Ranger Baseball Cards (Part 32)

Godfather, Busch Light, Captain Cuatro……whatever you know him by, you will never forget him. The myth is a man named Kevin Casey, and what you call him is up to you. Kevin joined the Rangers for the 2003 season during an illustrious Loyola Club Baseball Career. In one of his earliest appearances at Loyola, Busch Light did not show up to Centennial Forum at the appropriate time before a double header against Columbia in the spring of 2002. Team Captain Vince Caringi decided the team could not wait any longer for their starting pitcher and left without him. When the Ramblers got to the field, there was a figure sleeping on the bench wearing a tuxedo jacket over his baseball uniform. Yes, it was Kevin Casey. When asked about his appearance, Kevin, in no shape to pitch game 1, babbled about drinking Busch Light the night before. He did not know where his car was, and wasn’t sure the tuxedo jacket was even his. Hence the moniker “Busch Light”. While he did not pitch Game 1 that day, he did coach third base in his tuxedo jacket and managed to pull himself together to throw a one hit complete game victory in Game 2!
Kevin captained the Loyola Club team for their inaugural National Club Baseball Association season in 2004 and went winless. Kevin’s Loyola Career ended with a loss in Madison, only he did not play in the game. He was frantically searching downtown Madison for his car keys. As it turns out, Rambler right-fielder Chris Stearns had the keys since the night before. Chris did not realize he had Kevin’s keys until the team arrived back in Chicago!
Godfather has been a solid player for the Rangers while pitching, playing second base, shortstop,and the outfield. Offensively, Kevin has been among the team leaders every year during his tenure, which stretches from 2003 to 2005 and then from 2007 to present. The 2006 season was spent with a San Francisco team called the Mad Dogs, who believed in the “Five I’s.” Supposedly the “Five I’s” were Incompetence, Impotence, Ignorance, Idiocy, and Inbreeding; a perfect rallying cry for a team of tools.
Kevin threw a memorable two hitter against the Oriole Park Cubs on July 12th, 2003 at Taft High School. Unfortunately for Kevin and the Rangers, he shook off a fastball called by Ranger catcher Isaiah Panatsis and instead decided to throw a Split-Finger pitch he was working on. Isaiah knew better, but let Kevin throw the pitch. Well, of course he hung it, and the Cub batter hit a solo home run. The Rangers lost the no-hitter, lost the shutout, and ultimately lost the game 1-0. Kevin did technically throw a no hitter against the Aviators that resulted in a 15-0 win for the Rangers on June 26th, 2005. It is a no-hitter, but does it actually count since the game was ended in four innings due to Slaughter-Rule?
There have been many other antics during Godfather’s Ranger tenure, including but not limited to: falling off barstools, breaking glasses, telling teammates he is “Pressing Charges” against them, sweeping the floor of Gio’s, laying down on home plate after getting beaned, and other general mischief and mayhem.
Kevin’s statistics rank him among the career leaders in almost every offensive category. He has a career .385 Batting Average, 167 Hits, 158 Runs, 92 RBI’s, and 67 Stolen Bases. Kevin has also been a solid pitcher, although arm issues have limited him in recent years. Godfather is a cornerstone of the Ranger franchise and his antics on and off the field are what make the Rangers a great team to play for.

Game 1 Preview : Rangers @ Marlins, 5/8/11

In a rematch fit for ESPN Sunday Night Baseball, the Chicago Rangers will face their 2010 CMBA Championship foe Park Ridge Marlins in a road contest at Southwest Park at 10:00 am on Sunday, May 8, 2011.

Historically, the Rangers have not fared well against the Fighting Fish.  In 27 total lifetime games, the Rangers have mustered only 4 wins for a .148 winning percentage.  The last Ranger win over the Marlins came in Game 1 of the 2010 CMBA Championship by a score of 5-2.  The Rangers come into this game riding a 2 game losing streak against the sea dwellers.

