A Ranger win on my birthday
by The Best Micah on Jul 21, 2008 8:38 PM CDT
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PrintMy weekend in Minneapolis
A few months ago, when I looked at the Rangers schedule, I was delighted to see they'd be in Minneapolis (just a four hour drive from my Iowa home) on my birthday. I never thought I'd be so excited to turn 28. Gas prices thwarted my earlier Minneapolis trip and also a trip to Kansas City, but I wasn't letting anything get in the way of this weekend. Here is a recap and a few photos.
Friday
Road construction extended my drive long enough to hear five innings of the Rangers/Twins game. It never really got completely out of hand, but Millwood didn’t sound too solid. Needless to say, I wasn’t surprised when I received a text later that let me know the Rangers had lost. I was surprised, however, that they were shut out. First time all year. I guess the Twins were just returning the favor from Padilla’s masterpiece in late April.
Walking through the Nicollet area with my friends that evening, I was wearing my Kinsler All-Star player tee. A few Twins fans came up behind me and asked me who Kinsler played for. They already knew the answer, but I didn’t know that so I answered. They gave me a hard time about their team’s victory that evening and about their boy Morneau’s show during the All-Star festivities.
THEM: Who won tonight?
ME: Yeah, well…you won’t win all of them.
THEM: We’ll see about that. Who won the Home Run Derby?
ME: Who hit the most home runs that night?
THEM: Doesn’t matter. Jason Morneau still won.
ME: Jason? Um, and you call yourselves fans.
THEM: It’s a joke among fans. And this guy’s from Canada, so he knows Jason Morneau.
ME: Yeah, well who drove in the winning run in the All-Star game?
THEM: Who scored the winning run in that game?
ME: Well, Morneau couldn’t have come home if Young hadn’t hit that sac fly.
THEM: Yeah, yeah, whatever.
They were nice about the whole thing. I honestly don’t mind taking heat from fans who are actually knowledgeable and aren’t jerks about it.
Saturday
My first Rangers game of the 2008 season. What a way to kick it off. A 14-2 loss. Yuck. Absolute yuck.
I arrived at the Metrodome in my Hamilton player tee just before 5 p.m. I had wanted to get there a little earlier, but road construction in Minneapolis is rampant thanks to the upcoming Republican National Convention. Ah well. I still caught the end of batting practice and got to chat with Shirley "The Cookie Lady" Kost for awhile while we watched our favorite boys warm up. I met Shirley three years ago in Texas and we’ve sort of stayed in touch ever since. I’ve run into her in Anaheim, Kansas City and Minneapolis so far. She’s a great Rangers fan, and I hope someday I am in a comfortable enough financial situation to follow them around like she does.
I also quickly realized I'd forgotten to load the battery in my camera. I was bummed and angry at myself at the time, but in hindsight, I'm not so sorry I am without photographic evidence of this massacre.
The game started, and, Matt Harrison got into trouble early. That Mauer home run just felt like the beginning of a long night. And it was. Well, it was a short night, but it sure felt long. The game was less than three hours long, but when you’re being tortured like I was, three hours can feel like much longer.
The one highlight, for me, was the Chris Davis two-run homer. His swing is so sweet. There was just no question about the hit as soon as it left the bat. Two guys next to me cheered, and I was confused since they were wearing Twins garb. The one quickly explained that Crush was on his fantasy team. I congratulated him on his good pick-up.
There isn’t much else to talk about regarding this game. It was hideous, but it couldn’t completely kill my excitement over my first game of the year. It was nice to finally see some of the new faces in person – Hamilton, Bradley, Boggs, Ramirez, etc. I got a nice wave from Hamilton (although he had just finished signing when I got there) and Frankie Francisco as well.
After the game, I met back up with my friends and we went and saw "The Dark Knight" at the imax theater. This is a little OT, but well worth a mention. Such an amazing movie. I don’t usually get into the superhero-type films, but this was just … wow. Heath Ledger was absolutely captivating. If he doesn’t at least get an Oscar nom, there’s something wrong with Hollywood.
