On Jackie Robinson Day at Rangers Ballpark and all of the players wear number 42, I don't read everyone's number as number 42....when doing the lineups, I announce their regular number. We make an announcement prior to the game for the reasons why all players are wearing number 42.

We also can't change all of the numbers on the scoreboard to 42 either. The scoring system works off of rosters provided by MLB and the statistics operate off of a player's number....such as TEX32, that then tells the scoring software to update all of Josh Hamilton's stats for that day, his number on the scoreboard, where he is from, etc.

But we don't announce every player as wearing number 42....we announce their regular number during lineups.

Thanks

Chuck

I just want to thank everyone for the Lone Star Ball hospitality yesterday. It was nice to shake a few hands and talk Rangers Baseball. And trying not sound to much like Guy Fieri, Jesse on the grill was money. Even though the ballgame didn't turn the way we wanted, that was a great gathering before the game. I can't imagine another ballclub having any better supporters than the friends I met yesterday.

Again thank you...I enjoyed visiting with you.

Chuck

Everyone at Lone Star Ball has been very helpful with suggestions for promotional giveaways the past couple of years and we have had a couple of success stories. Quite a few wanted an Adrian Beltre Bobblehead for 2012 with him swinging on one knee. Attached is a preview photo of that bobblehead. We added a silver bat and then a gold glove down by the ground of the bobblehead to salute his accomplishments from 2011. This bobblehead will be given away to the first 30,000 on Saturday April 28th against Tampa Bay.

When i get the first preview photo of the Nolan Ryan Snow Monkey, I will try to post. The Snow Monkey giveaway is set for July 1st against the Oakland A's, only for the 1st 10,000 13 and under.

Again, thanks to everyone at Lone Star Ball, keep those requests, suggetions and ideas coming....I do my best to carry your voice into our planning and operational meetings. As always, if you have a question, problem or comment, please feel free to email me at anytime at cmorgan@texasrangers.com. I try to answer as many as I can.

I, along with everyone else with the ballclub, thank you for your support of the Rangers.

Thanks

Chuck

Another reminder about the Rangers Awards Show tomorrow night at the Arlington Convention Center.

Doors open at 6pm....the awards show starts at 7:30....on your way home by 10. Reunion Band will perform, they are out of Austin and worked a post game party for us after WS Game 5. Nolan Ryan, Frank Howard, Tom Grieve, Mike Napoli, Michael Young, Derek Holland, Clayton Kershaw are just some that will be part of the program. We have a comedy group entertaining between awards, they will be doing a couple of skits with Napoli and Holland. Your ticket includes food and a Fan Fest preview. We had a run through today and it is going to be a real good show.

Fan Fest actually starts on Friday....the Rangers did a release today, great lineup of players all weekend, Friday through Sunday at the Convention Center. Q & A seasions, wiffle ball park....if you are a Rangers fan, the Arlington Convention Center is the place to be this weekend.

Plus, I convinced them to put some individual game tickets on sale for only $5. For those of you that can't make it, you can buy those on line. $5 tickets to some games only available during Fan Fest weekend. Buy them on line or at Fan Fest this weekend.

I hope you can make it this weekend...come up and say hello, ask me a baseball trivia question...I need the help before I go to New York on Monday to compete in the MLB Network Baseball IQ trivia contest.....if I hear from enough of you I will work in a Lone Star Ball reference on the show if I get by the first round against the Angels.

Thanks

Chuck Morgan

Just wanted to remind everyone that the Texas Rangers Awards Show presented by Dr Pepper is scheduled for Thursday January 12th at the Arlington Convention Center. We had a meeting today for the final run down and it is going to be a pretty good show featuring appearances by Michael Young, Mike Napoli, David Murphy, Derek Holland. Adrian Beltre, Craig Gentry, Nolan, Wash and JD. To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the ballclub, Frank Howard will also receive a special award from Tom Grieve. We will have some comedy routines featuring Rangers players, a live band and more. The doors open at 6pm, the show starts at 7:30....between 6 and 7:30 all fans will get a special preview of Fan Fest. Plenty of food, some fun and awards for Rangers players. Good tickets are available, just stop by texasrangers.com or call 972-726-4377. Hope to see you there.

