http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/mlb/news/story?id=6297020

I searched through LSBfor some comments on this story and couldn't find any.  There are a handful of sports stories that come out every year that point out some fairly significant problems we have in society.  The jackass that was eight times the legal limit and driving without a license mowing down Nick Adenhart in 2009 was senseless - just as an example.  I know that a guy getting his skull kicked in is different, but to me it's equally disturbing.  I absolutely understand that Bryan Stow (or anyone) wearing a Giants jersey to a Dodgers game isn't a great idea, but to me, that's a lot like blaming the 11 year old girl in Cleveland, Texas for being raped by 20 guys aged 16-27.  Just because a guy wears a Giants jersey in a hostile environment doesn't mean it's all right to kill him.  The "debate" on the ESPN clip IS a sad commentary on society.

Alcohol is relevant discussion here, but it is very unreasonable to expect sports venues to stop serving alcohol.  You could make the penalties to venues severe, but so many people drink outside the parks and/or before the games that it would be impossible to police it.  Besides, there are dozens if not hundreds of ways to buy alcohol in the park without having to see the same vendor twice, so that's not workable.

These stories suck.

Losers read like this:

We're sorry that you were not selected for the Rangers Opening Day Ticket Opportunity.

We regret to inform you that your entry in the 2011 Opening Day Ticket Opportunity was not selected. A total of 121,110 fans registered for this opportunity. In order to offer everyone the chance to purchase 4 tickets for Opening Day, it would require 484,440 seats - nearly 10 times the capacity of Rangers Ballpark!

This is your team, and we want to see you at Rangers Ballpark this season. We have created a special offer just for you since unprecedented demand for Opening Day tickets did not afford you the opportunity to join us on April 1.

With this exclusive offer, only available to ticket opportunity registrants, you can purchase up to 8 tickets per game to two other 2011 Premier Games at regular prices - average savings of 11%. You'll receive an email next week with complete details on how to purchase tickets before they are available to the general public, but start thinking about the two games you want now.

http://rangersblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/02/rangers-sign-eight-pre-arbitra.html

that's about 1/16 of what Cliff Lee will pay in taxes this year.  as for me, i would rather have a team comprised of 48.14 Felizi running aorund than one Cliff Lee, but life's not that simple...

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With LeBron's Twitter saga continuing and the Atlanta fans booing him last night, we are still getting bombarded by all things LeBron.  The amount of news we hear about Kobe, Durant and other great, exciting players pales in comparison to what we hear about a guy that is really starting to annoy me.

ESPN The Magazine came in the mail yesterday, and their article from an unknown pro athlete was praising LeBron for his off-season antics, saying it was a blow to the owners.  That seems to be a very shortsighted view, and one that I hope becomes problematic for the players.  With Stern recently coming out and saying that salaries should be lowered, it seems that there is going to be an imminent power struggle.  Stern has been very, very good for the league - owners and players, and I trust that his thoughts are in the best interest of the league going forward.

LeBron's circus act this off-season was hideous.  He is arguably the best player in the league, and he hasn't had a good surrounding cast.  That said, people have rightfully questioned his toughness, and they have also questioned if he has the heart necessary to finish.

At the end of the day, he's great, and he's going to become a billionaire athlete, but why be a d-bag in the process?

Then I finally understood...  Today I was reading an article about people hating LeBron and sending him nasty Tweets - but that he understands (when it's obvious he really doesn't).  That's when this piece of gold jumped off the page:

As a supporter of the Yankees, Cowboys and Ohio State, he's actually having a tough week with all three having troubles lately.

He's THAT guy.  The guy that we have been discussing that attaches himself inexplicably to the Yankees and Cowboys.  Then I remembered when he wore the Yankee lid to the Cleveland game...  I had forgotten about him being "Yankee fan" until this morning.

That explains so much...

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/ps/y2010/gigapan/index.jsp

This is really, really, really cool...  Although all of the games aren't up here, there's a couple of Texas home games.  We were able to find ourselves in Friday night's game.  Everyone that was there should take a look.  ALDS home game 1 and ALCS game 1 are both accessible.  You can link to Facebook, and apparently it's as private as you want to make it - check to make sure instead of taking my word.

Sam

Despite having no written policy in place, StubHub is refusing to pay sellers of playoff tickets until the teams are confirmed.

