Rico Carty: Texas Ranger

Okay here's a stupid post, to show you how my mind works.

American Airlines runs flyaway contests for the teams it sponsors: Rams, Cowboys, Cubs, Eagles, US Soccer, Panthers, and more. There's a cool Texas Rangers contest: winner gets flown to Arlington to throw out the first pitch - a bucket list item for me. I'd get to see the new stadium, plus Dallas is a fun place to visit.

Got me thinking: if I won I would have to find me some Texas Rangers gear to wear. At least a cap. My favorite Rangers cap is the old blue T cap with the red bill worn by Corporal Klinger in MASH. Maybe I could find one on eBay.

But why not pick up a personalized throwback jersey off DHGate if I had the time? But what player to get? The Rangers are an American League team, and few of their players ever appealed to me. Nolan Ryan. Julio Franco. Jeff Burroughs later played with the Braves, but he didn't really wow me.

No one from the Rangers Hall of Fame, or Rangers who made the AL All Star team. Managers Johnny Oates and Ron Washington caught my eye. Jeff Francoeur had a cup of coffee with the Rangers.

But couldn't I do better than those guys? I found a list on Baseball Reference of players who'd played for the Braves and Rangers. Adrian Devine was a name from the past. Also Pepe Frias. Not sure Rangers fans would remember Francoeur, much less Devine or Pepe.

In 1973 the Braves traded Rico Carty to the Rangers. Now we're talking. The Beeg Boy. The obvious choice. He didn't last the whole season in Texas. He slumped, was traded to the Cubs - where he had a run in with Ron Santo, so Rico was quickly traded to Oakland.

Since Carty bounced around so much, it was hard to tell from Baseball Reference what number he wore in Texas. AI claimed he wore 53. Baseball Reference claimed he never wore 53. Baseball Almanac gave me the answer: Rico had first worn number 5, then switched to 25 - a number he wore with the Braves and other teams. Bingo. 

Then I checked the MLB Hall of Fame Dressed to the Nines database to see what the 1973 Rangers uniforms looked like. Not yet the goofy powder blue polyester TeXaS jerseys they'd switch to in 1975.

Next I checked Rangers jerseys on DHGate. Lots of options: home white, road grey, powder blue script Rangers. Old and new City Connects. Even options in red and royal. And the cool powder blue 1975 jersey. If I wanted, I could personalize it with CARTY 25 for $30.00. That would be the one. In the unlikely event that I won (and had time to wait for the jersey to arrive).

NEWS: DH Gate also had a jersey option with a USA 250 patch. Was this a thing? Will they be wearing this on Independence Day? I checked the Braves jerseys: same thing! Plus these July 4th jerseys have special red white & blue numbers on the back, and red names on back, similar to the original City Connect uniforms. You heard it here first. let's see if they wear them.

Monday: (1) left out at 745 to take the girls to school. Then (2) stopped by W&MC's to drop off their stuff, then (3) McDonalds for the bacon egg & cheese biscuit deal. Next (4) Goodwill for an Atlanta Drive cap to wear at the beach. Then (5) I visited a friend at the hospital. (6) Stopped by Publix for catsup and (7)  RaceTrac for a free Coke.  After 1:30 before I got home. Leftover burgers for a late lunch.