Texas Rangers

Josh Hamilton in elite company, fuels the Rangers; C.J. Wilson returns an Angel

Josh Hamilton’s historic four home-run showcase last Wednesday in Baltimore.
CJ Wilson now of the LA Angels
Texas Rangers

The sports commentariat is still abuzz over Josh Hamilton’s historic four home-run showcase last Wednesday in Baltimore — and why not? Performances like Hamilton’s, the 16th in league history, are even scarcer than Major League Baseball’s 21 perfect games.

Romantic figures like Lou Gehrig, Gil Hodges, Willie Mays, and Mike Schmidt once swatted four in a day’s work, too. For the record, those happened in 1932, 1950, 1961, and 1976, respectively.

But the feat originated in Boston on May 30, 1894 at the city’s South End Grounds in a match between the hometown “Beaneaters” and the Cincinnati Reds. According to the Baseball Almanac, Boston second baseman Bobby Lowe hit two of his four homeruns in the game’s third inning; the Beaneaters, however, lost by nine runs anyway, 20-11.

Toronto’s power-hitting first baseman Carlos Delgado became the club’s 15th member 109 years later on September 25, 2003. Major League Baseball needed nearly nine years and one Joshua Holt Hamilton to revisit one of its most aberrant milestones — the Ranger outfielder also set the American League record for total bases in one game, with 18.

As a whole, Texas has played the bulk of their young season outside the AL West, turning road series at Minnesota, Detroit, Cleveland, Boston, Toronto, and Baltimore into 13 wins and 6 losses. The team’s 10-6 home record — over the White Sox, Mariners, Yankees, Rays, and Angels — likewise illustrates their penchant for winning every 3 game series.

The hype surrounding last weekend’s three-game set with the Angels couldn’t be overstated, even this early. For one, the revamped Angels were the punditry’s off-season darlings with their costly free-agent acquisitions of Albert Pujols and former-Ranger ace C.J. Wilson. Thus far, though, Pujols’ return on investment has been next-to-nil: At 32, the three-time MVP sports an appalling .196 batting average, with only one homerun in 138 at bats. At 14-18 and in last place entering their series in Arlington, the troubled Angels hoped to rejuvenate themselves amid a sea of Ranger fans soaring on their team’s swagger.

The rich backstory of Friday night’s C.J. Wilson vs. Yu Darvish pitching matchup imbued the game with its “Main Event” feel. Even as the ace of Texas’ back-to-back World Series teams, Wilson’s supposedly boastful, egotistical personality turned-off a vocal portion of Ranger fans; or as one such fan on an ESPN message board put it: “Ranger fans dislike him because he’s a know-it-all California boy who comes off as the biggest tool on the radio.”

Texas fans and players alike also didn’t enjoy Wilson’s spring training “prank” of Tweeting Ranger catcher Mike Napoli’s phone number. This stunt came fresh-off Napoli’s remark that he would hit a homerun off his former battery-mate. Wilson explained the urge to Dan Patrick on The Dan Patrick Show:

“…[it was] a prank, of course…nobody liked it besides me and my friends and my teammates and people on the Rangers didn’t think it was very funny, so whatever…I learned my lesson. You can only prank people with a sense of humor, I guess.”

Wilson’s strained relationship with DFW worsened last month when, during that same interview with Patrick, he asserted that the Rangers “kind of wasted my time…” by not approaching him with a serious contract offer during the off-season. The 31 year-old lefthander subsequently signed a five-year, $77.5 million contract with the Angels, his hometown team. The Rangers, for their part, could’ve afforded to re-sign him, but instead allocated a whopping $107 million to sign Japanese standout pitcher Yu Darvish, 25, to a six-year contract.

As a counterblow, a caustic Ranger fan created a mock commercial for “C.J. Wilson Douche Bags” on Funny or Die’s website.

It was in this spirit of sportsmanship and fair play that the Angels and Rangers met for the first of their 19 games together. The Wilson-Darvish matchup was but a tease, though, thanks to a 1-hour and 56 minute rain delay that interrupted the game’s first inning. The Angels elected to save Wilson’s arm for the following day, but Texas’ Darvish (5-1, 2.84 ERA) pitched comfortably with an early 6-0 lead to last 5 1/3 innings — allowing three runs on three hits, with three walks and seven strikeouts in Texas’ 10-3 win.

Josh Hamilton, meanwhile, prolonged his blistering offensive tear with two more home runs, and one more place in history: having become only the third Major Leaguer to hit 17 homeruns in his team’s first 33 games.

