SB Nation User Blog: Ryin A

Steve Winwood fronted the band Traffic and this is one of their gems...."The Low Spark of High...

Ryin A — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 06:14:07 -0000

Steve Winwood fronted the band Traffic and this is one of their gems...."The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys"

Good shit...I hope this video makes someone realize that Steve Winwood wasn't all about "Valerie" and "Higher Love"

Peace chicken grease.

Channeling my inner-Hurler and bringing some videos to the LSB masses. Check some Freddie King,...

Ryin A — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 05:53:32 -0000

Channeling my inner-Hurler and bringing some videos to the LSB masses.

Check some Freddie King, this dude taught SRV in Dallas (South Oak Cliff) I believe.

Anyways, this dude rocks, and Jesus plays the piano for him apparently.

Ted Williams' Frozen Head Being Abused

Ryin A — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 23:26:38 -0000

Ted Williams' Frozen Head Being Abused

The DOD'er

Ryin A — Sun, 24 May 2009 03:26:56 -0000

Darren O'Day.

Let me start this out by saying I am a DOD fanatic. I love what this guy has brought to the table. He has answered the bell time and time again, gone out there and stuck it up everyone's a%%.

I fear one thing. Overexposure.

He is a guy who has been released/DFA'd by two teams, he's come here and right off the bat has shined....that is unnatural....

I expect some regression at some point. He has been released from these two teams mainly for his inability to keep inherited runners from scoring.....

Now to his credit I would expect that # to be high due to misuse by his prior clubs as we've seen what he does to Righties, he absolutely carves them up...and to his credit, since he's been in a Ranger uniform he's abused lefties as well (3.2 ip with 7 k's).....but at some point we have to be realistic....those who come from down undah generally don't keep those types of k-rates to those who swing from the opposite side.

What I'm saying is....he's an animal vs. Righties, but he doesn't K them in a fashion that is dominating (5k/8ip)....with an 8th inning guy, you have to have someone who comes in and misses bats. When someone comes in in the 8th they're generally coming in w/ someone on. If someone is on and a pitcher is throwing who allows contact, that's more a chance we get a dribbler through the IF such as we saw CJ give up against that puny turd Mike Bourne.

I want to mount DOD. I love him. But he doesn't have the stuff that allows him to either come in to shut down a rally or to come in and get 3 outs......long term with continued success. He is what he is....a guy who should be used situationally (is that a word?) and bridge the gap to the setup/closer.

That isn't bad at all.....and he has been doing that, but he can't last as he has been used thus far.....at least in my opinion....

He is a ROOGY, or the opposite of CJ Wilson who is a LOOGY (as of this moment)........

Jesus, if we can have those two, and a Feliz type, or maybe someone through a trade.....we are looking freaking dominant in a "rebuilding" year.

I don't see my word (nor my facts) as gospel, just wanna see what y'all think...

Baseball is a special game.....

Ryin A — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 04:17:19 -0000

I pull into the lot in Frisco, the place where the next wave of Ranger hopefulls perform, put the Rav 4 in park, turn off the ignition.

Getting out of the car I don't head for the cooler of beer which usually resides in the trunk, but the rear-passenger side door where my 10 month old son eagerly awaits me to release him from the prison which is his car seat.

As I pull the little man from his restraints there is an overwhelming sense of nostalgia thumping through my bones, been here, done that, don't really have the specifics, but I do recall.....once upon a time, I was him.

No Mom, no food/nap schedules, no worrying of him sticking his tongue in a power outlet.

This is our first game, this is our time.

We check through the front gate, the looks on the elderly attendant's faces assure me they know where I'm at, I'm diggin' it.

Make our way through the crowd on the walkway, going through all sorts of folks, young, old, native, foreign, people who are happy to be there, people who only worry about where the next plastic pint is coming from........this is game day, this is live baseball.

We find our section, take the stroll downward to our row, have to navigate so we're not getting in the way of those migrating towards the cheap dogs, stale 'chos and overpriced booze.

We make it.

Sit down, 30 minutes before game time. Soak it in.....this is it.....no way to go back and make this up.

Lil' Charlie soaks it all in, lookin' at me, smirkin' his lil' smirk, I smile knowing he has absolutely no idea what is going on, but it doesn't mean a thing.

This is our time.

I see little Lemon stretching along the left field line, I see Smoak speaking with someone he'll probably forget in a couple days, but the impact he'll have on that kid will more than likely last 100 fold.

