Baseball

Pride Before the Fall

MLB's Selective War on Christian Conscience Just days ago, three San Francisco Giants pitchers—Landen Roupp, JT Brubaker, and Ryan Walker—took the mound during the team's Pride Night wearing the league-issued rainbow caps. They did not protest. They did not disrupt the game. They simply added a quiet inscription in white: “Gen 9:12-16.” That passage from the Book of Genesis carries the original meaning of the rainbow. God declares to Noah: “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow…

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Monday Matters

Quick Takes: Monday Matters The media landscape is dominated by a series of high-stakes developments. Without further ado, let's dive into Monday's Quick Takes. The Biden Autopen Pardon Scandal has erupted, questioning the legitimacy of over 1,500 clemency actions signed with an autopen, amid allegations of unauthorized staff decisions and cognitive decline concerns. Immigration law enforcement tensions have escalated with organized attacks on ICE agents and police, highlighted by the violent Glass House Farms raid and Rep. Salud Carbajal’s alleged doxxing, alongside John Kerry’s surprising endorsement of Trump’s border security stance. Trump’s tariff escalation continues to reshape global trade, leveraging bold…

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Buddy Bell Belongs in Cooperstown

From Arlington to Cooperstown: Why Buddy Bell Deserves the Hall of Fame In the scorching Texas summers of the late ’70s, Arlington Stadium was my sanctuary. Fresh from Little League in the 1980 heatwave-when 100°F was just “summertime in Texas”-I’d race to the third-base side, nachos dripping cheese, Saran wrap crinkling over my Coke. With the first pitch at 7:35 PM, Fergie Jenkins or Gaylord Perry dealing, Buddy Bell’s glove worked magic. I’d watch, awestruck, as he dove to rob a liner, his throw to first a bullet. Fast-forward to July 30, 2017, and I’m at Globe Life Park with my…

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You Can’t Predict Ball

You Can't Predict Ball: The Texas Rangers’ 2025 Season As the Texas Rangers hit the halfway mark of the 2025 season with a 41-43 record, they embody a peculiar paradox that could define their year: a pitching staff that’s the envy of the American League, paired with an offense that’s been maddeningly inconsistent. This stark disparity-elite arms contrasted with anemic bats-has created a season of extremes, where the Rangers’ fortunes hinge on a “magic number” of four runs. With a postseason probability of just 35%, their path to October hangs in the balance, and their ability to close the gap between…

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Do What the Game Asks You to Do

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. - Psalm 34:18 Do What the Game Asks: A Sober Journey Through Bipolar II On November 1, 2023, my son and I stood before the TV, hearts racing as the Texas Rangers clinched their first World Series. Tears flowed as we shouted, “That’s for you, Mom/Nana!” Her memory flooded back-October 2011, her hospital room, watching the Rangers lose Game 6 to the Cardinals. Despite post-surgery pain, she quoted Ron Washington: “Do what the game of baseball asks you to do.” Her love for the Rangers carried…

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Saturday Sequel

History’s Long Game: Why Today’s Threats Become Tomorrow’s Footnotes The maxim “today’s existential threat becomes tomorrow’s forgotten crisis” distills a truth about human experience: what grips us with fear today often fades into obscurity as time, adaptation, or new fears take hold. Calvin Coolidge captured this wisdom when he said, “If you see ten troubles coming down the road, you can be sure that nine will run into the ditch before they reach you.” History bears this out. The Cold War’s nuclear shadow once loomed large-families built bomb shelters, and schoolchildren ducked under desks, hearts racing at the sound of sirens.…

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A Father’s Day Story

A Father’s Day Story The Old Soul of Gen X Fatherhood This Father’s Day, I sink into my recliner in our suburban living room, my well-worn coffee mug warm in my hands, steam rising as sunlight filters through the blinds. A Gen X father, raised by a single mom, I carry a time-worn spirit from elders-Granny, aunts, uncles, kin born when the 19th century faded, their lives weathered by wars and want. Over kitchen tables, with fresh-baked cinnamon rolls, they shared stories of grit and grace, giving me memories older than my 1970s corner house and cul-de-sac childhood. I write for…

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Sports Saturday

It's a cold rainy day in Texas after several rounds of thunderstorms this week that largely spared us as they strengthened and hit the South and Midwest hard.  We got a lot of rain and loud thunder, but the main thing we got is the cold.  It's approaching the upper 30s in North Texas on Sunday morning.  Just in time for the Rangers bats to heat up.  In the old days we usually had to wait until the June regression and the warmth of summer to get the bats going.  Tonight possibly signaled a sustainable breakout in a series clinching game…

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Sunday Sundries

As part of an effort to deliver content and keep my writing wits sharp, I'm going to post a daily series of Quick Takes. Some may carry more weight and be more serious than others.  Let's sift through the week's loose items while we steel ourselves for the week ahead. The political fallout from Signal has metastasized into "gate" status with everyone calling it Signalgate.  This is amusing to me because for half a century we've been told "it's not the crime, it's the coverup" when there has been no coverup whatsoever.  Let's break down a few facts to help us…

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