Fort Worth ties
Lance Berkman remembers his proposal well.He was playing for Double A Jackson (Miss.) in 1998, and the team had a day game in Shreveport. A 22-year-old Berkman, though, couldn’t rent a car.But Berkman convinced an older teammate to rent it for him, and he made the four-hour drive across I-20 to Fort Worth to visit his then-girlfriend, Cara, who went to TCU.“I got there about midnight,” Berkman said. “Then we went up to the press box at the old stadium where you could see the entire city. It was a little bit daring because we had to jump the fence. We pretty much broke the law by jumping the fence, but hopefully the statute of limitations has run out on that.“But it was a great night. I proposed and it all went well.”That is just one TCU connection Berkman has, as the former Rice star spoke about TCU and other colleges in his home state. So are you a fan of TCU now? As a matter of fact, my good friend Matt Carpenter has made me despise the TCU football team because of constant updates. He wore purple all the time and really took it way over the top. I liken it to when I played with Chris Burke, who is just as crazy about Tennessee. It just makes you want them to lose because I want to call Matt Carpenter and say, ‘Ha ha.’ To be honest, though, any team from Texas I have a soft spot for. Any time they play against a team from another state, I root for them. Do you know anyone else other than Carpenter who played at TCU? I know Kirk Saarloos, who is their pitching coach. So I do have some connection and some reason to pull for that team. Is your plan after your playing days to still coach at Texas? I’m from Austin and I have a ranch in the Hill Country, so maybe as a ploy to be able to get closer to where my ranch is at. But Rice is actually a much better fit if I were to do something like that. Being able to coach there would be great. Who do you prefer working with, college kids or pros? I feel at that point in those kids’ lives you have an opportunity to have a bigger impact than you do when a guy gets to professional baseball. For me, the opportunity to coach not only on the field but also off the field is big, and the college game is better suited for that.Injury report RHP Yu Darvish (neck stiffness): Scheduled for a bullpen session Thursday and, if all goes well, he will pitch in a game Saturday. RHP Colby Lewis (flexor tendon surgery in July): Threw bullpen session Monday. LHP Martin Perez (broken left ulna): Expected to miss two months. RHP Kyle McClellan (strained right lat muscle): Sidelined for 3-4 weeks before he’ll resume a throwing program. RHP Joakim Soria (Tommy John elbow surgery in April): Threw a bullpen session Monday. RHP Neftali Feliz (Tommy John elbow surgery in August): Throwing out to 75 feet. C Eli Whiteside (mild left calf strain): Started minor league game Tuesday.Videos of the daySee what manager Ron Washington said about the 13 roster cuts made, and also catch some of Derek Holland’s minor-league start Tuesday on our Rangers blog, Foul Territory, at star-telegram.com/rangers.Drew Davison, 817-390-7760 Twitter: @drewdavison
