Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Rangers Spring Training But Are Too Afraid To Ask

Do you have a trip planned to Surprise, AZ for Rangers Spring Training? Wondering about the Rangers schedule? How to meet players? Where to stay, eat and play?

So many questions! I got your answers.

Check out "Everything You Wanted To Know About Rangers Spring Training But Were Too Afraid To Ask Hangout".

I cover anything and everything Rangers Spring Training.

Press PLAY to watch the Hangout HERE

How To Watch The Hangout
There two ways to watch the hangout:

1. Click THIS link to watch on YouTube. 
2. Simply watch from the video box in the blog post.

Click HERE to download my Rangers Spring Training cheat sheet featured in the video.

Shop My Rangers Spring Training Essentials

Good News Happens. Here is Proof.

From the tragedy in Boston to the awful explosion in West, TX, it has been one story after another dominating the headlines, the conversation in the lines at Starbucks and more this week.

But in a week that wreaked havoc on our emotions, good things happened.  I asked you to share some good news and, friends, you didn't disappoint. 

Just read what an awesome week you had.  If the past few days taught us anything, it's that our time is precious.  Let's enjoy every minute of it.

Hope you smile at some of these wonderful photos, fabulous stories and brilliant musings from a four-year-old you shared with me on Twitter. 

I sure did.

Patrick Lopez: ‏ heard our babys heart beat and sonogram picture for the first time today!

‏Becky Crist:  I'm gonna be a grand mother for the first time! Yea!

Linda Dietz: Helped a client basically pro bono. My heart needed that this week.

Bill Holcomb‏ No picture, but my daughter, Michelle Blanton, is celebrating 2 years cancer free on Saturday!

Janice Carter I personally had a good week. My family and friends are safe and well, and I'm grateful!!

Shoes:‏ father/daughter dance tomorrow!! Pow

Jay Davis‏:  My four-year-old told me yesterday that chickens dont wear socks

A number of you shared the video of a cat playing with the vacuum.  It will have you peeing-in-your-pants laughing.

Another great tweet I received from a friend showed a picture of her at the Rangers home opener playing hooky from work with a friend.  To protect the privacy of all parties involved, I'm keeping that pic to myself.

Nathan McLain This photo of our dog, Otis, is always good for cheering me up.

 

Matt Craig ‏ Hawaiian day at my kid’s school.

Sean Stacey‏  First trip to Wrigley!

 

The fabulous  Emily Jones shared a picture of my daughter's future husband, her son Henry.  Arranged marriages are alive and well in DFW sports! 

Sarah Powers  Here's my little Ranger fan. She thinks today's loss was ruff.

Maffew. BABY

Daniel Nash‏   baby girls making their first brownie

M. Hob‏ Here's my girls having fun with their theatrical makeup class at quad c....does this count? Have a great day!

Darla Gardner and her dog, Joey, couldn't wait to watch the Rangers/Cubs game

Gilbert Padilla rocked a Star Wars convention

And, finally, this gem from TankPuncher:
We won 7 games in a row on NHL 13 on Xbox. Sorry that's about the best news I have for ya.

What To Do In Chicago

The Cubs.  The Rangers.  Wrigley Field.

Just typing those words makes me feel better.  In the wake of Monday's events in Boston, a sense of ceremony and the opportunity to take the mind off enormous tragedy is comforting. 

The thought of travel, sports and American traditions does that for me.  I hope this can be just a brief respite for you, as well.

The Rangers begin Interleague play Tuesday against the Cubs in Chicago.  It's their first visit to Wrigley Field since 2002.   Texas returns to play the White Sox in August 23-25th.

Chicago is one of the best cities in America of which I haven't experienced enough.  I spent a weekend there during the famed Chicago Air and Water Show.  What a sight to see planes flying over Lake Michigan with the beautiful downtown skyline as a backdrop.