• StubHub requires credit card information from sellers as a way to charge back transactions that are cancelled - because the event is cancelled or because the tickets were fraudulent, etc.
• StubHub holds money for seven days after buyer receives the tickets.  This policy is antiquated now that transactions are seamless with tickets validated and delivered instantly.  Buyers no longer can receive the wrong seats - something that was potentially problematic when FedEx was required and physical tickets were shipped.  Nonetheless, this is the policy, and it's stated on their website.  Usually, sellers are paid in 2-7 days.
• Tickets for potential playoff games are being listed on StubHub.  Sellers have already paid for the tickets regardless of the dates/times or if the events actually take place.
• People are buying tickets on StubHub for these games.  Payment is required before the tickets are delivered.  The tickets remain listed until the transaction is completed.  StubHub is paid in full (purchase price +10%), and the tickets are no longer property of the seller.
• StubHub has then made a determination to hold these funds in their entirety until games are finalized.

If this was a written policy that appeared on their website, I would have no problem with this whatsoever.  Absent this policy being written and published, I expect to be paid in full pursuant to their written policies.

It's bad enough that they work off a 22.7% margin, but this pays for a great website and tons of advertising.  It's a very easy process, and their are lots of buyers and sellers.  As long as you know the rules and agree to them, you can't complain.  Not paying sellers isn't what I agreed to though.

The Inside Pitch presale is today at 9am CDT.  Hopefully everyone has their codes (and credit cards ready).

There seems to be a growing amount of anxiety about what's going to be available, so I outlined the exact process for you, hoping that it will allow you to navigate the screen quickly and get the best seats available.

Here's how it works:

1. You can go to the (Inside Pitch Buyer Presale) website anytime before 9am and click on the Buy Tickets link (green).  This will pull up a ticketing page that will tell you that you are early.  From this page, you can hit refresh as often as you would like, and eventually (very, very close to 9am CDT) a box will appear, allowing you to enter your code.

2. Have your code written out and adjacent to your keyboard.  Also, I don't think that the code is case sensitive, but I had my Caps Lock on just in case.  Sadly, I also "practiced" they key sequence a few times while waiting - in support of doing anything possible to be one of the first ones through.  I tried to cut and paste the code last year, but this didn't work (IE), so I didn't try yesterday.  This is an expiring code.  Once you enter the code, you must buy tickets.  You cannot waffle, leave, return later and use the code again.

3. Once you enter the code, it will become a normal ticket purchasing process.  Know in advance how many seats you want.  You pull down the box to select up to four.  Know where you want to sit and what this looks like.  You can look at a ticket purchase screen for an upcoming game to familiarize yourself.  You can also select best available.  I have never had the most expensive group (Cuervo seats) provided when I went for best available, so I'm assuming those are by request only and not an auto-fill.  Once you have selected number of seats and price level, click CONTINUE>>>.  FWIW - you can select four, best available and hit CONTINUE>>> in 1-2 seconds.

4. Next is the Captcha Code.  This was the slowest part for me yesterday, but all I can say is be patient and realize that an error here takes longer than doing it right the first time.  Recycling the Code has been required of me more than once when I couldn't figure it out, but it's usually not that difficult.  I had to click in the box to start typing (IE) both yesterday and again today when I was walking through the steps again.  You can hit Enter when you are done (IE).

YOU'RE THERE!!!

At this point you have your tickets, so slow down and enter your credit card details, mailing address that matches the card, etc.  Everything before this point has been done as quickly as possible to get the best seats available, but now you can go at normal speed.

I would use the print the tickets at home option.  I was able to have my ALDS tickets in hand before my season tickets were sent out, so that was good peace of mind.  You may want the physical tickets, but I am not sure that they use the ALDS card stock on the online purchases.  It's up to you.

Good luck!!!

IT'S TINE!!!!!

When you get your tickets, please tell us what you requested and what you received.

