WTF: Ian Kinsler
Eat Dirt
This is Texas Rangers infielder Ian Kinsler. He has no idea how to slide, even Ron Washington had to chuckle.
Josh Hamilton eats candy bars Athletics fans throw at him
Eat It
Angels outfielder Josh Hamilton took the high road when dealing with a group of hecklers at Oakland Coliseum Monday night.
The Athletics held “Josh Hamilton Appreciation Night” Monday in reference to the fly ball Hamilton dropped in the final regular season game of 2012 to help the A’s win the American League West Division. Of course, Hamilton was a member of the Texas Rangers then, but the A’s still wanted to show their gratitude for the costly error with the Angels in town this week.
Furthermore, fans also chose to show their appreciation by chucking Butterfingers at Hamilton during batting practice as he shagged balls in right field which the former MVP decided to be a good sport and devour the tasty treats which rained down upon him.
Josh Hamilton dropped ball auctions off for $1,280
He Dropped It
It’s a play plenty of Texas Rangers fans would probably pay good money to forget. And evidently, a play that at least one Oakland A’s fan paid plenty of money to remember.
The ball that former Ranger Josh Hamilton infamously dropped during the final game of the 2012 regular season was auctioned off by the A’s for $1,280. The proceeds were donated to charity.
The play was a small fraction of a nightmarish finish to the 2012 season for the Rangers. After blowing a four-game lead with six games to play, the Rangers faced the A’s in a winner-take-all finale in Oakland on October 3. The Rangers jumped out to an early 5-1 lead, but the A’s scratched across four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to tie it at 5-5.
Then, Hamilton dropped an easy fly ball off the bat of Yoenis Cespedes that would have been the third out of the inning. Instead, two more runs scored on Hamilton’s error, giving the A’s a 7-5 lead. Oakland would go on to win the game 12-5
MLB Predictions
Est. 1869
What’s lies ahead in the 2013 Major League Baseball season, well no one knows for sure but Opening Day is upon us and it’s time to roll out a few predictions. If you happened to listen to our live show this past week then you already heard those predictions.
Enjoy opening day, enjoy the season. I know I will.
American League East winner: Tampa Bay Rays
American League Central winner: Detroit Tigers
American League West winner: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
American League Wild-Card winner: Oakland Athletics
American League Wild-Card winner: Kansas City Royals
American League Pennant winner: Tampa Bay Rays
National League East winner: Washington Nationals
National League Central winner: Cincinnati Reds
National League West winner: San Francisco Giants
National League Wild-Card winner: Milwaukee Brewers
National League Wild-Card winner: Philadelphia Phillies
National League Pennant winner: Washington Nationals
American League Rookie of the Year: Wil Myers, Tampa Bay Rays
National League Rookie of the Year: Jedd Gyorko, San Diego Padres
American League Manger of the Year: John Farrell, Boston Red Sox
National League Manager of the Year: Bo Porter, Houston Astros
American League MVP: Yoenis Cespedas, Oakland Athletics
National League MVP: Ryan Howard, Philadelphia Phillies
American League Cy Young Award: Yu Darvish, Texas Rangers
National League Cy Young Award: Stephen Strasburg, Washington Nationals
Elvis Andrus sidelined because of sensitivity caused by new tattoo
In The Name Of The Father
Odd injuries tend to creep up on baseball players during spring training.
Add Texas Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus to the list. Andrus was scratched from yesterdays lineup against the Cleveland Indians because of a new tattoo.
An elaborate tattoo featuring the likeness of his late father caused “sensitivity” and muscle soreness in his left bicep. The tattoo extends from his shoulder all the way down to his elbow.
“It’s a memory of my dad. I’m really proud that it’s going to be on myself forever,” Andrus said.
Andrus said the tattoo took nine hours over two days to complete.
Andrus was scheduled to bat third and was replaced by rookie Jurickson Profar.
