RANGERS “FUN FACTS”

During the April 15th home game at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, all players from both the Rangers and visiting Angels wore uniform #42 to honor Jackie Robinson, the late Brooklyn Dodgers infielder who broke baseball’s color barrier in 1947. The tribute was part of Jackie Robinson Day. Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig retired Robinson's No. 42 in 1997. Since then, Selig has given permission for individual players to wear the #42 only on Jackie Robinson Day (April 15th). Rangers manager Ron Washington came up with the suggestion that the entire team wear No. 42 on the 61st anniversary of Robinson's first game with the Dodgers on April 15, 1947, at Ebbets Field.

Rangers 1st baseman Ben Broussard is a talented musician who has released a self-titled CD on Lazy Bones Recordings. The House of Blues in Cleveland hosted the CD release party last August. The CD is filled with original songs which were all written by Broussard during baseball road trips.

The champion of the Rangers club house when it comes to playing the video game “Guitar Hero” is pitcher C.J. Wilson (he’s atop the player rankings for Guitar Hero I, II and III). In fact, Wilson hosted a Guitar Hero III tournament in February at the penthouse of the Southwest Airlines headquarters to raise money and build a video game and rec room for recovering kids and families at Cook’s Children’s Hospital in Ft Worth.

At Rangers Ballpark, fans enjoy the traditional song “Cotton Eyed Joe” during every 7th inning stretch.

Before the Washington Senators moved to Arlington, Texas for the 1972 Major League Baseball season, Arlington Stadium was named “Turnpike Stadium”. The stadium was built in 1965 for $1.5 million.

The Legends of the Game Museum inside Rangers Ballpark in Arlington features the largest collection of baseball-related artifacts outside of Cooperstown. Over 100 items from the National Baseball Hall of Fame are on display.

“Ballpark Nachos” debuted at Arlington Stadium in 1977. The tasty snack was a specialty in many restaurants in Southern Texas, but remained virtually unknown anywhere else on the planet. That is until a gentleman by the name of Frank Liberto decided to try to sell nachos as a concession stand item. He reformulated the cheese to be soft all the time and used simple tortilla chips. What really made the concept take off was a visit by "Monday Night Football" later that year at a football game. Before the game started they were offering the product in the reception area where Howard Cosell took a liking to the name. That night and for weeks after, Cossel and the rest of the "Monday Night Football" team worked the word nacho and the product itself into a broadcast.

In addition to being the birthplace of ballpark nachos, Arlington Stadium is also the originator of “The Dot Race”.

The Rangers baseball team was named in honor of “The Texas Rangers”, a law enforcement agent with origins dating to the earliest days of Anglo settlement in Texas. The Texas Rangers form the oldest law-enforcement agency in North America with statewide jurisdiction. They often have been compared to four other world-famous agencies: the FBI, Scotland Yard, Interpol and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Scores of books, from well-researched works of non-fiction to Wild West pulp novels, have been written about the Rangers. They are part of the history of the Old West, and part of its mythology. The Rangers date back to 1823 when Stephen F. Austin recognized the need for a body of men to protect his fledgling colony. On August 5 of that year, Austin wrote that he would "...employ ten men...to act as rangers for the common defense." These men "ranged" the area of Austin's colony, protecting settlers from Indians.

The Rangers won only 56 games in 1973, but made history when they drafted a high school pitcher from Houston, Texas named David Clyde with the first overall pick of the draft, and started him in the major leagues only 22 days later. In his Rangers’ major league debut, he struck out the side in the 1st inning after walking the first two batters. Clyde won the game 4-3. But his career lasted only 5 years and he won only 18 games.

The first Rangers pitcher to throw a no-hitter was Jim Bibby. He accomplished the historic feat in July, 1973 by putting up goose eggs against the Oakland A’s, winning the game 6-0.

Rangers outfielder Kevin Mench went by the nickname “Shrek” because of the large size of his shaved head, as well as the shape of his ears. He is, however, not an ogre…nor married to Princess Fiona.

There have been 19 managers in Texas Rangers history. The first manager, when the team moved from Washington to Arlington in 1972, was the legendary Hall of FamerTed Williams. Williams was such a prolific hitter for the Boston Red Sox that he earned the nickname “The Splendid Splinter”.