SportsDay Rangers, Episode 51: Bobby Witt | Hot & cold Rangers | Rangers "Moonlight Grahams"

This is the Dallas Morning News. Chevy is called the Heartbeat of America for a reason. With SUVs made to move with your rhythm. The versatile equinox tackles your entire day. The spacious traverse fits your crew and your whole weekend. And tracks bring style with value you can count on. All infused with tech that has your back. So your drive always hits the right cord. Chevrolet, together let's drive. Well, hello and welcome to this week's episode of Sports Day Rangers. I'm John Blake. And I'm Evan Grant. And Evan, the hot and cold season for the Rangers continues. As we record this podcast on Wednesday, club has won five out of seven games, but that follows a sweep at the hands of the Astros that knocked the Rangers out of the buyer's market at the trade deadline last week. Yeah, John, to quote another love of mind, the Rangers have been the baseball equivalent of The Undertaker. W.E. Undertaker sitting up in his coffin outside a ring, just when you think he's dead. I'm back. Every time it looks like the playoff spot appears to be slipping away. The club reels off just enough wins to keep it interesting. As we sit here today, after a disappointing loss on Tuesday night in Anaheim, as disappointing a loss, I think, as they've had in a while, and we can talk about that. They're still a playoff team, and they're a half game out in the American League West. So go figure. And if you look on the injury front, the good, Jack Leiter, is due to go on a rehab assignment. The bad, obviously, Nathan Avaldi on the injured list with elbow inflammation. And when is Josh Young going to return to baseball activity? Yeah, Josh Young won't be back before the end of this road trip. And, you know, I think we're pushing further and further into the next homestand as well. And it's just not been good on that front. The minute that you got news that Jim Jordan Montgomery was activated a day later, Evaldi goes on the IL, and you're once again looking at depth issues in the rotation. Anyway, you didn't have these problems back in the 90s, and our guest on this week's podcast is yet another 1990s Rangers Marlins crossover guest. We've had John Burkett and Rick Helling. This week it's going to be Bobby Witt. Bobby spent the first seven years of his career in Texas for him being dealt to Oakland in the trade that bought Jose Canseco and his big noggin to Arlington. I covered Bobby in 1995 in Florida before he came back for four seasons. He's also, of course, the father of Royals' All-Star shortstop, Bobby Witt, Jr., my favorite player to watch on a baseball field in the 2020s.

And on the archives in Arlington this week, it is Field of Dreams Week, the Field of Dreams game being held. Thursday night in Dyersville, Iowa. And one of the characters, obviously, in Field of Dreams was Archibald Moonlight Graham. And everybody knows his story, played one game for the 1905 New York Giants, was left in the on-deck circle, never gotten it bad. And in tribute to Archie Moonlight Graham, we are going to look at Rangers that played only one game for the club. Sounds exciting, John. You can reach out to us on X with any Rangers questions or comments. I'm at Evan underscore P underscore Grant, and he is at at Ranger Blake. Somebody send us a comment, please. Just let me know that you actually listen to this line that I have in the podcast every week and acknowledge me, as another member of the WWE would say. Acknowledge me. Well, you're innovative. You should be able to come up with how we get more people sending you a comment. Bottom of the night. Base is loaded. Here comes Jimmy Dale from Baker Brothers plumbing AC and electrical. Thanks, Chuck. When your home pitches curveballs, Baker Brothers knocks it out of the park. Home run Baker Brothers. Incredible. As the official home service partner of your Texas Rangers, we're offering $300 off a tank or tankless water heater. Another winning call. Visit callbakernau.com or dial 214-3421171 today. Great service. But anyway, let's talk about where the Rangers are today, again, hanging on to that third wild card spot and close to the division lead. The Astros are not exactly taking advantage of when the Rangers lose. But... Anaheim, first two games there. The club has struggled offensively, Evan, five for 23. I think it is with runners in scoring position in those two games. And despite Jack Peterson and Brandon Nimmo being fairly hot, it just can't get it. And despite great starting pitching by McKenzie Gore and Cody Bradford, they just can't seem to jumpstart that offense. Yeah, well, this team relied on the idea that when they got a healthy Wyatt Langford and a healthy Corey Seeger at the top third of their lineup, it was going to drive this offense. And quite frankly, it hasn't. And, you know, Corey has yet to get hot since he came back from the IL. I think he's got a 650 OPS in the 10 games back with two extra base hits as we record this. Wyatt had a really hot stretch, but has cooled off here.

