as much as i love baseball and as much as i like to keep it real with statistics, numbers, analysis and what not, im 100% exactly like you, and i think the majority of this blogging community is deep down about exactly like you.

Sometimes people may be cynical or sarcastic just because thats who they are, but for the most part, we are just really, really big fans of sports team thats not really been that good. Its sure as hell alot of fun, and when they actually do win, it will be way more enjoyable than the enjoyment a Yankees fan or the modern day douche bag Red Sox fan gets watching their team wins…. or maybe im just biased, but thats exactly who i am and really no amount of message board riducule could change that.

That was quite a post. You’re certainly right about one thing: a love of the game itself is, deep down the root of all of us here. And that’s why of course, you see the community live and die in accordance to the latest news coming off the RSS feed. That’s the reason we like to analyze and disect, not in an effort to suck the fun out of it, but in an effort to understand the thing we love so much. We all can all get overwraught, cynical, sarcastic and even despaired at times – but at the end of the day I think it’s just another sign of how much we all love this team, and another part of the rollercoaster ride of the game of baseball.

That said though, it’s always nice to be reminded of the root of why we’re really here – and you’ve done an excellent job reminding me of that at least, with your post this morning. Kudos and thanks – here’s to a good offseason and a positive outlook on 2009.

you just took me back to old Arlington Stadium, my hamstrings frying on the bleacher seats because my short shorts didn’t protect them. I used to immulate Pete Incaviglia in the batters box at Mack Park, haha….people even would call me Inky…mainly bc I had a huge gut at 12.

I too was at the 7th no-no on a free ticket from Skaggs Alpha-Beta grocery store.

I like you am not a “stats” guy per say but I’m definitely wanting to learn a little, mainly so I can communicate and understand….like it or not, that’s where this game is heading.

Good post dude.

Every day we pick a topic or two to communally vent about and overreact to. It’s therapeutic and a daily fix for our fanaticism.

…I’m going to anyway. Was your classmate one of Tom Grieve’s boys?

I grew up in Big D and followed the Rangers as a casual fan through the ‘70s. My dad instilled a love of football in me, and we even had season tickets to the Cowboys’ games until about 1974, around the time my parents got divorced. I moved in with my Mom and I started to enjoy baseball more and more. Not because of any one person, it was just because baseball suited my demeanor more. I have always enjoyed the statistical aspect of the game. I understood OPS and SLG before they were even invented. I believed quite strongly that Harrah and Hargrove were vastly underrated for their on-base skills and power. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that our beloved Rangers finished only 5 games behind the World Series Champion Oakland A’s in 1974. (Jeez, I hope my memory doesn’t fail me here in the details). My memory also tells me that Billy Martin did an excellent job of managing that year in Arlington. I’m sorry we had to lose him. My love of baseball really exploded around ‘79 however. I started to chart games off the radio. I don’t mean keep score. I mean chart every pitch. Selection and location. It was quite an elaborate system. I even had color codes for several different aspects of the game. Wow, ‘79 seems so long ago. And I ache for Jim Kern now and then. He had a fabulous year. "The Great Emu — World’s Largest NonFlying Bird". Well anyway, even though it’s been a real struggle to remain a fan through all the losing seasons. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. You can have your damn Yankees. I’ll never belong to Red Sox Nation. Deep down I believe that I obtain a great deal of personal pride in staying a Rangers fan. I made a commitment to the Rangers and loyalty won’t let me leave. I absolutely refuse to be a front-runner like so many others. It has its dividends from time to time too. Even though I moved away from the metroplex, (I live in central TX) I go to games at TBIA occasionally. In July of 1994 I came to Dallas to see my Dad while I was on vacation. My wife came with me. We decided to go see a game. Kenny Rogers happened to be pitching that night. Can you say perfect game? I saw only 2 games that year but I still have a mental vision of Rusty flying parallel to the ground while running down a line drive headed towards the right field gap. Thanks Kenny, thanks Rusty. Did you remember that Jose Conseco hit 2 homeruns that night?

I’m kind of new to LSB but it does kind of feel like home. I don’t meet many Ranger fans where I live now, and I get a lot a smirks when I mention that I follow the team from Arlington. Oh wait, did I mention that I got kicked out of a Ranger game once? No? Well, I’ll save that story for another time…