Sofitel.com

My husband and I stayed at the gorgeous Hotel Sofitel Chicago Water Tower, located in the heart of the Gold Coast.  It was a great, stylish base for exploring the city on foot.  This French-owned chain always has deals on rooms.  Check its website, Travelzoo or any of your other favorite travel-related sites.

My friend, Bryan Dolgin, is a Chicago guy.  He was the White Sox radio pregame and postgame show host in 2005.  He later served the Rangers in the same capacity for three seasons.  He has some great tips if you're interested in visiting the Windy City this year for a baseball game or quick getaway.  I second his suggestion on Gibson's Steakhouse.  It's a classic.

Here are Bryan's suggestions:

Inspired by the Rangers Road Trip to Seattle? Here are Great Places to Eat, Stay, Play and More!

It is one of the most beautiful, delectable and exciting U.S. cities you can visit.  If you have the chance to visit Seattle, do it.  It's a trip you will always recall fondly.  Plus, if you're a Gen-X Pearl Jam lover like me, it will help you re-live your early 90's grunge spirit.

View of Pike Place from Matt's in the Market

I have been there twice for Rangers baseball coverage, twice for Cowboys games, twice on my own for vacation and once as a pit stop en route to the beautiful San Juan Islands.

Driftwood on Orcas Island

If you're heading that way for a baseball or football game, stay downtown.  Both Safeco Field and Century Link Field are within walking distance of most downtown hotels.  You could easily take a cab if it's too far for you.  It shouldn't cost more than 10 bucks.

Here are some of my recommended spots and activities gathered over a decade of visits.

Where to Eat, Sleep and Play if You're Headed to Houston for the Rangers/Astros Series

Visiting Houston this week or sometime this season to check out the Rangers take on the Astros?  Not quite sure where to stay and what to hit while you’re there?  Fear not!  I have you covered.  Enjoying yourself on a road trip is as much of a sport as is the game itself.  For details on our recent trip to the Bayou City, which included a fan crashing my live shot and hard press box meat, check out my diary of your dream job.

Houston is a tough city.  If you make your base “outside the loop” or outside Loop 610, you will wind up miserable, stuck in traffic and be relinquished to chain dining hotel and restaurant hell.  If you stay "inside the loop", in Midtown, Montrose, in West University or near River Oaks you will discover the wonderful diversions that made my four college years there some of the most fun I've ever had.

This is a bit female-focused but if you're a guy taking your Sig O with you, you'll score big points by trying some of these suggestions.

It Was Only a Matter of Time: The Starbucks Diet

Jared Fogle dropped 245 pounds eating Subway sandwiches in the 90's.  Some random chick lost weight eating only Taco Bell drive thru fare.  Now a 68-year old Virginia librarian claims she has lost 85 pounds over the past two years getting her meals from Starbucks.

Here is a sample of Christine Hall's daily diet.  

She usually starts the day with oatmeal and a black coffee (140 calories)  while her lunch and dinners consists of either a bistro box - a selection of cheese, bread and meats - or a panini which  total around 220-460 calories.

Rangers Better in 2012? Nolan Ryan Thinks So

He is truly EF Hutton.  When the Rangers president and CEO talks, we all listen.  At least that was the case when he met the spring training media throng in a tiny, hot tent Wednesday afternoon.

"I think we’re a better ball club," Ryan responded when asked to compare the 2012 Rangers to the 2011 unit that went to the World Series for the second straight year.

Ryan didn't need to be prodded to explain his reasoning.

"If you ask me why I think we’re a better ball club going into spring training in 2012?  We’re a stronger club than we’ve ever been because  of our young pitching and the number of innings they’ve logged and the success they’ve had getting a feel for what their durability is."

It's not just the young guys that give him such optimism. 

