I was never a fan of Boy George, but the name of his band from the 80’s is appropriate for our Texas Ranger discussion today. Other than the usual talk about pitching, better offense, solid defense, better baserunning and avoiding injuries, the word we have heard tossed around the most in the offseason is culture. What is culture? The dictionary (or Google if you prefer) says that culture is the shared system of beliefs, values, customs, and behaviors that members of a socie

The Rangers are halfway through this year’s edition of Spring Training. As of today their record is 9-7. That means they have won 56% of their games, which projects to 91 wins in a 162 game season. That would almost certainly get them into the playoffs, so get the celebration banners ready, right? No, the record really doesn’t mean anything at this point. It’s always more fun to win, but they’re looking past the record as they prepare for Opening Day. So if that’s the case

The topic of expansion in Major League Baseball has been bounced around a good bit lately. This topic distracts from discussing the elephant in the room (not the Athletics mascot). The labor dispute between players and owners , or millionaires and billionaires, is looming at the end of this season. If they don’t get that worked out, it won’t matter if there are 2 teams or 50. The game will be on thin ice. I’ll have more to say about that as the year goes by, but for now I’ll

I remember…… When it was rare to hear of a kicker attempting a field goal from 50 yards or more. Now these are common. Last year in the NFL there were 70 from 50-59 yards and 12 from over 60 yards. When you could pick up a newspaper and review box scores from all the previous night’s baseball games. When baseball players had to have a job in the off-season to support their family. When we didn’t know anything about an athlete’s personal life. We just knew their stats and thei

The first week of Texas Rangers Spring Training is in the books. The record after the first three games is 2-1. Since that would project to a 108-54 regular season record, we’ll settle for that. I never really did a full postmortem on the 2025 season. Never could get prepare my usual full evaluation and report cards for the team. Unfortunately it was too much like the previous year’s autopsy, and I just couldn’t get around to it. There were certainly some good things to remem

Monday was Presidents Day. As I reflected on the list of great and not so great leaders of our nation, I began to wonder if you could put together a baseball team composed of players who shared their last name with a president. Of course you can! My rules for this exercise are as follows: Last name only, so the ever growing list of players with first name Jackson are not eligible. The player has to have had a reasonably long career in Major League Baseball and been at least a

Football season is over. The good news is that Baseball season is here - pitchers and catchers have reported and spring training has begun. Of course this means more of Coot’s musings will be about my favorite sport, but I do have a few final thoughts on the Super Bowl. I had predicted the Seahawks would win 28-20. Almost nailed the Seattle score, but didn’t expect the total dominance by their defense. It wasn’t really as close as the 2 late (or too late, if you prefer) New E

It’s been a while since the last “fungos” so you may have forgotten the last trivia question. We were looking for the four number one draft picks in MLB who are in the Hall of Fame. The answer? Ken Griffey Jr, Chipper Jones, Joe Mauer and (unfortunately) Harold Baines. This edition’s question is who is the only one who played for the Braves in Boston, Milwaukee, and Atlanta? Now on to a few notes. The Anthony Davis trade this week put the final touches on last year’s Luka tra

It is an annual tradition for Coot to write about the errors and omissions of the Baseball Writers Association of America, and this year is no exception. I’m already on record as approving their selection of this year’s Baseball Hall of Fame honorees, Andruw Jones and Carlos Beltran, but as always, there are some voters whose ballots make no sense at all. Of course they vote behind the curtain of anonymity, and many voters don’t choose to make their votes or their reasoning p

This is February 1st, the one year anniversary of the most surprising (and worst) trade in the history of Texas sports. Luka for “Street Clothes” Davis. A generational talent who may well be the league MVP this year for a part time player who spends most of his time on the injured list. Enough has been said and written about this, but I was thinking this morning about what an unbelievable surprise it was. It was so stunning that the first reaction was disbelief. Later in th

Might not get a chance to use that title too often, so I better seize the opportunity while it’s there! We won’t mention the predictions that I have missed (Rangers to win division in 2025, etc..) but I will follow up on the HOF elections. As expected, Carlos Beltran and Andruw Jones were elected to Cooperstown. You will recall that I listed my ballot preferences, which included 5 others (pitchers Pettitte, Hernandez and Buerhle along with Bobby Abreu and David Wright) in add

Bet that headline got your attention. It is definitely a teaser. The Baseball Writers Association members have sent in their ballots, but the results won’t be released until Tuesday evening, and I’m writing this on Sunday. Plus you’re probably wondering what Texas players could be getting elected. Well, I’m referring to the possibility of Carlos Beltran and Andrew Jones being elected, and you might remember both of these candidates played one year for our Texas Rangers. If th

This is not an article about the Aretha Franklin song, although that is a great song. This is an article about the lack of respect for our national anthem. As you know I enjoy attending live sporting events. It is a tradition to play or sing the “Star Spangled Banner”before a game. That song deserves respect and should be treated that way. I don’t appreciate it when someone takes so much liberty with it that you can’t recognize the tune or understand their “interpretation” of

You will remember the comparisons of the Luka trade to the Babe Ruth trade. The Ruth trade led to decades of futility for the Red Sox franchise. With the curse of the great Bambino in place, Boston went 86 years without winning a world championship. Will the curse of the Great Sloveno prevent the Dallas Mavericks from winning a championship for that long? If that’s the case, probably no-one reading this will ever see a Larry O’Brien trophy engraved with the Dallas name. Let’s

It seems that whenever you place a takeout request now, the person who takes your order asks “What’s a good name?” They don’t ask your name - they ask for a good name. So I don’t really know how to respond. Is my name good enough or are they expecting something better? So I give different answers. In December, I tell them it’s Ebeneezer just to see if they’re paying attention, or sometimes maybe Rudolph or Nicholas. The rest of the year I just tell them it’s Coot. I don’t kno

Coot, Coot-Ette, and all the little Cootlings were in West Texas last week. The prairie wind was blasting as always and we saw a piece of paper flying through the air. We reached up and grabbed it and discovered it was a list that had apparently blown out of Santa’s sleigh as he was flying through the area. As I examined it I discovered that it was a list of Texas Rangers who had left after the 2025 season, along with their wishes for gifts they could use as they moved on. B

‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house All the TV’s were on ESPN (it’s owned by The Mouse). Posters were hung on the walls with great care In hopes that a trophy might someday be there. The fans were nestled all snug in their beds While visions of championships danced in their heads. And Ma in her hoodie and I in a ball cap Thought about our team as we settled down for a nap. When out on the lawn there arose such a noise That it woke up all of the girls an

We’ll start by giving you the answer to our last trivia question: Who are the four #1 draft picks in MLB who are currently in the Hall of Fame? Answer: Ken Griffey Jr, Chipper Jones, Joe Mauer, and Harold Baines. Yeah, I know, one name doesn’t seem to belong, but I’m already on record as saying Baines wasn’t a Hall of Famer. The Lane Kiffin story goes on. And on and on… The ups and downs of his coaching career are fascinating. His latest move is to accept his “dream job” of c

Committees are not usually the most efficient or accurate way to make a decision. It has been suggested that God created all animals except the Duck Billed Platypus, which was designed by a committee. That being said there is a group which will decide on Major League Baseball HOF membership for eight individuals. Results will be released this weekend, starting a whole round of debates and arguments about who should be approved. Don’t you love how there’s always something goin

Every year (except 2010,2011 and 2023) people ask me who I’m rooting for in the World Series. My response is always the same. I want it to go seven games, with the last game going into extra innings. That way the season lasts longer! That’s exactly what we got. This year’s Fall Classic was truly a classic, and will be remembered for many years as one of the most entertaining ever. And although the final result wasn’t what I wanted, I have to admit I thoroughly enjoyed each ga