Hurrah for the Texas Rangers (and Baseball)!

 We can't let the baseball season drift away this year without giving the Texas Rangers their due.  No one except me and Drake saw the Rangers as doing anything this year.  They lost 100 games in 2022 and they've won 90 this year.  I'm not sure the team has enough juice to get to the World Series, but it really doesn't matter.  The season has been more fun - 90 wins, duh, rather than 100 losses.

In our household it doesn't matter if you win 100 games or lose 100 games, Drake (and by default ME) watch all the games.  If the Rangers are behind by more than five runs, and it's later than the 7th inning, sometimes Drake will abandon the game.  He's a complete diehard.  

Big surprise that he's been living and dying for the Rangers during the post season.  Again, no one picked them to beat the Tampa Bay Rays or the Baltimore Orioles, but they did.  Now, though, the Astros are a mascot of a different color.  We are currently behind the eight ball.  We have to win two more games in HOUSTON to go to the World Series.  Stay tuned.

Drake has been into baseball seemingly since before he was born.  His Dad was a semi-pro left handed pitcher.  The day Drake was born, Norm was supposed to pitch.  The OB doctor sent him to the mound saying the baby wouldn't be born until long after the game ended.  In those days, fathers were not allowed into the labor/delivery area, so it didn't really matter where he was.  According to Merilyn (Drake's mom), his thoughts weren't on the game.  I don't know if he won or lost, but Merilyn was in labor 27 hours and had a 'forceps' delivery - that's where they pull the baby out with salad tongs around the head.  Norm had plenty of time to finish his game.

Drake played Little League and Babe Ruth.  He was a short, wiry, fast, and smart about the game 2nd baseman.  (He was 5' tall in the 9th grade.)  Unfortunately, his last coach was a drunk.  The coach got drunk, then upset, left the field, and drove off while his team was still on the field playing a game!  Norm could have coached the team, but he couldn't get enough time off work to do it.  Then, Drake's eyes went bad - he became nearsighted when he was 14.  Those two things were enough to end his baseball career.  I also think he figured out he just didn't have the body type to play baseball at much higher of a level.  5'11" tall with a 28" waistline when he graduated from high school, he was a geek in the making.

Basically, I've had to accept baseball season is just part of our life.  The tradeoff is the ballet and any museum or attraction I want to see is cheerfully attended by Drake - as long as it doesn't interfere with an important baseball game.  One of my fascinations from the very beginning of watching/attending baseball with Drake is his incredibly deep knowledge about the game.  He can point out stuff happening that most people don't even realize is taking place during a game.  We actually went to see the Ranger's low A and high A teams play this past summer in North Carolina: The Down East Wood Ducks and the Hickory Crawdads.  These are the most minor of minor league games.  They were fun, and I actually bought jewelry and a painting in Kinston, NC - home of the Down East Wood Ducks prior to the game in an art gallery, not the baseball field. 

The other fun part of baseball as far as I'm concerned is all the baseball sayings Drake knows.  He knows some which I'm POSITIVE he's made up.  When I google them, they are always actual sayings.  Here are some of my favs.  You can figure out what they mean:

WORM BURNER

BASEBALL ISN'T OVER UNTIL IT'S OVER (Yogi Berra)

NEVER SAVE A PITCHER FOR TOMORROW; TOMORROW IT MAY RAIN (Leo Durocher)

CAN OF CORN

THROW STRIKES, BUT DON'T GIVE HIM ANYTHING TO HIT (said by every pitching coach)

THERE'S NO CRYING IN BASEBALL

NINETY PERCENT OF THIS GAME IS HALF MENTAL (Yogi Berra)

THERE ARE TWO THEORIES TO HITTING THE KNUCKLEBALL.  UNFORTUNATELY, NEITHER ONE OF THEM WORKS.

GET SERIOUS; IT'S BASEBALL.

EVERY PITCH COUNTS

SWING LIKE NOBODY'S WATCHING

BRINGING THE THUNDER

SITTING IN THE CATBIRD SEAT

HIGH CHEESE

ELEVATE YOUR GAME

BATTER UP, BUTTERCUP

RALLY CAP

CROOKED NUMBER

RUNNING OUT OF OUTS 

BARREL IT UP

A BLOOPER, A BLEEDER, A BOMB

A FROZEN ROPE

A LONG STRIKE

MENDOZA LINE

MEATBALLS

LIVE ON THE CORNERS

AROUND THE HORN

FLASHING THE LEATHER

A FIVE TOOL PLAYER

This list can go on and on and on.  Baseball has been part of the culture since the early 1800's.  Just watch "Baseball", a film in nine innings by Ken Burns if you don't believe me.  This year the game has been revitalized or ruined depending on who you talk with.  It's faster, snappier, with more runs, hits and steals because of three things:  a pitch clock so the pitcher can't go into a Zen trance between every pitch; bigger bases; and the 'shift' being banned.  This year most games were just slightly longer than most movies - even Spring Training games.  

So root for the Rangers, the Diamondbacks, the Phillies, or the Astros (at this point in the season), but tune in because postseason baseball is really exciting.  Oh, and just to point out one last thing:  baseball players and fans are renowned for their superstitions.  My baseball guy has been wearing a Texas Ranger shirt EVERY DAY during the post season.