They were 0 for 8 with a lot of runners left on base. I didn't count them all up in Tuesday night's loss. And I put that squarely, I put that loss squarely on their shoulders because it looked like they were trying to do too much. Their swings were too big. The Rangers. The Rangers didn't need much to beat an Anaheim team that has a bad pitching staff that had a young pitcher on the ropes in the first inning that was dealing with a pitching staff that just lost its entire coaching triumvirate of Mike Maddo and Dom Chidi, two of whom, or two of whom Dom Chidi and Mike Maddox had long-term roles with the Rangers, and the Rangers couldn't do anything. And so that's, that's disappointing. I remarked to somebody this morning that, you know, if I look back and the Rangers missed the playoffs by one game, I'm sure there's a lot of disappointing games that you can point out. But this will be certainly in the photo finish for me as a game that was costly. They didn't lose any ground last night, but they lost an opportunity. Well, certainly one of the bright spots. Coming back here in the short term has been the return of Cody Bradford, who has given the Rangers two really good quality starts coming back. So what do you think about Bradford's role here going forward? Is he going to keep that rotation spot? Yeah, I mean, I think he's pitching as well as anybody in the rotation right now. Yeah, Cody, Cody's been an effective starter when he's been healthy. And so I think he holds on to that rotation spot. And I think the bigger question is going to be, what's the long-term status for Evaldi? How long is he going to miss? And if Evaldi is only going to miss a short period of time, do the Rangers consider bringing Jack Leiter back more quickly? and putting him in the bullpen where the 99, 100 mile an hour fastball may play really well for them. I think right now the thought is probably that... you're going to probably count on Evaldi to miss at least three weeks. And with that, probably you've got to get lighter back in a rotation and pitching sooner rather than later. So you may have a situation where you get Jack making two rehab starts of two or three innings and maybe four innings. And then maybe he comes up and piggybacks with somebody, maybe like a Jim Jordan Montgomery on one of those rotation spots. So Montgomery, Calquantrol, he's probably more coming out of what has been an unbelievable bullpen all season to give you some length in the front end of that bullpen. Yeah, you know, I mean, if you've got a situation where if Cody goes short, you've got...

you've got a righty like Quantrell to come in and step in and pick up several innings, or if somebody else goes short and Quantrell can pick up several innings, that's great. And then if you get lighter back and he's on a limited pitch count and you can bring in a lefty behind him, that would be the best probable scenario in the short term. In a long term, you know, wait and see what happens with Avali and, you know, In a best case scenario, you get a finally healthy rotation, and then you potentially got depth in the bullpen. But as has been the case all season with this club, it's constantly shuffling bodies around for most of the season. It has been on the offensive side. Now it's on the pitching side. We spoke of the bullpen, Robbie Allstrom, Peyton Gray, not to mention Jacob Latt, obviously, but hopefully getting Jacob Junis back. Pretty soon will also help it at the back end. Yeah, I think Junis should be back sometime on the next homestand. I don't know if he'll make a rehab outing before he returns, but I think he would probably be back sometime on the next homestand. That'll obviously help because the idea was that Chase Silseth and Jacob Junis would share the... right-handed leverage situation in the seventh or eighth inning. And some days, both of them pitch in consecutive innings. If you've got a long stretch of left, he's coming up. But the Rangers haven't had that either because the minute they got Silas, Junis went on the IL. So it would be nice to see this bullpen at full strength with guys who have... either really good stuff or have some degree of a track record back there pitching in rolls. You know, I don't know how lighter would play out of the bullpen, but he's certainly got the stuff to be an overpowering arm for an inning or two. But as we sit here, Evan, it's really going to come down. Can the Rangers generate enough offense? And it just... And you've talked about it, but even in the San Francisco series against the Giants, we're basically fielding a team with any rookies. The Rangers, several of those games had a lot of trouble scoring runs. Yeah, it's, you know, you go back and you look. I mean, the Rangers... The Ranger scored going back to the Baltimore series, let's say, right? You won a game 2-1. You won another game 5-1 with three runs coming on an eighth inning home run. You lost by five runs when you were down 9-3 most of the game. L.A. you won 4-1 in extra innings. You had one run going to the 10th inning. And last night you scored two runs. And it's back to that same old tune that we were. earlier in the year that this club can't seem to get to four runs, which is really its magic number. You know, if it gets to four runs, it's a really, really good team. And it's not doing it on the regular. We'll see what happens here. Again, the schedule remains. It's there for the taking. They go to play the West Sacramento A's after this, or...

