Remembering a Friend and Colleague - Richard Durrett

Today has been a pretty tough day, as I am thinking constantly of a friend and colleague, Richard Durrett. Richard passed away yesterday after he collapsed, he was only 38 years old. 

I knew Richard well, from his days with the Dallas Morning News and ESPN Dallas. When I worked for the Rangers in 2006, Richard was always a shoulder to lean on and a person I trusted to talk with when there were struggles in my first year working in Major League Baseball. And he was a voracious worker, always on top of things and always approaching his job as a professional.

In my many trips back to Texas with the Mariners, Richard was always one of the first people I saw when I walked in the press box, and he always greeted me the same way -- "Jeffrey, how are you doing!" He was quick to ask about my family, how things were going and what was new. The baseball questions always came, but not until he was caught up on how I was doing. This was Richard in a nutshell.

There have been a lot of great tributes written about Richard by his colleagues T.R. Sullivan, Anthony Andro, Jeff Wilson and Evan Grant (to name just a few). I encourage you to read them all.

No road trip to Texas will ever be the same without seeing the smiling face of Richard in the press box. I am kind of at a loss for words, but want to thank him for being a friend. We will miss you Richard!

Donate to the Richard Durrett Family Fund. Select the gift option & fill in In Memory of Richard Durrett: http://t.co/FRH9LmXxkb
— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) June 18, 2014

King Felix for Halloween

It has been a while since I've fired up the blog, so I thought I would bring it back with a short Halloween post.

Kim and I asked Charlie several times what (or who) he wanted to be for Halloween. This is the first Halloween where he can fully communicate, and each time he said he wanted to be Felix Hernandez. He loves King Felix, especially having the book The Rise of King Felix read to him each night before going to bed.

The other thing Charlie really loves, and can't get enough of, is King Felix's Cy Young Award from 2010. He turns to the page in the Mariners media guide where there is a picture of Felix and the Cy Young Award, and can't get enough of it.

So for Halloween, I present to you King Felix and his Cy Young Award!

Brooks Running Gets It

Brooks Running will be moving its corporate headquarters from Bothell to Fremont in the coming years. They've long been cornerstone of the running community in the Pacific Northwest, and even around the world, with their "Green" initiatives. Check out this video on their new space that will be located near the Burke Gilman Trail in Seattle.

Cookie Monster - Share it Maybe!

The Cookie Monster is a pretty big deal around our house these days with Charlie...and his eyes lit up (and he shook his little butt a bit) when we played this for him.

You've Been Punk'd

I had the chance to work with Buck Showalter in my first Major League season in 2006 with the Texas Rangers. He is known to be very tough, very intense and sometimes unforgiving. But, at times, he would do something that would totally shock you and make you laugh for days. He was at it here with one of his pitchers...

Do the Kawasaki

Here is a funny video, of one of our funniest players, Munenori Kawasaki. He is dancing in the dugout while our groundscrew is dancing on the field. If you cant' laugh at this, you probably can't laugh at anything! And he is a great, great guy!

Fence Project Completed...

Well, after years of looking at an ugly fence out our kitchen window each morning, I finally completed a project that I've been wanting to do for a long time. A December storm blew over a portion of the fence to set things in motion, and today I completed the last section on my initial checklist (still more to do down the road) and hauled the old wood off to the dump. Here is a look at the completed project out our rec room window.