Had I not been dozing off during BBTN this evening, I might’ve missed the following tidbit, as reported on 3 days ago by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s Jim Reeves.
During a wide-ranging taped interview with Channel 11 sports anchor Babe Laufenberg last week, Hicks was asked about the Rangers’ deals he most regretted making. First he mentioned wasting $65 million on pitcher Chan Ho Park. Then he referenced the two-year, $24 million deal the Rangers gave Gonzalez to come back to Texas in 2002.
“Juan Gonzalez, for $24 million, after he came off steroids probably… we just gave that money away,” Hicks told Laufenberg.
No wonder Juan’s nickname was “Juando the Condo.”
Laufenberg was smart enough not to try to follow up on the question and give Hicks an opportunity to backtrack.
“Since it was being taped and not live, I really thought he would say, ‘Hey, let’s not put that in.’ If he had, I wouldn’t have,” Laufenberg said. “But he never did.”
While Fernando Vina opined that perhaps Hicks was trying to compete with Jerry Jones and The Owner With A Boner for Dallas airtime, Sir Kruk was far more outraged, “if you’re a current player for the Texas Rangers and you go into the trainer’s room and get an Advil, an anti-inflammatory or anything that’s prescribed to you…and this guy’s around, you have to be careful about everything you do and take…because you don’t know how this guy’s gonna misconstrue it.”
Though I’m not usually in habit of publicly siding with the Krukster on many topics, I would hope the Commissioner’s office is paying better attention to Hicks’ public remarks than I was. It’s the height of hypocrisy for MLB to threaten Jason Giambi with suspension if they don’t at the very least, compel Hicks and other owners to come clean about what sort of PED use occurred on their dime.
In Arlington tonight, Carlos Marmol, Bobby Howry and Ryan Dempster combined to toss 5 perfect innings in relief of Sean Marshall, as the Cubs edged the Rangers, 5-4. Sammy Sosa, still chasing HR no. 600, was 0-4 on the evening.
Though I realize some of you have had your fill of interleague play, without such contests we might never find out what Ozzie Guillen thinks of Miguel Cabrera’s commitment to physical fitness.