Rangers reaction pays respect to Elvis Presley and Elvis Andrus

In case you didn’t hear, Wednesday was the 40th anniversary of Elvis Presley’s death.

The King of Rock and Roll would have been 82 this year.

The Rangers, specifically Elvis Andrus, paid tribute with one of his best games of the season. He was 3 for 5 with four RBIs in the Rangers’ 12-6 win Wednesday night. He has made a habit of playing well on the anniversary of the King’s death. Since 2009, Andrus is hitting .394 with seven RBIs and six runs scored on August 16.

“It’s a sad day, but I guess a good day,” Andrus said.

Nice way to pay tribute, right?

“Yeah, kind of,” he said, only partly going along with the suggestion.

That’s OK. Andrus was born 11 years after Presley died. I had just turned 6-years-old and was with my family visiting my grandparents in Concordia, Kansas, like we did every summer. I remember watching the news and seeing the sadness on my mom’s face. I knew who Elvis was but was probably still a bigger fan of Shaun Cassidy. (Yes, that’s an eternal SMH.)

Eventually, I became a huge Elvis fan and still find his early death a sad day in history. Three years later when John Lennon was assassinated on the streets of New York City, I was even more aware and saddened much more than a nine-year-old should be for someone he knew little about. But I was and I eventually became a huge Beatles fan, especially Lennon.

When Kurt Cobain committed suicide in April 1994 it personally hit home. I saw Nirvana play Fair Park Coliseum in December 1993. I was at the front on the floor in the middle of the moshers and the punks. It was mayhem and magic all rolled into a rock show. I was supposed to go to the Astros’ game that night at the Astrodome. But when I got down to Houston from Denton, I had heard the horrible news about Cobain and I wasn’t in the mood for baseball. So I bailed on the game, choosing instead to watch around the clock coverage on MTV ... back when they still had a news team.

In the wake of Presley’s death, Neil Young wrote a song called “My My, Hey Hey”. In the song, he pays tribute to Elvis with the line, “The King is gone but he’s not forgotten.” Almost 15 years later, in Cobain’s suicide note, he quoted the same song: “It’s better to burn out than to fade away.”

That’s not true, of course. Fading away is the far superior option. Just ask Young, who is still making music and touring and still singing his tribute to Elvis at age 71. Keep on rockin’, Neil.

Here’s the Rangers reaction:

1. Winning — The Rangers are gaining some traction for the first time since they won 10 consecutive games in May. They’ve won three in a row (first sweep since July 24), six of their past seven and nine of their past 13. They’re two games back of the second wild card spot with three teams between them and the Angels. The play the Angels 10 more times and the Mariners (currently a half-game better than Texas) seven more times. A playoff spot remains a legitimate possibility. Especially if the offense keeps producing like it has lately.

Nomar Mazara was talking about the offense finally producing and what it could mean for the final six weeks of the season. He asked how many games remained. He was told 43.

“Forty-three games left ... you never know what’s going to happen,” he said with a twinkle in his eye.

2. Offense rising — The Rangers scored 28 runs in the series against the Tigers. That will work most of the time. For the first extensive stretch of the season, the lineup appears to be getting hot at the same time. Mazara and Rougned Odor are both heating up, which really stretches out the lineup. Texas tied a season-high with 17 hits. Delino DeShields, Andrus and Mazara had three each. Odor and Robinson Chirinos each had two. When the pitches aren’t there, they’re taking their walks, including seven Wednesday night.

“I think everybody’s doing their job, we’re having really good at-bats, nobody’s taking anything for granted, and no matter if it’s two outs, we still believe we can have a rally and score runs,” Andrus said. “That’s our DNA that we need to keep the rest of the season, and hopefully it’s the beginning of something good.”

3. All Shook Up — Andrus had four RBIs and now has 64 for the season. He only needs six more to eclipse his career-high of 69 from last season. He now has 500 career RBIs. His go-ahead home run in the fifth inning was his 16th, which doubles his previous career-best season in 2016. He has a career-high 52 extra-base hits and is hitting .299 for the season.

4. Nomar tomorrow — Mazara is in one of those zones at the moment. In his last seven games, Mazara is hitting .481 with a 1.126 OPS. He leads the club with 77 RBIs and is looking at his first 100 RBI season with 43 games remaining.

“It means a lot. When you drive in somebody that’s how you win games,” said Mazara, who had three RBIs Wednesday. “It’s important to me. I’ve been trying to focus more when I have men in scoring position and I’ve been putting the ball in play. When you put the ball in play, good things happen.”

5. Props to JD — Rangers general Manager Jon Daniels won his 1,000th game Wednesday night since being named to the position in 2006. It’s the most wins by any Rangers’ GM.

This story was originally published August 17, 2017 at 1:27 AM with the headline "Rangers reaction pays respect to Elvis Presley and Elvis Andrus."