 Because the links have unique IDs (probably nothing important), I did not provide the link.  If you have an Inside Pitch email (which you must have to have a code), you have the link already.

you need to sign up for inside pitch before monday september 13 (do it now).  you get some unique code and your chance to see one of the one home playoff games (lol).

sign up for inside pitch and you get 2nd or 3rd shot at buying regular season tickets early, too.

have fun.

 http://mlb.mlb.com/tex/fan_forum/newsletters.jsp

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8 seats, section 44 row 8

i am already going - sitting behind HP.  the seats were free to me from the Rangers, so they are free to you if you can use them.  tickets are fairly easy to come by tonight, but still, be respectful to anyone else that might want them.  if you accept them, please use them.  i could waste the tickets without your help.

we are going to the game at 6:15 - heading up the GBT from north Irving/Las Colinas.  your options: 1. downtown dallas during the day today 2. Irving later 3. somewhere near 30/GBT around 6:40 or 4. along Main/Division after that.

if it's going to make a huge difference in your life, i will also give you a season ticket parking pass so you can really save $$$.

go rangers...

yes, my email works, but let's do this...  post here if you want them and can promise that you can use them - that way 2-3 people don't email thinking they are going to the game.  if you are the first person, email me and let me know how you plan to get the tickets.  thanks!

http://espn.go.com/mlb/huntforoctober

This isn't a wealth of information, but it's set up pretty nice with magic number, strength of remaining schedule, expected season record, playoff matchups, next 10 games, etc.

It seems like a nice, basic look at "where we live today, sports."

Just our luck - the way TB is playing, I could see them winning the division and us playing the Yankees in the first round again...

Word

PSA

I wanted to draft a quick warning to everyone that attends Rangers games - specifically those of you that are inclined to buy tickets from scalpers/individual sellers in and around the ballpark.

StubHub has greatly improved the way in which tickets are transferred.  Season ticket holders can sell their tickets from within their "My Tickets" account with the Rangers.  The tickets are delivered to the StubHub buyer electronically.  In addition, anyone holding a ticket can sell it through StubHub by entering the bar code.  Again, the tickets are delivered electronically.

So, this is great for both (StubHub) buyers and sellers.  No more need for FedEx to be involved in the process.

The problem (and it's a very significant problem in my estimation) is that the physical tickets never change hands.  If I sell my tickets through StubHub, I retain the physical tickets.  If I sell through StubHub, retain my physical tickets and am a deceitful person, I can resell the physical tickets to unsuspecting buyers in the minutes/hours leading up to the game.

What's different?  People have always been able to make fake tickets, and with the exception of major events, it has never been a problem.  Now the tickets aren't "fake."  They are genuine tickets (with tear marks from taking them out of the books, holograms in some instances and other "real ticket" features).

Be careful - especially on opening day where thousands of tickets have changed hands on StubHub.  Also, this problem is relevant at every venue going forward - NBA, MLB, NFL, so keep this in the front of your mind.

Presale for Season Tickets holders is today.  The sale started at 9am.  So, I thought in the spirit of getting excited about April 5th, I would see who's buying tickets and what seats you got.

In addition to my season tickets, I was able to get 4 seats in Section 23 Row 24 - third base side of HP.

blah blah blah blah

blah blah blah blah

blah blah blah blah

blah blah blah blah the end

At this point, it's essentially a foregone conclusion.  In fact, I'm not even sure that my lead is surmountable - with only a handful of games next week.

25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

It's down to 2-3 people, but the top 5 are included (to demonstrate the mastery of the leaders by noting the separation).

Three weeks remaining in the 2009 College Pick Choose Contest, and anything could happen (not really, but I'm trying to keep it interesting).

POW! POW!

It's hard to believe that 5+ weeks have passed since the Rangers were eliminated - especially with the World Series just ending last night.  I guess in other ways, it seems like it's been 2-3 months.

I wanted to give an update to the earlier post re: Playoff Refunds

4-6 weeks after elimination was the promised date for the refunds which is next Monday night (effectively Tuesday).

With one stated exception (http://www.lonestarball.com/2009/10/20/1093305/playoff-ticket-refunds#) refunds have not been received.  I purchased tickets during both presales within the first 2-3 minutes using two different cards (one card for each presale), so I think I am indicative of the group.

Hopefully this is completed (started and completed) by Tuesday.

http://tinyurl.com/whoneedstwo

(my creative URL)

Woman Accused of Offering Sex for World Series Tickets on Craigslist

article starts:

A Philadelphia woman was arrested Tuesday after she allegedly posted an ad on Craigslist offering to perform sex acts in exchange for World Series tickets, MyFoxPhilly reported.

article continues...

