24sept Today is the birthday of one of the greatest and unquestionably the most scorned player in Rangers history: Rafael Palmeiro…he had 20 years in the big leagues, 1986-2005, with 3 teams, serving 2 hitches with 2 of them…the Rangers were his second and it was here where he made his name…his first full year was with CC in 1988…he was an All-Star that year, the first of his 4 All-Star turns…at the time he was a sweet-swinging, gap-power outfielder who looked like he would be a high-average doubles hitter…but after that year, he was traded to the Rangers along with Drew Hall and Jamie Moyer for Luis Benitez, Pablo Delgado, Steve Wilson, Curtis Wilkerson, Paul Kilgus and Mitch Williams…the Rangers’ plan was to move him to 1B; they installed him there and he immediately took to hitting in the old ballpark…his HR total went from 8 to 14 to 26…in 1992 he fell off a bit to 22, but still, that was more power than I thought he would ever have…the next year he hit 37 HR with 105 RBI, his first really big power year…he also made himself into a very good defensive 1B…after that year he was in line for big money as a free agent…the Rangers tried to keep him but Rafael was always a ‘the grass is always greener’ kind of guy and he headed for Balt and the Rangers wound up with Will Clark, who was turning out to be not so much the kind of hitter it looked like he would be early in his career, but still was very good…meanwhile, Rafael tore it up in Camden Yards…in his 4 full seasons there he hit 39, 39, 38, and 43 HR and never fewer than 104 RBI…in 1999 he and Clark—Mississippi State teammates--traded places; Rafael came back here and Will went to Balt, and he had the best years of his career, never hitting less than 38 HR nor knocking in less than 105 runs…he wrapped things up with 2 years with Balt…overall, he had 6 .300+ seasons, 14 of 20+ HR, 9 of 30+, and 4 of 40+; he drove in more than 100 runs 10 times…and he got out there every day…he played over 150 games 15 times, over 160 4 times and twice he played the full 162…he also won 3 Gold Gloves…it was an extraordinary career, one which would merit Hall of Fame consideration (though I can see scenarios where, absent what happened, he might not get in)…but make no mistake—he was a truly great Ranger…and along the way we got to know him as well as we have any other player the Rangers have had (or so we thought)…we got to know his wife, his kids, and he seemed like a great guy, until that day before Congress, where he wagged his finger and didn’t tell them, let alone all of us, the truth…he let down everybody—his family, the team, the fans, his teammates…and any personal regard we might’ve had for him at one time notwithstanding, it’s no fun seeing a guy who was that great a player become total persona non grata…he’s never there for any alumni functions; I don’t know if that’s his call or they just don’t invite him, or some combination of the two, but the team doesn’t seem too troubled by the idea of him not being around…and most of his teammates don’t seem to think too much of him…it’s just a damn shame the way it ended up for Rafael but he brought it on himself, just like the rest of those guys who were messing around with that stuff did…today he’s 50…Ben Broussard was another lefthand-hitting 1B who didn’t have quite the impact of Rafael…he had 7 years, 2002-2008, with 3 teams; the Rangers were his last…his first 4 years and part of his 5th were with Cle and he was pretty decent; in 2004 he had an .858 OPS, 17 HR, 82 RBI, hitting .275…right before the trade deadline in 2006 he was traded to Sea along with a PTBNL for Shin-Soo Choo…he was on his way to a career-high 21 HR…he played in only 99 games in 2007 and after that season he was traded to the Rangers for Tug Hulett…he got into 26 games for the Rangers before they released him mid-May of 2008 and he never played in the major leagues again, though he had passes through 4 other organizations…he is now a musician and has released 2 albums…he’s 38…Eric Soderholm was a bespectacled, moustachioed third baseman who had 9 years in the majors, 1971-1980, with 4 teams, the Rangers being his 3rd…he spent the first 5 years of his career with Minn and was nothing special, but missed all of 1976 with a knee injury…CWS took a shot on him for 1977 and he had the biggest year of his career…that was the year of the South Side Hit Men, one of the most fun, crazy seasons, anytime, any place, in the history of this great game, this baseball…there were a lot of guys who chipped in to make that year what it was and Soderholm was one; he hit .280 with 25 HR, 16 of which came after the All- Star break as CWS contended into Sept of that year…it seemed like every day the story of that team would be another big, clutch HR by him and he was voted AL Comeback Player of the Year by the Sporting News…he hit 20 HR the next year but overall it was not as good as the year before…in June 1979 he was traded to the Rangers for Ed Farmer and Gary Holle…what the Rangers might’ve wanted with him is anybody’s guess, because they’d just acquired Buddy Bell and he was in his first year with them…Eric wasn’t bad; he hit .272, 4 HR, 19 RBI in 63 games and 166 PA…but his knees were starting to wear down and after that season he was traded to NYY for 2 minor leaguers who never turned into anything…he played in 1980 with the Yankees and that was it for him…he’s 66…the other Doug Davis, the C, not the P, had 2 years and 7 games in the majors…he got into 6 of those in 1988 with Cal and went 0-12…in 1992 he signed with the Rangers as a free agent and got into 1 game in April of that year, batting once and getting his first and only major league hit, a single leading off the 9th inning off of John Doherty in an 11-5 loss to Det…he spent 1993 and ’94 at AAA with the Rangers and ’95 back with Ana in AAA…he’s 52
Posted on: Wed, 24 Sep 2014 05:05:33 +0000
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