MLB pays $1.2 million for Rockies.com
Where's Todd Helton
How important is it to Major League Baseball to own team name domain rights? Apparently $1.2 million in importance as that’s how much they shelled out to secure the rights to rockies.com. The website was previously owned by Tourism Canadian Rockies and was used to promote the Rocky Mountains (since they stretch all the way up to Canada).
It’s reported to be the largest price ever paid for a sports-related website and a significantly higher price than the domain name was expected to generate via auction. Apparently the MLB, doesn’t want what the Knicks did to the Nets to happen for the Colorado Rockies. The MLB now owns 26 of the 30 “dot-com” domain names for its teams, with the Rays, Rangers, Twins, and Giants as the teams who are not under MLB ownership. The New York football Giants own Giants.com and is clearly not looking to sell. As for the other teams, one has to think that the company that owns Twins.com for example, could use a million bucks. I doubt their brand is worth more than that.
Nolan Ryan Says Josh Hamilton Picked Worst Time To Quit Tobacco
Good Times
Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton has battled overcoming addiction most of his life and late this season he decided it was time for him quit smokeless tobacco. For owner Nolan Ryan he thinks he should have waited until after the season to kick the habit.
“His timing on quitting smokeless tobacco couldn’t have been worse. You would’ve liked to have thought that if he was going to do that that he would’ve done it in the offseason or waited until this offseason to do it. So the drastic effect that it had on him and the year that he was having up to that point in time that he did quit, you’d have liked that he would’ve taken a different approach to that. So those issues caused unrest, and it’s unfortunate that it happened and the timing was such as it was.”
The Yu Darvish Song “Do the Yu”
This is rapper Smosy paying tribute to Texas Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish with this track called, “Do The Yu” a parody of Soulja Boy’s “Crank Dat.”
Derek Holland & Ryan Dempster Team Up To Do Dueling Harry Caray Impressions
Texas Rangers pitchers Derek Holland and Ryan Dempster can deliver impressions with the best of them, especially for one pretty famous broadcaster. Holland and Dempster have both given spot-on impressions of longtime Chicago Cubs broadcaster Harry Caray before, and with the Rangers in New York last week, MLB took full advantage of that.
The duo of Texas pitchers dropped by the MLB Fan Cave to hang out and also put their best Caray on display. In fact, they teamed up, giving dueling impressions in which they critiqued each other’s pitching skills.
Texas Rangers Fan Gets Mike Napoli Shaved Into His Head
NAP-O-LEE
Here in San Antonio we’ve seen quite a few fans of the NBA head to some local barbershops to get their favorite ballplayers shaved into their heads. Even a youth student at Judson ISD took time to get a Matt Bonner cut but we have yet to see one of other sports.
That is till now when an unidentified Texas Rangers fan sat down in his barbers chair and had catcher Mike Napoli shaved into the back of his skull.
Unfortunately for Napoli he’s seen his average drop from .320 to .233 and a career high of 70 RBI’s to just 30 in 2012. The bad news doesn’t end there for Napoli as he was placed on the 15-day disabled list Saturday with a strained left thigh muscle. With all that going on though it didn’t stop this fan from showing his support.
Roy Oswalt Unhappy With Bullpen Role
Not A Team Player?
Former starting pitcher-turned-reliever Roy Oswalt is not ready to reinvent himself.
“I’m a starter,” Texas Rangers’ Oswalt told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “I’m not really a bullpen guy.”
Oswalt made his second appearance as a reliever with Texas on Sunday and pitched two scoreless innings. But he declined to go out for a third inning after just 30 pitches in the Rangers loss to the Kansas City Royals.
“He said he couldn’t go any further,” manager Ron Washington said. “He said he had enough.”
General manager Jon Daniels said:
“Roy prefers to start. We had a call to make and we did what we thought was best for the club. As we all know things can change. Right now we’re happy with the way things are set up but we understand his point of view.”
Oswalt was demoted to the bullpen July 31 after the Rangers acquired Ryan Dempster at the trade deadline. He didn’t take the decision kindly.
