Date:     Mon, 3 Apr 2000 20:40:41 -0500
Reply-To: beau@sharbrough.net
Sender:   Texas Rangers MLB Discussion <RANGERS@TAMU.EDU>
From:     Beau Sharbrough <beau@SHARBROUGH.NET>
Subject:  Opening Day Report

Hello to the list,

I enjoyed a great afternoon at the ballpark today, along with Martha, GaryC, and GaryC's dad (of whom GaryC is a clone).

I never saw the B1 bombers that flew over, but I heard the noise and felt the earth shake.

President George Bush managed to get the ball all the way to the catcher in the air this time. He threw the ball from the grass in front of the mound -- I estimate the distance to be roughly equivalent to the 55 foot wild pitch he threw to open the 1991 season. Where did that time go? That fat bald guy with Bush and Hicks was Nolan Ryan. I kind of thought, with Rogers and Raffy back, maybe we could get Nolan, Inky, and Ruben back too. I couldn't find anyone but the Brown Brothers who wanted Ruben back.

KRogers is back, way back. He breezed through 8 innings in under 90 pitches. As Johnny Oates said on the radio, after the game and a very long walk to my car, which I think was parked in Bedford, this could be a very special team. Do you remember the UCLA team that had the two twin guys and George Zidek and blew through the NCAAs -- because they could pass the ball like crazy? The team that took the field today was easily the best defensive team I've seen the Rangers put out, maybe the best we've had around here since the 1977 Cowboys (GaryC's joke).

These guys get to everything. The first batter grounded to Clayton. Segui even looks great catching the throws. The second batter bounced to Evans, and he played it into a tough hop and got an easy out anyhow. The third batter was the Big Hurt and he crushed a grounder that Evans made look easy. It was an amazing transformation -- one batter faced a nervous third baseman, the next one faced the best one I've seen here. Yes, I've seen Deano and Buechele and Tatis and Buddy Bell. Evans can be worth more with the leather than his offense would cost us. In the second inning, he picked up a hard grounder in the hole between third and short and started an easy 5-4-3 twin killing. They got five double plays today -- all of them of the infield grounder variety.

As I looked around the infield, Evans, Clayton, Alicea, and Segui, I realized that they were all above average in the leather. Then I mentally added Pudge and Mateo and Kapler and realized that Alicea and Greer are the two weakest fielders. I'd say those two are still average defensively. The other six are well above it. If Greer throws like a girl again this year, I'll lower that assessment but I didn't see anyone make him throw today.

I got to see Kapler and Mateo throw, though. Kapler hit third base on the fly. This was sandwiched between two home runs and the people in right field love him. They stand when he comes out and they look like they've started something special.

I don't much care for the effect of emotion over 162 games -- it comes and goes like the way I used to like my ex-wife -- but it can't hurt for Kapler to feel appreciated here -- and he did everything today. Two bombs, real rockets for homers. Another base hit on a really defensive swing that punched the ball through the middle, reminding me of the way that Jose "El Pindejo" Canseco used to shorten his swing with two strikes and men in scoring position. And he hustled enough to beat out a bobbled grounder to third. And held a runner at third on a fly to right. Okay, in fairness, I thought he was out on the bobbled grounder and I'm pretty sure that the runner from third would have scored, but it's not the day to down Gabe, it's the day to promote him. He's Captain Crunch Kapler, I'm making it up. He's a fun player to watch and until the feeling gets lost and he struggles, you're going to get a chance to like this kid. He came out of the dugout with Mateo already on deck once. He was really ready to swing. On defense, I saw him run to center field to back up Mateo on one play, and to first base to back up Segui on the next. This guy will need some kind of medication to slow down to regular speed, or he'll be exhausted in mid May.

Okay, Kapler impressed me. Still, it was Pudge that had 5RBI, and took a walk besides. From an 0-2 count. That should segue nicely into an overview of the offense. They got ten runs today without much of a contribution from Raffy, Mateo, Greer, or Clayton. They scored in 5 different innings. When your 7 and 9 hitters get three hits, you can do some damage. Sirotka wasn't sharp today, and neither was anyone else that the Chisox threw out there, but I expect this team to have the defense to score three and win. And I think that these guys can score three a lot of ways.

It wouldn't be a complete story if I didn't mention KRogers. According to Infobeat:

"We lost to a veteran big-league starter who really changed speeds well and worked in and out and kept hitters off balance," said Chicago's Frank Thomas. "It was the seventh inning before we knew it."  The White Sox didn't see Rogers' performance for what it was, but they heard the roar and they felt the ground shake.

Rogers didn't have his best stuff today. Still, the other team's lefthander was giving up 400 foot flies, and Rogers was getting 10 pitch innings and double play balls. With this defense, well, he and Oliver could look like the old Orioles teams, the ones before Oates and Melvin. The ones where you couldn't name any hitters except Boog Powell -- where Brooks Robinson and Mark Belanger were there to play defense and nothing else. I think this rotation will win a lot of games, and pitch a lot of innings.

Last year I left when they got behind 11-0. I was sick of that team. This team is very different to watch. I like the pitching, defense, bullpen, and bench. I don't think that a team with all of those things going for them needs an above average offense. Still, these guys might surprise us. I think that just like slumps, hitting is contagious. Zeile, Stevens, Goodwin and Gonzalez were probably not as coachable as Evans, Segui, Mateo, and Kapler. I watched them standing around talking when the pitching changed. Kapler went over to center and huddled with Mateo. Alicea and Clayton and Segui huddled with Frank Thomas.

It wouldn't take too much of a dose of that Yankee focus from Chad Curtis and Kenny Rogers for this team to be better than the last one. They're more fun to watch, I think. I'm one fan who thinks that this year is already alot better than the last one.

Oh, and Martha says that she likes my hair short. She's not from Chicago. Tonya is.

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Please Note: My new email address is beau@sharbrough.net, and my new website is www.sharbrough.net. Effective 1 July 2000 the old addresses will stop working.