In fourth place in the division, then you've got the nationals coming up to start the homestand, and then another three games with these angels. But it seems like what we've kind of talked about all year, you just keep waiting for them to put some ground. distance himself a little bit. It looks like the Mariners have started to fall back, but they've still got the pitching there, and you just don't know, and you don't know how these wild cards are going to play out. It's going to come down to head-to-head matchups a lot in the Central Division, right? I mean, the Tigers and the Guardians and those, I mean, it's going to be a, it's probably going to go right down to the last week. It is, and the Rangers finish the season on the road at Minnesota, which is one of those teams that's fighting for one of those wild card spots. And so you'd like to put yourself in a position where if you're going to play in the wild card round, you'd like to be hosting a series, which means winning the American League West. And certainly getting the second seed is not out of the question. I think the Rangers are two games back in terms of record from the number two seed. But. To this point, John, you know, we talk about this week and how easy the schedule is this week. And it's really, it is really easy. And the only way that the schedule could be any easier is if you had those teams in succession at home. And you know who has that? The Astros have that next week. So my point here is if the Rangers don't make. if the rangers don't really do well on this road trip, and I'm talking a five and two road trip, and they've already got one loss. If they don't really do well on this road trip, it is a golden opportunity lost, and the Astros are going to have the opportunity to seize that at home next week. Okay, last thing for this week on the team, Josh Young, we talked about a little bit at the beginning. They really do kind of need Josh Young's bat back, especially against left-handers. They brought Joe to Bride up for a couple of days to try to jumpstart that and then send him out for clinic. What do you know about Josh Young? You mentioned it may still be a while. Yeah, I mean, he was, you know, in a walking boot before the club left. Wasn't in it full time, but he was, we saw him walking around in it or him having it. He's not on the road trip. He's not slated to begin a rehab assignment. He's now missed close to a month, so he's going to need some degree of a rehab assignment. And so, you know. I guess the best case scenario would be, in my mind right now, best case would be when the angels come to town at the end of next week. I don't know if that's realistic or not. I really don't.

And he may need a rehab assignment at this point, too, for a couple of days. You just never know. It's kind of a season that's had its ups and downs, but the Rangers are going to be in it during the pennant race. And again, that's all you want your team to be in a position to do. But, boy, you'd like to see them put a little distance here. But anyway, a week from today, we will honor the 1996. Rangers, the first team in franchise history to make the postseason. They won the American League West Division that year with a great ball club managed by Johnny Oates. And some 30 members of that team, players, coaches, executives will be... getting to Arlington, and we will honor them with a luncheon on Friday, and then we will have a ceremony prior to the game on Saturday. More details to come. But our guests this week on the podcast was a member of that 1996 pitching staff, Bobby Witt. That rotation had... Opening, four of the five opening day starters made 30 starts plus. Bobby won 16 games that year. And we're going to talk to Bobby about his memories from that season and about his very short minor league stint leading up to his major league career, start of his major league career when we talk to Bobby Witt next.