Sunday
I turned the big 2-8 on Sunday, but my mind was on baseball already. After just a few hours of sleep, I was up and ready to get back to the Metrodome. I sincerely hoped my boys would give me the birthday gift of a win.
I arrived at the ‘dome around 11:30 a.m. unsure if the boys would take batting practice. But after their performance Saturday, I was happy to see they were swinging away. I noticed right away that Wash was tossing BP. Where’s Rudy? The outfielders had already hit, I guess, because Davis, Teagarden, Blalock and Saltalamacchia were the ones in the cage.
Only Salty and Feldman came over to sign autographs, and Salty was the only one I got to talk to. I really didn’t have anything for him to sign, so I just handed over my ticket. While he signed, I chatted him up a bit. Or at least tried to.
ME: Hey Jarrod.
SALTS: Hey there, how you doing?
ME: Good, good. How are you? Are you about ready to get out there again?
SALTS: I’m more than ready.
ME: Good to hear. I mean, I like Taylor and all, but I want to see more of what you can do.
SALTS: *smiles* Thanks, that’s nice to hear. Hopefully I’ll get out there again soon.
ME: Well, good luck the rest of the season.
SALTS: Thanks.
I also got a wave and a nod from Everyday Eddie. He is still quite well-known and heckled in Minnesota. You should have heard the folks around me when he came in to pitch the 8th. I wish I could remember what all they said, but it’s a blur now. And I’m getting ahead of myself anyway.
The Twins’ Baker looked amazing through five innings. I don’t know if his stuff was just working or if we were that off, or maybe it was a combination of the two. I was getting nervous that I would not only witness a loss on my birthday but that my Rangers would be the victims of a perfect game. I actually started uttering the cursed words in the fourth inning, hoping I could jinx it.
Thank goodness for Taylor Teagarden, who notched his first major league hit and home run in the same swing. I wanted to stand up and cheer, I was so excited for him (and, okay, for myself). But I restrained myself and just clapped from my seat. Especially since the Twins fans around me were groaning and telling the first base ump that had he not given Taylor an extra pitch (referring to a checked swing they thought was a full swing), the perfect game and shutout would be in check.
I was hoping the Rangers would get some more runs before the ninth inning arrived, but despite Joe Nathan's best attempts, they just couldn't do it. It was good to see our closer isn’t the only one who likes to put a few on the bases before getting that third out. Joe Nathan looked pretty shaky in his one inning of work. I prayed the boys would put a few more runs on the board before C.J. Wilson came in. I wasn’t really in the mood for Mr. Drama King. I didn’t want him to ruin my birthday. Fortunately, although he made things interesting, he didn’t spoil it. He got the save, the Rangers got the 1-0 win and my birthday was a happy one.
After the game, I was not yet ready to leave, so I lingered above the Rangers dugout. I watched Teagarden do his interview and then receive his home run ball. I was sure to congratulate him on his first HR/hit, and he grinned at me. Nice day for him.
Finally, I made my way out of the ‘dome and sadly left behind my Rangers for the weekend. My birthday ended with a free ticket to the Neil Diamond concert. The venue was sold out and Neil didn’t disappoint. He’s an amazing performer. No surprise, really. He hasn’t been doing this for three decades on accident.
This was the third out of my last four birthdays I've spent with the Rangers. I hope I can continue do this for years to come.
And now, for a few pictures...
Salty signs a few autographs.
Taylor stretches before the game.
Kinsler steps in to lead-off the game.
Chris Davis
Vicente Padilla
Michael Young
The view from my seat in Sec. 118, Row 7.
Kinsler tries to turn the DP.
Michael Young (I thought you all might have fun captioning this one.)
Kinsler drops the tag on Buscher as he's caught stealing.
A botched DP.
Padilla beats the Twins runner to the bag after Davis made a nice diving stop.
Taylor was all smiles after his HR!
Kinsler steals second.
CJ Wilson delivers.
Michael Young executes a strange play to get the out.
Kinsler and Boggs Bradley celebrate the win. (thanks for the correction, LAMF!)
High fives!!
via img.photobucket.com
Believe it or not, this is just a sampling of all the photos I took. You can see the rest of them here.
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Where's the pictures of hot chicks in the stands?
