Odd Moments: Randle v. Lucchesi.

Lenny Randle is shown here on card number 8-RAN of the 1986 TCMA All Time Rangers set. He shouldn't be. Because of what is one of the ugliest incidents in Rangers history Len Randle cannot ever be considered in any list of top Rangers players.

Randle had made his Major League debut in 1971 for the Washington Senators. He made the move to Texas with the team and appeared for them in every season up through 1976. Prior to 1976 he had been used mainly as a platoon or utility player. In 1976 he grabbed the starting second baseman's job. Unfortunately he had not produced as well as Texas expected him to.

Frank Lucchesi had been appointed as the Rangers manager in 1975 following the firing of Billy Martin. By the Spring of 1977 the 50-year old manager was ready to lead the team back into contention.

During Spring Training in 1977 young rookie phenom Bump Wills arrived at camp amid much acclaim. Like with Elvis Andrus at shortstop a couple of years ago, the management decided that second base was Wills' position to lose. That didn't sit well with Randle and he threatened to walk out of camp. Lucchesi was not amused and made some pretty harsh comments concerning "punks saying play me or trade me..." The remarks showed up in the papers.

On March 28, 1977 the Rangers were in Orlando, Florida for a Spring Training game against the Twins. The Rangers were taking batting practice about an hour before the game. Frank Lucchesi was on the field talking to his players and coaches. He hadn't been there long and was still not in uniform. Randle approached him and said he needed to talk to him.

The two stepped to the side. A few words were exchanged. Suddenly Randle punched Lucchesi in the face, knocking him to the ground. As Frank fell, Len landed several more punches. As players rushed to Lucchesi's aid, Randle jogged out to center field and started to run wind sprints. Outfielder Ken Henderson started after him with the intent of returning the punches for Lucchesi. Other players stopped Henderson.

Frank Lucchesi was transported to the hospital. Randle had broken his cheekbone and bruised a kidney. He needed surgery to repair the facial injuries and would be in the hospital for a week.

The Rangers immediately suspended Randle without pay for 30 days and fined him $10,000. The police got involved and criminal charges were filed. Before the 30 day suspension was up the Rangers shipped Randle to the Mets. He later pled no contest to the battery charges in criminal court and paid a $1,000 fine.

In late June the Rangers fired Frank Lucchesi. He claimed the firing was in part due to the incident with Randle. A lawsuit followed. The matter was settled out of court with Randle reportedly paying about $25,000 in damages to Lucchesi.

In sum total the incident cost the Rangers a decent manager and a public relations headache. It also cost them a versatile player and possibly a chance at the post-season. It cost Lenny Randle around $36,000 plus his lost wages. More importantly it cost him his good name. A high price to pay for an angry outburst.

1975 Topps - Jim Fregosi.

Despite what card number 339 of the 1975 Topps says, Jim Fregosi spent most of his time in 1975 playing first base rather than third. He did play third and occasionally served as the designated hitter but most of his time was spent platooning with Jim Spencer at first.

Fregosi played in 54 games at first and logged 336.1 innings at the bag. He committed six errors for a fielding percentage of .985. That was five points below the league average. In contrast he got just four appearances at third for a total of ten innings.

Mainly employed against left-hand pitching, Jim got 217 plate appearances in 77 games. He ended the season with a .262 batting average and a .329 on-base percentage. Most of the rest of his offensive numbers were about as unremarkable. He struck out 39 times and walked 20. He also bumped in 33 RBI while scoring 25 times himself. Of his hits five were doubles and seven were home runs. He hit no triples and stole no bases.

For Jim Fregosi 1975 had been almost identical to 1974. Most of his offensive numbers were within a few points of the previous season. He had played more at first than third but at this point in his career he was a corner infield backup. He didn't let that get to him though and kept working with younger players to teach them the game.

Minor League Monday - Steve Allen, 1989 ProCards.

Texas picked up Steve Allen, seen here on card 1022 of the 1989 ProCards set, late in the 1988 draft. By late I mean he was the Rangers 37th pick. He was 21 years old. Most of the time guys taken that low and that old aren't really expected to make a big splash.

Steve started off his pro career with the Rookie League Butte Copper Kings in 1988. He split his time between starting and relieving. In 46.1 innings he posted a horrific 9.32 ERA and a 1.899 WHIP.

In spite of those numbers Allen got moved up to Single A Gastonia for the 1989 season. He also got moved out of a starting role. All 51 of his appearances for the Gastonia Rangers were in relief.

Apparently Steve found his groove in 1988. He pitched a total of 89 innings and managed to improved his numbers pretty dramatically. His ERA tallied to 2.02 on the season and his WHIP dropped to 1.022. He struck out 84 batters in route to a 2.71 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He did hit ten batters though.

By the end of the 1989 season Steve Allen seemed to be on his way to bucking the trend for low draft picks. His numbers at Single A had been pretty impressive and he would get a ticket to Double A Tulsa for the 1990 season as a result. What he needed to do was stay on track and continue to improve steadily. Improved control resulting in fewer hit batters was also an important area for improvement.

Senators Saturday - Bennie Daniels, 1962.

Let me start off by saying that there is a top border on my copy of card 378 of the 1962 Topps set. I'm not sure why the scanner insisted in cutting almost all of it off the scan. Perhaps it is messing with Bennie Daniels.

After a decent 1961 season Bennie was probably looking to build on that and secure a place in the top of the rotation in 1962. After all, he had tied for the most innings pitched, led in wins, and posted the second best ERA of any Senators starter in 1961.

