Articles for October, 2011
Grouse Hunt: The Inside Story Of How Ian Kinsler Became A Ranger
Editor’s Note: Since today’s a travel day during the 2011 World Series, and you have to wait a whole extra day to watch the Texas Rangers finish off the St. Louis Cardinals, we thought we’d share some classic content from the dearly departed Inside Corner. We recently received a request that we repost the following story by Mike Hindman from June 2009. Enjoy.
Six years ago, the Rangers amateur scouting department got together to merge their area draft boards into one big, comprehensive board as they do every year, including last week in preparation for the 2009 draft.
There were a couple of collegiate shortstops on the list who were being considered to fill out the Spokane roster for the 2003 season and when the meetings got started, Baylor’s Trey Webb looked like he’d probably be the guy who would get the job at the cost of a fourth or fifth round pick.
But one area scout spoke up during those meetings claiming that he’d been following a kid he knew was much better than Webb and could be had in the tenth round, probably much later than that. Though no one knew it at the time, it was a moment that would radically alter the future of the Texas Rangers.
The amateur draft takes place Tuesday and Wednesday. You’ll have no trouble finding stories about what happens in the first round or two, but what goes after that — and why, and how — is pretty murky. There’s no shortage of lists ranking the top-100 prospect lists (or top-50 high school hitters, or top-20 college left-handers, etc.), but the story of how and why a club decides to take a guy in the 10th, 17th or 30th round is rarely told.
With a focus on one of the greatest 17th round picks of all time and the scout who found him, Inside Corner takes you inside of the scouting and drafting process beyond the first few rounds.
Open Letter to Derek Holland
Dear Derek:
Listen, kiddo. Your performance on the mound in Game 4 was spectacular. The Rangers wouldn’t be headed back to St. Louis up 3-2 without your fine work. So I’ll give you the weak mustache. Have some fun. You’ve earned it.
But now I need you to sit up straight in your chair and listen carefully. It’s time to act your age. Specifically, I’m talking about the top of the third inning last night when the Fox guys gave you a headset in the dugout and you got to do an interview with Joe Buck. You’ll recall that the Rangers were losing 2-0 at that point. It was a tense game. A lot was on the line. That is not the time to do your Harry Caray and Arnold Schwarzenegger impressions. Do you understand me?
Yes, yes. This Rangers team is all about playing hard and having fun. Claw, antlers, ducks on a pond, all that. I get it. But there is a time and place for everything. Last night, you embarrassed yourself. Please don’t let it happen again.
Leading Off (10/25/11)
Rangers Beat Cardinals. I’m sure there’s other news that matters this morning. Don’t care. Because the Rangers beat the Cardinals last night 4-2 in the most intense baseball game I’ve ever watched, and Tony La Russa’s daughter had to apologize for making a crackhead joke about Ron Washington. Here’s Bernie Miklasz’s lead in the Post-Dispatch:
“Monday night at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, the Cardinals somehow lost World Series Game 5 to Texas. The score was 4-2, and no, I don’t believe what I just saw and heard. Positioned with an excellent chance to take a 3-2 series lead, the Cardinals played one of their worst and most incompetent games of the season. And Tony La Russa managed one of his worst, and strangest, games of the year.”
That’s one way to look at it. (Hat tip to SB Nation for the gif.)
Let’s Go, Rangers!
I’m not sure Zac could let the team down more than he has. His kid’s school had early release. He bolted to pick up his son without putting up the traditional “Let’s go, Rangers” post. The task falls to me. I do it a bit differently:
Let’s go, Rangers! [clap, clap, clapclapclap] Let’s go, Rangers! [clap, clap, clapclapclap] Let’s go, Rangers! [clap, clap, clapclapclap] Let’s go, Rangers! [clap, clap, clapclapclap] Let’s go, Rangers! [clap, clap, clapclapclap] Let’s go, Rangers! [clap, clap, clapclapclap] Let’s go, Rangers! [clap, clap, clapclapclap] Let’s go, Rangers! [clap, clap, clapclapclap] Let’s go, Rangers! [clap, clap, clapclapclap] Let’s go, Rangers! [clap, clap, clapclapclap] Let’s go, Rangers! [clap, clap, clapclapclap] Let’s go, Rangers! [clap, clap, clapclapclap] Let’s go, Rangers! [clap, clap, clapclapclap] Let’s go, Rangers! [clap, clap, clapclapclap] Let’s go, Rangers! [clap, clap, clapclapclap]
Bethlehem Shoals on the Presence of George W. Bush at Rangers Games
Friend of the show Bethlehem Shoals (of FreeDarko and, soon, The Classical) has a piece up at Deadspin today about the most notable Rangers fan. A taste:
His face, like Nixon’s, should probably be shamefully totemic.