Susan Finkelstein, 43, was charged with prostitution and related offenses after police say she advertised herself as a buxom, blond, die-hard Phillies fan who was desperately seeking World Series tickets and would have sex to get them.

i searched but could not find any discussion on the cowlishaw statement that an email had been sent to those that purchased playoff tickets (the tickets in addition to the season tickets seats) that a refund would not be forthcoming until november.  obviously, the season ticket holders will get the money credited toward next season (as one option), but i am specifically addressing the extra seats.

cowlishaw: http://tinyurl.com/yjkvsv6

1. if there was a discussion that i missed i apologize.

2. i did not receive an email.  i bought extra seats, spending $900+ - mostly from a debit card (mastercard linked to my checking account).

3. i thought that the team had said six weeks after the season originally.  that's mid-november, right?  is this really news, or is the email referenced the original email about purchasing playoff tickets?  i guess what i am asking is, "has anything changed?"

4. if the team has changed the refund date, can i file a dispute with my credit card company (bank) and get my cash back now?

i was planning on waiting until mid-november, but if the dates were changed AFTER i purchased tickets, i need the money as bad as the rangers need the money (well, maybe not THAT bad).

http://vegaswatch.net/2009/09/evaluating-april-mlb-predictions-2009.html

(opens in new window)

Because it's impossible to quantify everything that affects (potentially affects) a team's record over the course of 162 games (especially unknown future events like injuries), predictions made before the season are usually pretty inaccurate - especially when given for more than one team.  I think I picked the Rangers to lose 90 (or more), and there were (in my mind) a lot of issues surrounding this team that concerned me, warranting that prediction.  I was (mostly) wrong, although the team made a concerted effort plunge toward the end.

It's tough to predict with any accuracy.  That said, it's good/enjoyable to look back and see how everyone fared.  Here's an article doing just that.

The season ticket holder presale started at 9am this morning - game 1 ALDS only.  A code was sent to season ticket holders for purchasing up to four seats.

For me, this was a big step forward toward a building playoff frenzy.  Although we are still on the outside, hitting refresh every three seconds to be able to buy seats was somewhat exhilarating.

I ended up with four aisle seats Section 25/Row 26.

How did you do?

While the rest of you were undoubtedly working extremely hard at your jobs yesterday (Wednesday), I was on what turned out to be a pretty amazing date at the Ballpark.  When I was selected to be on a new series that premiers later this month I had one request - let me plan the date.

My immediate thought was to somehow plan a date that involved the Rangers in whatever way possible, knowing that this had tremendous potential to be a really cool experience for the lucky girl (and certainly for me, too).  My first email was to my longtime friend and marketing executive for the Rnagers, Chip K.  Chip immediately put a plan in motion and brought Dale P. (EVP Marketing) into the loop.  Dale and Chip guided us through the red tape with MLB, and in no time we had traction.

My date and I walked around the park, sat in my seats adjacent to the dugout, went in the dugout, played catch, had a picnic in the outfield, and a couple of other really cool/memorable activities (that unfortunately did not include any of the bases beyond first - LOL).

The date went off without a hitch yesterday except for one horrendous problem - I developed "Steve Blass Disease" (at the worst possible moment).  Channeling my inner Mark Wohlers, I sprayed the field with errant throws while the poor girl tried her best to catch them.  At least I didn't go Chuck Knoblauch and hit Keith Olbermann's mom in the face.  That *might* have been worse.

I can't explain my inability to make anything that even remotely resembled a good throw, but it was pretty damn embarassing.

Anyway...  the date airs late August, and I will update you guys with more details later.

Stay Hard...

Glowing review of Angel Stadium with promise to visit Texas next

This opens in a new window - because I care like that...

There's a lot to like about every ballpark - even the best ones have issues.  Deadspin has taken it upon themselves to share these issues on a park-by-park basis.  Fortunately, RBIA is not the first ballpark reviewed.  Unfortunately, it's second - as soon as they climb off Angel Stadium.

With the new series titled "Why Your Stadium Sucks..." I can't imagine they are going to ignore the punch list that gets regurgitated regularly:  parking, heat, lack of roof... and so forth and so on.

More good news...  They want your help, so make sure you e-mail in what your opinions.  craggs@deadspin.com

I utilised the search function and could not find a thread more recent than 1April that mentioned Galarraga.  I wanted to find an opportunity to discuss the former Ranger ahead of his next dominating performance tonight at home against the Tribe.