Wilson’s official homecoming took place on Saturday afternoon against Texas lefty Matt Harrison; Wilson’s sturdy performance allowing only two earned runs across 5 2/3 innings kept the score knotted at 2-2 in the seventh, when a succession of walks, bunt singles, and sacrifice flies gave Los Angles a 4-2 lead they would keep. Wilson (4-3, 3.42 ERA) earned a no-decision; Matt Harrison wore the loss for Texas; and Josh Hamilton did indeed hit another homerun, his 18th.

Texas captured the series on Sunday night with a 13-6 win.

The Rangers’ home stand will culminate with two games apiece against Kansas City and Oakland before they draw pistols with the Astros (15-19) in the Lone Star Classic, May 18-20 in Houston.

unspecified

High Score

Austin named the nation's pickleball capital in industry report

Photo by Henry Selis Photo

Other Racquet Social Club is back after city woes.

It's no secret that Austinites love pickleball. A new study proves just how much by ranking Austin the No. 1 city for pickleball in the whole country. Dallas and Houston also made the top 10 at Nos. 3 and 8, respectively.

The report was published by TeachMe.To, an online marketplace for learning sports (and sometimes music) from private instructors. It used data from its own platform, USA Pickleball, Places2Play, local pickleball associations, and more. It also referred to the Sports and Fitness Industry Association (SFIA), which named pickleball the fastest-growing sport in America, with a growth rate of 223.5 percent over three years.

Similarly, TeachMe.To ranked Austin as the fastest-growing city for pickleball, and citing this as the main reason for the overall title of "the nation's pickleball capital."

It name-checked the Austin Metro Pickleball Association (AMPA) — with approximately 3,000-3,500 members — and the Austin Pickleball League (APL), estimating that overall, "15,000-20,000 people play pickleball at least occasionally in the greater Austin area." About half of those players — about 8,000-10,000 people — play at least twice a month.

The report did not include gender data on Austin, specifically, but it did note that not only are two-thirds of pickleball players female; women's involvement in the sport is also growing 50 percent faster than men's.

New courts everywhere
This probably isn't a surprise to people who have noticed the number of courts opened around Austin in recent years. By 2024, TeachMe.To's data shows 32 dedicated courts in Austin, and thanks to with a utility rate of 92 percent it doesn't look like that'll be slowing down.

In the summer of 2023, the online booking platform Swimply noticed how many pickleball courts there were in Austin compared to such great demand, and added courts to its service. In fall 2023 and summer 2024, at least two important developments expanded that availability: Other Racquet Social Club opened as a friendly, country club-like neighborhood option, and national chain The Picklr announced it's bringing five locations to Austin and Round Rock.

Perhaps because Austin is such a food-obsessed city, there seems to be some growing opportunity for food and beverage hospitality around pickleball, too. Other Racquet recently started hosting the Bill's Dips food truck, a spinoff of the popular downtown restaurant Bill's Oyster; and a pair of bars with pickleball courts, Drifters Social Coffee & Cocktails and The Pickle Pub, also opened in South Austin this year, with strong online ratings already.

The trend has even reached into real estate (see this cute house with its own pickleball court) and inspired athletes to introduce similar sports to the local market, as in the case of the padel club Paddle39. TeachMe.To's report also mentioned tech companies adding pickleball to their campuses.

Aside from growth, the study also considered lesson activity (including information about teacher availability and diversity of clinic offerings), infrastructure, community vitality, the tournament scene.

Austin had the highest concentration of all the cities of players under 40 (65 percent), as well as the highest share of national lesson bookings. At 16.90 percent, that means about one in six of the pickleball lessons contracted through this platform were in Austin. Lesson demand, the report says, is growing 125 percent year-over-year.

Elsewhere in Texas
Dallas was No. 3 thanks in part to its "central location" according to the report.

"The city's 45 dedicated courts and 85 [percent] public accessibility rate have fostered one of the most active competitive scenes in the country, with 8,500 registered league players," it says. "The combination of strong tournament presence, extensive infrastructure, and a 112% growth in lesson bookings solidifies Dallas as a powerhouse in the national pickleball landscape."

Houston made No. 8 with an emphasis on integrating pickleball with other sports.

"The city's 22 dedicated courts have seen a 92% increase in lesson bookings, driven by innovative programming that includes the nation's first corporate league system," it says. "Houston's success in integrating pickleball into existing sports infrastructure while maintaining 72% year-round utilization demonstrates a sustainable model for rapid growth."

Overall predictions
After laying out data about the top cities in pickleball, the report made some predictions. As the Austin newcomer mentioned above believes, the report also thinks padel is the next big thing. It also guesses more cities will act like Houston by focusing on hybrid facilities.

It also expects to see an expanded professional circuit and mainstream coverage, more technology used on the court, a rise in the prevalence of young players, and more opportunities in corporate wellness and real estate. "Dedicated pickleball facilities will become as common as swimming pools in luxury developments," it says. Texans will be the judge of that one.

pickleball lists