Texas Rangers play it cool when it comes to heat

Tag : Heat And Cool
The white board near the main entrance of theTexas Rangers' clubhouse included a brief reminder to players:"Temperature near 100 degrees or more. Drink plenty ofwater."
Josh Rupe had added a sentence encouraging players to eat lots ofcheese puffs. But all kidding aside, the players know they must beready for the heat no matter how used to the high temperatures theythink they are. On Monday, the Rangers started a stretch of 20 ofthe next 26 games at home. The temperature was 101 degrees when thegame started.
"The main thing is to drink plenty of fluids and make sureyou're hydrated," said David Murphy, as he ate a Pedialytepopsicle a few hours before the game. "You have to make sureyour body can handle it, but I don't think anyone is too worriedabout it."
Manager Ron Washington said the plan this week is to take battingpractice indoors the next two days (after hitting outside Monday)and probably do the same for two of the three games against Torontothis weekend. But Washington won't let the weather dictate hislineup unless absolutely necessary.
"I'm not going to be babying things," Washington said."These are the dog days, and we're trying to win as many gamesas we can."
Hurley says he's fine: Right-hander Eric Hurley said he threw a long-toss session withKevin Millwood on Monday and felt good. He expects to make his nextstart, scheduled for Friday.