Baseball

[Crown Royal]

I have watched both baseball games for the Rangers (notes - Teixeira, the this lineup, will be top 5 RBIs and be our next 50 HR players, Soriano upped his trade value, now TRADE HIM, Shrek, er, Mench is a nice guy, good story, but I need athelticism in the outfield. That bottom of the ninth hit to tie the game never would have happned with a runner out there).

I have a question though - has there ever been a movement to regulate ballpark size?

I mean - teams, to be fair, should all be on equal footing. For instance, the Rangers will NEVER HAVE GOOD PITCHING IN THIS BALLPARK. I mean, I could hit 10 HRs in a year with that nonsense......in football, a field is 120 yards no matter where I go......why has baseball not addressed this?

 

[GTaylor]

I have watched both baseball games for the Rangers (notes - Teixeira, the this lineup, will be top 5 RBIs and be our next 50 HR players, Soriano upped his trade value, now TRADE HIM, Shrek, er, Mench is a nice guy, good story, but I need athelticism in the outfield. That bottom of the ninth hit to tie the game never would have happned with a runner out there).

I have a question though - has there ever been a movement to regulate ballpark size?

I mean - teams, to be fair, should all be on equal footing. For instance, the Rangers will NEVER HAVE GOOD PITCHING IN THIS BALLPARK. I mean, I could hit 10 HRs in a year with that nonsense......in football, a field is 120 yards no matter where I go......why has baseball not addressed this?

Because it's what makes the game unique. BTW - Rangers were 5th in the AL in pitching last year, but 10th in hitting. Home runs went up when Tom Hicks added the Gold Club behind home plate and thus screwed up the wind patterns, it went from pushing baseballs in to thrusting them out, I don't remember the exact numbers but since the club opened in 2000 homeruns went up 17%, 17%, 11%.

And since you can hit 10 home runs in 81 home games let me ask - can you play centerfield? We haven't had a decent center fielder since...never!

 

[Crown Royal]

Because it's what makes the game unique. BTW - Rangers were 5th in the AL in pitching last year, but 10th in hitting. Home runs went up when Tom Hicks added the Gold Club behind home plate and thus screwed up the wind patterns, it went from pushing baseballs in to thrusting them out, I don't remember the exact numbers but since the club opened in 2000 homeruns went up 17%, 17%, 11%.

And since you can hit 10 home runs in 81 home games let me ask - can you play centerfield? We haven't had a decent center fielder since...never!

Who cares if that's what makes it unique? It sure doesn't make it fair! Is that hitting or HRs? What were we in HR total? For instance, EVERYONE of our infielders hit 20 or more....(Note, that isn't just stadium, I happen to think that it is the best infield in baseball right now).

As far as center field, that entire outfield needs a good revamp. What would it take to get Tori Hunter? The infield?

 

[GTaylor]

Who cares if that's what makes it unique? It sure doesn't make it fair! Is that hitting or HRs? What were we in HR total? For instance, EVERYONE of our infielders hit 20 or more....(Note, that isn't just stadium, I happen to think that it is the best infield in baseball right now).

As far as center field, that entire outfield needs a good revamp. What would it take to get Tori Hunter? The infield?

Tori Hunter?? Tex, or Young plus a high level pitcher (Dominguez probably).

And the stadiums are neutral, doesn't affect one team over another. Opponents have just as much a chance to knock dingers than the home team, some choose to go with "small ball" others go with the mashing, teams have won using one or the other (Small ball usually wins out). And for the record - two of our rivals (A's and Mariners) play in stadiums where you have to hit so hard you leave the ground for it to clear the fences.

 

[Crown Royal]

Tori Hunter?? Tex, or Young plus a high level pitcher (Dominguez probably).

And the stadiums are neutral, doesn't affect one team over another. Opponents have just as much a chance to knock dingers than the home team, some choose to go with "small ball" others go with the mashing, teams have won using one or the other (Small ball usually wins out). And for the record - two of our rivals (A's and Mariners) play in stadiums where you have to hit so hard you leave the ground for it to clear the fences.

Nope. I want Tex here for his career. Scratch that then.

And sure it affects teams....ARod comes to Texas to pad his HR stats, pitching is great in Fenway because batting is tough.....each team deals like that. The "equal playing field" cliche is a good one - all teams should have equal footing. And I am for LARGER fields. I don't care for high homeruns....I want them rare and more important......

 

[GTaylor]

Nope. I want Tex here for his career. Scratch that then.

And sure it affects teams....ARod comes to Texas to pad his HR stats, pitching is great in Fenway because batting is tough.....each team deals like that. The "equal playing field" cliche is a good one - all teams should have equal footing. And I am for LARGER fields. I don't care for high homeruns....I want them rare and more important......

A-Rod was helped by having a surrounding cast of Juan Gonzalez (When he wasn't too busy on the DL or getting married/divorced), Palmerio and Tex. A-Rod was also good because he was a gold-gloved SS, something many people overlook.

Fenway Park is great for left-handed hitters, easy for them to hit homers, Yankee stadium's dimensions are good for hitters as well, just the matter of how the wind plays out and for the Rangers...well, it's going the wrong way.

Pitching-wise never discount the fan support, hard to concentrate in celebrated "House That Ruth Built" when you have 50,000 nuts screaming in your ears as you bat. If you notice the trend in the off-season most pitchers went from the AL to the NL, in the NL you have the almost-guaranteed out with the pitcher in the lineup, or roughly 1/9th of the outs are easy, in the AL you're facing a stacked lineup from top to bottom.

In the minors we've got some nice arms being developed: John Danks is only 20 and should be in AA this year, in the majors mid-2006, Thomas Diamond (Who has Roger Clemens build and tendacies) was our first round pick and could make the majors before the season ends, Ricardo Rodriguez, who if he can avoid the freakish injuries (Torn Labrum and last year took a direct shot to the elbow...ow!) he'll be a good #3 guy, Chris Young is our #3 guy (And in fact should be pitching tonight) he's a up and coming guy, Juan Dominguez (Who may soon be traded, dude has a million dollar arm, .10 cent head) if he matures, John Hudgins (Who may also be traded because John Hart prefers flamethrowers, Hudgins can't throw hard, around high 80s on the fastball but he can pinpoint a pitch nicely, he'll be AA Frisco's ace this year). Add in Erik Thompson, Eric Hurley (He's only 19, give him about 2-3 years), and a few others that I'm forgetting and the depth isn't too bad...oddly enough our position players are weak besides Kinsler, Arias and possibly Sinisi while pitching is strong, but at least 1-2 years away...