September

I had my pick of four games to attend a few weeks ago. I randomly chose Monday night against the Pirates solely because I wanted to watch Andrew McCutchen play. Three consecutive series losses to the Twins, Athletics and Angels coupled with football starting back up made me actually forget I was going to watch two really good teams battle it out until yesterday.

I was able to successfully distract myself for most of the day with work, but the excitement of seeing Yu Darvish in person for the first time (I seem to always just miss his turn in the rotation) take on Gerrit Cole in a bona fide pitching duel started reaching a boiling point around mid-afternoon.

Add to it that the Rangers sat a game and half behind the idle A’s on Monday with the final Oakland-Texas series of the year looming this weekend in Arlington, and this game was taking on a whole different level of importance.

Oh, and factor in that every time Yu Darvish takes the mound, a no-hitter is a legitimate possibility.

Plus, it was going to be nice to see Marlon Byrd play at the Ballpark again. He was always a fun Ranger to watch in the years before we started playing games in October.

So naturally, given my luck, Darvish gives up a hit to McCutchen before I’m even in my seat. But, he then proceeded to give up one run on three more hits, one walk and six strikeouts over seven very efficient innings.

From 1998 to 2012, the Rangers had lost 1 game by a score of 1-0. They have now lost two such games in 2013. Yu Darvish has started both games.

The narratives by the local beats tomorrow will most likely involve, if not entirely consist of, Darvish needing to and failing to lock it down late in a close game where his team needed him to be great. What they will most likely fail to note is that Darvish WAS great, and he was much, much better than he should have needed to be.

Cole was great tonight, and he deserves credit. He gave up three hits and 2 walks compared to nine strikeouts in the same seven innings.

But when this team gets into a rut, it seems that the entire lineup forgets how to work the count and hit.

And that’s dangerous when that grab bag of clowns in Oakland wins eight out of ten this late in the season. 

I feel bad for Yu as he has to put up with the media absurdity he’s had to put up with this summer. He deserves better. But mostly I feel sad about watching this team unravel in the month of September for the second time in two years.

Beat Bama this weekend, Farmers.

6+23+2011=2040 - Hey! That's an even number.

Things don't usually work out for me. Granted, I like to embellish sometimes, but you can ask anyone. They'll reinforce my sentiment. I'm a pretty unlucky guy. If something can inexplicably go wrong to one person out of a large group, fate always picks me. It just does. It started getting out of hand the past few months, pushing me to a point of almost complete apathy.

Spring semester sucked. I knew it would be no fun, but it simply sucked the life out of me. I wouldn't say it was the most difficult semester I've ever had (Dr. Scales took care of that with Genetics Junior year), but it was definitely the most time consuming. Proof: I pulled an all-nighter for the first time working on school stuff. I like to sleep. (And more recently, I've enjoyed early bedtimes immensely. But I digress...)

In addition to an overwhelming majority of my time allocated to schoolwork(as it should be, it is a graduate program after all), I was constantly weighed down by the burden of trying to find a summer internship. Never one to make things easy for myself or just have things work out for me in general(reference the first paragraph), of course I was the last one of my 30-something classmates to lock down an internship. Getting told "no" a couple times starts to make you question yourself pretty heavily.

Nonetheless, I now have a good job, living in a city I have always envisioned myself living in. I live with my best friend who I'd always talked about living with but had never followed through until now. I don't drive a car without air conditioning anymore. (!!!) Things have been looking pretty good for me lately. I mean, I went to two days of a golf tournament and celebrated the first World Championship for the city of Dallas since 1999 in the heart of the city with thousands of my closest stranger friends-du-jour. That was pretty cool, I guess.

But I still find myself looking forward to August, to cramming every ounce of college experience into a four month span. Hell, I hadn't even truly experienced a college football season less than 12 months ago, and I'm already getting nostalgic about my next one. It seems that I romanticize nearly everything I've ever gone through, which causes two main problems. 1) I look back too much when I should be looking forward. 2) In my head, I make myself seem a lot cooler than I actually was. Even though I know this to be a complete fallacy, I somehow always envision myself a lot more athletic and more well-liked by my peers. When in truth, I'm just the awkward guy that likes to tell jokes under his breath and throw the ball up the line at first base on what should have been a routine groundout to third.

If you've made it this far, you're probably asking yourself what I'm talking about and how I intend to tie this all together. But, I'm lazy. I also don't really like to edit. I'm going to take a page out of Damon Lindelof's book and simply end a story however I want to, regardless of how open ended the ending is.

So there it is. I'm a terrible writer and should stick to pictures of my niece and nephew and links to videos on my blog.

Also, the Rangers had a two run lead going into the 9th tonight, and Neftali gave up 4 runs. So that sucks.

In My Mailbox

Do I have the coolest family ever?

I think so.

Mumford and Sons

Here's a cool video of Mumford and Sons doing an English/French rendition of one of my new favorite songs:

The Fall Classic

I watched something happen that last night that I've never seen happen. I watched the Texas Rangers advance to the World Series. Let me say that again - the TEXAS RANGERS ARE GOING TO THE WORLD SERIES. I'm still floating around like a little boy lost in joyous wonder. This is what baseball does to you. This is why it's called "the beautiful game."

