http://www.cnbc.com/id/36719101

Damn.  I have an Xbox.

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Like many things in life, this event wasn't as cool as I thought it would be.  The team photographer called me earlier in the day saying, "Come tag along with me and we'll hang out in the clubhouse."  So I went, but for the most part we were hanging out OUTSIDE the clubhouse while the team sat inside eating.  Not what I was hoping for, but that's ok.

I did get to help take mugshots of every player (for the scoreboard and newspaper).  I was able to shake the hand of every player and tried to generate some small talk.  The new Crawdads seemed really excited to be here and were pretty pleasant to talk to--most of the guys that are here for a second year seemed highly disinterested in talking with a dork like me (which is cool, I get that).

Some quick observations...pretty bland stuff, I know:

-Watched Neil Ramirez throw live batting practice to the outfielders.  He was all over the place and Miggy and Christian Santana each hit balls out of the park.

-Miggy V is a big dude and a nice guy.

-I asked one of the coaching staff (no clue what his name was) if Clark Murphy was coming back.  The coach said that Clark isn't ready yet and that "They think this Mike Ortiz guy could be special."  Interesting I thought.

-Joe Wieland was doing all the interviews with the local papers and TV crews.  He's Hickory's FOTF apparently.  

-Luery Garcia is super nice.  I joked with him about wanting sunglasses like his.  He actually hung out with the camera dorks for a few minutes before going back in the clubhouse.  Has the same kind of appeal that Elvis has.  Big smile, funny guy.  The dude has the body of 13 year old though.  I think I could beat him up blindfolded with one arm free.  Gotta root for a guy like him though.  

-I took a few pictures, but there really wasn't a lot to look at.  After waiting an hour and a half for the team to come back out and finish practice, I decided to go home.  There's a pic of Font looking right at me in a very annoyed fashion...he was giving me dirty looks all day.  Anyways..... http://picasaweb.google.com/mawelge/OpenPractice#

Per TR:

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20091211&content_id=7799420&vkey=news_tex&fext=.jsp&c_id=tex&partnerId=rss_tex

"ARLINGTON -- Houston businessman Jim Crane has re-entered the Rangers ownership picture.

Crane, who appeared to drop out of the running last month because he didn't seem likely to get approval from Major League Baseball, told club president Nolan Ryan on Thursday that he has submitted a new proposal to buy the Rangers.

Once again, Rangers owner Tom Hicks has three groups to choose from in deciding who ultimately buys the team. The group selected won't automatically get the team, but will enter into exclusive negotiating rights with Hicks to buy the team."

Per SI

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/baseball/mlb/12/02/rangers.gilbert/index.html

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You read correctly.  WTF, right?  A handful of Crawdads players and coaches participated in the fishing tournament on Lake Hickory...and John got the pictures to prove it. 

HERE

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With no minor league thread started for today I made the decision to put this out in a fanpost.  I doubt I am the only one that finds this noteworthy.

Just got off the phone with Mr. Wieland (Joe's dad) who said Joe has been flown in and gets the ball tonight.

I should have video up by tomorrow morning.  John Setzler Jr. will have photography up by then  here.  If  you haven't visited John's flickr in a while I highly suggest you check out his work.

I'm pumped.

John 'JMSetzler' Setzler, Crawdad photographer and all-around cool guy posted his first write-up on http://hickoryball.blogspot.com

His posts are much prettier with mine....look for the sweet pic of Perez, Boscan, and Font.

Come give John a warm welcome on the blog.

Also keep an eye out for future contributions from the "Chuck Morgan" of L.P. Frans Stadium, Mark Parker.  Mark works sees every game from the pressbox as he keeps a finger on all things related to game presentation in Hickory. 

Hopefully having a couple new voices on the blog will provide a healthy amount of variety.  Enjoy.

I posted some observations from the game last night.  Subjects include Bleier and his groundballs, Edward Martinez, David Paisano, Clark Murphy, and little more Bianucci stuff with a video of his first at bat.

A taste:

"The 5' 9" Edward Martinez committed his team leading 5th error in this inning. He's supposed to be a little guy that's a defensive wiz but a liability at the plate, but again I leave a game thinking Martinez's glove is overrated. It's not just the errors; in the games I have attended the guy has "stone hands." I have seen him knock down too many balls (hit right at him) rather than catching them. The guy is 21 now and needs to show more."

Check it out here,  http://hickoryball.blogspot.com

New blog post up today.  Take a look at the track record of Hickory's hottest bat, Mike Bianucci.

There's a little video of Bianucci too...

A taste:

"So who is this Mike Bianucci guy? The day after Ian Kinsler goes 6-6 (hitting for the cycle), this Bianucci fella has his own 6-6 outing in Asheville, leading the team to a 16-6 victory. And then they guy keeps it up, hitting his way into a SAL player of the week award. Should we have expected this?  ..."

Check it out here    http://hickoryball.blogspot.com/

Observations of both games plus video of Perez vs. Beckham

http://hickoryball.blogspot.com/

a taste:

"It's hard to focus on the intracacies of the other players when pitchers like Boscan, Font, and Perez are on the mound. In the three games I have attended this season a Hotrods pitcher has not touched 90 on the stadium gun. Boscan, Font, Perez, Brigham, Hamburger, Castillo, and Ortiz all touched above 90 with Font hitting 98 on a couple pitches. I know the speed of your fastball isnt everything but..."