Thanks

Chuck

As I told my group today, 2,946,949 just doesn't happen. It takes a lot of hard work and wins by the ballclub. It takes school teachers and students working as parking attendants, ushers, ticket takers and concession workers. It takes a good promotion schedule, it takes a good presentation at the ballpark. it takes a good ownership group. But the hard work of a bunch of the best players to ever wear a Rangers uniform is the most important.
And 2,946,949 doesn't happen without another group. And that is all of you. To steal a line from Reckless Kelly, from April to October is a long, long road. It takes real commitment to be a baseball fan. It is a long season. But in my opinion, there is nothing better than being a Rangers Baseball fan. 
And as I said yesterday, all of you supported this team through one of the hottest summers ever, night after night. We couldn't have done it without you. Thank you.

Chuck Morgan

PS I want to thank all of you that post here, whether its game posts or other threads, I really enjoy reading all of your comments and together this year we were able to add the Cruz Walk Off Bobblehead and Boomstick giveaways.   Please don't hesitate to send your ideas and suggestions.   Don't forget Snow Monkeys are possible next year and a new one.....the Dutchstache Chia Pet and Dutchstache Night.   Please enjoy the postseason, I hope we all have something special this  year that we will remember forever.

We have received a lot of questions, suggestions and comments on what will happen after tonight's game at the ballpark.   Please keep in mind that our operations people are going to have a very short time to get the ballpark ready for ALCS ticket sales at 9am and then and early start on Saturday at 3:11.

If we win tonight's ballgame, following tonight's fireworks show and the Oakland/Los Angeles game looks as though we have a chance at clinching the A. L. West title, we will put the A's-Angels game on the video board following the fireworks show.    We will ask fans that would like to stay to move to the area behind home plate, so our folks can start cleaning some areas of the ballpark for tomorrow's game.

I hope this will answer some questions.

Thanks

Chuck Morgan

I stay in touch with Lone Star Ball, Newberg Report, Baseball Time In Arlington and other websites just in case someone has a question or if there is something we can help a fan with. Or to see what the pulse of the Rangers Republic might be. I played on some pretty bad junior high and high school basketball teams.  Perhaps you may have heard about the time I held Quinn Buckner scoreless for a minute and a half in high school.   I was a tight end in football, had my share of blocking mistakes before the ball was snapped, played baseball up until I couldn't play for the SIU Salukis, tried to walk on a college football team and I worked in radio since age 14.  All of that to let you know, there isn't too much cussing I haven't heard or things that coaches called me, especially when you jump off sides on the wrong count.  Plus, I have been to playoff games at Yankee Stadium wearing a Rangers jacket, they all tell you to have a nice day.  And remember kids, don't jar.

Thanks for your support of the Rangers and let us know if we can help you.  cmorgan@texasrangers.com

Chuck

I saw the Tom Grieve Bobblehead post over the weekend.   I have long list of ideas to celebrate 40 seasons of Texas Rangers Baseball in 2012.

The Tom Grieve Bobblehead was already on the list.   After watching all of these clubs this past weekend in their throwback uniforms, I tried to get a throwback day for this year putting us in 1961 Senators uniforms and the Angels in their 1961 uniforms.   It made more sense to do something like that next year, our 1972 uniform, which we have done before and another club in their 1972 look.   If you have any suggestions, you know I like your ideas, the Cruz Bobblehead is a perfect example.

Thanks

Chuck

via i1093.photobucket.com

You wanted it...I saw the post....took the idea to management...convinced them that we need to do this....let you pick the jersey color.....so it is only fitting that the first place to see the Nelson Cruz Walk Off Bobblehead is on LoneStar Ball

If the picture didn't attach right, let me know and I will try again.....this will be given away on June 20 vs. Houston

I hope all of you can be there....all fans get one.

Thanks

Chuck Morgan

was to announce that the Nelson Cruz Walk Off Bobblehead will wear a red jersey.

The folks in China found some red paint...we got it done today.  Thanks to all that voted

My Twitter thing is  @TEXPAMAN

By the way, we will have a feature this year where fans in the ballpark can "tweet" directly to the scoreboard to answer a question of the day.   We may turn the scoreboards on tomorrow.

