Date: Thursday, August 24th, 2017
Record: 63-63
Opponent: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (65-62)
Starters: Martin Perez (8-10, 5.26) vs. Troy Scribner (2-0 3.46)
The Rangers won last night, a 7-5 nailbiter that required two Adrian Beltre leadoff home runs, a Robinson Chirinos home run, and a good chunk of the Rangers 2010 draft / 2010-11 offseason dealings to settle. When it was all said and done, Tony Barnette had his 98th save (though 97 of those were in Japan) and the Rangers were back at .500 for about the millionth time this season, and back to within two games of the second Wild Card spot. Please, Martin Perez, break this glass ceiling.
Additionally, in this Daily, the Rangers held the most unnecessary press conference ever, we know the PTBNL for Jonathan Lucroy, Jake Diekman pitched another perfect inning, and I found some fun videos for you to watch. It’s the August 24th Baseball Texas Daily!
BASEBALL STUFF
1. The Name Game
Yesterday evening, word began to creep out that the new ballpark name was going to be unveiled soon. Would Southwest Airlines finally step up and give us the only logical corporate-sponsored ballpark nickname? Would it be something heinous like “Bank of America Field at Geico Stadium, presented by Yellawood, an Ameriquest Project”? Or could it at least be something hilarious like “Dale’s Bail Bonds Stadium: Field Runners Get Half Off”? Perhaps it would be something ironic like “DART Park: Naming a stadium was the only way we were allowed in Arlington!”
Were I in charge, I’d tell you that Beltre Ballpark has a nice ring to it (STOP-- before you even think it: no Beltre / ring jokes, or I will kick you out of this article right now).
Anyway, word soon broke that Twitter would get about 15 hours to get all their jokes out, and then the Rangers would be holding a press conference at 11am today (ignoring the fact that I was up until about 3am [thanks, West Coast baseball]) to announce the new name.
Aaaaaaand...
The big unveil pic.twitter.com/hGchzbsubT
— Jared Sandler (@SandlerJ) August 24, 2017
That’s it. Goodbye, Globe Life Park, Hello Globe Life Field. Thank you all for taking time out of your day to come see this white sign with GLOBE LIFE FIELD written on it in blue Apple Symbols all-caps font. No really, that's it. Go home.
It’s not that Globe Life Field is a bad name. I didn’t like the Globe Life Park name when it was announced, but we’re all used to it by now, and at least it’s not Guaranteed Rate Field or O.co, or Smoothie King Center or (this is not made up) the KFC Yum! Center. It could be much worse.
I just don’t understand the buildup and the press conference to announce it via generic posterboard. Anyway, I slept through the press conference because of the West Coast baseball, so I don’t know why I’m complaining.
Anyway, please come back tomorrow, when we will be holding a press conference to announce the new color that the grass (or possibly turf) will be in the new park.
What? No, it’s not just-- okay fine, yes, it’s green.
2. Pedro Gonzalez is a name to learn: he’s the Player who was Named Later in the Jonathan Lucroy trade. Gonzalez will be assigned to Spokane, so he’s still a ways off from playing in Globe Life Whatever, but by all accounts, it’s not a bad return for a catcher that the Rangers were looking to unload anyway.
Lucroy never seemed fractious or moody in the Rangers clubhouse this year, but since his departure, he has made a few comments that make it obvious that it was time for he and the Rangers to part ways.
As far as PTBNLs go, Gonzalez, an outfielder, seems like a good get. He’s not just an organization guy, but a legit prospect, according to people who deal in the world of who’s a prospect and who isn’t. He received a $1.3m signing bonus when he joined the Rockies organization, and MLB.com had him ranked as Colorado’s #14 prospect this season. He was hitting .321 with a .906 OPS for Grand Junction. Spokane’s season is nearly over, so it will be interesting to see where Gonzalez finishes his 2017 journey.
3. Jake Diekman threw another perfect inning of relief in his third rehab appearance. He was scheduled to throw 25 pitches, but needed just 13 to dispense with the three San Antonio batters he faced. He struck out two, and finished his night by throwing the rest of his pitches in the bullpen.
4. It’s a pretty slow news day, so if you need something to entertain you, here are some videos by SBNation’s Jon Bois, who corrals his particular brand of weirdness with some amazing research in his “Chart Party” series. Here are the three I watched this afternoon before forcing myself to stop watching videos and write up a Daily.
My favorite worst baseball player (Jeff Francoer alert!)
My brain cannot fathom what it must feel like to create something so original and inventive. (And if you have an entire day to kill, his 17776 football series is an opus of surreal philosophy and bizarre storytelling. I love it.)
5. UPDATE: As far as baseball fights go, there was a pretty good one between the Tigers and the Yankees today; Miguel Cabrera and Austin Romine threw real punches and ended up tussling on the ground. You can see those highlights here or you can wait 20 minutes for MLB to get it up on their site.
NOW LISTENING
“One Wild Life: Spirit” by Gungor is my go-to record when I need some optimism in my life. It’s part of a three-album series (the other two are “Soul” and “Body”); it’s not filled with a bunch of empty platitudes, but is instead a thinking record that also manages to be happy. That’s quite an accomplishment.
(Spotify, Apple Music, Website)
During the regular season, these recommendations occasionally come from Rangers players, broadcasters, or other people around the team (here’s a complete list). If there’s a player or person you’d like Levi to ask for a music recommendation, shoot him an e-mail threetwoeephus@gmail.com or a tweet here.
You can follow Levi Weaver on Twitter at @ThreeTwoEephus, or for fewer puns and more straight-forward Baseball News updates, you can follow us at @BaseballTX, or download the app and get in-game updates and notifications by clicking on the logo below!
