)

I must say, Nelson Cruz batting clean-up is turning out alright afterall. On Wednesday he powered a 3-run homerun during the first inning; had the day off on Thursday; and then today hit a 2-run homerun in the first inning. Way to go buddy! Hopefully he will be able to provide some protectin for Hamilton batting right before him!

Okay, time to get to bed, as tomorrow is the longer "half" of our trip (El Paso to Dallas), plus we'll lose another hour on the drive, so that doesn't help much...HA!

It Was Our Josh Hamilton Day

This evening I've been wornout and was busy on the internet preparing for tomorrow. Tomorrow morning we head out of Phoenix, but we decided today, when we noticed that Rangers play tomorrow at 1 PM against the Colorado Rockies at the Rockies stadium, which just so happens to be in Tucson -- which is exactly where we travel through on our way to El Paso. Soooo....

We are going to catch one more Rangers game before getting back to Texas. So tonight I had to book our hotel room for El Paso tomorrow night, write up directions....write up directions to the Rockies stadium...and plan for our travel through Tucson to figure out time it will take to arrive there and what time we'd need to leave Phoenix in the morning. Now I'm just wornout and not really interested in typing much up, so I didn't send in a guest blog to the Dallas Morning News tonight, and as for this blog, it's going to be short and sweet...

Batting practice was good. Once again, since it was a home game today at 1 PM, getting autographs at batting practice lasted for a little longer than yesterday. Today my friend and I got us a few Josh Hamilton autographs -- that was our big "scores" from BP. Josh is such a great guy! He is so generous with his time and signing for the TONS of fans that follow him around everywhere at BP.

As for the game, the Rangers pulled it out, but the starting pitching by Kris Benson looked shaky in the first inning, as he gave up 4 runs. We felt we might have a bleak chance at coming back, as today we had several of our "big bats" out of the line-up (Hamilton, Kinsler, & Cruz did not play), but we pulled it out, driving in 6 runs in one inning! Blaylock played in his first game (as actually playing offense and defense...as he played third while Young DHed)....but he didn't do anything at the plate and got him an error on the field....and then went out of the game injured when he flipped over the railing and into the Athletics dugout when going after a foul-ball. Hmmm, wonder if this will put good ol' Hank on the DL -- he seems more comfortable there than in the game nowadays it seems.

Our time in Phoenix as been loads of fun! We each got a load of autographs and learned so much about the players. I love noting personality aspects of the guys, which you can get from the interactions you get with them at BP since you are right there with them! I hope to comment more about the players individually in the near future, but that won't be tonight, as I'm exhausted.

I'm going to end with some more pictures from today.




Above is just some of my autographs. On this t-shirt I got:

Ian Kinsler
Oliver Perez
Jason Jennings
Kevin Millwood
Eddie Guardado
Scott Feldman
Chris Davis
Ron Washington
Kris Benson
Julio Borbon
Hank Blaylock
Dustin Nippert
Elvis Andrus
Luis Mendoza
C.J. Wilson
Greg Golson
Matt Harrison
Jarrod Saltalamacchia
German Duran
Justin Smoak
Derek Holland
Brandon Boggs


David Murphy (OF) signing after he exited the game today.

Josh Hamilton (OF) signing at batting practice.

Hamilton, Murphy, and Cruz waiting for the hitting coaches to get over to the batting cages so they are work on hitting.

Some of the guys waiting around on their turn to hit.

Back-to-Back Wins: We Are the Rangers Lucky Charm!

Today was to be a lot like yesterday (Rangers batting practice in the morning, and then Rangers game at 1 PM), but little did we know it would turn out so similar...

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 excited 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.