The Ranger's Kahlil Greene is Feeling a Little Anxious

The Ranger’s new utility infielder, Khalil Greene is not going to be reporting to Spring Training because of his repeated difficulties with Social Anxiety Disorder. This is something he has had to deal with a few times before in his career, and actually, it is something he has dealt with since he was a kid.

Social Anxiety Disorder is described as a “chronic fear of being judged by others and of being humiliated by one’s own actions.[1]” For Greene the disorder would cause a deeply rooted stress under the pressure to perform. The pressure however, was for the most part put upon by himself.

"I don't know what level, as far as how much one internalizes the feelings, how deep they go to the core of a person, but for me it's always been pretty deep. I've always taken the game pretty seriously and wanted to perform well. It's been a love-hate relationship in a lot of ways. A lot of that is natural and it's a response to what you consider important. A lot of that is healthy, but for me it wasn't healthy in terms of how deep it goes. I don't know how to describe it, other than the fact it wasn't pleasant.[2]"

In 2008 Greene broke his hand punching a wall in the dugout. And last season with the Cardinals Greene went on the DL because of the amount of stress.

All of this should have been a red flag fro the Rangers before signing Greene to a one-year, $750,000 contract. But on the flip side, the potential pay off was worth the risk[3]. Greene is a talented player, and had he not been plagued by a mental condition for his career could have turned into an everyday starter. He would have been a perfect fit for the highly coveted Utility Infielder role that has been filled in the past by players such as Omar Vizquel, Mark DeRosa, and Billy Ripken[4]. Now the Ranger’s are in a last minute scramble to fill a very important position on the roster as they are forced to proceed under the assumption that Greene won’t be returning to Spring Training and may not play at all.

There are a small handful of decent options, both through free agency and in our system. Or watching the waiver wire toward the end of Spring Training may fill the need. It’s unlikely a trade would happen to fill the role, but that is still an outside possibility. Regardless, what the Ranger’s do to fill the Utility Infielder position is something worth watching as Spring Training progresses. 

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_anxiety_disorder

2. http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2009/05/29/khalil-greene-describes-his-anxiety/

3. Historically, GM John Daniels hasn’t been afraid to take a risk on a player every now and then. Milton Bradley was a risk coming into the 2008 season and paid off big. Kenny Lofton was also a risk that yielded a nice return in 2007.

4. I love any opportunity to throw in a good Billy Ripken reference?

The World, According to Kony

This post should be called “Kony, according to the world”. By now everyone has likely seen, or at least heard of, the Kony video and the Kony 2012 campaign put out by Invisible Children. In short, Joseph Kony is a bad guy; I think we can all agree on that. And the Invisible Children not-for-profit organization has some very good intentions, and is therefore the good guy. And we should all root for the good guy to win… which is exactly what this feel like.

I’m a HUGE sports fan. I’m the kind of fan who believes he can out coach the coach. I’m the kind of fan who sees stuff the announcers miss. I’m the kind of fan who knows the refs are wrong and can recite the rules, verbatim, to support my case. And, of course, I’m the kind of fan who yells at the TV, as if my cheering might motivate a player to react differently.

Right now it feels like a billion Facebook users, media outlets and celebrities are yelling at the TV. “Kony is wrong, and everyone should know about it!” And what is that supposed to do?

It’s not like he’s the first. It’s not like he’s the most recent. It’s not like there haven’t been efforts made. And I have a problem with presenting information out of context. Invisible Children’s Kony 2012 campaign makes it seem like the US government, and most of the rest of the world has ignored this Kony problem. But we haven’t. Efforts have been made¹.

Even still, what do you purpose we do about it? It took a decade and a full scale military operation to track down and eliminate Bin Laden. I would think, to track down Kony, who lives in a jungle, it would take a similar effort. So what are we supposed to do? Go to war to find this guy?

It short, shit happens. Really, really bad shit happens. And it happens to children too. And there is no easy answer. And a social media campaign won’t change that³.

1. I have some follow up questions for Invisible Children, which I want to believe is a credible organization:

• If I donate money, where does it go?
• Will Kony be forgotten in a year like most trends in social media?
• Why are we just hearing about him now?

2. Wikipedia has evidence of that, but there are a number of other news sources as well.

3. Unless it’s on Pinterest.

The World is Your Shopping Cart Return

Question: What kind of person leaves their shopping cart in some random parking space rather than returning it to the shopping cart return?

Answer: Every kind of person.

The old adage, “it takes all kinds” works well here, because you’ll see all kinds of people leaving their carts in an inappropriate place. You’re just as likely to see it at Wal-Mart as you are outside of Saks. Blacks, whites, Hispanics, Asians; they all do it. People driving sports cars, mini vans, pickups, or low riders; they’re all guilty. The elderly, the teenagers, the middle-aged; not one is clean. It really does take all kinds.

But the question is why? Why not put the cart where it belongs. I’ve seen carts left blocking a space just a few feet from the return. Some people are clearly making it to the return with their cart, and yet others just leave their cart in any arbitrary space, along as it’s out of their way. I’ve even seen someone leave a cart blocking another vehicle.

Why? Are you too lazy to walk an extra 30 feet? Do you not have time to make the extra 15 second walk? Or do you simply not care about your society? I suspect that’s the real truth. The growing problem of shopping carts being left in any random spot is indicative of the growing problem that people simply don’t care anymore. It relates to laziness, but it would be better defined as indifference. Some people just don’t care about other people.