"We have a nucleus of guys, position players, that play every day and play hard," he continued.  "We have what I call established veterans on the ball club that aren’t at the end of their careers.  Their in the peak of their careers. "

"You can kind of go around the ball club and you look at Josh (Hamilton) and you look at Adrian (Beltre) and you look at Ian (Kinsler) and you look at Michael (Young), Nellie (Cruz).  That’s a nucleus of a ballclub that’s not yet growing old."

"The biggest thing you say, 'what would you like to see?'  Less time on DL.  When you look at what happened with our club last year and we did it key people spending time on the DL.  If we can narrow the amount of time those folks spend on the DL, it increases the opportunity for us to be an even better ball club."

I don't need to remind you how last season ended.  The only way to improve on 2011?  Go to the World Series and win in 2012.  Easier said than done.

Rangers Pitcher Tommy Hunter Hunting for a Job and a Healthy Spring Training

There are few people in the Rangers clubhouse who will make you laugh harder than pitcher Tommy Hunter.  I'm not even going to try to quote him in that regard.  I wouldn't do it justice.  Just trust me.  The man has a career in comedy or tv once he's done with baseball. 

But what's impressive is that he's serious when it comes to his job.  He realized that despite starting 2010 8-0 and posting a 2.31 ERA he was inconsistent.  He went 5-4 in his last 12 starts with an ERA of more than 5.  Then there was the postseason.  Three starts.  0-2 record, 5.56 ERA.   He understands that's not good enough, even bringing it up himself in a conversation Friday morning before the Rangers workout.

"I wouldn't mind going back to the World Series, changing some perspectives about, I guess, myself and the post season," he said.  "I would love to have another chance to do that.  It didn't end on a note I wanted to, personally or as a team."

Hunter is also cool with competing for a spot in the starting rotation, despite having a job in the rotation last season.  In fact, he welcomes the chance to compete, which Rangers manager Ron Washington has said he will have to do. 

"You can't be complacent with what you did last year you," he says, doing his best self-help guru impression.   "You can't be satisfied.  That's life, do better than what you did the year before."

Another big goal is to simply leave Surprise, AZ healthy.  He was injured coming out of Spring Training the last two years.

"Being there opening day is going to be a goal of mine.  The last two years, I wasn't able to get out.  I had a groin (in 2009) and then my oblique last year, so staying healthy and having a job, those are the goals right now."

Why Cliff Lee is Forcing My 88-Year Old Neighbor to Drink More Scotch

The question “What will Cliff Lee do?” is on your mind, my mind and especially my fabulous 88-year old neighbor Frances' mind. (you MUST read the story the Dallas Morning News did on her during the MLB playoffs, click the link).  Every time she takes her four-pound yorkie Molly out for a walk, Frances stops by my place to ask if I have any updates on Cliff Lee.  I don't know what Lee's doing but I do have a little something from the Rangers.

I talked to CEO Chuck Greenberg on Friday.  He, of course, was part of a contingency that included assistant general manager Thad Levine and co-chairman of the board Ray Davis who visited with Lee, his wife Kristen and agent on Thursday at Lee’s home in Arkansas.

Greenberg wouldn’t divulge much other than to say they presented Lee with a complex menu of options.  I got the impression the Rangers weren't interested in a long term deal a la the Yankees seven year offer. Greenberg indicated that the Rangers would prefer to do a shortER term deal.  But when it's all over, what he indicates doesn't mean a dang thing.  It's all about what Lee agrees to do.

I could continue but you can watch the interview for yourself here.

Enjoy.

Fenway Park Fun in Photos

View looking up to the press box from the camera well next to the Rangers dugout.

From fighting through hour-long rain delays that forced fans to jam-pack into the concourse to learning the significance of the red seat in right field, we did Fenway Park.  I didn't know quite what to expect.  It blew me away.

The structure is old and dated, yet its history is unmistakable and it possesses a charm that no amount of money can buy.  Here are a few of our photographic highlights, taken with the crappiest cell phone camera HTC makes.   Have to dedicate these pics to my friend, Andrea Bohnen.  She's a ginormous Red Sox fan and would have rocked the experience much more than me.