“Well, I mean we’re 4-2 in the games I started. I guess I should’ve been 6-0,” Oswalt said. “Two bad ones and won four of them so … I don’t know. We’ll see how it goes.
“It wasn’t my decision. I’m down there to throw when they need me, I guess.”
Oswalt made his first relief appearance of the season Thursday against the Angels. He was not available to repond after the game on Sunday.
MLB Suspends Texas Rangers Prospect For Year But Approves His Contract
Mark 16:17-18
Major League Baseball has approved the $4.5 million contract of Texas Rangers prospect Jairo Beras, but suspended the Dominican teenager a year for providing a false date of birth when registering with MLB as a prospect.
The investigation over his age began in February when the Rangers signed Beras, whom the club maintained was 17. Had Beras been 16 years old, he would have been ineligible to sign until July 2, when the international signing period began, and recieved a far less bonus. According to the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, he would have fallen under the cap of $2.9 million.
Initially, Beras had told teams he was 16, thus ineligible. He later produced documents to MLB saying he was 17.
“As we’ve said all along, the contract was signed within the rules with the correct age,” Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said. “It does point out that Major League Baseball is placing an increased emphasis on cleaning up this area of our industry, trying to eliminate fraud, which is something that we’re very supportive of and want to be a part of.”
According to MLB, Beras will be permitted to participate in workouts and practices during his suspension, but will not be permitted to participate in official games. Beras will not receive his salary under his Minor League contract for the duration of his suspension.
Earlier this year, Miami Marlins reliever Juan Carlos Oviedo (formerly Leo Nunez) and Cleveland Indians pitcher Roberto Hernandez (Fausto Carmona) were caught using false birth certificates and identities.
Vincente Padilla Says Mark Teixeira Better Off Playing Women’s Sport
Shots Fired
On the surface, a little trash talk between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees may not seem like anything new. However, the latest verbal jabs surrounding baseball’s biggest rivalry, actually has very little to do with the teams themselves.
When Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira expressed his feelings toward Red Sox pitcher Vicente Padilla after Friday’s game, he ignited an old fire that has been burning between the two for quite some time now.
“The guy throws at people, fact of the matter,” Teixeira told reporters after their 10-8 win. “I’m not saying anything that is news. It is what it is. I’ve always been someone who wants to play the game the right way. You play hard, but you don’t play cheap. I’ve always lived that way, too. Some guys decide to take matters into their own hands. In the NFL, he would probably be suspended by Roger Goodell eight games or a whole season. This is baseball.”
Teixeira’s comments came after the Yankee slugger hit a go-ahead two-run triple off the Red Sox reliever in the seventh inning.
It took until Sunday for Padilla to respond to the remarks from his former Texas Rangers teammate. In a Spanish-language interview with NESN.com, he responded with a few choice words of his own.
“In this sport, as competitive ball players, we get pretty fired up,” Padilla said in a translation by NESN. “So I think, maybe, [Teixeira] picked the wrong profession. I think he’d be better off playing a women’s sport.”
The two haven’t exactly stayed close after spending two seasons together in Texas. Since they’ve switched jerseys, Teixeira has faced Padilla 18 times. The slugger, who was rewarded with a huge deal to join the Yankees, has hit two home runs, walked four times, and been plunked three times.
Padilla explained that the feud goes beyond just what’s happened on the field between the two.
“The problem is he talks about all the wrong things that others have done, but the things he’s done against the Latinos (on the Rangers) he doesn’t open his mouth about,” Padilla told NESN. “He once threatened me and said he was going to hit me with a bat, and that’s when we were playing on the same team.”
WTF: Texas Rangers
Too Far
The Texas Rangers Ian Kinsler hit a walk-off single Sunday night in extra innings to defeat the Minnesota Twins and as is customary with baseball players they charge out of the dugout and surrounding the hero. However not sure what Nelson Cruz’s and Elvis Andrus hands were doing wrapped all over Kinsler’s apple sack region.
