I fear I’m going to get myself in trouble by telling you this little secret: Eric Nadel has a urinal in his redesigned home.

Never mind why he put the urinal there; that’s another story.

The thing that’s impressive about this piece of porcelain is the work Nadel put into researching it before he made the decision to buy one. We’d go to a restaurant on the road last summer and he’d excuse himself to go to the restroom. Then, over the lunch, he’d discuss the form and function of the facilities and he’d weigh its various plusses and minuses. I learned more than I ever could have imagined about the urinal industry.

Having now fulfilled a lifelong dream of getting the word “urinal” into a story, it also brings me to my point: Eric Nadel is the most prepared, most conscientious broadcaster I’ve ever come across.

I was reminded of this when he threw the best pitch at Tuesday’s home opener. It was the ceremonial first pitch to celebrate his 30 years of doing Rangers broadcasts.

Of course, there is a story behind this, too. Nadel spent some time during spring training in the Rangers’ batting cages throwing practice pitches. On Monday, he went to the mound and made some more throws. Tuesday, he limbered up and made a couple of final warm-up tosses underneath the stadium before going to the mound. And, then, of course, Nadel did exactly what he wanted to do with the pitch. He delivered a high strike to Jim Sundberg.

This is how he delivers broadcasts, too. Full of preparation and right on target.

I’ve spent 11 years in Texas. Working alongside Nadel on a nightly basis has been one of the greatest pleasures of my job. It is also one of my greatest regrets because when you are at the ballpark, it’s harder to listen to the radio broadcasts.

I get enough, though. I get to watch and listen to the preparation. It is often awe-inspiring. Nadel works the clubhouse before a game like a beat reporter. He takes detailed notes on every club in the league and every Rangers player. More importantly, he keeps those notes and old-fashioned day-by-day statistical records for years.

Need to know if the Rangers have ever had a home opener rained out as I did on Tuesday morning? Call Nadel. His knowledge goes back to 1979. He can tell you that the first game at The Ballpark was delayed about an hour by storms, but that there has been no home opener rained out since he’s been here.

Come across some obscure Ranger who holds some obscure team record and Nadel’s almost certainly got a story about the player and the record. And probably the guy who held it before that, too.

But it goes beyond the reams of information. I’ve watched him represent the club at charity and random community events. He is without fail engaging, entertaining and earnest. A lot of players and club officials (and I’m not just talking about the Rangers here) put on the happy face at these events because, well, they have to. Make the same speech often enough and eventually boredom or monotony sets in.

Not with Nadel. I've never seen him have a bad day representing the club.

And I’ve only been privileged enough to watch and listen to the guy for 11 years. I can only guess what it’s been like for those of who you’ve known his voice for all 30 years.

Sure, I know the Rangers haven’t had much to be proud of on the field in the last 30 years, but can you imagine how bad it might have sounded if it was coming from someone other than Nadel?

Q: Was there ill will between the Reds and Josh Hamilton? Or was this trade made simply because the Reds felt they needed pitching help and they had a slew of outfielders? I guess I'm just wondering if there will be any added loyalty shown to the Rangers because they are giving him more than just a year to prove himself and looking him as a long-term piece of the organization.

KJ

GRANT: It's a poorly kept secret that some Reds veterans seemed to not be fond of the attention Hamilton's amazing story received last year. Hamilton essentially had a life coach (Johnny Narron, who is with the Rangers, too) and was the focus of lots of media attention throughout the season.

But Wayne Krivsky wasn't going to trade him simply because some vets pouted. This trade was mostly a deal in which two teams seemed to match up on needs. The Rangers, for all their pitching questions, needed a long-term fit in center fielder as much, if not more than, a middle-of-the-rotation pitcher. The Reds felt they needed pitching to contend this season. Presto! Change-o! A trade was consummated.

What goes unsaid is that maybe the Reds felt they were selling high. They got the guy for a $50,000 investment and he did miss a bunch of time with injuries and there is the drug-abuse history. The injury/abuse history was probably more of a motivation to make the trade than any "ill will."

By the way, Edinson Volquez (one run in 5 1/3 innings) pitched pretty well in his debut for the Reds. Volquez got the win. Hamilton basically won the Rangers' second game all by himself. So far, a very fair trade.

Q. I'm sure I read over the winter that the Rangers nearly led the majors in strikeouts last year and that cutting down on those strikeouts was a major goal for this season. Yet there were 21 strikeouts in the first three games in Seattle. It doesn't sound like much improvement.

John Raymond, Carrollton

GRANT: More important than cutting down on strikeouts was simply becoming smarter hitters. There are plenty of clubs with good plate discipline that strike out a bunch. The Rangers wanted to work pitchers harder, have better two-strike approaches and be better situational hitters.

So far, the results have been mixed. The Rangers were 1-for-15 with runners in scoring position against the trio of Erik Bedard, Felix Hernandez and Jered Weaver. They were 10-for-32, however, against all others.