All the pics after the jump.  Enjoy!!!!!

Fenway Fun

Rangers Thursday Workout

Rumor has it that the first time Roger Clemens arrived at Fenway Park in a cab in 1984, he thought the cab driver made a mistake.  I can see why.  On a non-gameday, Fenway could look like something you'd see in an urban warehouse district. 

"The cab ride in is always fun," said Michael Young.  "You have a ball park pop up in the middle of the neighborhood."

This is my first trip here and I am digging it.  I've been to some minor league ballparks that are nicer than these hallowed grounds.  That being the case, it's an almost refreshing change from the MEGA-BILLION-MONOLITHIC-STADIUMS/BALLPARKS-ON-STEROIDS.  Fenway doesn't scream at you from a highway.  It just sort of invites you to come hang out and enjoy a game. 

Rangers Dugout Looking out to Green Monster

David Murphy played his first major league game here with the Red Sox and still thinks coming to Boston is cool.  "Everybody's going to the new expensive ballparks which are nice but to step in the batter's box on the field where so many incredible players have played and a lot of big games have been played it's just, as a baseball player, you find that special."

The Red Sox have spent more than $100 million dollars adding seats and upgrading the park but according to many Rangers perhaps the best improvement has nothing to do with aesthetics.  Well, at least visual ones.  I'd heard that Fenway sometimes stuck with you after you left.  Kind of like the stench of a smoky bar that lingers on your clothes for a few days. 

One Ranger, who shall remain nameless, mentioned to me that the vile, etched-in-the-concrete smell of  urine/beer is gone. 

 "It feels different because they changed the tunnel from the dugout to the clubhouse," Josh Hamilton told me.  When I asked him if it smelled better he smiled and said "Much!"

How The Cliff Lee Trade Unfolded in the Rangers Clubhouse

The timeline of the Rangers/Mariners trade was fascinating.  Watching this franchise-defining moment develop in the clubhouse was even better.

The Rangers clubhouse opens to the media at 3:35 before a 7:05 game.  Our first order of business is to check the lineup posted on the wall.  I noticed Joaquin Arias was playing first base instead of Justin Smoak.  Not unusual but interesting.

Manager Ron Washington typically does his media interviews shortly after we get in but not on Friday.  While we were waiting for Washington, we got some interviews with pitcher Matt Harrison, who was scheduled to start on Saturday, and Michael Young.

About 10 minutes later, still no call from Rangers PR man John Blake to talk to Washington.  Very curious.  Around that time, our ears are straining to try to hear anything being whispered.  Blackberries are working overtime with some of us, me mostly, overtweeting.  I sent the following around 3:50-ish or so, knowing something was going down: interesting day in rangers clubhouse. #anythingcanhappen. #fb

Neftali Prays to Higher Power

That would be Rangers power hitter Vlad Guerrero.

Shortstop Elvis Andrus gamely served as my interpreter while I chatted with Felix about his seventh save in eight tries.  Feliz struck out two of the three batters he faced in the ninth inning to secure the Rangers 13-12 win over Kansas City on Thursday. 

I asked the just-turned-22-year old what goes through his head when he's out there.  He said he tries to simplify everything and just get outs.  Generic enough.

Then he made me smile when he mentioned he was praying that either Guerrero or Josh Hamilton would get a hit.  By now you know they did more than that in the top of the ninth.  They hit back to back home runs, Hamilton to tie the game and Guerrero with the go-ahead.

Guerrero is killing it now, especially in Arlington.  He's currently batting .453 at home, the highest home average in the A.L.  His .407 all-time mark in Arlington is the highest among any player, at any park.

Btw, I am so disappointed in my attempts at Spanish.  It's painfully bad.  Open to any and all suggestions.  I do Pimsleur on the Ipod.  Haven't broken down & gotten Rosetta Stone.