A.J. Pierzynski Angry About All Star Snub Takes Jab At Mike Napoli
Blood Brewing
Every single year there is one player that everyone agrees was overlooked for the All-Star Game. This year, that player was Chicago White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski who at 35 is having by far the best first half of his 14-year career.
Pierzynski is hitting .291 with 15 home runs and 48 RBIs. His career highs for an entire season are 18 homers and 70 RBIs, so he’s on pace to shatter both marks. Despite his tremendous success at the plate, the fans voted Texas Rangers Mike Napoli as the starter based on last postseason success.
He is hitting a lowly .235 with 12 homers and 30 RBIs. AL manager Ron Washington selected Joe Mauer, who is hitting .332 with five homers and 38 RBI. Washington said he felt bad for Pierzynski, but A.J. isn’t buying it.
“If he felt that bad, he would have put me on the team,” Pierzynski told Chicago reporters. “He had an opportunity to do it and he didn’t do it. He can feel as bad as he wants, but he obviously didn’t feel that bad.”
When a media member reminded Pierzynski that Napoli is a good hitter, he gave the following response: “Yeah, if you consider .230 good.”
On Tuesday night during Chicago’s 19-2 throttling over the Rangers, Pierzynski hit a three-run homer in the fifth and glared toward the Texas dugout. Then on the 4th when a Alexei Ramirez singled to right in the bottom of the second, Pierzynski took off from second and barreled into Napoli to score a run.
WTF: Josh Hamilton
TALENT
Texas Rangers and early American League MVP Josh Hamilton can photobomb with the best of them.
Austrian Newspaper Refers To Josh Hamilton As Ex-Junkie
Cold Blooded
The last Major League Baseball player born in Austria to play in the United States was Kurt Krieger whose last game came back in 1951. That hasn’t stopped the country from paying attention to americas pastime especially when Texas Rangers outfielder Josh hamilton explodes for four home runs in a single evening in Baltimore against the Orioles.
So when Austrian newspapers reported on the historical performance they called upon their fact checkers to get it right and ran the headline with his sordid past in the mix. Hamilton’s past history of drug abuse is apparently known worldwide.
Josh Hamilton Hits Four Home Runs
Good Times
Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton became the 16th player in major league history to hit four home runs in a game.
Facing the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday night, Hamilton hit two-run homers in the first, third and seventh innings and added another in the eighth off of Darren O’Day to tie the major league record. He also doubled in the fifth, going 5 for 5 with a career-high eight RBI.The 18 total bases is a new single-game American League record.
The last player to hit four home runs in a game was Carlos Delgado on Sept. 25, 2003, for Toronto Blue Jays against Tampa Bay Rays.
Two of the 16 players to hit four homers in a game did it before 1900. Hamilton is the sixth AL player to perform the feat.
Hamilton leads the MLB with 14 homers as well as 36 RBIs and is batting .406.
C.J. Wilson Pranks Mike Napoli By Tweeting His Phone Number
1-0 Wilson
Los Angeles Angeles of Anaheim new pitcher C.J. Wilson was looking for a way to get back his former teammate and catcher Texas Rangers Mike Napoli after he was quoted in saying he couldn’t wait to hit homers off him.
Wilson thought the best way to get Napoli back after making such comments would be to tweet his former catchers cell phone number out to the world. Calling the number took you straight to voicemail where Napoli’s voice was on the answering message and you were told his mailbox was full as the prank clearly worked.
Wilson later tweeted “Okay I think we’ve all had a good time, I’m even with mike for saying he can’t wait to hit homers off me.”
Yu Darvish Comments On Will Venable Get Lost In Translation
Suck It Will
The agent for Texas Rangers Yu Darvish tried Thursday to clarify a seemingly unflattering quote attributed from the pitcher after his Cactus League debut on San Diego Padres outfielder Will Venable.
Darvish, according to an interpreter, said Venable’s leadoff drive high off the center-field wall wasn’t hit that solidly and was aided by the elements. The translation got back to Venable, who didn’t take kindly to it.