So here are a few thoughts from (let's just say it) somebody who is a bigger Rangers fan than you are:

• I cannot be happier that it was Chuck Greenberg and Nolan Ryan up on that stage receiving the ALCS trophy instead of Tom Hicks.
• I still personally am a fan of Alex Rodriguez. He has one of the sweetest swings in the game and he's an underrated defender. However, I couldn't think of a more fitting person to have been caught looking on Neftali Feliz's first breaking ball of the night to advance the Rangers to the World Series. The mere mention of A-Rod's name reminds us of what a poison Tom Hicks was to this franchise. When you consider A-Rod is still getting paid by the Rangers almost twice as much as Michael Young (our highest paid current player), you can't help but cringe when thinking of all the horrible contracts Hicks put us through.
• Not enough is being said about Vladimir Gurerrero and Darren Oliver's first trip to the World Series. Guerrero is a sure-thing 1st ballot Hall of Famer, but he's never played baseball this late in October. Darren Oliver is 40. He's played in the Major Leagues a long time. He was once teammates with Nolan Ryan, the guy that now owns the team he plays for. Above all, these guys are great teammates. They deserve this as much as anyone.
• You can't be happier for people like Josh Hamilton, Nelson Cruz, and Michael Young. Hamilton's story has definitely been chronicled, and after seeing how he handled himself in his interview after receiving the ALCS MVP award, you realize how solid his foundation is. For him to deflect any praise directed towards him straight to God and then to his teammates and his fans, you wonder why not everyone can be as humble. Cruz was placed on waivers in 2008. He could have been picked up by any major league team, and he didn't. For someone who was considered a Quad-A baseball player (someone who can light up AAA but not find success in the majors), it has to feel pretty sweet to be a dominant force in the playoffs. And Michael Young can relate to these poor Ranger fans better than anyone. Since 2000, Mike has given nothing less than 100% for this team. He's moved positions not once, but twice to accommodate another player. He's played through broken fingers. And he had never been to the postseason before this month. Now he's four wins away from a World Series championship. I don't have kids, but I imagine that fans must feel like they're watching their child when they see Young celebrating on the field after claiming the AL pennant.
• You also can't be happier for Ron Washington. Early every season since he was hired in 2007, rumors have swirled about whether or not he would still have a job. It was no easy task to implement his fundamental style of baseball on a team that was known for only hitting home runs. But he gained the respect of his players and the organization. After admitting to his use of cocaine in Spring Training, he experienced overwhelming support from the organization, and rightfully so. Wash is a likable guy. That's obvious. From his lightning-speed chewing of those ranch sunflower seeds, to his happy feet when a runner is rounding third, you can't help but love Wash. Because as he says, "That's the way baseball go." Sidenote: his baseball card has been displayed above my television since I moved into my new apartment. I think he's watching over the team.
• I cannot be more proud of being a Rangers fan. My Dad raised me to be a Rangers fan. They weren't a good team when I was born, or for a few years after that. But Dad watched and supported them, so I did too. They got better as I got older and understood baseball more. We still watched. We went to games. (I went to my first one on July 28, 1995, exactly one year after Kenny Rogers threw a perfect game for the Rangers. July 28 also happens to be my mother's birthday. We sat 15 rows up on the 3rd base side. I was in heaven.) And then the team stopped winning. They got to be pretty bad. And then they got worse. We still watched. We still supported. They sucked. We got frustrated, but we still supported. That's what you do. They started showing signs of life in 2008. They teased us even more in 2009. In 2010, there was a definite feeling that we could make the postseason. It got pretty exciting. Dad died on July 28, 2010. He didn't make it to see them finally win their first postseason series and advance to the World Series. But I know he's cheering them on. He's most definitely cheering them on. I hope he and Johnny Oates got a chance to talk, so Dad could tell him there's an 8 year old kid who might have a chance to make the team some day. Because I know that's the first thing Dad would say to him.

Now let's go get a World Series title. Let's do this.

October Baseball

I was 12 the last time Rangers went to the playoffs. I don't really remember specific details about it - that was a long time ago. Those who aren't serious sports fans probably won't understand this, but this team feels like a member of my family. This wasn't the easiest summer to go through, and whenever I needed a distraction from everything, they were there every night providing me with 3 hours of fun-loving Texas baseball. I've been a die-hard Rangers fan my whole life thanks to my Dad. I don't think he expected me to take it so seriously, but he instilled loyalty and perseverance in me by continually supporting these Rangers through the highs and lows. And watching them clinch the playoffs on Saturday, I couldn't help but think of Dad, sitting in his usual spot on the couch, smiling with a celebratory bowl of ice cream in his hand. He never got to see this team win the World Series - I don't want my son (crossing my fingers that I'm blessed with a boy some day) to say that about me. But, whatever happens this October, this team will have a permanent place in my heart. And there's always next year.

I have Dad to thank for that.

Saved By The Belding

The trailer for our new Saved By The Bell movie is now online!

Click the link above to watch it. And then tell your friends. And your co-workers. And your postal deliveryman. And everyone else.

Thanks,

STE