Rangers Fan Fest (part two)

Saturday was Texas Rangers Fan Fest and despite the cold a number of fans were there taking part in the festivities. Yesterday, I shared my notes from the first Q&A session with Ron Washington (mixed in with some of the vibe and comments from the whole day). Today is a brief summary of the highlights from each of the other Q&A sessions I attended, including Nolan Ryan, Josh Hamilton, Michael Young, Clint Hurdle, Jim Sundberg and Jon Daniels (fairly lengthy, but broken up by session so read the ones that interest you most).

With Nolan Ryan, you probably either love to listen to him or hate to listen to him tell stories. He’s probably my all-time favorite pitcher and I love hearing him talk. Most of what he said we’ve all heard him say in recent days with regards to the new ownership. He did talk a bit about minor league affiliation hinting that Round Rock could become the Triple-A affiliate (we’ll look at that decision later this year), but he said Frisco is not likely to change (because convenient to send players over for rehab, etc.) meaning that the Corpus Christi Double-A team that he owns is unlikely to become a Ranger affiliate. He did not comment much on Greenberg’s Myrtle Beach High-A team (rumored to be a potential replacement for Bakersfield) other than to say any discussion on that team would involve Greenberg’s other partners (I took that to mean it’s not a slam dunk decision). I enjoyed hearing Nolan talk about his competitive attitude on the mound (in uniform) and how he had two different personalities, one when he was in uniform and his normal personality. I think having some of that attitude rub off on the team, especially the pitchers, can be nothing but good.

Josh Hamilton talked about last year and how once he got injured things just snowballed. He tried to make up for lost time by being more aggressive at the plate and that just made things worse. He also said he learned last year that he has to learn to play smarter in the field. His wife told him that if he runs into a wall again then there will be an angry woman running on to the field after him with a bat. Hamilton seemed a little unsure about playing left field, talking about how it will be different for him, feeling for the wall with his other hand. It is kind of strange to me to have a left handed left fielder and I thought when this move came it would be Cruz shifting to left. It will be interesting to see how it works out. There were tons of kids at this one so Josh spent a lot of time answering their questions which was really cool for those kids (the kids all got to sit on the floor at the front of the theatre, basically under his feet). As he was leaving he said, “don’t tell me to stop swinging at balls, trust me I know.”

I almost didn’t stay for Michael Young because in the past his answers have been very predictable. I was glad I stayed, because he told one of the greatest prank stories I have ever heard… but I can’t retell it here because he wants it to remain a secret a while longer. He admitted that he came back from his injury too soon in September, but he couldn’t just stand by as the Angels were pulling away. Young is excited to have Vlad in the lineup (partly to get him away from the Angels), and just very excited in general about the team… he’s always try to “play it down” the middle in the past (when discussing how the team will do), but this team is good enough to win it and they know it. He also addressed the team’s approach at the plate. He attributed part of it to generally being a young team, but he also said the entire team is working hard to have a better approach at the plate and play “team baseball”. When asked how Vladimir Guerrero might affect the team’s approach, Young said everyone else will be working on their approach, with Guerrero, they just ask him to do what he always does, “see that white thing coming at you? Hit it.” I have always felt like Young pretty much answers by the book, but he really seems different this year, genuinely excited for the season to start.

The first thing you’ll notice about Clint Hurdle is that he is loud. Michael Young had even commented on this in his Q&A (feigning holding the phone away from his ear as he described his first conversation with his new batting coach), but until I was in the room with Hurdle I did not realize what he meant. I only saw the last few minutes of Hurdle, but picked up a couple key themes. He wants to do things different… for instance in the video room, guys are used looking at themselves when they face a pitcher, he wants them to spend more time looking at the pitcher (head on video where possible just like they would be looking at the pitcher as they batted) so that they can pick up things to look for while at the play (ways a pitcher might give away the pitch). He also wants them to spend time in practice hitting tough pitches. To that end, he has brought in a machine he used in Colorado that can throw/spin any kind of pitch to simulate different pitchers they will face. He says the tendency is to want to have a “feel good” batting practice (hitting easy stuff, build confidence) but he wants them to practice “hard” so that playing the game is “easy”. Hurdle has plenty of charisma (displaying some self deprecating humor in talking about the reason he played outfield was because he could not field a grounder) and it is hard to imagine the players won’t get along with him.

