Baseball: TX Rangers Prove Something

This has been the best weekend. Larry and I put the top down on our fun car and drove up to the Hill Country.

Perfect rag top weather. Music on Top Down setting which meant loud so we could sing along to some of our favorites on my CD mixes.

Perfect Food

Stopped by Houston's BBQ in Normangee, Texas, this little town we always drive through. Picked up some ribs and smoked chicken. Best BBQ joint in Texas. Think I'll blog about them later this week.

Saturday Night

At night, we sit out on the porch, glass of a good wine in hand, and watch the stars pop out and the moon rise. Last night the moon was big and golden, but we didn't spend long outside because Game 6 of the American League playoffs between the Texas Rangers and the Detroit Tigers came on. You see, I have a confession to make. I love baseball.

My Baseball Backstory

When I was a kid and visited my grandparents, we went to bed as soon as the sun went down. Early to bed; early to rise. I can hear my grandfather's voice in my head--and my heart--as I write this because he often quoted that aphorism. He had a million of them, and he is probably responsible for my tendency to love quotations.

Of course, I was wide awake. My grandfather would turn on the radio, and we could hear it throughout the quiet house where silence was broken only by the sound of the ticking clock. Every night, when the radio came on, a baseball game was starting.

Baseball was the only reason my grandfather ever listened to a radio. Ah, I can hear it so clear even now: the announcer's excited voice, the roar of the crowd, the crack of the bat. All that seeped into my heart.

Houston Astros

When I moved to Houston many years ago, I rejoiced in the opportunity to watch the Houston Astros play. I watched Nolan Ryan pitch a no-hitter. I watched that famous 1986 playoff game where Mike Scott pitched a no-hitter against the Mets. My heart broke along with every Astro fan's when we didn't end up in the world series. We're still waiting for our Astros to get their act together. Poor guys! They're coming off their worst season.

Of course, most of us Astros fans who remember when Nolie wore the rainbow shirt, followed his career. After all, he lives just down the road in Alvin. We smile when we see him in commercials on our local TV channels, and we rejoiced when he became one of the owners of the Texas Rangers. Now we had a new team we could root for.

Just as it takes time to produce a good wine from the best root stock, soil, sunshine, and expertise, it also takes time to produce a winning team. I thought last year that time had arrived for the Rangers, but they fell short. Last night, watching one of the most phenomenal baseball games I'd ever seen, I again think their time as come.

Phenomenal

I wish I'd had last night's game DVR'd so I could watch it again. All the elements needed to win a world series seem to have come together--pitching, batting, fielding--just all around great teamwork and an attitude of camaraderie among the players.

My hero Nolan Ryan once said: "One of the beautiful things about baseball is that every once in a while you come into a situation where you want to, and where you have to, reach down and prove something."

Takeaway Truth

Last night, the Texas Rangers proved that they can make baseball magical.