Well, our guest on this week's Sports Day Rangers podcast is Bobby Witt. Pitch 16 years in the major leagues from 1986 to 2001, and we'll talk about that major league debut season a little bit. 142 games, almost 2,000 strikeouts, 1,955, pitch for seven teams with the Rangers. 104 and 104, a 500 record, which is miraculous, considering some of the years he pitched in, over 1,400 strikeouts, 276 games in two stints with the club, and was a member of the 19, 116 games in 1996, and we'll talk about that a little bit as well. 11 total seasons here in Texas, a longtime player agent with Octagon now. And also, of course, a very rich baseball family that will also probably touch on a little bit. So, Bobby, thanks for joining us today. You bet, John. Always good to see you and Evan. So I think I'm going to start a little because we've got a couple of comps right now. And if people don't remember, you're coming in and... The way you, I'm not going to use the word rush to the big leagues, but you were rushed to the big leagues. Third overall pick of the 85 draft out of Oklahoma, had not won a professional game, pitched 35 total innings at AA in 1985, and then came to spring training and made the rotation in 86 when we had a very young ball club, very... And the starting pitching on that team, you know, we thought we might be set for a long time with those guys. What do you remember about, you know, coming to the big leagues and then, you know, what, to 146 guys, which still the club record that first year? But what do you remember about all that and trying to assimilate into a big league pitcher? I think the thing... You know, anytime that you get into those situations as an athlete, you know, you feel like you're always going to be challenged. And that was definitely something that was challenging for me, especially signing the previous year, going to AA, not having a lot of innings under my belt. I went to Instructionally and really I felt like did what I needed to do and things I needed to work on down there. And it was different back then. I think we were down there for six weeks. It was a really long instructional league. And I know that Bobby Valentine came down and was checking out our camp and guys that were there. And so I had an invite going into big league camp. And to be honest with you, I mean, I'd have to go back. And look, I had 16 big league spring trainings. And as far as statistically, that probably was my best spring training number wise. I mean, it was. I was, I pitched really well. And again, we were, you know, it was a young team. I don't know, you know, what their plans were previously. I wasn't, I was just happy to be there, excited to be there. And when I went out, things, things seemed to go well. I still remember to this day, and I tell the story, the first guy.

One of the first guys I ever faced, I think the third guy in Big League camp, I was playing the Royals, and they had just won the World Championship in 85. And George Brett, I ended up getting him out on a ground ball. I fell behind 2-0, and he rolled over a ground ball to second, and I was like, man, maybe I can do this. And from that point on, you know, I think you gain some confidence, and you start feeling like... You belong, but it was a learning process. I mean, I basically, I was learning at the big league level, which is very difficult to do. Remember his second start of his big league career, Evan, was in Milwaukee. Pitch five, no-hit innings, eight walks, ten strikeouts, four wild pitches, and he won the game. So I'll never forget that. So, Bobby, how did having to learn at the big league level? impact you. I mean, you went on to have a, like we said, a 16-year big league career. So clearly you learned, survived, and then thrived. But did it impact you in the short term? I think the biggest thing was being able mentally to stay where I needed to be. You know, I mean, like John said, I mean, when I was at Oklahoma, my, my. My ability to throw hard was there. I had a good breaking ball. I mean, I was a two-pitch guy. I mean, and I had success. And then trying to translate that into the professional side, especially going right to, I went to AA. And that's when I kind of, I first noticed that, hey, these guys don't chase that forcing fastball up in the zone. They don't chase that breaking ball that they were chasing. So now I had to make an adjustment. And at first, the adjustment really wasn't made. And then it was a continual growth period for me. But I think, you know, leading the leading walks, yeah, that was something that was always brought up. You know, people talked about it. I mean, but you know what? Statistically, it's there. So I think once I got past that, you know, it was something that you just had to continually. I think mentally stays strong. I mean, the physical part of it, no doubt I could do this. No doubt in my mind. I mean, I knew what I had as far as a tool set. And I knew I could go out there and win with that and have success. And there were some ups and downs. I mean, you get optioned in 88 to Oklahoma City. Well, you worked with Fergie Jenkins, I believe, and then came back and through eight straight complete games when you got called up. And then Evan, in 1990, when 12 straight decisions, I mean, I think sometimes Bobby's... work with the Rangers gets overlooked a little bit. But there were kind of those side blocks, side blocks, or whatever you want to call it in the road, right? Absolutely. I call that in 88. I went down for mental rehabilitation. That's what I say. I went down there. I work with one of the greatest pitchers ever to pitch in the game, Fergie Jenkins. And Fergie...

I think it was a matter of simplicity, right? He was able to go out there and work with me and explain to me and teach me that, hey, listen, you don't have to be perfect. Your stuff is better than most, so you don't have to always go to a corner. You don't always have to, you know, throw the breaking ball exactly where you want to as an O2 pitch, throw it as an O-O pitch. Fergie would give up maybe a home runner to a game, but guess what? They were solo shots. Nobody was on base. So there was some things that resonated with me when I was with Frum. And when I came back, it was like I was a changed person. I felt more like I said, okay, I'm going to take my ability, what I have physically and now mentally what I've learned, and things started to roll. You know, and I went out there, and like John said, I reeled off a few complete games in a row. And, you know, that was something that I think when you look at inning-wise, between AAA and the big leagues, I was up around 250 that year. as far as innings. Most things I've ever thrown in my life. And again, Fergie was very instrumental in that. And from that point on, you know, you gain a little bit of confidence and then things start to go. 251. 251 innings total. Wow. That year. Yep.