Yet subjected to repeated shots of Bush, interpolating them into the game as I would any other recognizable face in a baseball stadum, I rarely think “arch-fiend doodler” or even “apocalyptic klutz.” He’s utterly harmless, and actually, seems natural in a way he never did while attempting to run the country. But the Bush reax shots—and our reax to them—are not just a question of relief. This is George W. Bush’s element. He’s no different from any number of Texas oil brats who went off and had themselves an adventure, one that involved sizable failures but never a crisis of confidence.
As undeserved as it might seem to the 66 percent of the world that loathes him, the man just wants to get on with his life, legacy be damned. For Bush, that means attending the World Series, not endlessly revisiting the battles of his presidency. Like us, he seems glad the whole thing is over.
Things To Do In Dallas Tonight: Oct. 24
Every year, I decide I want to carve a pumpkin. And every year, I wind up with seeds in my hair and pumpkin guts on my wall. So this year, I thought I’d spare my kitchen the annual Halloween nightmare and seize the opportunity to perform pumpkin lobotomy elsewhere. Tonight’s pumpkin carving contest at the Libertine comes at a perfect time, as I’m feeling more than a little stabby.
For $10, the bar provides the gourd, the knives, and a nice cold beer. The first, second, and third place winners get $100, $50, and $25 bar tabs respectively, which is not a bad deal, especially if you’re a regular. I like the bar’s food just fine (I get the veggie burger with goat cheese, or hog a cheese plate to myself), but I haven’t tried Company Cafe yet. Nancy reviewed the restaurant back in August, and the prospect of gluten-free chicken and waffles is worth the little trip up the road. Just be sure to be back at the Libertine by 7 p.m. to sign up for the contest.
For those who are in Fort Worth or just up for traveling, the Bass Hall hosts The Intergalactic Nemesis, a live-action graphic novel. The world can always use more heroes, right? Even if that hero happens to be a journalist. It’s 1933, and Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Molly, her assistant Timmy, and a “mysterious” librarian named Ben must save the world from an invasion of alien sludge monsters. Everything is performed by three actors, a Foley artist, and a keyboardist while the comic book scenes are blasted across a big screen. I liked the sound of this immediately because I’m a dork, but Nemesis really had me at “Foley artist.” Coolest job in the world. You can still get tickets, and the show is fine for all ages.
For more to do tonight, go here. If you’re looking for Halloween activities, direct your attention over this way.
In Defense of Zooey Deschanel’s Star-Spangled Banner at World Series Game 4
Grantland is saying that actress/singer Zooey Deschanel sang the “least-inspired National Anthem ever” before game 4 of the World Series last night. They saw no passion in her version. They wanted to hear the sounds of ”a woman who has known loss and triumph, not the pubescent squeaks of a flinching sitcom star with cute bangs and a stupid blog.”
Then their No. 1 suggestion for singers who should be on standby for National Anthem duties is Brian McKnight. Really? I can’t stand the kind of vocal acrobatics that he and singers of his ilk like to put to the Star-Spangled Banner. Have we learned nothing from Christina Aguilera’s catastrophe of a performance at the Super Bowl? (And I”m not talking about any lyrical mistakes she made, just the horrid affectations she added to note after note.)
I was at Rangers Ballpark for Game 4 last night, and loved the sense of melancholy with which Deschanel infused the familiar song. It felt almost like a funeral dirge, and I mean that as a high compliment. It was quite different from what we normally get at these games: when some mid-level country music or top 40 star is trotted out for a serviceable, but instantly forgettable, performance.
No, Deschanel didn’t deliver a triumphant version of the song, like this fantastic Whitney Houston performance. But what she gave us was unique and perfectly appropriate to lyrics that were, after all, written during an uncertain time of war.