Thanks

Chuck M

As of about 30 minutes ago, the final section of the new main video board was put into place.  It is going to be one of the better boards in all of baseball, about the size of the board in Minnesota, a little smaller than Yankee Stadium, but it will have a real clear HD picture.  The best available HD scoreboard picture right now.   It is something that will add to your enjoyment of a ballgame, but it will not take away from the game on the field.  And by adding a board that fits within the confines of what we have to work with, it will not take away from the original architecture of the ballpark.   In addition, we will have some new technology where it will appear that there is somebody behind the board changing the numbers for the linescore, balls, strikes and outs, we will also carry that animation over to the out of town board in left field...all of the scores, innings and pitchers numbers will be animated to appear that it is a manually operated board.

As most of you know, when a ballclub makes these types of changes to a ballpark, most of the time it comes at the expense of the taxpayers, for example, when Kansas City made changes to Kauffman Stadium and Arrowhead, the citizens of Jackson County, Missouri had to vote to raise some taxes.   Here, the Rangers new ownership headed up by Chuck Greenberg and Nolan Ryan were very aware, as most of you were aware too,  that the ballpark had fallen way behind and changes, upgrades and additions in new technology had to be made.

Personally, watching the final section be put in this morning ended a 10 year quest to make some changes in the scoreboards at Rangers Ballpark.   For the support all of you have given this ballclub over the years, you deserve something like this.   Now, if somebody will just show how to turn it on and get a picture on it, we will be fine.

As always, any questions or comments, you can email me at cmorgan@texasrangers.com or you can always call at 817 273-5006.  

Growing up as a baseball fan, I always started looking for signs of spring. Read The Sporting News and find out when clubs were reporting and then checking when the Topps 1st Series was going to be available. Years later after leaving The Grand Ole Opry and joining the Rangers, I still looked for those signs of spring. The Mid-Winter Banquet was one of those. We also had a former Washington Senator outfielder named Johnny Welaj that worked for us. Among other things, Mr. Welaj was in charge of running the business side of spring training for the Rangers...and he was a sign of spring for me...when Mr. Welaj  headed to Pompano Beach or Port Charlotte, long before anyone else, you knew the Opening Day first pitch was not far away. In 1987, another sign of spring was born, the Rangers Winter Carnival, modeled after the Chicago Cubs Fans Convention I heard about in the fall of 1986. You saw the players in their everyday clothes and you knew the next time you would see Charlie Hough, that he would be in uniform tossing knuckleballs on Opening Day.
A sign of spring is coming this weekend and if you are a Rangers fan, you need to be at the Rangers Fan Fest. As I said in an earlier post, the Rangers new ownership led by Chuck Greenberg has really stepped up to make Rangers Fan Fest better and bigger than ever before. It is all inside at the Arlington Convention Center. It is back to a 2-day event and John Blake and Taunee Taylor of our staff have done a great job in getting a great lineup for autographs, photos, Q & A sessions, etc. A great lineup of 30 players that feature the AL MVP and 3 Hall of Famers. And there is someting for Rangers fans of all ages...wiffle ball park, base running, clinics and a whole lot more.
I hope you can make it this weekend to a sign of spring. If you get a chance, I will be at the Event Stage most of the weekend, stop by and say hello and we talk new scoreboards with you.
Also as I said earlier, we take your emotional and passionate investment into the Rangers very seriously, you are important to us and let us know how we can help you.
Hope you can make it.
Thanks

Chuck Morgan

I am always impressed with some of the things that come up during our games on the game day posts.  Just like Mr. Greenberg, I have enjoyed the "Rally Mantis" postings.

So, tonight, if the situation is right, watch for the Rally Manits peering over the shoulder of a generic Minnesota Twin player guy.   Feel free to send me your pictures of a Rally Mantis.  Right now, my minions are searching for a "live" Rally Mantis that may appear in future games.  So tonight the Rally Mantis joins the mix of antlers and claws.