You know, John, one thing I always, I don't think that Bobby got enough credit during his time with the Rangers. And obviously I didn't have experience the first time around. First time I actually worked with Bobby was in Florida after the strike in 95. And there were some memorable times in that miserable, otherwise miserable season, but it was fun. But when I came back to, when I came to Texas and Bobby came back here, you know, I still remember. the writer's dinner after the 97 season when you were pitcher of the year right you were the ranger's pitcher of the year had a great 97 and and during the During the writer's presentation, Frank Luxa got up there, and he had maybe a cocktail or too, too many and talked about, you know, you as the pitcher of year. And watching your game sometimes was like watching the pyramids being built. So I thought that was a little bit. I don't think you ever got the credit for being a big league every day, take the ball, go out and pitch and give your team a chance to win. And I... I think that statistic alone now, and there's no real way to quantify it, except for innings and starts, that's a valuable, valuable commodity that is lacked in the game right. Yeah, I think that was something that for me, I prided myself in that, right? I think that, you know, you wanted to take the ball every five days. You wanted to throw innings. You know, once you get to that point where, like John said, and I think in 88, I had all the complete games, and then I had the winning streak. I mean, I've been through that, so I knew what that felt like, and that's something that I wanted to continue to do. I wasn't concerned about... I would say the wins. You know, I think the biggest thing was giving my team that day a chance to win a ball game. And if you were able to do that, then I felt like it was a successful day. And knowing that every five days, they could count on me taking the ball. And that's something that, I mean, I prided myself on that. And I think when you look at the 1996 team, everybody in that rotation did the same thing. Up until when Grossie, Kevin Gross got hurt. at the end, and then Darren came in and took over for him, and then we got Berkey. But, I mean, that's the way it was back then, you know, and I mean, I think that you don't see that as much in the game anymore, unfortunately, but that's where the game has gotten to. And, you know, I just, I think that when you knew that you were going out there and you were taking the ball every five and giving everything that you had no matter what, you know, the teammates, your teammates respected that a lot more. You know, the prime of your career was interrupted by two work stoppages. And despite all of that, you had a decade's worth, nine seasons of 29 or more starts and six seasons of at least 190 innings or more. And I know the two seasons that you were at 190 and 193, you probably looked at as a disappointment because you didn't get the 200. But I think that just speaks to how reliable you were to go out there and pitch.

Yeah, I mean, 200 was, that was, I think that was the threshold of, you know, that was something that guys kind of, when you started going into spring training, that was your goals, you know, just like going into spring training and getting to seven innings. Honestly, that was our goals. When you left spring training, your last start, you were looking to try to get into that seven, seven inning. so you knew if the first game of the year, it wasn't uncommon for a guy to go out and throw eight or nine the first night, I mean the first start of the year. So that was the things that, you know, you looked at to try to, you know, when you, when you, you know, maybe you didn't have personal goals, but those were things in the back of at least my mind that I looked at that I think that were attainable. And it's now the only the older guys on the rotation. I mean, Berg, DeGrom and Evaldi, and neither one of them have done it for a while, but their goal is still 200 innings. And I don't think anybody else ever talks about 200 innings. Bobby, look, the other part is. Your legacy in the game is also your prodigy, is your son. And we've never had a chance to just really talk what that whole experience has been like for you. You know, Bobby is my favorite player to watch on the field in Major League Baseball today just because of the way he goes about everything and how much fun he seems to have. What has it been like for you as a father who played in the game to watch him develop into who he is at this point? It's been, I mean, it's really, it's kind of hard to put into words, really, Evan. I mean, I think the thing is, is that obviously you're excited and happy for him because he's doing something that he loves. And I mean, I can really say that because I played with so many guys that had passion for this game and felt like they loved the game. But this kid, this is all he wanted to do. You know, there was nothing else. And I think that... for him to go out there and play. And it's what you see on the field. It's genuine, man. There's nothing fake about that. There's not, you know, he's not doing it to impress this person, that person, me, my wife, our family. He's doing it because he loves to go in between those lines every night and play the game. And, you know, it shows how he goes out and the passion that he has. I mean, the thing that I'm really proud of him right now is that he just received his fifth Heart and Hustle Award, you know, from the team. And that just tells you that, you know, and this is his fifth year playing. So, I mean, even when he was a rookie, he was awarded that, which is something that to me, that that means probably more than anything. And then also getting the award for the ALS earlier in the year, too. So, I mean, those are two things to me that that's, that's probably the most important thing that I can tell you about that kid. And look, I know it's as much marketing as anything else, but I think, you know, there are lots of things we can talk about that Major League Baseball doesn't do right. But when they aimed him, their ambassador for the game, they got it right. Because he is what you would want your kid to be, to have fun out there, to go hard, to work on all elements of the game, and to seem to enjoy it and giving back. So I, it's.

