Josh Hamilton has no chance against Nolan Ryan

Under any normal circumstance a man who hit .285 with 31 doubles, 43 home runs and drove in 128 runs would be due a raise.

Under any normal circumstance a 31-year-old man who in five years has hit 142 home runs with 506 RBIs for the Texas Rangers would be in high demand from the home fans to stay here for another five years.

When the player in question is Josh Hamilton, it changes the demand completely.

Tonight at 7:30 the Rangers host the Orioles in the American League wildcard game in what could be Hamilton's final game with the team. After this dropped fly ball in Oakland in the season finale, Josh would be wise to go Roy Hobbs on this postseason to create a different final impression.

He is a free agent after the season, and he has made it zero secret he will go to the highest bidder.

Under any normal circumstance, fans would be lining up at Rangers Ballpark to keep Hamilton, to pay him whatever. The sentiment for the first time in forever, however, feels decidedly towards management to not go with the stupid money.

It speaks to the baggage and fear of keeping Hamilton on the roster.

It also speaks to the power and reputation of Rangers team president Nolan Ryan.

There is so much faith in this organization's ability to make the right decision regarding personnel that the team would let an All-Star walk in return for nothing and it will be greeted with a giant thumbs up.

People are going to side with Nolan before they do Josh.

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The Texas Rangers in the All-Star game were 1-for-9 with a 13.50 ERA

MLB's annual All-Star game was a bit of a bore, with the NL toying with Justin Verlander, etc.

The game was over in top of the first inning when the NL lead 5-0. So much for the Texas Rangers, or the AL, having home field advantage in the World Series.

The Rangers, collectively, were about as good as the rest of their AL teammates.

Batting
Ian Kinsler, 0-for-2. 0-for-1 with runners in scoring position
Josh Hamilton, 0-for-2. Grounded into one double play
Adrian Beltre, 0-for-2
Elvis Andrus, 0-for-1
Mike Napoli, 1-for-2. 1 strikeout

Pitching
Joe Nathan 1 ip. 8 pitches, 7 strikes
Matt Harrison 1 ip. 4 hits, 3 runs, 1 HR

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Who plays Josh Hamilton in the movie about his life?

Exactly who Ben Affleck's little brother casts to play the part of Josh Hamilton is a mystery, but Casey Affleck is reportedly going to make a movie about the life of the Texas Rangers outfielder.

According to this report on Deadline.com, this is happening.

Hamilton signed off and entrusted his "screen" rights to producer Basil Iwanyk and Thunder Road Pictures. Both he and his wife Katie will serve as co-producers.

The movie is slated to be written by Casey Affleck, who was in the movie "Gone Baby Gone", "American Pie 2", and directed the wretched documentary "I'm Still Here" about Joaquin Phoenix's deliberate freak out.

The question is not whether Hamilton's life story is worthy of a movie but whether it can be executed as solid, feature-length film. Sports movies are notoriously difficult to make well, one of the primary reasons being because the actors themselves aren't athletic enough to pull off the "action" scenes.

Finding the right actor to play Hamilton may be the hardest part. Not many men on this earth are put together like Josh Hamilton.

* Adam Sandler would be funny, primarily because this would mean the movie is going to be a spoof of Josh's life. That would make for better theater.
* Someone suggested Mark Wahlberg, but he stands, like, 5-6.
* Channing Tatum. Dude is in seriously good shape.
* Mac Engel. Physically, the similarities are many. The problem is going to be the hair; I have a better 'do.
* Matt Damon. Again with the height thing.

Then there will be the matter of the Hollywood happy ending; the way things are going these days that will be Hamilton at a press conference with his agent and a player union rep as he signs to a 10-year, $300 million contract with Magic Johnson's L.A. Dodgers.

 

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The Texas Rangers to interleague play returns; does it do it for you any more?

The lead for the Texas Rangers in the AL West is down to four games. They now begin a series in San Francisco against the Giants in a "re-match" of the World Series from two years ago.

This is the first of five consecutive inter-league series for your Rangers.

June 8 - 10: at SF
June 12 - 14: v. Arizona
June 15 - 17: v. Houston
June 18 - 20: at SD
June 22 - 24: Colorado

Do any of these series do anything for you?

Inter-league play was created to inject some interest into the game, and put some extra butts in seats in the hot months. What was first a cute novelty has now become an accepted portion of the schedule. The novelty is gone, and the purists who once complained about this break from tradition are no more.

