Most of them have moved on to life beyond baseball: a head of construction for a builder in Fort Myers, Fla., a benefits representative for an insurance company in Durham, N.C., a factory worker in Columbus, Miss.
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Second baseman Lonnie Goldberg, who will play for Yuma, Ariz of the western league, and his replacement teammates brought at least one fan to tears of appreciation. |
There are some hard-luck stories. A few have scattered across the globe, chasing chances to keep playing.
For one odd but shining spring five years ago, this disparate group was something special. It made up the Rangers’ replacement team: scourge of the faux American League and Will Clark; darlings of the fans.
“We were a very close-knit group,” said outfielder Eric Mangham, living in Atlanta and recovering from a serious automobile accident. “We enjoyed that spring, and we thought we might have a chance to be in the big leagues. “It was a dream that just didn’t happen.”
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The replacement spring foreshadowed what was to come for the Rangers. It was the debut of the Doug Melvin-Johnny Oates management team, brought in by then-president Tom Schieffer after the 1994 season. Melvin and Oates showed how they would operate.
Melvin specialized in finding players in out-of-the-way places. He put together the replacement club much as he would future Rangers teams: using every possible avenue.
Oates and his staff were good teachers. They molded the collection of unfamiliar players into a club that paid attention to the details.
The result was the American League’s best replacement team at 19-7. A year later, using the same formula, the Rangers would win the first title in franchise history.
“Everybody started at zero, and we came out with the best team,” Schieffer said. “It was a real good indication of what we had. It was a difficult situation for everybody, but Doug and Johnny and the coaches handled it in a very positive way.”
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Jackie Davidson was the scheduled opening day starter for the Rangers’ replacement team. He works as a supervisor for a concrete firm and watches his son pitch for Everman High school. |
Clark, then the Rangers’ first baseman, took several verbal shots at the replacement players, hinting at retaliation. Replacement players were viewed by some as pawns of management.
“It was a very tough situation,” said infielder Jim Clinton, who owns a restaurant in Lewiston, Mont. “We were between what the players wanted and what the owners wanted.”
The team inspired sentiment so positive that the regular major leaguers needed several years to rebuild relationships after they returned.
On the day before spring training ended in Port Charlotte, Fla., a fan handed infielder Lonnie Goldberg a letter before breaking into tears. The letter thanked Goldberg and his teammates for their effort. The club played two exhibitions at The Ballpark in Arlington, drawing more than 13,000 for each game. The crowd reception was memorable.
“Everything was first-class,” said lefthander Jack Kimel, who works for an insurance company out of Durham, N.C. “I have nothing but good feelings about what happened.
“I was never against the union. But I knew Will Clark wasn’t striking for my interests, either.”
Replacement ball ended on April 1, when the Rangers defeated the Chicago Cubs. After the game, Schieffer told the players that management would accept the union’s offer to return to work. The 234-day strike was over. The replacement players were no longer needed.
Schieffer turned emotional during the meeting, as did several players. The Rangers gave the players their game uniforms, a commemorative plate and a $10,000 bonus.
“I have nothing but fond memories,” said righthander Jackie Davidson of Everman, who was to be the Rangers’ opening-day starter. “Johnny Oates taught me so many things about life, about how to be a professional outside the lines and inside the lines. I learned from [pitching coach] Dick Bosman, too.
“They made me realize the man I had to be. I think we all benefited and grew from it.”
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Johnny Monell, a designated hitter with the Rangers’ replacement team, is in his third season with the Atlantic City Surf of the Atlantic League. |
Some members of the replacement gang refuse to give up the dream. At least five are still playing, but only one is with a National Association team: catcher Frank Charles, in the San Francisco organization. The others are scattered about the landscape of foreign and independent leagues.
Outfielder Tony Chance, the top overall talent on the Rangers, is in Mexico with the Monterrey Sultans for the seventh year.
Designated hitter Johnny Monell, who returned Clark’s barbs, heads into his third season with the Atlantic City Surf of the Atlantic League.
Righthander Rob Wishnevski and Goldberg were teammates with the Taichung Robomen of Taiwan two years ago. Wishnevski moved to Mexico this season. Goldberg will play with Yuma, Ariz., of the Western League.
“This is a make-or-break year for me,” said Goldberg, recovering from a rotator-cuff injury. “I don’t want to stop playing. I’m looking forward so much to getting back to playing.”
The Rangers have kept the replacement spirit alive. Outfielder Scarborough Green, in the major league camp this spring, was a replacement player with St. Louis.
Darryl Kennedy, manager of the organization’s entry in the rookie-level Gulf Coast League, was a catcher with the Rangers’ replacement team.
Edgar Cacares, a coach at Class A Charlotte, played with Kansas City’s replacement team and reached the majors with the Royals.
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Tony Bouton, who works for an Atlanta technology firm, says it was hard to walk away from baseball. |
Lefthander James Hurst keeps an unlisted telephone number at his home in Greenwood, Ind. Former teammates said the replacement experience scarred Hurst.
He appeared with the Rangers in 1994. In the spring of 1995, Hurst was torn between trying to keep his career going with the Rangers but not being seen as a strike-breaker.
Hurst tried to compromise by saying he would not participate in regular-season replacement games. That was not good enough for some union hard-liners, who branded Hurst a scab.
That haunted him. Hurst moved from the Rangers to Baltimore organization during the 1995 season, and the Orioles summoned him to join the team in Seattle. When Hurst arrived, righthander Mike Mussina organized a boycott. The Orioles determined Hurst was not worth the trouble and returned him to the minors the next day.
The experience soured Hurst. He walked away from the game after that season.
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Righthander Tony Bouton came to the replacement spring seeking closure. The top reliever in the rookie-level Gulf Coast League in 1990, Bouton was released by the Rangers in the spring of 1993. He came back to say goodbye.
“It was a chance for me to mentally close out my baseball career,” Bouton said. “I knew I had another career, but it’s hard to walk away from baseball.”
Bouton returned to the real world after the strike ended and worked his way to head of sales for an Atlanta information-technology firm. Bouton recognizes life has been good to him, but he has one longing.
“I wish I was still playing ball,” Bouton said. “It’s still in my blood. I think we were all that way.”