Good ol' Mike Heika, there to help save an otherwise BORING Monday morning at the office.  Apparently, Mo and Mo will get the chance to have Jere Lehtinen on their right side starting in Vancouver.  And what do you know... 6-8 weeks will look more like 4-6 weeks for Brad Richards!!!  Only obstacle for Richards will be learning how to shoot with an immobilizer on his wrist.  I'm sure the conditioning isn't there yet, but you don't play hockey for this long and have been able to skate with the team for almost 3 straight weeks and get to couch potato status.

This makes the pants a little happier knowing that Begin can now become a situational pain in the arse and Sutherby can go LW with Neal RW on a Richards Sandwich Line.  Heck, maybe get Richards between Neal and Brunnstrom and have the instigating line of Barch, Sutherby and Conner/Begin.

I like the way this is shaping up gentlemen.

Linkie

Anyone else notice "Lone Star Ball - All Jake Peavy Trade Talk, All The Time" on the name bar?

AJM... what's up with that?

I still think that trading Laird to KC for Cortes and Lisson is the way to go, sure we'll have to face him a few times a year - but with a new infield coach, we should be able to field bunts from him pretty clean.

That makes 75 words eh?

Sad that Brandon Puffer is the major suspect in this.

By no means is it an excuse for such instances to occur, but at a game a couple of weeks ago, it seemed that the bullpen location was an open invitation for "groupies" to openly "flirt" or "mingle" with these ballplayers.  Not that it was an inevitability, but you wonder just how often propositions are made that are followed up on.  It'd be interesting to hear BGL's take on the happenings in the Frisco bullpen as I'm sure he's taken in a few games there.  Too bad we still have the embargo.

Burglary of a Habitation with intent to commit felony 

First a disclaimer, I am by no means a professional judge of talent or execution.

That said... This was my first time seeing Feliz pitch.  Not sure if it is arm fatigue due to increased innings or if he was just anxious, but there seemed to be way too many pitches that "sailed."  His change up did appear to be up to par, Texas League quality at least.  I do believe the ump was squeezing a bit, but that can also be attributed to sitting down the 3rd base line without a great vantage point.

Whittleman did exhibit great patience at the plate, almost to a fault.  It appeared as though he let some quality pitches go without lifting the bat.  Looked just fine in the field.  One play early on did seem odd as he let Feliz go for a grounder on a soft grounder down the line where Feliz had to eat the ball.  More advanced 3B will call the pitcher off as they have their momentum carrying them towards the play.  It will come to him I'm sure.

Overall, boring game.  Andrus has INCREDIBLE range at SS, much more so than we are accustomed to seeing in Arlington night in and night out.  I cannot wait to see him in the bigs at the end of next summer.  I would like to see him in OKC first thing next year though, CC did not challenge his arm at all, most throws to 1B were "rainbows." 

They must do something with the presentation at Dr. Pepper Ballpark as the video board had the same AVG./HR/RBI for everyone, it must have gotten stuck on the first batter for CC.

Anyone else getting hammered with the rain?  I just looked out my office window (after seeing that we are getting "light rain with thunder" per weather.com) and it looks like Fay has made her way to southern Collin County.

I can't believe it's August 20 and the forecasted high is 80.  I loved seeing city operated sprinklers going off this morning on my way to work in a downpour.  It's going to be fun next month with the unbearable crickets and mosquitos.

this team is really making me angry.  I've been at ease with the knowledge that this team is not destined for anything worth seeing for some time, but do you think maybe the organization could act like it cares just a little?

At some point, probably around May 20th, the players, coaches, manager, executives, et al, will all run out of excuses.  What then?  How can the Texas Rangers as an organization possibly try to coax Joe Public in to putting up over $60 plus gas to go to Rangers Ballpark in Arlington?

I'm done ranting, thanks for browsing.

The scout's name in The Rookie (I think it is, with Brendan Frazer)... was it J. J. Picollo?

I was reading up on the Royals (future wife is from KC, my way of making small talk with the future father-in-law) and their scouting director is J. J. Picollo.  I read that and thought to myself "Is that maybe who the movie was based on, loosely?"

I haven't felt like IMDB'ing it lately or I would have looked there.  What can I say, I like y'all's company.

Since I'm sure almost everyone on this board has gone to college, based upon the semi-intelligent conversation that is the norm, I will assume that someone has dealt with Sallie Mae in some capacity.

I got a call from a rude guy this morning informing me that I was past due a certain amount.  I then informed him that I was not past due and that I would need to contact my financial adviser to obtain the records and asked that I call him back once I received clarification.  He ignored me and asked how I would be paying the past due amount.  I told him that again that I would need to call him back after consultation.  We went through this 2 more times then he asked why I was being rude.  I told him I was not being rude, but that it felt I was talking to a wall as I had stated something at least three times and he ignored me.  I hung up on him as he was stating that I was insulting his integrity.