I never really got to know Junior as a kid, but just watching him in the big leagues has been an absolute treat. And it's a thrill every time we get to see him play. So hats off to y'all for what you helped grow as a son. But hats off to him for just loving the game as much as he does. Appreciate that. It's amazing, too. You've got three sons-in-law that play in the big leagues. I mean, it is unbelievable. Yeah, it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a little kid, you know, I mean, it's just, it's amazing. Yeah, that's, that's a. It's really an incredible story, you know, and I thank God all these kids. All of them are great, great son-in-laws. I love them all. I mean, they're super dads. You know, they do it right. They've gone out. They've played the game. And believe me, when we do family vacations and we're hanging out somewhere and somebody says, hey, what do your son-in-laws do? It's a story that I don't know if I want to tell because when I do, they look at me like there's no way. You know, so it's, it's been a lot of fun, though. And, yeah, I've been really blessed with those guys. Bobby, what are you looking to? You will be in town for the 96 reunion, I think. Correct? You'll be joining everybody. That's correct. Yes, really looking forward to that. Well, look, it's 30 years, and obviously guys on good teams often grow close. But what are you looking forward to most about reconnecting and kind of living in that moment again? I think the biggest thing, Evan, is just seeing the guys. And in this game, you know, it's a small fraternity. But at the same time, you'll go and see somebody and you'll say, hey, let's keep in touch, let's get together, right? And there's guys on that team that I obviously keep in touch with. But I think as a whole, there's guys that you still want to check in on and make sure they're doing all right and see what's going on with them and their families. And this gives us an opportunity to actually have that time. I think that everybody knows when you get together what we did as a team. But there'll be some, you know, there'll be some, I'm sorry there's going to be some conversation about, you know, some things that happened here and there that were probably funny. And then, you know, just the season in itself. But, you know, and then we've always, you know, you have guys that have left us. And, you know, you talk about them, you know, Johnny and Darrell, I mean, those are guys that. obviously we're very instrumental on that team in 1996. So, you know, you miss those guys, but being able just to reconnect, and I think the families, too, the wives getting to get to see one another. And if there's some of the, you know, some of the kids get to make it, that's even better. And look, the heart of that rotation is still all in town, right? I mean, Kenny Hill is here, Berkey's here, you're here.

David is here. Kevin Gross is going to be here that night. So the old Pavlik, I know you tried. Yeah. I was not coming in, but for the most part, it's a testament that we have 30 people come with 30 guys and coaches and everything that are coming back for that team. And the one thing I do want to mention is Kenny Hill, because, I mean, I do think, talk about another guy that doesn't get enough credit. He threw over 250 innings at you. You talk about 200 being a threshold. But getting him and Mike Henneman in the offseason were huge moves by Doug Melvin. Yeah, no doubt. Kenny was our ace that year. I mean, he took the ball. I remember when we had a couple times where we had some slides there where we were losing a few games. You know, and Kenny seemed to be the guy that go out and stop that losing streak, you know, step up and do what he had to do. And he was like that the whole year. He was our rock, you know, and I think that getting him was without a doubt huge for that year. No doubt about that. So, Bobby, before we let you go, I feel like it's important because you've seen a number of different aspects. And you now working for Octagon and have for a long time know the labor situation more intimately than most, right? I mean, the prime of your career was in free agency, I think, was interrupted by the strike in 94 and 95.