Thanks

Chuck Morgan, the other Chuck

As we get ready to go for real, I want to thank everyone for their support of the Rangers during the off season.  I hope those of you that can be here enjoy Opening Day at Rangers Ballpark.   And whatever game it is that you attend, I hope you have a great time.   If you can forget about the bills, the traffic, work, etc., for a little while, remember its a day at the ballpark, there should be no worries or problems.  If any of you have a problem at the ballpark, please email me at cmorgan@texasrangers.com and if I can't take care of a problem, I will find the person that can.

For the breaking news, I have asked for the help of a fellow Lone Star Ball poster, I am going to use the great talents of Drew Sheppard to attempt to "stop the wave" at least while the Rangers hitting.   Drew is going to do a graphic for the video board that asks fans not to wave at a particular time.   This goes against my old school idea that if you pay to get in, you can do whatever you want to as long as it is in the confines of good behavior.  There will be those unhappy that we are asking them not to wave, I just want fans to make noise, be into the game like they are in Boston and New York, save the wave for another time.   We will see how it goes.   We had a wave crank up Friday night at the exhibition game while we were hitting.   

Again, thanks for your support.    My windows are always open, please stop by when you are on the club level and say hello.

Thanks

Chuck Morgan 

After watching Saturday's game and yesterday's game, I came in this morning and made some changes on the scoreboards.

I have added a ball, strike, out count to the board in left field below The Diamond Club...One of my goals this off season was to make the main line score on the main scoreboard larger, by moving the balls, strikes and outs to one of the new ribbon panels across the front of home run porch...my mistake was thinking that fans down the first base line would be able to use that for the count....After Saturday's game I added a B, S, O count to the main board, so my director could see a count......

So, now ball, strikes, outs will be on the main scoreboard, across the panel on home run porch, behind the plate on the new linescore there and then on the board in left just below the Diamond Club............

In addition, I think we have corrected the problems we were having with radar gun from Saturday and yesterday.....should work immediately with every pitch.......

I saw a couple comments here on the B, S, O on Lone Star ball and that helped in my decision making....One of the great things about the new technology in scoreboards, pretty easy to change things.....so, if you see something that you would to see us add or consider, please email me at cmorgan@texasrangers.com

Thanks

Chuck

I know there are still 3 games to go, but with the home part of the schedule completed yesterday, just wanted to drop you a note and thank all of you for your support of the Rangers this year.  If you watched us on TV, listened on the radio or came to some games at the ballpark, on behalf of everyone at the Rangers, thank you. 

As I mentioned on The Ticket post game show this week and made mention on Jamey's site....for us to draw 38,000 last Saturday against the Angels and almost 200,000 fans for 6 games in September for a club that was well out of the race, it is a credit to all of the baseball fans in this area. 

Again, thanks for your support this year.  One personal note, I really have enjoyed watching and reading the game threads this year, some really creative stuff shows up from time to time, I wish I could use some of it on the scoreboard...maybe I should buy a rally turtle this weekend?

As always, if you have any questions, comments, suggestions, problems at the ballpark, please feel free to email me at cmorgan@texasrangers.com or call me at 817 273-5006.....I don't have all of the answers, but maybe I can get you to the right person.

Thanks

Chuck Morgan

If you have voted for "Our Guys" over the past couple of weeks, you are making a difference and on behalf of the Rangers we thank you.

Josh continues in 2nd in the outfield....Ian and Michael have moved into 2nd place in their respecitve positions....that tells me that all of us are making a difference...Our vote totals are the top story on mlb.com right now........

We still have some work to do....if you get a chance either vote at the ballpark or on line...you can do both....as often as you like at the ballpark.....up to 25 times on line.......

Again, thanks for your votes so far, you are making a difference and thanks for supporting the Rangers.......

It is tough to fight the Red Sox and Yankees machines...but the "Rangers Nation" has stepped up in a big way over the past week......

Thanks

Chuck

We are not home on Memorial Day or the 4th of July this season.

Today was Armed Forces Day....there would have been a salute to the military in some way at the ballpark tonight with a swearing in ceremony or something...there would have been a first pitch, there would have been a color guard.