Unfortunately for Bennie, and for Washington, 1962 would be a drop-off. Bennie's innings pitched dropped to 161.1, probably because he had lost a regular spot in the rotation. Of the 44 games he appeared in he started just 21. In spite of fewer innings his ERA rose by 1.41 to an unattractive 4.85. His WHIP was also up to 1.488 and his strikeout to walk ratio dropped to 0.97.

Needless to say, Daniels' 1962 season was not a positive follow-up to the Senators' inaugural effort. Probably one of the reasons that he managed to stay in the Majors was the lack of a developed farm system. However, if he wanted to stay there his 1963 season needed to be an improvement.

Best Seasons: Rafael Palmeiro - 1993.

Rafael Palmeiro's 1993 season is number 11 on T.R. Sullivan's Fifty Best Seasons in Rangers history. By 1993 Palmeiro, pictured here on his 1993 Sports Cards Magazine card, had been with the Rangers for four years. His fifth season would be the final one before free agency and a five year hiatus to Baltimore.

Palmeiro played in 160 games for the Rangers in 1993. In all of those games he played at first base, a league best. Over the course of 1395.1 innings he committed just five errors for a .997 fielding percentage. That was four points higher than the league average and third highest in the American League. Interestingly, it was also higher than in any of the three later years where he won a Gold Glove.

At the plate Rafael posted a .295 batting average and a .371 on-base percentage in 686 plate appearances. He had 37 home runs, 40 doubles, and two triples. He also stole 22 bases while getting caught just three times. He also knocked in 105 RBI while scoring a league-leading 124 times himself. Perhaps Palmeiro's performance at the plate could best be summed up as balanced.

While Raffy would have better power numbers when he returned to Texas in 1999 he was a better all-around player in 1993. It was his breakthrough season.

Odd Moments: Good guy Dave?

Number nine on T.R. Sullivan's Fifty Bizarre moments involves Dave Stewart. In January of 1985 Stewart, shown here on card 343 of the 1985 Donruss set, was a yet to be determined quality for the Rangers.

He was however well regarded among his teammates and the organization. As such he was selected to received the Harold McKinney Good Guy Award at the club's 1985 Winter Banquet on January 27th. Along with the rest of the team, Stewart was invited to the Banquet.

Here is where things started to go wrong for Dave. According to the Los Angeles Times he was arrested on January 25th in downtown L.A. "on suspicion of participating in an act of lewd conduct in a public place..." Apparently LAPD officers had observed Stewart soliciting a prostitute by the name of "Lucille". The pair were arrested as they sat in Stewart's car in an alley.

To add insult to injury (and spice to the tabloids) it was revealed after the arrest that "Lucille" was actually a man by the name of Elson Tyler. Stewart claimed that he had no idea he had picked up a transvestite until after the arrest. A LAPD commander commenting on the story stated that the police believed him on that score. It didn't help and the incident got serious media exposure.

The Rangers gave Dave the opportunity to skip the Winter Banquet. He didn't though and showed up to receive his Good Guy Award. Newly minted GM Tom Grieve and team owner Eddie Chiles were among those in attendance as were the rest of the team and almost 1,000 fans. The presentation of the award was greeted with silence. Stewart then apologized directly to Mr. Chiles, his teammates, then to the fans. According to the L.A. Times Stewart was brief in his remarks and commented that, "All I can say is good guys make mistakes, too." As he sat down those in attendance applauded. I am guessing that Tom Grieve then sighed a huge sigh of relief.

All in all the whole situation was an awkward one for both Stewart and the team. It was also truly strange that a man arrested for solicitation was awarded a good guy award just two days later at a public event.

Making a closing move.

Jon Daniels has said that he has two goals for the Texas Rangers: keeping the core of the team and focusing on pitching. Yesterday he made a move that fell into the second category.

Texas dipped into the free agent pool for the first time this off-season with the signing of pitcher Joe Nathan. Nathan had been the Twins All-Star closer from 2004 to 2009. He missed the 2010 season due to Tommy John surgery and struggled with injuries in 2011. Obviously Daniels is hoping for a return to Nathan's pre-2010 form. That is a distinct possibility for an experienced pitcher like this. If that doesn't happen the contract is only for two years and has a buyout option on it.

If Joe can get his game back to his 2009 level he will help shore up the bullpen. He also allows the Rangers to move Neftali Feliz to the starting rotation. Feliz, shown here on card TT2-24 of the 2011 Topps Town set, was a starter prior to being called up the the Major Leagues in 2009. For a long time he was viewed as a potential top of the rotation arm, apparently that's back on the table.

For his part Neftali seems to have moved past his discouragement with the abortive move to the rotation last Spring. He released a statement saying that the Rangers had talked to him about the move and that he was happy with it. He referenced his minor league pitching career and says he is already running more in order to be ready to enter Spring Training as a starter. If Feliz can live up to his potential and Holland continues to solidify I think that Texas is looking at two very strong guns to lead off the rotation.

The Rangers say that their decision in signing Nathan and moving Feliz had nothing to do with the latter's blown save in game six of this year's World Series. I believe that. Jon Daniels, Nolan Ryan, and Ron Washington don't make decisions based on one game - even a game for all the marbles. Looking back at last Spring and before Feliz made the Majors in 2009 it seems to me that his being a starter was always the plan and that the closer gig was just a detour.

Texas is also saying that the signing of Joe Nathan is not a comment on their attempts to re-sign C.J. Wilson. I'm going to have to pass on buying that one for now. Wilson is reportedly looking for at least a six year deal and Texas is notorious for cringing at long-term deals for pitchers. They'll still try and get Wilson to stay but this deal looks like an insurance plan they are likely to use.