It was a really good sports night (one NBA moment notwithstanding), in what has been a bad sports month.
For me, at least.
Some of you are Cubs fans. I know that. And you were pulling for a different former Rangers pitcher from the one I was pulling for. That’s cool. I get it.
Some of you can’t bring yourself, under any circumstances, to pull for the Yankees.
I’m the same, with one very clear exception that I have zero hesitation about.
It took 40 years for the Rangers to be involved in a legitimate rivalry. And it’s a good one. A really good one. And now I’m supposed to set that aside? No chance.
Some of you lean on “state pride,” but for me that’s not a factor in pro sports.
For me, it was a really good night of baseball. Yu Darvish — who, like his mound opponent, has nothing but positive things to say about his pitching coaches in Texas — did exactly what was envisioned nearly six years ago when the Rangers stepped out at a level no other team could match, absolutely dominating a playoff game (and, incidentally, “driving” in as many runs as he surrendered).
And Houston — opponent-irrespective — lost.
Dialing ahead one month, for a moment:
We’re now ready to start taking reservations for the 13th Annual Newberg Report Night (Day) at Globe Life Park, which will be on Saturday, November 18.
This year our event will benefit the hurricane relief effort in Puerto Rico, a region that the Rangers have a widespread and long-standing history with. The event will likely begin late that morning and go into mid-afternoon.
Newberg Report Night will include our usual extensive program in the Hall of Fame Theater, featuring a roundtable Q&A with sports injury expert Will Carroll, Rangers beat writer Levi Weaver, and local minor league junkie Michael Tepid, followed by our annual Q&A session with Rangers GM Jon Daniels, plus our yearly memorabilia raffle/auction, conducted by local professional auctioneer Bret Richards. If you have items you want to donate to the auction, please let me know.
This will be the first year that we’ve done this outside the season — I’m responsible for that, as I couldn’t get my act together in July or August like I’m normally able to do — and so, unlike other years, admission will be at a single price point: $20 per person.
We typically have from 250 to 350 people attend this event every year. Once we reach Hall of Fame Theater capacity, we’ll have to close registration. Many years we’ve sold the event out in less than 24 hours, and so I would strongly recommend that you make your reservations as soon as you know you’ll be attending. (Payment details below.)
This is a very kid-friendly event.
Here’s what we tentatively have planned (the details tend to get better as we get closer to the event):
10:30 Doors open
We’ll gather in the Hall of Fame Theater on the south side of the Ballpark.
You’ll have the opportunity in the lobby to make a donation to our designated charitable cause, which this year will be an organization supporting the disaster relief effort in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria (I’m working on identifying which organization to team up with). You can donate any amount; for every $10 you donate, you will get one ticket for a memorabilia raffle we’ll have during the event.
As usual, I would recommend getting there as early as you can in order to get a good spot in the auditorium. Some of you will have to stand — the theater capacity includes not only the room’s 235 permanent seats but also extra folding chairs (not pictured below) and standing room.
11:00 Roundtable Q&A featuring Will Carroll, Levi Weaver, and Michael Tepid
As the theater fills up, Will, Levi, and Michael will field your questions on the Rangers and on sports injuries. These are really smart baseball guys with an 80-grade sense of humor (maybe 70 in Tepid’s case), and this portion of the event has been fantastic every year. Will and Michael return; this will be Levi’s first time with microphone foisted. Should be fun.
12:00 Raffle/auction, charitable presentation
As we’ve always done, we use this event to raise money for charitable efforts, including through your purchase of raffle tickets that day. For every $10 you donate, you will get one ticket for the raffle. Whoever makes the largest donation at the event will get his or her choice of any of the prizes. The remaining prizes will be raffled off.
We’ll then also have a number of special items to put up for a quick live auction, presided over by award-winning auctioneer Bret Richards. If you have anything you’d like to donate to the event to be raffled or auctioned off to raise money for the Puerto Rico hurricane relief effort, please let me know as soon as possible.
As usual, among the things that will be up for auction, aside from a bunch of autographed baseball memorabilia, will be plenty of “experiences” with local Rangers and sports radio media — such as lunch with play-by-play legends Eric Nadel and Brad Sham, a round of golf with Rangers TV broadcasters Dave Raymond and Tom Grieve, a 2018 behind-the-scenes tour of Rangers pregame/postgame TV show at Globe Life Park (including a meet & greet with that night’s analysts), and a 2018 RoughRiders package for group of 25, including a pregame meet & greet with the players and coaches, and lazy river (with premium food and drinks) throughout the game.
This list is growing fast.
After the auction we’ll make a quick charitable presentation.
1:00 Jon Daniels Q&A
While it’s not possible this far out to guarantee his availability, Rangers GM Jon Daniels is expected to join us, as he has the 12 previous Newberg Report Nights, for a lengthy Q&A session. The Saturday event is two days after the weeklong GM Meetings in Orlando conclude, and three weeks before the Winter Meetings, in what is a lock to be a very busy and important off-season. JD’s time with us should be fascinating, and his willingness to continue meeting with our group is always appreciated.
If you’ve ever been to one of our events, you know how extraordinarily open and honest JD is with us. This is a really unique opportunity, one of my favorite days on the baseball calendar every year — and as JD has told us in the past, one of his as well.
Jon is expected to arrive around 1:00 and take your questions in the theater for about an hour and 30 minutes.
Again, please sign up as you know you’ll be coming. Spots are first come, first served — your spot is only locked in once I receive payment — and again, in many recent years we’ve sold out in less than 24 hours. Given the opportunity to help with the hurricane relief effort and to spend a full 90 minutes talking with JD, I’m expecting this year’s to sell out quickly.
The cost, once again, is just $20, and you can pay in one of two ways:
• You can order by credit card through PayPal by going to www.paypal.com, selecting the “Send money” option, and typing in GJSneaker@sbcglobal.net where you are prompted for the e-mail account.
• Or you can send a check or money order, payable to “Jamey Newberg,” to:
Jamey Newberg
Vincent Serafino Geary Waddell Jenevein, P.C.
1601 Elm Street, Suite 4100
Dallas, TX 75201
If you’re paying by check, I’d recommend mailing it right away so the event doesn’t close before your payment arrives.
One last thing: Just like the last few years, we’re opening up sponsorship opportunities for the event. There are $500 and $1,000 sponsorship levels. At the $500 and $1,000 levels, you will get mentions in all event-related email plus a signed Bound Edition (year of your choice); at the $1,000 level you will also get mentions in Twitter blasts and in the 2018 Bound Edition.
As with 100 percent of the auction and raffle proceeds, 100 percent of all sponsorship contributions will go to the hurricane relief effort.
If you or your business might be interested, give me a shout.
Let me know if you have questions. And let’s raise a lot for the people of Puerto Rico, land of Pudge Rodriguez, Juan Gonzalez, Ruben Sierra, Alex Claudio, Hector Ortiz, and so many others who have been a huge part of this franchise.
Dallas attorney Jamey Newberg has been commenting on Rangers from the big club down through the entire farm system since 1998.
Scott Lucas was born in Arlington, Texas, to Richard and Becky Lucas. He lived mostly in Arlington before moving to Austin, where he graduated from The University of Texas. Scott works for Austin Valuation Consultants, Ltd., and has published several boring articles about real estate appraisal and environmental contamination. He makes a swell margarita and refuses to run longer than ten kilometres.
Eleanor grew up watching the AAA Mudhens in Toledo, Ohio. A loyal Ranger fan since 1979, she works "behind the scenes" at the Newberg Report.