This is not the first opening day match up between the 2 clubs.  The clubs met in 2006 and 2008.  Both resulted in Ranger losses.  The 2008 opener ended in a Ranger forfeit - the only one in Ranger history.

All-time, the Rangers are 2-7 in opening day play.  They come into Sunday's game riding a 2 game opening day winning streak - both against the Vikings.

The site for Sunday's game is Southwest Park in Park Ridge.  All-time, the Rangers are 5-17 (.227) at the suburban grounds.  Their last win at Southwest came on Opening Day 2010 in an 8-4 victory over the Vikings.  The game was originally scheduled to be played at Taft High School but was moved minutes before first pitch.

Statistically, the Rangers should fare well in Sunday's contest.  Lifetime, the Rangers are 80-79 (.503) in intra-division play and 73-57 (.562) in weekend games.

Opening Day 2011

The Chicago Rangers will kick off their 2011 campaign when they square off against the defending league champion Park Ridge Marlins in a 10 am tilt at Southwest Park in Park Ridge.  The 2011 season marks the Rangers' 10th in the Chicago Metropolitan Baseball Association (CMBA).  The Sunday contest features a rematch of the 2010 CMBA championship series that saw the saw the Marlins win 2 games to 1.

Roster Reload

The Rangers' 2011 roster features a couple of new faces with the additions of pitcher Matt Havey and catcher Andy Robledo.  The rookie duo traces their roots back to their high school playing days at Loyola Academy.  Havey went on to pitch collegiately at Northwestern University where he enjoyed a successful Big 10 career.  Havey shores up a pitching staff anchored by another fellow Wildcat, Mike Folan.  Robledo will spell Ranger slugger and franchise home run leader Isaiah Panatsis behind the dish.

The Rangers will attempt to find a way to live without Eric Morrissey, who not only managed the club but could play just about every where on the field.  The loss of Morrisey's multi-dimensional role will be the Ranger's biggest challenge heading into 2011.

The Rangers also say goodbye to Brad Weigand, Mark Wegren, Ed Arambula, Dan Garcia, Pete Monroe, Darrin Meaders and Tony Bosma who have all officially hung up their Ranger cleats.

Managerial Modification

Long-time Ranger Matt Swary will begin his first season at the helm of the club.  He takes over for a departed Eric Morrissey who has returned to the Big Apple.  Swary has been with the club since its inception in 2002 and traces his Ranger lineage back to the great Loyola University Baseball Clubs of the late 1990's.  Swary becomes the 5th manger in team history (Lucas Luecke, Tim Brannon, Mike LaRocco and Eric Morrissey).

The Only Original

With the departure of veteran Mark Wegren, only 4 members of the Rangers' inaugural 2002 team remain - Mike LaRocco, Lucas Luecke, Isaiah Panatsis and Matt Swary.  That 2002 team went 12-15 in their first year.

Ranger Baseball Cards (Part 31)

Two outs, top of the seventh, down by one run, tying and winning runs on second and third respectively, Matt Swary at the plate. Would he be a hero or a goat? If you know Swary, you already know the answer to that question. “I knew I would strike out, I was distracted!” Rangers as a group ask, “What distracted you, what the hell are you talking about?” Swary replied, “The Rainbow, there was a rainbow in Right Field!” That’s right, Swary was distracted by a rainbow and took three straight pitches right down the middle of the plate and the Rangers lost 6-5 to the Maywood Braves (now the Mets). And this is the legend behind Leslie Gore’s “Sunshine, Lollipops, and Rainbows” being the official theme song for the Rangers.
Swary is a man of many names : Swary, Matt Swary, Swampy, Swampass, Swaggle, Swagglestick, Swagg, Swaggletoothed-Tiger, Swagadocious, Docious, Hocious-Docious, Swaggle-daggle-ding-dong, and many more lost to copious consumption of beer.

