Last Wednesday, my dad and I flew in to Phoenix for Spring Training.  It was our second year in a row of watching baseball that doesn’t matter in the Valley of the Sun, and this year’s trip was even better than the last.  Of course, the outcomes of the games don’t mean anything. The players we know only play four or five innings a game (if at all) and the mid-day heat of the Arizona can bother even the most ardent of fans. But none of that is important to us as we spend a few days in the sun enjoying not only the game we love, but also the return of spring and the hope of another Rockies playoff run—all of that adding up to what my brother Sean (himself not even a baseball fan) appropriately calls “The Baseball Feeling”.

The trip started with a visit to the Rangers’ facility in Surprise.  Although driving in stop-and-go traffic up dreaded Grand Avenue was an ordeal, the Rockies won a wild and wacky game over the defending AL champions, 11-10.  Among the unsurprising portions of the game were a towering blast by a minor-leaguer off of former Rockies closer Franklin Morales, a wild Rockies comeback in the late innings, and not one but two instances of poor baserunning by Eric Young Jr., one of the fastest but also one of the poorest baserunners in the game.  With the winning run at the plate in the ninth, the Rangers hit into a game-ending line-drive double play to seal a bizarre win for the Rockies.

(more…)

I told a couple of friends at school who are Dallas locals that I would write occasionally about the Rangers this summer.  Today seems like a pretty reasonable day to do that considering that they now sit comfortably atop their own division and tied with the New York Yankees for first in the American League.  As a fan of the game and someone who follows the draft and the minor leagues to some extent, it comes as no surprise to see the Rangers doing so well.  It was regarded as almost laughable by many of my friends from Dallas when I suggested that the Rangers were playoff-bound in 2010.  Despite coming within shouting distance last season, the Rangers most recent playoff appearance came in 1999, and they have never won a pennant.  While I think they may be a move from securing what I think would be a top 3 team in baseball, everyone with an inquisitive mind understands that the playoffs are a roll of the dice, and once in, any team has a shot.  Barring injury, these Rangers seem like a lock for a playoff berth even without a major upgrade at the deadline.

(more…)