CBS has Armando ranked 7th among AL/NL starting pitchers - which is VERY surprising to me since people here seemed so adamant that he wasn't very good, citing a litany of numbers/stats/seemingly important ratios - all in a manner to protect JD from criticism.

The great news is that Jennings is rated 272 among relief pitchers - up from 290 last week...

Awesome.

So I asked a question earlier (in-thread) about wifi at the Ballpark.

Rodney's answer:

Yes, there is.

Verified yesterday by RachelB & Craig.

I found what was obviously a Texas Rangers wireless network (with good strength), but it required username and password.

Anyone else have luck, or is there some way to get access to the Rangers' network?

Does anyone (Rachel or Craig) know who to contact that could provide details of wifi service(s) available.

Thanks in advance,

Sam

As a follow up to this thread (http://www.lonestarball.com/2009/2/11/756042/wednesday-a-m-stuff) I wanted to provide the LS Ballers with an update.

One of the most recognized gambling websites, Bodog, has the Rangers listed at 74.5 for 2009 wins.

http://sports.bodoglife.com/sports-betting/baseball-futures.jsp

Obviously the significance is that this line is available for public wagering through the website as opposed to previous O/U discussions that were more "hypothetical" in nature.  This is an actual line and is the best barometer of  sentiment that I can find.  The line is created to attract half of the money to one side and half to the other side, and it is adjusted as wagers are placed.

I searched the terms "over under" before posting, so I hope that this does not rehash an existing thread.

i want to preface this by saying that i searched "town hall" and "caravan" before posting this.  i would hate to be regarded as a renegade poster with no regard to the unwritten etiquette of LSB.

is anyone planning on attending one of these?

what should be expected in terms of accessibility, transparency and honesty - especially from daniels?

maybe a better question - with the lack of activity in the offseason, are there are any questions that need to be asked?

preliminary odds for the 2009 season have been posted.  over/unders and other detailed odds usually do not appear until the spring, but here are odds on AL pennant, NL pennant and world series:

http://www.vegasinsider.com/mlb/odds/futures/

texas is 35/1 (AL) and 75/1 (WS).  both seem a little low.

of interest to me - the teams that odds makers place below the rangers:

BAL/SEA/KAN (AL)

SEA/BAL/CIN/SD/WAS/KAN/PIT (WS)

- - - - - -  - - - --  - -- - - - - - - - -

UPDATE (Friday) Texas has dropped to 38/1 and 80/1

Daniels has done wonders with one-year deals

Now that the season has progressed and nears its completion, it seems like a good opportunity to review a midseason rave from DMN writer and underappreciated DMN blog contributor Tim MacMahon.

Tim usually has a lot of negative things to say about the Rangers, but I refer back to one of his more glowing posts about JD's prowess with one year deals - turning something into nothing...

Strangely absent is any reference to Jason Jennings - a COMPLETE failure by JD.

Touted prematurely as a "success story" was the signing of Ponson.

Bradley flamed out sometime after this was written May 20th, contributing very little when the Rangers needed July/August momentum.  IF Daniels had an opportunity to move Bradley and didn't then it was another failure, but if there were no offers then it was probably a good signing although Bradley ultimately failed to see his maximum potential despite a great start to the season.

The Lofton year was great for the future of the franchise.

I dissent from MacMahon and question what Sammy Sosa provided this team during his one year.

Gagne was a great move even though Gabbard is, in retrospect, another waste.  Murphy hopefully continues to overachieve.

Low risk/high rewards or just a couple of good moves with a healthy dose of crap littering the list of one year signings?

Also, since at least half of the one year signings have been busts, the "low risk" component is actually double for the signings that worked out, right?

In other words, if Bradley was considered a success at $5M (don't know any of the salaries off the top of my head and won't look), you also needs to add salaries of Jennings, Broussard and Ponson to that amount to determine total amount risked versus what was received (high reward).  This year the Rangers spent several million on one year contracts and got Bradley.  Risk versus reward, good or very average?

to everyone that hates me here, i have some very good news...

i won't be posting my contrarian views for the next several hours because i am going to the game - front row right field.

please don't expect a recap, but i realized that my lake elsinore bakersfield recap sucked relative to some (all) of the subsequent recaps that have appeared in this space.  besides, the game is on tv.

so, to everyone that hates when i disagree, please give this post a rec.

sam