Your son went through the lockout in 22. You are an agent now. So what is your thought about what is it ahead of baseball over the next? Well, let's be optimistic and say eight months leading up to spring training. I would love to be able to sit here and go, yeah, I think things are going to be great and work out and we're going to get this thing done. But unfortunately, with what, you know, what Major League Baseball is wanting, I just don't, you know, in the foreseeable future seeing something like that happen, Evan. The salary cap is something that that's kind of, you get to a certain point where you're willing to. I think go out and try to work together to get something done, but that thing right there in itself is going to be something that this is going to... I don't foresee anything really happening, you know, until that thing is taken off the board. I went through 94 the strike, and I mean, it was nasty, man. It was absolutely nasty. We... As a group, you know, we believed in what we were doing was right. We ended up, you know, we shut down baseball. I mean, there was no playoffs. I remember we played, I was with Oakland at the time. We played the last game of the season that night. And I remember all the media there because we were the last ones and talking to the media. And after that, everybody went home and there was nothing, crickets. I mean, there was nothing after that. And obviously, it took a toll on the game at first. I think that it was hard for the fans to come back. They believed that we were at fault. But, you know, when you really understand it all, if you came into a room and listened to both sides, I think at the end of the day, the fan would understand why we were doing this. And then, you know, we ended up getting things resolved. And, you know, we ended up having a pretty good home run race there with Sammy and Mac. And people started coming back to the game. Yeah, I hate to think of the, having, 94 was the first year I covered baseball full time. And I hate to think of what the damage that happened in the wake of 94 would take place now. And I think you're robbing the game of history. If you're going to take another, if you're going to take a year off of Shohay Otani's career, if you're going to take a year off a junior's career, if you're going to take a year off a judge's career, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, Do you think, I mean, you've obviously, you've talked to players again, and you've talked with your son. Do you think that the union has become more, I don't want to say fortified, but just more together in the last few years than it has been in some time? I think so. I think a lot of the younger guys are starting to understand where. where the game was prior to them getting involved, right, for them before they came to the big leagues and all that and what people actually did for them to have the opportunities to where they're at. Look, I came in in 1986. The minimum salary was $62,500. Right now it's $780,000. Yes, there is a lot of that to do with the cost of living increase, but because of guys and what guys have done before.

them to get to this point. This is where it's at. And so there was a lot of things that the guys had to go through sacrifices that they made in order for this to get to that point. So I think that they're really starting to see that and they understand what it's all about sticking together. And this is the point where I will once again plug for everybody. If you haven't read Lords of the Realm, the 30-year-old book by John Hellyer about the history of labor and Major League Baseball, what applied 30 years ago still applies now. It's a great history and it documents how the labor situation has evolved over time. Let's hope it doesn't come to a point where we lose games next year because I'd hate to see that happen. But I'm with you. There's dark clouds right now. And hopefully those things will start to pass. Yeah, I'm with you, Evan. I think the game's in a great place right now. There's a lot of exciting young players. You know, you look at what this additional wild card has done to the game. I mean, there's a lot of things that are moving in a very, very positive direction. And hopefully we can get something resolved. But at the end of the day, you know, we've got to just do what's right for the players.

Bobby, we appreciate your time and looking forward to this 1996 reunion. And you talk about that period, the strike in 94, the replacement players in spring trading in 95, which was poor Johnny Oates and his coaching staff was their first experience here. But that 96 team really helped here in Arlington to get those fans back because it was a magical season that hunt for Red October. And to me, I will always say this. That was huge in bringing the fans back to the ballpark in Arlington. because it had gotten so tough in 94-95. Bob, thanks for your time. We look forward to seeing you next week. Appreciate you guys. Thank you. Always a pleasure, John. Evan, you guys look great. Take care. And we'll see you next week.

