The Texas Rangers dropped a truly ugly performance on
Wednesday night in Arlington, Texas, to the Kansas City Royals 10-1.
Though the start of the game had promise to it, as
Nathaniel Lowe went yard into Center Field for a Solo Home Run, that traveled
430 feet into the stands, but that was the last time that the Rangers saw the
lead.
Nathan Eovaldi, the starting pitcher for the Rangers
started the game with a bit of promise for himself, with striking out two out of
three hitters, throwing all strikes, and
not one ball across the plate for a 9 pitch inning… however that didn’t last
either, as he gave up hits and runs in the 2nd inning and through
the 5 innings that he pitched—he gave up 10 hits, 6 runs and struck out 7
batters (all swinging strike outs) As the Royals tacked on four more runs
against reliever Taylor Hearn and that was the tally for the Royals on the
night—10 runs on 14 hits and they left six men on the base paths.
The Rangers, the ONE lowly run, on 4 hits and left 5
on the bases, with Brad Keller shutting down the Rangers offense that was
potent through out the first two games of the series, scoring 11 runs on Monday
night and coming from behind in extra innings on Tuesday night to win 8-5 on a
Jonah Heim three run blast into right center field to win that in walk off
fashion—but Wednesday evening—2 hours 24 minutes of baseball and 10 runs on the
wrong side of the ledger—makes for a long night for the Home Team.
Rangers are packing their bags and getting ready to
head down I-45 to take on their Intrastate Rival, the Houston Astros for a
weekend series starting on Friday night and takes them through the annual
Jackie Robinson celebration, on the 15th of April, where everyone
wears 42 on their back. Its usually a home game for the Rangers, but this year
2023 , they are the road team in this particular celebration.
Its also a time to teach the younger generation of the
struggles that a young African-American went through to play the game of
baseball, not ever seeing the prejudice that faced him in certain areas of the
country like the south, or in towns such as Cincinnati, St Louis, and even
Chicago. Jackie Robinson played his college ball out in California, where he
was accepted as an athlete, and as an equal to his teammates.
When Branch Rickey reached out to him, asked him to
sign with the Brooklyn Dodgers, he was told that he was going to face harsh
opposition to him playing baseball, in what was considered in those days, a
“White Mans” game only, and that there was already a Negro League, where
players such as Satchel Paige, Cool Papa Bell, Willie Mays, Henry Aaron, and
many others were established players.
Robinson however was going to be the person to step
over the line, the imaginary line, of prejudice, and hatred, and show people
that HE is the one that can not only play the game, but keep his head above all
the noise and nay sayers, and become a hero to not only African-American
children, but to white children too, who immolated the young man with his
batting stance, or stepping out and grabbing dirt and rubbing his hands in it,
and then spread it on the handle of the bat, those were and are the things that
make little boys dreams come true, and they, for that moment BECOME that
person!
So this April 15th, as every April 15th,
its not just Tax Day- its Jackie Robinson Day, and we remember the man, that
lead Major League Baseball out of the darkness of their own sight and into the
light of a new dawning of what the great American Past Time has become!
EVERYMANS GAME!
Just a thought!
No comments:
Post a Comment