Your interest level goes up based on the proximity of the opponent - LA v. Ana; SF vs. Oak.; Balt vs. Wash; Chi v. Chi; NY vs. NY; Houston v. Texas; Stl. vs. KC - or if the team has a bonafide star that never visits your town.

The interest level is a series by series, and team by team. 

It's no longer a question of whether it works because it's not going away. 

 

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Video: Galloway & Big Mac ponder the panic button for the Texas Rangers

 

 

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Josh Hamilton's projected numbers are science fiction

UPDATE: Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton hit two more homeruns on Friday night, and another on Saturday afternoon.

For the season he is hitting .402 with 18 HR and 41 RBI. All three figures lead Major League Baseball. By a lot.

The next closest average to Hamilton is David Wright of the Mets at .372.
The next highest HR figure to Hamilton is Carlos Beltran of the Cardinals with 12.
The next closest RBI figure to Hamilton is Andre Ethier of the Dodgers with 32. 

Now here is the really fun part, Hamilton's projected 162 game total is: .402 with 86 home runs and 195 RBI.

Pretty sure that would lock up The Triple Crown.

So why again is he sliding into first base head first?

 

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Video of Josh Hamilton's 4 HR & former TCU star pitcher's tie to the memorable night

Worth a look ...

 

Former TCU pitcher Jake Arrieta began the season as the Opening Day starter for the Baltimore Orioles in what will likely be his third full Major League season.

Things had been going pretty well for Arrieta until he served up a pair of two-run home runs to Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton on that ticket-stub saving night.

Before Tuesday night, Arrieta was 2-2 with a 3.52 ERA for the AL East leading Orioles. After Tuesday night, he is 2-3 with a 4.23 ERA.

Arrieta told The Baltimore Sun, "It was the first time I've ever seen anything like that. Very special hitter."

He added: "He's the kind of guy who really likes to jump on the first pitch, and we know that as a staff. I think it was just [that] we did him a favor by throwing him too many hittable pitches. He didn't miss tonight. You got to tip your cap to him, but we got to do a better job -- me especially -- making better pitches early in the count to him."

 

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Holy stupid - why were the Baltimore Orioles pitching to Josh Hamilton after his 3rd HR?

Baltimore Orioles manager Buck Showalter is a fine manager, but why in God's name was he bothering to pitch to Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton after his second home run of the night on Tuesday? 

After former TCU pitcher Jake Arrieta allowed Hamilton's second HR of the evening, it was time to just white flag any more ABs for Josh. Not for Buck.

Perhaps he learned his lesson when he issued an intentional walk to Barry Bonds, with the bases loaded.

Hamilton's line: 5-for-5, 4 runs, 8 rbi, 4 HR
His 18 total bases are a new American League record. 

"I've always wanted to hit three in one game," Hamilton told Fox Sports Southwest immediately after the game. 

Hamilton is now batting .406 with 14 HR and 36 RBI. He is on pace to hit 76 HR with 194 RBI; that would be a really, really good year.

Here is Josh's at bat breakdown on Tuesday night:

1st inning
With Elvis Andrus on after a walk, Hamilton homered to center.

3rd inning
With Andrus on after a two-out bunt, Hamilton homered to left.

5th inning
Hamilton doubled to deep right; BOOOORING!

7th inning
With Andrus on after a single, Hamilton homered to center.

8th inning
With Andrus on via a fielder's choice, Hamilton homered to center. 

It was the 16th four HR game in major league history.

A tip of the cap to Josh, and to Buck.

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The Dallas Cowboys drafted the rare NFL breed - the white defensive back

IRVING - Two things drive The Internet Machine: Pictures of girls, and race.

I made that up but it sounds good. In honor of FoxSports.com columnist Jason Whitlock, here is some raw data I researched about the number of white dudes playing defensive back in the NFL.

There are no white cornerbacks in the NFL. You likely already knew that.
How many white dudes would you guess play safety in the NFL? 

a.) About 10
b.) About 15
c.) About 25 
d.) $1, Bob (This is a Price is Right joke)

If you said "C, about 25" you would be correct.

Because NFL rosters are not set, this number is reflective of depth charts that do not include many of the offseason changes teams made. A hard figure won't be known until Week 1 when 53-man rosters are finalized.

In the 2012 NFL draft, your Dallas Cowboys professional football team selected this rare breed in Eastern Washington safety Matt Johnson. The guy was an INT machine in college with 17 picks.