Well, as I mentioned at the top of the broadcast, in tribute to Archibald Moonlight Graham, on this week's Archives in Arlington, I thought we could look at players that have had only one game with the Texas Rangers and in their major league careers. Now, a lot of those guys did play for other teams. There were 30 players in Rangers history that played in just one regular season game with the team. Now, again, like I said, Guys like Louis Pullholz, who is one-for-one as a ranger and former Round Rock manager Doug Davis was also one-for-one as a ranger, but they played games with other teams. The most at-bats a one-game wonder had was four by Justin Ruggiano. He played in one game with the Rangers. He's one-for-four with an RBI, but he also played numerous games with other Major League teams. So moving on from that, there are... Only nine players in Rangers history that their only major league game was with Texas. Now, again, a little asterisk with this. Three of those, Evan, it has occurred this year. Winston Santos, Emiliano Tiotto, and Nolan Kingham. All have played in just one game before they got sent back, made their major league debuts, and they're back in the minors. But there are six others. that played just one major league game, and it was for the Texas Rangers. I don't, if I asked you any of these guys, I don't think you would remember. You might. You want to give it a shot, or should I just run through these? You could give me a hint or two. Maybe I could get one of them. Okay. One of them came up for one game at the 1998 trade deadline because we were short of players. We had traded Tatis, we had released Elster, and we brought up an infielder for one game because we needed a roster. We needed a roster fell before Royce Jay Clayton and Todd Zeal arrived. Do you remember this player? The only name that would come to mind in that regard would be Kelly Dransfeld. Rob Sasser, 1990. Now, the last guy to do this is the nephew or the cousin of a former ranger coach, former ranger manager and coach. His, I think it's his nephew. Okay, that would be Sam Naron. That would be correct. 2004, left-handed pitcher pitched in one game for the Rangers. I'm going to just mention these other ones. There's got to be somebody else you can give me a hint on. The Rangers' number one pick. In 1974 was a right-handed pitcher on the University of Texas. He was really good. He ended up pitching one big league game for the club in 1975. But did he have a longer career? No. These are guys who played just one game. So would that be Jerry Don Gleaton?

Close. It's Jim Gideon, 1975. The other ones are a left-ended pitcher Ryan Snare in 1994. Right-handed pitcher, Ramon Mignon, who was a Rule 5 pick in 1990, who he sent back to the Yankees. Didn't Ramon Mignon weigh like 100 pounds? He was pretty thin, yes. And then left-ended pitcher, you might remember this guy, left-ended pitcher Corey Lee in 1999. Yeah, I remember Corey Lee. Pitched in just one game. And those are the six. The last thing about this is, there is also this group of phantom players, right, who got on a major league roster and never appeared in a game. And the Rangers have to have a couple of those in the last 10 years. You remember either of those? Yeah, no, I don't, because I don't think the one guy that I'm thinking of did it with the Rangers. Pitcher Jay Clayton Blackburn was on the Major League roster from July 31st, August 3rd, 2017. Never appeared in a game. And the unusual thing about Blackburn was he did the same thing with the Giants the year before. He was on their active roster about five games. Maybe that's the guy I was thinking of. And he never appeared at a big league game in his career. Never appeared. The other guy was on the roster for one day in 2018. It was an outfielder by the name of Eliezer Alvarez. And he was on the roster during an injury thing. And the other interesting one, and I don't have a complete list of this because if you go back, it's really hard to find these guys. The other one that comes to note is Andre Robertson, who was an infielder for the Yankees back in the 80s, a pretty good player. He was actually with the Rangers for six days in 1989, never got in the game. So those are some of the phantom players. But again, there were six guys. If you don't count the 2026 guys, six players in Rangers history made one appearance with the Rangers, and they never appeared. But they're in the baseball. It'll be baseball reference now. We used to say you're in the baseball encyclopedia back in the old days. But you got into one game. That's this week's Archives in Arlington and is a tribute to the Field of Dreams. Still one of my favorite movies. But that's great, John. I watched Moneyball again the other day. Did you? Yeah. Always enjoy Ron Washington and Grady Fuson and all the Ranger connections. In that movie, Artie Howe? I really thought that Philip Seymour Hoffman as Art Howe. I think he and Grady, their characters in the movie, may have been a little bit.

inaccurately drawn. They got a bad rap. Artie was a pretty good manager. And that movie makes, you know, he didn't have a lot of success with the Mets, but he was a really good manager with the A's. And I don't think he comes across in that role in that impression that people have. Yeah, he comes across as somebody who's constantly got gas and is never happy. And also, I mean, I don't believe Grady was fired mid-season. I think Grady left the A's to come to the Rangers. Which is another whole story we could get into something. We could when we have John Hart on the podcast. Exactly. But, yeah, it's still an enjoyable movie. And it does, you know, when you look at how the game is played today and the rudiments of going into more metrically based scouting, a lot of it still holds true. It does. And Paul DiPedesto is that character that... Jonah Hill plays. Jonah Hill's character is back running a big league ball club in Colorado. Well, I don't know if you'd call the Rockies a big league ball club, but yes. But anyway, so that's it for this week's edition of Sports Day Rangers again. Next weekend, 1996 tribute. We hope you'll get out to a ball game, and that was a great team, and looking forward to everybody coming back. So we'll see you all next week.