Josh Hamilton and a long-term contract

Before the season started, I was anxious as anyone for the Rangers to lock up Josh to a long term contract. I figured that 1) he just had a major season and brought the Rangers national attention (in a good way) and 2) we would get one of the best hitters in baseball at a good discount if we locked him up now.

After this year's struggles and today's news coming out, I now know why the front office and Hambone's agent couldn't come to an agreement.

Two sides of the same coin:
For Texas, you have to look at Josh one year at a time. His body is too fragile (injuries and ADD medication) which means there is no guarantee which Josh you are going to get: last year's phenom or this year's injury-riddled mess. Can the Rangers afford to commit the next 5 years to a guy who is one bad night away from never playing the game again?

For Josh, today's news once again makes us realize that he lives one day at a time. Everyday he wakes up there is another battle he has to face with alcohol and drugs. Yes, he wins almost everyday but all it takes is one loss and he is done.

I have been a big advocate of Hambone but today was a reality check. I don't understand what he and his family must go through on a daily basis and I hope I never have to.

If you were the front office, what would you do with Hamilton?

Josh Hamilton's demons out of the closet...

The morning after Hambone hits a 3-run home run and helps the Rangers defeat the Angels, I would love to talk about how he has been hitting better and getting on track but it is not meant to be. Jean-Jacques Taylor and the Dallas Morning News has reported that their are some pictures on deadspin.com that suggest Hamilton's old ways have come back in an ugly way.

It shows him in a bar in Arizona back in March before spring training. They show him with unknown women and alcohol all around. Now, you won't find a bigger Josh fan than me: I have his jersey, his book, and I admired his testimony that he has shared time and time again. But this points us back to Romans 3:23 and reminds us that is EVERYONE falls short even after we receive so many blessings from our Lord.

I hope Josh addresses the pictures and the Rangers understand that those demons in the closet are always going to be there. We all have them and they can rise up at anytime.

"Sin is always crouching at your door"

**Update** The Rangers are going to address the photos prior to today's game against the Angels. I would like to believe that these photos are old but MLB network is on in the background of some of those photos and that channel has only been around since January. For now we just have to wait and see. He is drug tested every 3 days so but alcohol would not be a banned substance.

Bye, Bye Padilla!

Vicente Padilla finally used up all his 9 lives as a Ranger. Today the club designated him for assignment giving them 10 days to trade or waive him. He will most likely not find an immediate suitor which means he will be waived. On Wednesday he hit another batter, Kurt Suzuki, which led to Michael Young being beaned the next inning.

For whatever reason, Padilla's logic is when he makes a bad pitch and gives up a home run he has to immediately hit a batter on the opposing team. I know it doesn't make sense, but this is how Padilla's mind works.

The bottom line: We don't ever have to worry about him again because you will never see "Texas" across his chest.

Adios!

My Sports Weekend

I apologize for taking so long to post a blog this week, this week has been hectic. Last weekend was crazy fun for me starting with going to the Cowboys stadium on Friday. If my wife and I had left earlier for Arlington, we could have taken a tour of the stadium which would have been awesome but we are going to a game on the 29th anyways. We walked around the outside of the stadium and checked out the pro shop while we were there.

After leaving the mammoth stadium, we went to our original destination for the night: Rangers--Mariners game in which we had to leave early due to the threat of rain. The important thing is that the Rangers won and we saw a couple of homers that set off the fireworks. It was a great day!



Saturday was the key day for the weekend: Cowboys training camp in San Antonio. The crowd was enormous and I am only estimating but I would say maybe upwards of 10-12,000. The crowd cheered for their heroes: Marion Barber, Jason Witten, DeMarcus Ware, and of course the beautiful, Tony Romo.

Players who looked good in practice:

Tony Romo

Felix Jones---flat out explosive
Flozell Adams--lost a lot weight and was very mobile
Rudy Carpenter--I would like to see him as the #3 QB.

Players who didn't look so good:
Stephen McGee--his passes were off in the early practice.
Patrick Crayton--dropped several passes
Jesse Holley--Mr. "4th and Long" dropped a lot of passes.

One thing I take away from Camp:
I never liked Wade Phillips as the Cowboys coach and now I KNOW I don't like him as the head coach. He looked lost especially in the early practice when he was wondering around the 50-yard line waddling back and forth. If you don't believe me I have a picture to show you him by the "star" and no one within 30 yards around him. Check it out: