Think of all those stories you hear about Notre Dame fans growing up and knowing nothing but the love of Our Lady’s University and a closet full of blue and gold. That’s me and Rangers baseball.

People my age have fuzzy, fond memories of the final years of the Lou Holtz era. I had the end of Nolan Ryan’s career. You’d often find me out in the backyard trying to pitch my own no-hitter and become his successor.

I’ve been a Rangers fan for nearly three decades. My ND fandom/obsession is only just now starting it’s second. What I’ve witnessed as a fan of both has been remarkably similar.

If history starts for both teams when I became a fan (late 80’s for Rangers, 2003 for ND), both would be filled with absolutely terrible results with the occasional glimmer of hope. The two Weis BCS bowl appearances were the 1996, 1998, and 1999 AL West Division Championships. The postseason games of those years might as well have been a mirror of each other as the Rangers only managed one win against the Yankees in all three divisional series. The hope of victory went right out the window once the games commenced.

I’m not sure I have a Notre Dame comparison for the 2010 and 2011 World Series appearance. In 2010, Rangers fans were simply happy to be there. Sure it sucked that the Giants handed us our lunch, but we got to see the Rangers in the World Series before we died–something none of us thought possible. 2011, and in particular game 6, is the lowest of the absolute lows of my sports fandom that has no comparison.

Not even the ass-kicking the Irish received at the hands of Alabama in the BCS Championship could compare. Oh, sure, it was terrible and definitely ranks quite high on the “ow my balls” terrible sports moments in my life; however, there was no doubt what the result of that disaster was going to be mid-way through the first half (and probably sooner to be honest). The Rangers were one strike away from winning the World Series.

Twice.

I held a bottle of champagne in my hand when Nelson Cruz managed to turn a routine fly ball into a David Freese triple. To be more accurate, I was practically uncorking the thing once I saw the ball go off the bat. I went from pacing anxiously around the living room to falling to my knees in despair once the ball sailed past Cruz’s glove.

Despair gave way to hope when Josh Hamilton blasted a two-run homerun in the top of the 10th. The Cardinals were again on the ropes and managed to scrap a run together. I still felt confident though, surely they wouldn’t tie it again. Again, down to their last strike, future Ranger Lance Berkman did just that. An inning later, Freese sent a Mark Lowe pitch sailing over the wall to win the game.

That’s devastation you can’t put into words. My wife tried to console me, as a lifelong Cubs fan, she knew heartbreak, but her comparison of the Steve Bartman game six to this just wasn’t even close.

And to any Cubs fan reading this getting pissed, yeah, I know that game sucked and the Cubs have been terrible for longer than the Rangers entire existence. However, after Moises Alou threw his fit in front of one his own fans, the Cubs were still up 3-0 and at best there would have only been two outs (and this is in the NLCS by the way). Prior walked Luis Castillo, the man that hit the foul ball. Alex Gonzalez managed to screw up a double play ball that should have ended the inning (seriously, how do Cubs fans not give him the Bartman or even Buckner treatment?). The Cubs still had a two run lead at that point until Derek Lee chased Mark Prior out of the game with a game-tying double then the floodgates opened.

That entire inning was just a gigantic collapse. The Rangers managed to bounce back from their horrible moment of outfield play only to watch a championship slip away once again.

All this is a very long way of fast-forwarding to 2014 and the current situation the Rangers find themselves in now. Slated as playoff contender, it looked like this squad a decent chance to try a make another run at things. If you remember, in a previous Roundup, things weren’t going so well. The injury situation hasn’t gotten much better as the Rangers seem to be going through players like toilet paper at this point.

A team that once had the best record in the American League, still leads the league in shutouts, and has the AL batting leader (Adrian Beltre) now has the worst record in baseball. Just as I thought the Rangers found rock bottom Wednesday night when the Astros completed a sweep against ace Yu Darvish, the Rangers game right back and got demolished by the Angels 15-6. 13 of those runs were scored in three innings and all given up by starter Colby Lewis–a new Rangers record in futility.

Ron Washington lit up the team last night in a 30-minute closed door furry in response. I fired up Hell’s Kitchen from the DVR instead of watching another disaster.

I’ve never witnessed a team get so ravished by injuries. I’ve never seen a team sink so low, so hard, so fast. I’ve never seen a group of “fans” react so illogically to it as well, Notre Dame fans included. For this group of idiots, the blame for this lies squarely at the feet of GM John Daniels who “forced out” figurehead Nolan Ryan from the front office.

They know this is true because their gut tells them so and a retired local sports writer loves pushing that narrative every chance he gets.

All I can hope is that this snake-bitten season is one gigantic sacrifice for 2014 ND football glory. Between the disaster on the field and dealing with terrible fans, I’ve hit rock bottom myself in baseball fandom. This was a lot easier to take when the Rangers just flat-out sucked to begin with.

The offseason can’t end soon enough.

The Roundup

Here’s a football reason for why this offseason needs to end. Johnny Football-watch has reached critical mass.

Jesus, take the wheel. Or the scooter equivalent.

Add Southern Cal to the list of teams tinkering with their uniform. It’s a small change, but a change nonetheless.

ND has a new sideline reporter. The 411 you are looking for is here.

As we’ve mentioned before, Ricky Watters is back in school. ESPN’s Matt Fortuna has done a great piece on Ricky’s mission to complete his degree.

And now your moment of Nix… Mark Richt has lost control of the Star Wars universe and it has invaded his campus. No, seriously, one of his players made a Star Wars tribute and he makes a cameo and does nothing (h/t: WithLeather):

[youtube id=”nsJU5Ebka44″]

The Booze

When sports disaster strikes, there is only one choice. Bourbon. Lots of bourbon.

The post Friday Roundup: The “I Hope This Is a Sacrifice for ND Football” Edition appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

At a time when personalized technologies like the iPhone and Hulu have eroded the natural ebb and flow of time and season, sport provides most of the few remaining way-points on the calendar. With our smart phones and tablets, we can time-shift “must see t.v.” to fit our individual schedules, rendering the start time of a particular game less meaningful than ever before. The release of the House of Cards remake on Netflix this month is perhaps the first step in the permanent decoupling of serial television from its historical and highly-choreographed season long unfolding. But until someone figures out a way to do that with sporting events, the start of a season will remain immutable.

And, for whatever reason, no sport retains its talismanic place on the calendar like baseball. Starting with the gathering of pitchers and catchers in warmer climes, everything about the start of a new baseball season finds its simulacrum in the natural world: the swallows returning to Capistrano, Punxsutawney Phil, etc. This year, I was fortunate enough to cover the start of Notre Dame’s 2013 baseball campaign and its three game series against Tulane, played out over the weekend of February 22-24, at Greer Field at Turchin Stadium.

Coach Mik Aoki’s Fighting Irish came into the weekend at 2-1 and on the outside-looking-in on the nation’s Top 25. Having defeated Florida Gulf Coast and Ohio State, the Irish lost to Mercer in a Florida tournament before heading back to South Bend for a week of practice and classes. “I don’t know who puts the travel day together,” said junior pitcher Sean Fitzgerald when asked about the effect of Notre Dame’s early-season travel schedule, which sees the Irish play in Sarasota, New Orleans and Los Angeles on successive weekends. “But, our team does a good job of getting their naps in.” Continuing, Fitzgerald noted that Notre Dame’s emphasis on academics adds to the challenges faced by the team. “We leave as late as possible in the week so we can get in our classes.”

This is a team, however, that is well-suited to rise to any challenges, whether on the field or in the classroom. “This is as talented a team as I’ve been on in my time here,” said Adam Norton, a senior pitcher. “The juniors and seniors in the team are really strong and have set a good foundation for the younger guys, each year building on the year before.” Facing a veteran-laden team like Tulane, this experience would pay dividends. 

Coming into the weekend, Tulane brought its own 2-1 record along with all four starting pitchers from last year and a total of seven returning position players. “Tulane is historically very good,” said Adam Norton when asked Wednesday about the weekend series. “We’re not going to walk in there and they’re going to lie down.” After completing the three game sweep to bring the Irish to 5-1 on the season, Coach Aoki was pleased. “I’m really proud of our club. We came down and played well. Tulane didn’t get timely hits and we competed. We did a good job and executed offensively.”

By game time Friday night, the weather was chilly (for New Orleans) and a fine mist descending. When it was over, a two-run homer by junior Eric Jagielo was the difference maker for the Irish, who held off a Tulane threat in the bottom of the ninth, to preserve the win for Fitzgerald who went 6 and a  third innings, with two strike outs. Saturday’s game was another win for the Irish, this time 3-1 over another Tulane squad who scattered hits harmlessly across the innings. Adam Norton went seven innings, striking out five and walking two.

On Sunday, the Irish offensive came alive, led by Ryan Bull who went four for five and crushed a two run blast deep into left field. Nick McCarty got the win for the Irish, on the back of great bullpen support from Donnie Hissa and David Hearne. “I thought Hissa was a little shaky, but he got us out of a tough spot,” said Coach Aoki.

Following the game and with his squad at 5-1, Coach Aoki was decidedly upbeat. “We had good at bats. [Tulane’sTony] Rizzotti is a Friday night guy for anybody. I feel good about our offense [. . .] our kids played.” Even before the three game sweep and crucial away wins, pitchers Fitzgerald and Norton were predicting big things for the Irish. “We’re projected to finish in the top three [of the Big East],” Fitzgerald offered. “If our offense stays consistent and our pitching comes around, we’re going to be really good.” Adam Norton continued, saying that “[there is] no reason we can’t win [the Big East]. Louisville is always good, but I think if we play our game [and] stay focused, I don’t see why we can’t be near the top.”

Special as the sweep was, an equally special moment came on Saturday, when the New Orleans Notre Dame Alumni Club hosted the team, coaches and staff at a meal and a mass on Tulane’s campus. Giving the Notre Dame community the literal and figurative opportunity to break bread, heaping plates of jambalaya, crawfish pasta and warm bread pudding became conversation starters and relationship builders. Whether they were genuinely taken by the moment, or just genuinely that giving of themselves, Captain Frank DeSico and freshman Kyle Richardson fomented a game of catch in the hallway with some of the children.

Commenting on the mass and the relationship between the team and its fans, Coach Aoki said “I think it’s a unique and special thing that we have at Notre Dame. It’s such a testament to what our university does. People don’t do that for a place at which they didn’t have a special time. [The mass and events like it] teach our kids to give back. Our kids are fortunate to play at Notre Dame. This teaches them to give back and break out of an entitlement mode.” Having witnessed the delight in the eyes of the children and adults who got to share some remarkable hours with the Irish, Notre Dame is fortunate to have a baseball team, staff and coaches such as these.

Author’s Note: I’d like to thank Josh Flynt (@NDSportsBlogger) for hooking me up with Michael Bertsch, Assistant Media Relations Director, whom I would like to thank for hooking me up with my interviews of Sean, Adam and Coach. I’d like to thank Sean, Adam and Coach for taking time to speak with me. And, finally, Frank and Kyle for playing with the kids, one of whom is feverishly writing cards to her new friends as I write this article.

The post We’re Talkin’ (Irish) Baseball appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.