Stars in a Texas Night Sky, a Dallas Stars blog from a fan's perspective.
I decided
it would be too narcissistic to turn the camera on myself :)
Baseball Is My Boyfriend
"How about Hurley?" - Me
"Not my first choice...but I wouldn't look away." - RachelB
by The Best Micah on Jul 21, 2008 8:49 PM CDT up reply actions
hahaha
Milly I have no choice but to nickname you "The Laborer".
Every time I see you on the mound you're laboring through the inning.
You sure as hell don't labor when you hear Dunkin Donuts is closing in
15 minutes, sat there with a chocolate eclair with 5 minutes to spare.
good reply heh
"Do they know who I am? Do they know my status? Thats what I thought."
-Miles 6/21/08
.501 or bust!
Great stuff.
There is no such thing as global warming. David Murphy was cold, so he turned the sun up.
I wish the Rangers would win a game on my B-Day
If they did I know for sure we would win the World Series because my birthday is Oct. 29th.
Glad you had fun and saw a win.
"Would you mind walking a time or two so I could drive in some runs"? Milton Bradley
Good to see you had a good time in Minny
Nice job on the photos.
Classic iorange555: "lmao too bad i watched [the all-star game] at a friends house ;[ much funer on here"
Good stuff...
Love the pic of BGL. Damn that just looks painful and not natural when that left leg is straight up like that.
Not a bad pic of MY just standing there, but he’s not grabbing his crotch so -1.
"The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance."-Socrates
I tried to catch him doing the grab
but he might have been more stealth about it
Baseball Is My Boyfriend
"How about Hurley?" - Me
"Not my first choice...but I wouldn't look away." - RachelB
by The Best Micah on Jul 21, 2008 8:56 PM CDT up reply actions
that Salt is a good egg, he is...
what did you get him to sign? undergarments by any chance?
i suppose your conversation might have been a little more awkard had that happened.
Niiiiice
All I had was my ticket stub. I had forgotten the Rangers Yearbook I’d wanted signed, so I didn’t have much to work with. Undergarments would have been awkward with all the little kids around. Although maybe he would have been impressed with the size on the tag and I could have gotten somewhere :) Ha ha.
Baseball Is My Boyfriend
"How about Hurley?" - Me
"Not my first choice...but I wouldn't look away." - RachelB
by The Best Micah on Jul 22, 2008 12:17 AM CDT up reply actions
Oh come on...
It’ll be just between you and me ;-)
"This report of my death was an exaggeration"--Mark Twain
by rangerdanger on Jul 22, 2008 1:53 AM CDT up reply actions
great post
Kinsler is the best player on the rangers(done), BENOIT SUCKS(done), bring up Harrison(done),new: Put Nippert in rotation, Mendoza to the pen, get Feliz to AAA by the end of the year, trade cat
Thanks baseball boyfriend...
....for the mother of all fanposts.!!...This post is teeming with good stuff!!
Oh and happy belated birthday also!
Milly I have no choice but to nickname you "The Laborer".
Every time I see you on the mound you're laboring through the inning.
You sure as hell don't labor when you hear Dunkin Donuts is closing in
15 minutes, sat there with a chocolate eclair with 5 minutes to spare.
Good stuff...
...one of my favorite memories is taking my mother to Kansas City for a Ranger-Royals series over Memorial Day weekend 1996. There’s just something about seeing your favorite team on the road. I had a similarly great experience watching the Stars beat the Avalanche in McNichols Arena many years ago.
Physician: Primum non nocere
Batter: First, make no out
great post
the Rangers have never won on my birthday in their entire 37yr history…
Of course, my b-day is in January, but hey…
Grieve: The Yanks have struggled so far. - Lewin: Yeah, cry me a bag of money.
ElectricOkra.com
Haha
Yeah, it sucks having a B-Day in January. That’s when mine is, and it’s too close to Christmas, IMO.
my bday is July 9th turned 24
Ham’s walk off vs the stupid angels…best gift ever.
"The rich think they are privileged so rules don't apply to them, and the poor think they're entitled and so rules don't apply to them." The rest of us are screwed.
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