Jim Sundberg was there to talk catching (“catching clinic”) so most of the questions were geared toward how to play the position. Even when the talk turned more general there really wasn’t much talk about the Rangers current group of catchers. Sundberg did tell the story of how he learned the secret of Gaylord Perry’s “spit” ball… errr rather, super sinker as Perry called it. He did catch for Perry, but it wasn’t from behind the plate that Sundberg figured out how he was doctoring the ball. Instead, he was sitting on the bench and noticed that Perry had on his warmup jacket. Since it was about 105 degrees, Sunny thought this was odd taking note that not only was Perry wearing a jacket, but that he had his hand in the pocket. Perry then grabbed a towel and looked like he was wiping his face, but Sundberg noticed he wasn’t really touching his face, he was just moving it around it front of him. Then he started putting the pieces together. Perry hid a tube of KY jelly in his jacket pocket, he would work the lid off and put it on his hand in the coat pocket, then pretend to rub his face with a towel to disguise the fact that he was applying the KY to his neck. Once on the mound, it would have been noticeable if he went to his neck in between pitches, so Perry made it almost part of his motion to bring his throwing hand back across his neck as he finished the follow through on a pitch. Of course no one is looking at the pitcher at that moment as the ball is on the way to the plate. His hand would pick up the “foreign substance” as he pulled it across his neck and he would apply it to the ball on the next pitch. The substance, being clear, was difficuly if not impossible to notice and he never did anything that seemed unusual with his hand so he was never caught. Very cool story. Sundberg is one of the true characters of the game and if you have a chance to hear him tell stories, don’t miss it.

Jon Daniels talked about visiting Vlad and how Vlad talked about the Expos telling him that with his back problems there was no way he’d play a full season again, much less six seasons. He went to the Angels on six year deal and won the MVP his first season there (and asked the Angels to invite a few of the people from the Expos to the awards banquet). Vlad apparently feels a little bit like that this year (the Angels didn’t want him) and J.D. feels like he is out to prove himself again. I asked Daniels about the price for Colby Lewis and he feels that the Rangers were able to get Colby Lewis for a bargain compared to other pitchers that put up similar numbers in Japan (Kuroda and Kawakami) because of the “hickey” left from his past big league performance. Rangers hired (Japanese scout) who worked for the Hiroshima Carp (the team Lewis played for) and he saw all of Lewis’s starts (I believe that is Joe Furukawa). Daniels was also asked what would have to happen for Martin Perez to make an appearance in the big leagues this year… J.D. responded by saying he hoped it wouldn’t happen because the guys in front of him perform well and leaving Perez in the minor leagues will give them a chance to develop him into a more finished product before bringing him to the big leagues (something they have not always been able to do in the past). When asked about Tanner Scheppers and whether he could come fast, Daniels said that he will be developed as a starter but could come the big leagues as a reliever, just depending on what the team needs and he could see it being this year. He also said that it is irresponsible for “bloggers” to write that a player “will break” without really being around the player, possibly indicating that the organization is more comfortable with Scheppers health than most outside observers. When asked if the offseason work was done, he indicated that they might look at one more signing, but are comfortable with what they have if the right fit is not there. Asked what he’s still looking for, he said a player that can back up first base and centerfield with speed and power, and laughed saying there is not very many of those out there so they could go a couple of different directions. Interestingly, Rocco Baldelli has been linked to the Rangers and I wonder if Daniels was hinting that this might be the move left to make (Baldelli has played CF and appeared in one game at 3B last year for the Red Sox). I wanted to ask Daniels about Sheets, and Harden and several other things but Q&A time seemed to run out quickly.

It was quite an informative day and renewed my confidence in the Rangers chances this season. Only about two and a half weeks until pitchers and catchers report and the 2010 season starts to unfold.