Now, agent Don Nomura has offered a different interpretation.
What Darvish meant to say, according to Nomura, was: “I didn’t think he hit it that far, but he sure has lots of power.”
The original version was far less complimentary.
“With the dry air in Arizona and the wind blowing out, it carried the ball,” the interpreter quoted Darvish as saying after Wednesday’s game. “It didn’t seem like a ball that was hit that squarely.”
Some Japanese media thought Darvish might have meant that he was not squared up to the plate, but that was not how Venable interpreted the comments.
After the game, Venable said that maybe Darvish’s “perception of reality isn’t right on” and then added he had no comment.
Later on the Padres’ flagship station, XX 1090, Venable added to his comments.
“I think the wind saved it from being a home run. I also heard that he didn’t think I hit it squarely. If that’s the case, I don’t think anyone has squared off a ball off of him,” he said.
“That’s about as well as I could hit a ball, to be honest. I don’t know if something was lost in the translation there.
“I would have liked to hear a little more humility from the guy. To each his own. He’s a confident guy. Of course I didn’t square up a ball because he’s Yu Darvish.”
Rangers manager Ron Washington liked that Darvish showed some confidence, but also acknowledged he thought Venable squared up the pitch, adding it was “fortunate that the wall was there.”
Darvish tossed two scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out three Wednesday against the Padres. Venable did compliment Darvish, saying he is “definitely a major league pitcher.”
Derek Holland Gives A Shot At Being Weatherman
Texas Rangers pitcher Derek Holland tries his hand at being a weatherman for the day, while once again showing off his Harry Caray impression.
Josh Hamilton Has A 7 Second Sex Tape Out There
Good Times
Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton recently made public that he had weak moment in his battle against drugs and alcohol in which he relapsed. In the press conference he gave without taking questions he mentioned he had been going through some family problems.
Could it be those family problems stem from extra martial affairs? On the night of Hamilton’s weak moment WFAA Channel 8 producer Or Moyal has said someone has shopped them a video of him have sex. Moyal said on Twitter said it’s “more than just a rumor. It’s there. It’s 7 seconds long. We were offered it”.
There’s report is that the person trying to sell the 7 second video of Hamilton is looking for in the range of 40k. That will sure leave more reporters towards Hamilton’s direction this spring training especially if the video is purchased a TMZ or Deadspin.
The Rangers also announced the hiring of Shayne Kelley as Hamilton’s new accountability partner. Kelley is not new to baseball having been a former college coach, minor league strength coach and a team chaplain.
Yu Darvish Dating Japanese Adult Film Star
Even though the baseball season hasn’t started just yet, Japanese baseball star Yu Darvish, who just signed with the Texas Rangers, has generated US$258 million in advertising revenue in January alone but is also reportedly dating a Japanese adult video star known for her “electric tongue.”
Josh Hamilton Had Alcohol Relapse
Good Times
Texas Rangers slugger Josh Hamilton had his second known alcohol-related relapse in a little more than three years earlier this week, according to the Dallas Morning News. Reports are that Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler was at a pub with Hamilton when he had his relapse.
However, ESPN Radio host Ian Fitzsimmons strongly refuted the report, tweeting that the presence of a teammate is a rumor. Fitzsimmons also tweets that photographs from the night will surface just like the 2009 incident.
In a statement, the Rangers addressed the report about the 31-year-old former AL MVP, indicating that they are “aware of a situation but have no further comment at this time.”
Hamilton had another relapse that became public knowledge in 2009 when he drank at a bar in Tempe, Ariz. Pictures and accounts of that night landed on Deadspin. Shortly after the incident, Hamilton publicly addressed his relapse and apologized to his family and Major League Baseball. Soon after, he passed a drug test and went through league-sanctioned counseling.
Despite being the first overall pick in the 1999 draft, Hamilton didn’t make his big league debut until 2007 for Cincinnati Reds after his struggles with drug and alcohol led to a suspension that lasted for more than three years when he was with the Tampa Bay Rays.
