Outfield not center of his attention
Baseball games usually last more than three hours, so there’s some downtime to be had for players.
That’s something for which Delino DeShields Jr. is well aware.
The Texas Rangers center fielder said in a podcast for the Dallas Morning News that he needs to stay focused on each pitch when he’s playing in the outfield and admitted he can find himself daydreaming during a game.
“When you’re in the infield, especially the middle infield, you’re the captain of everything, you always got to pay attention to the pitches, and that’s something I got really used to,” DeShields said. “Then, going to the outfield, I’d daze out sometimes. So, that’s something that I’m going to get better at, try to be locked in every pitch … getting better reads, taking better routes and doing all that stuff to be a more efficient outfielder.”
DeShields had played second base from 2010 when he was in the Houston Astros system until transitioning to the outfield in the Arizona Fall League in 2013. He played 113 games in the outfield in 2015, committed six errors and had a .977 fielding percentage in 926 2/3 innings. Offensively, DeShields batted .261 with 2 home runs, 37 RBI, 83 runs scored and stole 25 bases.
The Rangers hope that in 2016, DeShields can stay away from being a daydream believer and help them repeat as American League West Division champions.
You like that?
Washington Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins has filed a trademark to the phrase “You Like That,” ESPN’s Darrell Rovell tweeted Monday.
Cousins used the phrase after the Redskins beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 31-30, in October and filed the trademark two days later, Rovell said.
Redskins fans have chanted the phrase over the past couple of weeks as Washington has climbed to the top of the NFC East. The Redskins beat the Buffalo Bills, 3525, on Sunday to improve to 7-7 in the NFC East, which has been one of the worst divisions in football this season.
Cousins, a fourth-round selection by the Redskins in the 2012 NFL Draft, has passed for 3,625 yards and 22 touchdowns in 14 games this season.
Washington can clinch the NFC East title with a victory Saturday night at Philadelphia.
A division title and a home playoff game? Redskins fans will really like that.
‘Honest’ headlines
From the weekly “Honest NFL Headlines” series on the satirical sports website sportspickle.com:
“Arians: ‘I’m the real coaching genius. See my smart guy hat and glasses?’ “
“Three NFC East teams still in contention for humiliating playoff exit”
“Jerry Jones: ‘I knew Brandon Weeden was a first-place quarterback”
“Raiders lose again, now 6-8 in greatest season in more than a decade”
“Giants let Panthers slip through whatever fingers they have left”
He said it
From Brad Dickson of the Omaha World-Herald:
“Former NBA player Scot Pollard will be a contestant on the new Survivor. It’ll be nice to see one former pro athlete living off the land who’s not forced to due to bad investments.”
“Boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. paid $3.5 million for a Bugatti Veyron. That must be a beautiful mansion – wait, I’m told it’s a car.”
“To give you an idea how loud the crowd at Omaha’s CenturyLink Center was during the Nebraska-Texas volleyball match, astronauts on the International Space Station complained about the noise.”