Tuesday newsletter time: Candidates’ names could reveal type of manager Rangers are seeking
(AP photo/Lenny Ignelzi)
This managerial search is getting personal. It cost the Texas Rangers Baseball Podcast a potential guest this week.
Technically, the future guest said he has work to do this week (without letting the cat out of the bag). Maybe next week, he said.
The good news is we have a guest tentatively lined up, and people are going to really like him.
More good news: Information should start trickling out about who has interviewed, and their resumes will indicate the kind of manager the Rangers want.
Will the majority of the first batch of candidates have big-league managerial experience?
Will they be heavy on analytics?
Will they have ties to general manager Chris Young?
Young has said that big-league managerial experience isn’t required. Some players would like to see it, though.
The retired Bruce Bochy, who won three World Series with San Francisco, managed Young briefly in San Diego before moving to the Giants. Will Venable is a highly regarded big-league coach and was teammates with Young in San Diego. Venable was the Boston bench coach this season, so he’s available to interview.
The only candidate known to interview so far is Rangers interim manager Tony Beasley, who got his shot Friday.
Rocker improves
What happened Monday night in Scottsdale, Ariz., was bound to happen at some point this fall.
Rangers first-rounder Kumar Rocker was good.
The third overall pick in this year’s MLB Draft tossed two scoreless innings, allowing a hit and two walks while striking out two.
Rocker debuted last week, tossing a scoreless inning but not without difficulty. He walked three, struck out one and threw 19 of his 28 pitches for balls.
On Monday, he threw 18 of 32 pitches for strikes.
The Rangers are planning for Rocker to throw two or three innings his first few times out before stretching him out to four or five innings later in the season. The goal is for somewhere around 20 innings before he begins heads into the offseason.
Finally
I’ve written about the Nolan Ryan documentary, Facing Nolan. I’ve talked to people about it. I’ve had opportunities to see it.
But I never watched it until Monday night.
It’s very good. Very good.
I’ll watch it again, in part because my son had to go to bed at the 40-minute mark. I kept going, much to his chagrin.
The documentary has star power, beyond Ryan. Pete Rose, Randy Johnson, Rod Carew, Cal Ripken Jr., Roger Clemens, President Bush and George Brett, among others. But it also had the guys who weren’t necessarily superstars, like Jerry Grote, Jeff Torborg, Bobby Grich and Kevin Bass.
History is told so much better by the people who lived it.
The star, beyond Ryan, was wife Ruth. She knew the history that isn’t at baseball-reference.com.
For those who haven’t seen it yet, it’s available on Netflix. The documentary comes in under two hours.
It’s time very well spent.
Playoffs resume
The wild-card round of the MLB playoffs is over, and I went 2-2 in my predictions. I picked Cleveland and San Diego, but I also picked Toronto and St. Louis.
The best-of-5 division series start at lunchtime today as Atlanta plays Philadelphia, which swept St. Louis. Seattle, which swept Toronto, goes to Houston; Cleveland, which swept Tampa Bay, heads to New York; and San Diego, which beat the Mets in three games, visits Los Angeles.
That’s three intradivisional match-ups, and that’s not great.
Give me all the favorites: Atlanta, Houston, New York and LA. I really like Cleveland, but in March I picked the Yankees over the Dodgers for a magazine in Japan, and I don’t want to get called out for a change of heart.
Doggy video!
Just a total breakdown by the offensive line. Enjoy. See you Wednesday.
Throw it already…🐶🐾🥏😂 pic.twitter.com/2ONMuAxK6B
— 𝕐o̴g̴ (@Yoda4ever) October 10, 2022
Jeff Wilson, jeff@rangerstoday.com