As for the strikeouts, that's also a skewed sample to judge by, mainly because two of the first three starters they faced are among the AL's best strikeout pitchers. Bedard was third in the league last year with 221 strikeouts and Hernandez 14th at 165. Bedard struck out five Rangers in five innings, which is a lot. But consider last year, he piled up 26 strikeouts against the Rangers in 16 innings.

Final note: Last year the Rangers had 43 strikeouts in their first six games; this year they had 37.

Q: Heard the Rangers got Kevin Mench back, so where is he playing? I read he signed a minor league contract, but I could not find his name on the any teams' roster. Is he still with the Rangers and where is he playing?

Peter L. Diaz

GRANT: Holy cow, Peter, did you just like sleep through spring training? Mench battled gamely for a spot on the bench as a right-handed-hitting outfielder/DH. But since his minor league contract included a provision that he would accept an assignment to Triple-A Oklahoma for the first two months of the season and since Jason Botts was out of minor league options, there wasn't much competition.

As long as Botts looked capable of hitting major league pitching, he was going to get the nod. Botts did that, especially late in camp when he had a couple of big hits with runners in scoring position. Mench is at Oklahoma, playing left field regularly for the RedHawks.

Q: I was at the Seattle Mariners-Rangers came on April 1, and I rode the shuttle bus with two scouts, one from Arizona. One was especially critical of Ron Washington on several issues, including his pinch hitting for Frank Catalanotto after he'd been announced, his holding of Richie Sexson on first (said Sexson was no threat to steal anything) and his pitching to Ichiro Suzuki in the ninth after walking him earlier.

Why is an NL scout at this game? (Even if the Rangers face one of the teams in interleague play, that's not for months.)

Is the perception that Washington doesn't manage well a common one?

Roger Brooks, Seattle

GRANT: The Catalanotto situation was awkward, but chalk it up to a little early-season disorganization. Traditional baseball etiquette suggests that you send your pinch hitter up before the guy he is going to replace ever leaves the on-deck circle. But from time to time, for various reasons, a guy gets to the plate before he is called back. The Rangers simply hadn't planned out the inning far enough ahead. With lefty Eric O'Flaherty on the mound, it was clear Marlon Byrd would hit for Catalanotto. On his own, Byrd went and took some practice swings. The day after, Ron Washington apologized to Catalanotto for his faux pas. Catalanotto understood that things sometimes move a little quicker than anybody expects in the first few games of the season.

Scouts cover other big league teams all season long, writing reports on the organization from top to bottom. It's not uncommon to have a half-dozen or more scouts at any Rangers game, particularly home games since Arlington is so centrally located for scouts spread around the country.

As for the Washington perception, The Boston Globe recently tried to rank managers and ranked Washington 28th, ahead only of the two new major league managers. That means nothing. Washington has managed one year in the majors and the Rangers finished with a 75-87 record. There's just not much of a track record to go on. In a game based on results, you are going to rank towards the bottom until you start getting results. If the Rangers are a surprise contender this season, people will start speaking of Washington as great motivator.

Q: My question for this week is about pitchers. I frequently hear Josh Lewin and Tom Grieve talk about pitchers as either "Pitcher S, a ground ball pitcher" or "Pitcher M, a pop fly pitcher."

How much of being predominantly either a ground ball pitcher or a pop fly pitcher is due to individual body mechanics and delivery and how much is part of a learned motion taught by a pitching instructor? Do you strive to be one or the other, or again, is it your in-born motion that determines it? What about pitchers who do not carry one of those appositives? Does it mean only that they do not have a dominant motion one way or the other?

Kristi, Dallas

GRANT: It basically comes down to what type of fastball the pitcher can most command. Guys who throw "four-seam" fastballs (their fingers cross the seams in four places in the grip) tend to be fly-ball pitchers because the four-seamer stays up in the strike zone and hitters get underneath the ball. The other fastball grip, a two-seamer, dives more. That's why it is referred to as a sinker.

As I mentioned, it just comes down to command. There are puny guys with amazing fastballs and big guys with terrible ones. Pitchers usually throw both fastballs at some point in their career but settle into throwing one or the other as their predominant pitch. The predominant fastball ends up being what they can best command. And that is more a matter of comfort and confidence than it is physics.

Q: I think something that people are overlooking about Marlon Byrd is that he is fast enough to play center and has enough arm to play right. It looks to me as if the Rangers are intent on putting at least two guys capable of playing center in the outfield at all times, and sometimes three. Seems like a good idea to me.

Trebor Carpenter, Dripping Springs

GRANT: The Rangers are not overlooking it and that's why they refused to deal Byrd without getting "overpaid" for him. His defensive versatility is the biggest advantage he has over Matt Murton, whom Chicago wanted to deal for him. Josh Hamilton will need some time off this year to keep his body fresh. Milton Bradley is not going to be an everyday outfielder for a while. David Murphy, while hot, is an unproven commodity. The Rangers need somebody who can play multiple outfield spots. That's where Byrd's ultimate value lies to the Rangers.