"There are a lot of guys, obviously, I'd try to pattern my game after - Ed Reed, obviously," Johnson said. "Troy Polamalu. I really didn't model my game after them but I admired them."

Since it is mathematically impossible not to compare and contrast one pro jock to another, it's always funny to hear how these debates also must be aligned by race as well.

Dirk Nowitzki isn't Scottie Pippen but Larry Bird.

Josh Hamilton is Mickey Mantle, not Willie Mays.

Steve Nash is Bob Cousy, not Jo Jo White.

This means Matt Johnson can't be Ed Reed; he must be a John Lynch type.

"I liked watching John Lynch, too. Jim Leonhard is another one," Johnson said. "I just studied the game and tried to pick up as many things from a lot of different players."

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A chat with former Texas Rangers Josh Lewin on his book, Tom Hicks & Game 6

Josh Lewin was hired by the Rangers as their TV play by play man in 2001. He did it for 10 seasons before there was a mutual agreement to part ways. 

Lewin briefly had a sports radio talk show at 105.3 The Fan in Dallas before he returned to the baseball play by play gig, this time with the New York Mets on radio.

He is also the radio voice of the San Diego Chargers.

Lewin recently published a new book, "Ballgame! A decade covering the Texas Rangers from the best seat in the house".

Click here for its Amazon.com page.

He recently joined me to talk about his time with the Rangers, the legacy of former team owner Tom Hicks, and his book.

The Big Mac Blog: When you joined the Rangers people didn't like you, then you left and people missed you. Did you finally feel like you fit in?
Josh Lewin: It had that arc to it, didn't it? When you are the new guy you are upsetting the apple cart. I tell people all the time you have to be yourself. I kept doing what it is I do and thankfully enough people seemed to identify with it after a while which is great. That’s just the industry. Towards the end of my time there when the Rangers made it clear what they deemed to be philosophically correct wasn’t what I thought philosophically correct. I don’t think they were wrong. It was just agree to disagree.

The Big Mac Blog: What is that philosophy?
Josh Lewin: I think (the Rangers) value the game; the game is always the same and less is more and announcers are there to steer and to be more of a talking book mark than something than that would agitate in some way. That is fine. I felt like that when it's 3-3 in the eighth; when it's 10-2 in the third, that's different. That is my MO. I played it like Rusty Greer: I was all out and all over the place. They wanted a long strider

The Big Mac Blog: Regarding your book - When did you think the Rangers were in a place where they were going to be able to compete and not just be another Royals or Pirates?
Josh Lewin: Once it became apparent the value on the Mark Teixeira deal was amazing. They had shifted away from Chan Ho Park but they had begun to fill the farm system not just quantity but quality. When we saw that Neftali Feliz had something, that Elvis Andrus was the real deal and that maybe Matt Harrison was going to be able to do it it became apparent they had something to build on.

The Big Mac Blog: You and I may be in the minority but I've always thought Tom Hicks did some good things for this franchise with the decision to bottom out and take the long road; do you think that decision is erased by the way it ended?
Josh Lewin: I’m disappointed and saddened Tom’s legacy is what it is. I saw a guy who cared to a fault and was very decent who had every good intention every step of the way. The fact that it didn’t work on his watch is a shame. The success he had with the Dallas Stars right away fogged his glasses. He was the one who wanted me in and he agreed, and I’m not saying I’m right, but the games are supposed to have a certain cache. It’s supposed to be fun and exciting and irreverence is OK every once in a while as long as it's done in moderation.

The Big Mac Blog: You weren't with the team but what was your reaction to Game 6 of the 2011 World Series?
Josh Lewin: I was crushed like everybody, and most crushed for my kids.  We were in the living room watching. We were watching that ball going to right field, and hearing the anguish from my kids I am sure it was the same in every bar. I’m a fan, and it was devastating. I'll always be a Rangers fan. 

The Big Mac Blog: How is the new gig treating you?
Josh Lewin: It's great. The Mets were a franchise I grew up having growing up in New York. I had a connection to this team. It's a franchise that is OK with a pop culture reference. I'm really not judgemental or bitter about (leaving Texas) at all. It’s just wisdom. This is who I am and here is they are and step back and ask is this a good fit? It wasn't. I’m a total convert on that concept of fit. Be who you are and surround yourself with people who think that is cool. That's it.

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