What a great game, a silent game, a talkin' mans game.

Patience pays.....the lil' figure skater (or gymnast?) sings a gem of a national anthem, Charlie and I wind up on the big screen......gold.

The game starts, I whisper baseball points into his ear as the teams are warming up for the top of the 1st. I tell him what the pitcher is going to throw during warm ups based on the action of his glove, I tell him when the catcher is going to throw down to 2nd....for a moment, I'm all-knowing.

At one point Craig Gentry smokes a ball down the right field line, the Cards RF misplays it.... Gentry running head down since contact looks up just as he approaches 2nd, he stutters a moment, deciding whether to take 3rd, he does....he's safe by a step or two.....

I whisper into my son's ear, "when you hit first base, you always pick up your third base coach."

A couple batters later, Gentry scores....As he hits the first step of the RRiders dugout a coach pulls him aside and points to first, obviously telling Gentry what I had just told my boy....at least in my mind he did.

We only stayed for 5 innings, and to be honest it was 3 more than I figured we'd go (thank you Honey Nut Cheerios). It was just a great game, a great day, and a great moment in my life.

Sorry I had to get uber-cheesed on y'all, I just had to get this out. But I felt y'all'd understand more than most...I'm sure everyone can relate....

Oh, and for those 4 kids who sat in front of us....who constantly glared back at us, obviously tiring of Charlie's screams...you'll understand some day.

Y'all be good.

Robbie Ross.... Can one of our resident mechanical experts tell us if we should be worried about...

Ryin A — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 00:08:20 -0000

Robbie Ross....

Can one of our resident mechanical experts tell us if we should be worried about Ross's mechanics here? Seems like he stops short, doesn't reach and follow through.

Thanks in advance and thanks to the FWST for providing the video.

Rangers sign all pre-arb eligibles (Hammy 555k)

Ryin A — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 00:19:03 -0000

Rangers sign all pre-arb eligibles (Hammy 555k)

Nelson Cruz and the WBC

Ryin A — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 02:11:44 -0000

So...is Nelson Cruz playing in the WBC detrimental to his shot at making the starting 9 come opening day?

Does him wanting to represent the DR hamper his chances? Does it give the FO a bad taste in their mouths?

I could never question the sense of honor it can be for someone to represent their country, I would hope he got blessings from the men up top.

I personally don't think it's a bad idea for an offensive player to do the WBC, I do however think if you're a pitcher it is beyond a stupid move for reasons only pertaining to the physical.

Anywho, didn't see it discussed much, just wanted to see what y'all thought....

via www.telegraph.co.uk

Traffic - Dear Mr. Fantasy (via geodaw)

Would you trade Chris Davis?

Ryin A — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 03:01:34 -0000

Before I begin, if I begin to ramble I apologize, I tend to ramble.

With this said....

Tired of the Sheets talk, just read the thread over at Minor League Ball on CD....just trying to shake it up a bit. Want to see what you boys/gals think....

So...I know we all love us some Crush...kid is a stud in the making IMO, I know that some folks at MiLB pointed out his stats don't point to such, but I have a hankerin' that his ability to figure out what he needs to improve on, and then to actually improve on it will make him a special player...kid is a leader waiting in the wings I think, I get the drift that he is a very smart ball player.

With this being said...

Would you trade him after seeing Smoak light up September '09 and the first half of '10?

Is this a no brainer? What kind of package would you want?

One frontline starter + some low level prospects (P or 3B) or a mid rotation guy plus a bullpen arm + a couple of A prospects? You tell me. I mean shitfire, the kid is locked up for years.....he has to be our most attractive trade piece should he continue to progress at the ML level as most of us think he will...plus he's rep'd by Boras and, well, we all know how that ends.

Like I said in my hypothetical Smoak rakes for almost a year, don't forget that he's a switch hitter so that would solve that debatable "too many lefites in the middle of the order" thing....plus I know you'd have a hole at DH I guess, figure in that Max has shown his stuff for 300 ABs and shows he belongs, thus having no holes at 1b or DH.

As much as I hate to say it, if all the above falls into place, I think it's a no brainer to trade Davis given the right return.

Thoughts?

And, in the spirit of the Academy:

via z.about.com

Hicks openly shopping Liverpool club

Ryin A — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 15:27:52 -0000