Glove of the Game

So its back everybody. After a five month hiatus, the great game has made its triumpant return to the hallowed ballparks of America and that one up in Canada. For the next seven months young boys will sit next to their fathers in the sweltering sun or underneath the summer lights as they watch their favorite player stretch a double into a triple, yank one yard over the center field fence, or strike out the side in the bottom of the ninth to secure the victory. Those young boys, like I did, will dream of stepping on that field and catching a fly ball, staring down a big league hitter and then watch him swing and miss as you throw a fastball right down the pipe. Those boys will dream of stepping into the batters box in the bottom of the 9th with the bases loaded, 2outs, a full count, and the team in need of a grand slam to go home with a win. With baseball comes dreams. It's the way it's always been, they way it always will be. The smell of the ballpark; the smell of the beer, the hotdogs, the summer heat, and that green, glorious grass. I think someone should create a colonge with the scent of the ballpark. I would buy it and wear it all the time. There isn't a game like baseball in all of sports. Nothing rivals it, nothing is better, nothing makes me feel so good as this game. It's beautiful, complex, sacred, American, and religious. It's poetry. This is going to be another special season, like all the seasons before. And like all the seasons before, the Rangers should find them in a very common, very annual 3rd place spot in the AL West, which I've come to accept. Our time isn't yet. I love the new aquisitions we made this summer, we're going to be a solid team when we all start to mesh. We're still waiting for that first World Series trip, that first playoff series win. Basically we're looking for a lot of firsts that probably won't come this year. I'm content with this just because I glove this game so much. Right now I'm just glad to have it back in my life. I'm glad to have Texas Rangers baseball back in my life. Next year, as a diehard Rangers fan, I won't settle for anything other than a pennett and our first trip to the AL Championship series next postseason. I'll be ready to see more from the Rangers then. It aint gonna happen this season and I know this. I don't want to humor myself with false hope. I just want to ride the beauty of this baseball season with the grace of the game. Anyway here our my picks for this season.


American League
East: Yankees
West: A's
Central: White Sox
Wild Card: Indians

National League
East: Braves
West: Dodgers
Central: Cardinals
Wild Card: Mets

World Series
White Sox vs Cardinals

The Champs
Hopefully the Cards in 6


Alright, now before I get sent anthrax in the mail by most of you, let me explain myself. I know I didn't pick my two of my favorite teams ever to make the postseason, the Astros and the Red Sox. I want nothing more to say that these two teams will make it back to the postseason and they'll both make it to the World Series and the Astros will walk away winners, but it's not going to happen. There are better teams out there that will just have stronger seasons than they will. The Sox have lost their swagger, and the Stros won't have The Rocket or Bagwell, which I still don't want to believe. But lets face it, they're both done, and it's tough to swallow. When someone tells me to swallow news like that its like getting forced to swallow a cup of rusty nails that have been dipped in the bubonic plague. And yes, I did pick the Cardinals to win it all, but don't be surprised if they choke like they do every year. I think this is the year they break that rut though. But the greatest things about baseball, and sports in general is that you never know... So maybe this is the year for that team from the heart of the metroplex. Maybe this is the year for all those firsts for the Rangers from Texas. You never know...