An original Ranger, Swaggle experienced a career year in 2010, culminating by hitting an over the fence home run in the CMBA Championship against he Marlins. Another career highlight is hitting a Walk-off Home run against the Electrons in 2008 during a 2 week tear that had the Rangers campaigning Swary for MVP. That effort was crestfallen when Swaggle did not get a hit the rest of the season. Swaggle also has a penchant for giving up Game-Winning grand slams. He once gave up Game-Losing walk-off grand slams in consecutive appearances vs. the Browns and Vikings, prompting sponsorship calls from Denny’s and their Grand-Slam Breakfast!

Other highlights include kicking down the door in the men’s room at Gios after a playoff game in 2007, consistently showing up to the wrong park for games and telling the Rangers and the opposing teams that they were at the wrong park, calling Ranger teammates at all hours of the night to find out useless information like “Where can I find a Laundromat?” or “How do I get to the Post Office?” and also giving Luke’s Mom a ride on his motorcycle through the Mississippi valley. Swary also does not believe the Ranger Weather hotline has enough information on it. When a game is cancelled, he wants all the details. One Particular morning he calls Luke after calling the Weather hotline to ask “Why is the game cancelled?” Luke’s, drunk groggy 6 AM response was, “Swag, look outside, its pouring!” Swary responded, “Oh, I am in New York, I just wanted to know why the game was called!” He was concerned about the cancellation of a game he had no intention of even showing up to, not being in the same time zone as the rest of the Rangers.

During a Beer-Pong tournament hosted by The Harem, Swaggle decided it was time to take his pants off. When the partygoers yelled, “Swary, what the hell are you doing, why did you take your pants off?”, Swaggle responded “Because I can’t find my shoes!”. Classic Swary, in his mind, it made perfect sense! It is scary to think that Swary is now the manager of the Rangers. Are his shenanigans planned to take the pressure off the rest of the team, or is he a bumbling lovable character? The Rangers still have not figured that out, but whatever happens in 2011, it will be interesting!

Ranger Baseball Cards (Part 30)

Chris “River” Rivera was a super-utility player for the Rangers. The only position he did not play was pitcher, and possibly Center Field, but the Rangers details on items like that are fuzzy at best. River joined the Rangers after his freshman season of Loyola Club Baseball in 2003 after playing High School baseball for the Shamcocks of St. Pats on the North Side. River had a natural opposite field swing, driving the ball into right field on a consistent basis. River even volunteered to catch despite having limited experience behind the plate. During a heated game against the Cubs at Riis Park in 2006, Curtis Brown of the Cubs attempted to barrel over River at the Plate on a long sac-fly to right. Lucas Luecke fired a strike from deep right (and shredded his shoulder in the process) and River stood his ground. Brown was ejected for making contact (he did not know there was a no slide rule) and River showed the team how much of a bad-ass he really was. His competitiveness came out again when he was ejected at Riis for joining a fracas when a Red Sox Player got in the face of mild mannered teammate Matt Brooks. Ever a fiery competitor, the Rangers miss River and his love of Jack Daniels and cooking pots. He retired after the 2009 season with chronic shoulder problems. The sight of him swinging and his arm sliding out of its socket became too painful to watch. Perhaps the slowest skinny guy to ever run the bases, Rivera retired with a career .286 Batting Average and 109 Career hits. His presence is missed, although we know he is making the streets of Chicago safer in the law enforcement industry.

Amphibious Dan still at work

Ambidextrous pitcher proves nearly unhittable with either hand

By Cameron Smith

The first time a batter saw Westminster (Ill.) Christian High pitcher Ryan Perez stop warming up right-handed, pick up another glove and start warming up left-handed, the hitter's jaw dropped with a wide-eyed reaction. The man outside the batter's box had good reason for the reaction, too: Perez is a top flight pitcher with either hand, one of the few -- if not the only -- legitimate ambidextrous pitching prospects in the United States.

Perez, who is one of the top pitchers in the Chicagoland area, is no simple novelty act. His right-handed fastball has been clocked at 91 mph, and his lefty heater hit 86 mph on the gun before the season. He continues to build strength in both arms in a personal quest to reach more than 90 mph with either hand.