Is Sallie Mae always this rude?  Or are they being told to since the Government is needing money now that they are cheapening the dollar?

I think one of the prior posts regarding the whole CJ Gate situation insinuating that one of the writers with the DMN may have planted the seed of unrest may have been dead on.

One of my morning rituals is going through DMN Sports, LSB, gmail, etc.  Well, when I go to the Rangers blog I see that the above named has a post about B-Mac's comments regarding normal conversation in the clubhouse.  While I personally don't see anything wrong with B-Mac's dissertation from the other day, I think this is just a blatent attempt by a lazy "journalist" to create tension in the clubhouse while there is no other real stories to be covered.

I would post a link, but I'm quite sure everyone in here that would care to look knows how to navigate the DMN website to get to the blog.  

Bantering over.

Just really sucks.  Luckily this time I have a little more head's up as opposed to 5 months ago when I got laid off out of the blue.  At the same time though, I think that employers frown upon scheduling interview with candidates that already are employed.  Anyone with helpful words of wisdom?  I've already got Monster and CareerBuilder working, but I don't know if they are truly working, working you know?

I just saw that there may be some prominent LSB posters that will be there signing autographs.  I'm going to try my hardest to be there to show some LSB love if anyone else wants to attend.  I'm thinking of getting a fedora with "hillcrest" on the front, good idea? haha

One-line diaries are prohibited on Lone Star Ball. Give your diary a bit more thought, then give it another shot. If you have nothing to add to your proposed diary, then it probably belongs as a comment under another appropriate thread.

Says towards the end that the Rangers have looked at Lastings Milledge, Ryan Freel, Tony Gwynn, Jr., et al.

I'm really liking the Ryan Freel thing and think that is a much better solution than Coco Crisp.  He won't light it up with the bat, but is consistent in the field, hustles all out and can play all three OF positions and be a super utility which of course would perk Ron Washington's ears.  He's 31 which means he'll be towards the end of his rope when the kids are ready like Borbon and Beltre.

So, working for an escrow and title servicing company, I could kind of see the writing on the walls for the past few months.  Finally, Monday morning I got hit with it personally and I'm looking for a job now.  I live in North Plano and have an interview in Southlake tomorrow.  Knowing that I am going to take a HUGE pay cut and have to spend three times as much on gas (with gas prices about to go up because of Hurricane Dean) this isn't really a great option as far as I'm concerned.

Basically, anyone out there know of anything promising in the high $40k to low $50k range in far north Dallas County/Collin County area?  I type rather quick from what I'm told and would love to do transcription work in the evenings but can't afford to do the certification programs they offer online.

With us trading 3 players (at least, so far) on the 25 man roster, who takes their places?  Obviously Saltalamacchia takes Teixeira's place, Gabbard (if that is correct) would presumably take Mahay/Gagne's place.  That leaves one more.  Is it possible that A. J. Murray is called up for Mahay's place in the bullpen and someone drops back from the rotation (Kam Loe?)

So the future wife and I had been looking at a honeymoon in Play Del Carmen when we get married next May.  My parents (mother only) will be paying for the time there but can't afford plane tickets, which we will be responsible for.  Looking at the cost, we decided to look to other ideas.  I'm looking at cruises right now and they seem a little better, but the websites I'm looking at appear to be very limited as to which cruiselines go which places at that particular time.  

Basically, I figure most of the LSB Community is or has been married and could shed some light and that's what I'm asking for.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.  
(BTW, she has already ruled out a 5 day/5 ballpark trek through New England.)

Late July this year or next off season, depending on how things shake out on the field, I have a potential trade if Boras is still Teixiera's agent.

Tex trades Tex to LAD for James Loney, Clayton Kershaw and Brad Penny.

1st Base player for a few years and possibly easier to lock up long term, a stud LHP starter with local ties for the future and a salary I'm sure LAD would be trying to move and can be servicable for us as a starter or reliever depending on what's going on with the team at that point.

I know, I'm crazy.

We all know the supposed "surplus" of quality bullpen arms and with the proclamation that Littleton has a job to lose, there are two spots open for like 8 guys.  Since neither of the chats on ESPN focused on anything but northeast and central teams, I couldn't get any expert views and figured I would get what views from the diehards that I could.

What are the thoughts/theories of what the Rangers do to bolster the outfield and/or minor league depth positionally?

So what about maybe a 2 year $5 million to $7 million deal to Mark Redman?

He seems to be pretty durable and from what I can recall about him, he doesn't give up the gopher ball at an alarming rate.  He would be a decent #4 starter for us if we can land Zito.  Plus it would allow the prospects (Danks, Volquez, Hurley... I consider Diamond an eventual reliever) to mature a little bit so that we can trade Padilla in a year or two opening up "financial flexibility" to go after Wells next winter and lock up Young and Teixeira next year.