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One year ago the unemployment rate in Hickory was in the neighboorhood of 6%. Hickory recieved praise for it's evolving economy as it attempted to escape a dangerous dependence on furniture manufacturing. Today, unemployment in Hickory is almost 16%--one of the hardest hit cities in our country. The winter was long, cold, and laden with bad news.

But now the dogwoods are blooming in Appalachia which could only mean one thing: It's time for Carolina league ball. After a week of freezing low temps, the baseball gods smiled upon lil' Hickory and bestowed upon it a clear, 75 degree day. Folks filled the stadium, attracted as much by the $1 beer as they were by the opportunity to watch teenage athletes beginning their professional journeys.

Me and my baseball buddy sat three rows back, just to the right of home plate. We were somehow placed in the center for the Ray's family seats. I had a good conversation with the parents of Matt Moore, the starting pitcher for the Hot Rods that night. They flew in from New Mexico to see their son embark on the third year of his professional career. Needless to say, we didnt talk much after their son started issuing walks left and right. Tim Beckham's family was across the isle from us, they didnt talk to anyone though because their cell phones were glued to their ears. Eh, whatever.

Boscan if fun to watch. Really fun. Smooth as butta and works very quickly. At times it felt like he was ready to throw another pitch before the ump had finished calling the previous dealing. In the first inning Boscan kept the ball low and produced two strikeouts and a weak groundball. I suspect the gun in the stadium was a bit low. A Hot Rods pitcher never got above 86 on the stadium gun, Boscan was touching 90 on the stadium gun.

As the game went on Boscan started leaving the ball up and it was getting driven. Luckily multiple hard hit balls carried directly to waiting outfielders.

Beckham is a stud. A SS that runs like a deer, hits for power and average. People always say that star players produce a diferent sound when they make contact; this rule applies to Beckham. His HR off Boscan was effortless.

Ultimately, Boscan was the victim of HORRID defense. I jinxed Clark Murphy by telling my buddy, "Keep an eye on him. The organization seems pretty high on that guy." Ogata overthrew Murphy twice, but I think he should have had one of them. Murphy booted two hard hit, almost identical grounders, but somehow only got an error on one. To Murph's credit, he did save what should have been a third throwing error on Ogata with a snow-cone style grab of a ball sailing over his head.

I fear that this squad is not going to hit. We may see more tuff luck losses like Boscan's where the team doesnt hit and committs a lot of errors. Catcher Doug Hogan hit a 3run blast after Matt Moore walked two men on 8 pitches. I had never heard of Hogan but he's hard not to like; marine-style flat top, big kid, carriers himself like a leader, works the umps...good stuff.

The most pleasant suprise of the night was when I saw Wilmer Font, a man among boys, take the mound. Like I said earlier, i think the stadium gun was slow. According to that gun no Hot Rods pitcher got above 86....Font was consistantly at 95 and it looks like he's playing catch out there. The Hot Rods players were still able to drive some balls off Font. Even low-a guys can time a fast ball.

My guess is that the team is not converting Font to a reliever, they plan on brining in Perez the same way tonight. Font is coming off a year of injuries and they are likely to bring him along slowly.

$4 baseball, $1 beer, stud pitching....love it.

Oh, and Hamburger (who even the home fans couldnt resist teasing) was touching 92 on the stadium gun.  Not much else to say about his work last night.  The box score says the rest.

I posted this on the Newberg Report forums and it was reccomended that I also post here, so I complied.

Like any good Rangers fan would, I made my way to the Crawdads stadium to watch an open practice. The weather was less than ideal for baseball--it was 45 degrees and blustery. To my suprise, my daughter and I were the only people there and the field was empty. After about 20 minutes I wondered if the cold weather was going to scare the players off. There I was, in a cold, empty stadium with a 5 month-old bundled up in a stroller.

Thankfully, after about 30 minutes the team started to stream onto the field. The first player on the field was Clark Murphy. Of course I called him over immediately for a signature. What a nice kid. We small talked about the weather and his Arizona experience. Deffinately a guy to root for, and easy to spot since he's one of the tallest guys on the squad.

Shortly thereafter the rest of the team streamed onto the field. It's funny how jumping around in the cold, laughing all the while can be an excellent bonding experience. The players had great camaradarie. After about 10 minutes, the equipment manager emerged with a mountain of windbreakers. The team errupted in celebration and sprinted to the pile of jackets.

The team lined up for some running and stretching, still bitching endlessly about the cold. It was fun to try to pick out players that I had been reading about all spring. Man, Martin Parez is little. I thought he was about to blow away in the wind. I think i've seen bigger bat boys. I have a feeling Ranger fans will have to let this kid grow up and fill out. On the other end of the spectrum, WIlmer Font looks like a towering figure next to the smallish Perez.

So, after about 15 minutes of running and long toss, a gentleman in a Rangers windbreaker, carrying a bat approached me. There I stood, a strange looking fella with a stroller. The man shook my hand and said thanks for coming out. I asked him what his role was with the team....actually I think i asked him "so, are you an instructor or something." What can I say, I was cold and not really thinking straight. He responded, "I'm the manager, Hector Ortiz." What a nice guy. He proceeded to ask me about my daughter who sat next to me bundled up, speciffically he asked her age. He turned and walked towards his shivering team and shouted "We have a 5 month old that's excited to be here, surely you guys can deal with the cold too!" Immediately half the team turned in my direction with a stare of derision. I just shrugged my shoulders and sunk down into my seat hoping to return to my invisable state.

Eventually I got cold, packed up my little one, and went home to share the experience.

Not much hard info for you guys, but maybe you can appreciate the baseball experience. I know I did.