If that speed wasn't impressive enough, Perez also throws three other pitches with both arms, with his cut fastball, curveball and change-up making his fastball even more effective by keeping batters off balance ... as if the ability to pitch with either arm didn't do that already.

In his second year as a starting pitcher, Perez continues to turn heads. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Perez's big breakthrough came in 2010, when he went 9-0 with a 1.15 ERA (weighing in both right- and left-handed performances) while leading Westminster Christian to the Illinois Class 1A state title. In 2011, the junior has been even better. On April 5, Perez threw a no-hitter against Rockford (Ill.) East High while pitching left-handed, then came back and threw four innings of relief in a victory against Aurora Christian, pitching right-handed and allowing just two hits and no runs.

While his teammates have become accustomed to Perez's unique dual-handed warmup, and the unique, six-fingered ambidextrous glove he uses, their coach said that other teams are still left in awe watching the dual-threat fireballer.

"The whole other team was in the dugout, going, 'Did you see that?'" Westminster coach Jeff Moeller told the Sun-Times of his team's 2010 sectional playoff opponent Eastland. "It was like they were getting psyched out before the game started."

Perez's father, Juan Perez, is Westminster's pitching coach and the impetus behind his son's ambidexterity. A left-handed pitcher himself, the elder Perez taught his youngest son to throw with both hands by having him skip stones with alternating hands. While he was open to ending Ryan Perez's quest to pitch with both hands at any point in his development, Juan Perez said that -- aside from some minor issues with confusing which foot to stride forward with on some deliveries as an 8-year-old -- there have been few hiccups in Ryan Perez's rapid rise up the ranks of pitching prospects, regardless of which hand father and son focus on developing at any given time.

Now father and son are trying to maintain Ryan Perez's impressively consistent defense, all while continuing to build more strength and accuracy in both pitching arms. Whenever he isn't on the mound, Perez serves as either a right-handed infielder or left-handed first baseman, avoiding errors with aplomb despite he and his father's struggles to find him more practice time during the hectic baseball season.

"You start thinking about it, 'How does he deal with that? How does he deal with this?'" Juan Perez said. "At the same time, you've got to keep him healthy. He works out during the offseason; during the season, you want to keep your strength. We're trying to figure out a way to get into the gym and work out and just maintain his strength. You get five or six games a week, it's hard."

When he does get time, the younger Perez has begun communicating with Yankees pitching prospect Pat Venditte, the only ambidextrous pitcher affiliated with any major league club. Venditte encouraged Perez to throw more long toss with his left arm, a trick which the younger prospect said has improved his arm strength.

All that extra work is made worthwhile whenever Perez steps on the mound, warms up and leaves onlooking opponents shaking their heads trying to deciper how they can handle batting against him.

"I just kind of smile and try to get focused," Perez told the Chicago Sun-Times. "That's an advantage to me. They're thinking about that up at the plate."

Ranger Baseball Card (Part 29)

Brad “9.8” Wiegand had a short one-year and one game Ranger career spanning the 2009 and 2010 seasons. A graduate of Occidental College, Brad was primarily an emergency pitcher during his Ranger tenure. Brad claimed to possess a variety of pitches, but to opposing hitters, they all looked the same, slow enough to not break the speed limit. To be honest, his pitches did have movement, they all dropped due to the effects of gravity, explaining the “9.8” moniker. For those of you who are not science minded individuals, gravity exerts a force of 9.8 meters/second on a free falling object. In two Ranger at bats, both in 2009, Brad had one walk and one strikeout. His time on the mound was limited, the few starts he had he could not command his pitches and had a tough time finding the strike zone. In 7 2/3 innings, Brad was 0-1 with a 10.05 ERA, surrendering 15 Walks and 12 Hits, but did manage to strikeout 6. After the 2010 season, Brad moved to Scottsdale, Arizona where he and his pooch Tillman now reside.