The Rangers have for the past several years, this year being no different have donated a lot tickets to our games to family members of soldiers from Fort Hood, Texas....they wanted to do something for us....this inlcuded a live National Anthem from Iraq and then the Major General wanted to say thank you to Mr. Hicks and Nolan Ryan....so also gave him 2 minutes to speak....we then selected a soldier's family for the first pitch...turns out, one son's birthday was today, the other tomorrow...so, the Army asked if he could say happy birthday to them, not a problem......We decided to do this today Armed Forces Day...........

Lee Greenwood?  When I was in Nashville, I did Lee Greenwood's first interview on the radio, was the first to play a lot of his music, inlcuding the cheesy God Bless The USA.......Lee was always kind enough to come by my radio show in Nashville any time he was asked....even did some live shows for me in Nashville...he is still a good friend.....the song is 3 minutes and 10 seconds....I agree it does get a little old...but you only hear it once or twice a year at the ballpark and probably not again this year since we are not home on those upcoming holidays this year......

Finally.....the game was originally scheduled for 6:05....changed to 6:17 so the ceremony could be carried by the Armed Forces Network and so FSN could carry the ceremony.....the early start was to accomodate the Robert Earl Keen concert.......so for 12 minutes, we allowed a soldier and his family to share a special moment...his wife told me that one of the sons is 8 years old and her husband has missed 4 of his birthdays...so he got to say happy birthday to his son...something they will remember the rest of their lives...........

Anytime, you have any questions, please email me or call me at 817 273-5006 or cmorgan@texasrangers.com..........

I will be glad to help you out

Thanks

Chuck

First, if you have to been a game this  year or watched on TV or listened on the radio, if somebody hasn't said "thanks"......on behalf of the Rangers, I thank you for supporting the team.

I didn't know what to title my fan post, because I wanted to talk about the ballpark's rating in the SI-CNN poll....and address some issues that simplesimon brought up.

For somebody that was involved in some design meetings, construction meetings and worked at the place that the ballpark replaced...like most of you I am very disappointed in the SI ranking....I think the ballpark deserved better.  Do we have some problems and issues, yes, but the balllpark is still a great place to watch a ballgame and it is a safe place to bring your family.  Just Wednesday I heard some horror stories about some situations at other ballparks that are not very pretty.  You as fans and all of us with the Rangers are very fortunate not have the problems that a couple of other ballparks have.  I have been to most other places, most recently Anaheim and St. Louis.

Yesterday, I talked with a Kanas City tv producer who I worked with during my summer vacation to KC in '02.....he reminded that when he first came here in 1994, he thought what a great scoreboard, the best in baseball....technology has changed quite a bit since 1994.......we are working on some things, some that I have been proposing since 2003 that will completely change the look, feel and atmosphere in the ballpark...something that you will be proud of and will want to see.

And that is what it is all about....we want you to be proud of your team and the ballpark.....if there is some cheesy music I am playing or some stupid promos that you don't like...please let me know.....Over the years, I have tried to make myself very accessible to Rangers fans....some of the best ideas have come from people that have sent me letters, emails or called on the phone.....You may find out that there was a reason for the cheesy music, maybe a season ticket holder called in a request or a sponsor wanted something.....or maybe I was being cheesy...or on the stupid promos, might be something the sponsor wanted to do.....there are some things that I do that I don't agree fit in a ballpark or a Major League game....but if a sponsor wants us to do something, or for that matter a fan buying a ticket, I try to accomodate that request.......Just this week I put something back on the scoreboard that I had taken off because I was tryiing to make the board easier to read...I didn't think that many cared, well, they did, alot of folks wanted to see how many are left on base..........so it is back.........Please if you have a question or a suggestion, please e-mail me at cmorgan@texasrangers.com or call me at 817 273-5006.....I have been doing this for a long time, sometimes I am way too involved with it and don't see something that might not be the right thing to do.....but I want you to have a good time at the ballpark.

I love baseball, the Rangers and the ballpark...the 27 rating didn't sit well with me, but from where  I sit, we have a very tough ballpark to entertain in....it is big, our scoreboards are not in the best places for viewing and our replay board is way too small....so I disagree with the rating, but I know changes need to be made to make it a better place for you to watch a game.

Again, thanks for being Rangers fans, I really appreciate it....Those of you that know me, know that I really mean that.

Chuck Morgan