Rick Perry is Another Big Government Republican
You’d never know it from his stump speech, but Perry’s Texas owes a lot to the federal government he purports to want to limit. Mitchell Schnurman, the S-T business columnist, takes a look at Rick Perry’s anti-government talk in light of his pro-government performance:
The state’s jobs growth (dubbed the “Texas Miracle”) catapulting Perry’s run for the White House owes much to government spending and its fiscal sibling, public borrowing. Cities and school districts have been the big drivers, and that’s simpatico with the Texas ethos of a weak, decentralized government. But don’t discount the feds, whose defense buildup alone has tripled the billions of dollars in contracts flowing to the state.
How many realize that Texas has a greater share of government workers than the rest of America? Or that under Perry, state debt grew faster than national debt? And that Texas was willing to spend and borrow for unemployment benefits—not once, but twice, under Perry’s watch?
The idea that Texas is a small-government, pay-as-you-go, free-market haven is about as authentic as the daily cattle drive through the Fort Worth Stockyards. It may have happened in the past, but it’s all for show today.
Schnurman doesn’t necessarily think all the spending is a bad thing (Texas is, after all, the fastest growing state in the Union). But a reality-check might help us confront our state’s future needs (and current deficits) with a little more humility.
Casting Film Adaptation of 2011 World Series
Pinch hitter extraordinaire Allen Craig bears a striking resemblance to Luke Wilson. And Cardinals third base coach Jose Oquendo reminds me of Luis Guzmán.
You guys fill in the rest of the cast.
Morning News Copy Editors Disappoint Me
Due to SEO concerns, the paper’s headline online doesn’t match the printed version. But in the hard copy, this morning they went with “Dutch Treat” and the subhead “Holland Masterful in Holding Cardinals to Two Hits.” Boo! Last night on Twitter, we came up with headlines of far superior quality. My two favorites:
Holland Gloats
He Make-a Our Dreams Come True
Holland Daze
Pitcher confounds Pujols, Cards as Rangers tie series
Let’s Break Down Derek Holland’s Day, Ctd.
Dutch Oven, you go ahead and retweet to your heart’s content. I’ll just be over here in silent awe.
Luxury Real Estate Boutiques Merging
Two of the biggest names in Dallas’s luxury real estate game are joining forces. Our RealPoints blog has the scoop.
Leading Off (10/24/11)
Federal Stimulus Money Targeting Family Homelessness Running Out: In 2008, the federal government awarded $7 million in two year grants to help stave off homelessness brought on by increased foreclosures and evictions. Now as those grants expire, homeless advocates can no longer offer the assistance, even though Tarrant County, at least, has seen a 9 percent increase in evictions this year.
Serial Rapist Targets Alumnae of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority: A serial rapist is acting out a real life horror movie script, targeting middle aged former members of the DFW chapter of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority. His four victims all belonged to said sorority, and they say the perpetrator had “personal knowledge about them.”
Michael Irvin Ejected From Celina ISD Football Game: Ivin’s son was playing for Prestonwood Christian Academy, and Irvin was playing the role of the obnoxious sports dad, tossing about enough f-bombs to get himself ejected from the stadium.
Fan Tosses Pujols’ Third Home Run Ball Back To Field: This story makes me proud of Texas Rangers fans: Season ticket holder Jordan Hartsell caught the ball that Albert Pujols’ smacked into the stands for his third home run Saturday night. Hartsell picked up the historic artifact and tossed it back out onto the field. The baseball gods will be pleased.
Down and Out at the Rachofsky House
Everybody knows that each year around this time, the international arty set descends on Cindy and Howard Rachofsky’s Dallas show house for the 2X2 fundraiser. Celebrities like Stanley Tucci, big-buck auction sales, major air-smooching, ascots and high-water pants with no socks–you know the drill. But Saturday night, passing by the art hoedown off Preston Road, one could see a guy lying face-down in the roadside greenery while cellphone-camera-wielding onlookers snapped away, capturing the scene for posterity. Was he high on goofballs, and decided to take a nap? Maybe he was a dead-drunk still life? Then again, maybe he just fainted away after realizing how much his Platinum card got dinged for that “Portrait of a Lady With Five Eyes.”
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