One-Game Rangers

No going back
By GERRY FRALEY
Staff Writer gfraley@dallasnews.com

Their dream was to play in the big leagues one day. Turns out thats all they got.

Corey Lee
Appearance: Aug. 24, 1999 Currently: Business owner; pitching coach

Jim Gideon
Appearance: Sept. 14, 1975 Currently: Partner, insurance firm

Needing a long reliever, the Rangers promoted left-hander Corey Lee from Triple-A Oklahoma City. The Rangers immediately threw him to the wolves. Lee appeared that evening against the powerful New York Yankees, who went on to a second consecutive World Series sweep, not as a long reliever but to start the 11th inning. He gave up a two-out, three-run homer by Tino Martinez. My comment after the game was Im sure that that wont be the only homer I give up in the majors, said Lee, a first-round draft choice in 1996. I was wrong. Lee stayed with the club for four more days before being returned to the minors to clear a spot for left-hander Jeff Fassero, obtained from Seattle on a waiver claim. The Rangers traded Lee to the Chicago White Sox after the 2001 season for infielder Herbert Perry. Lee spent time in the minors with the White Sox, Yankees and Los Angeles Angels before going to the Japan Pacific League for 112 seasons with the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters. His teammates included an outrageously talented teenager named Yu Darvish. Elbow and shoulder surgeries caught up to Lee. He retired after taking one more shot, in the independent Atlantic League in 2009. He operates a demolition company in North Carolina and keeps in contact with the game through work with Purpose Driven Baseball, a Christian organization, and as pitching coach on the Czech national team. The Rangers gave me a great opportunity, Lee said. I always thought Id have a big league career and wouldnt play just one game. But its good to be able to say I played in the big leagues.

File/Staff photo

Sam Narron, whose father is a cousin of an ex-Rangers manager, started July 30, 2004 against Oakland, lasting 223 innings. He was back in Triple-A a day later.

In 1989, Jim Gideon had one last fling with the game. He signed on to pitch with the Miamibased Gold Coast Suns of the Senior Professional Baseball Association. Major league standouts Ed Figueroa and Luis Tiant were teammates. One day, Gideon asked Figueroa a question that had been with him for years: Would I have made it if Id been healthy? He told me, We all get hurt, sooner or later. It just happened to you sooner, Gideon said. After that, I was able to go home and not have any what-ifs and move on in my life. Pitchers dream of the success that Gideon, a right-hander, had in 1975. An All-American after going 17-0 in the regular season with Texas. A College World Series championship. Selected by the Rangers with the 17th overall draft choice. A start against the Chicago White Sox in the final month of the regular season. All the while, the decline of a pitcher was under way. An automobile accident while in high school in Houston had left Gideon with bone spurs in the neck, and they caused a loss of strength in the right shoulder. His velocity dropped. Two days shy of the first anniversary of the 1975 draft, the Rangers included Gideon in a sixplayer deal with Minnesota that brought them future Hall of Fame right-hander Bert Blyleven. The injuries sidelined Gideon for all of the 1978 season, and the Twins released him a year later. Gideon tried a comeback with the Rangers Double-A Tulsa affiliate in 1982. The Rangers signed me, traded me and released me, Gideon said with a laugh. There is no bitterness. I had a wonderful experience. Gideon appreciates that Rangers chief executive officer Nolan Ryan and senior executive vice president Jim Sundberg have made the clubs alumni association a viable group. Gideon enjoys the camaraderie of the groups gatherings, where everyone is a big leaguer and longevity is not an issue.

Sam Narron
Appearance: July 30, 2004 Currently: Pitching coach, Washington

File 1998/Getty Images

Rob Sasser began his only day as a major leaguer in a Jackson, Miss., hotel room.

Rob Sasser
Appearance: July 31, 1998 Currently: Hitting coach, Chicago White Sox

organization Sleeping in a Jackson, Miss., hotel room, Rob Sasser was jolted to life by an early-morning telephone call. The Rangers needed him, pronto. Im like, Are you serious? Is this a joke? said Sasser, then with the Rangers Tulsa, Okla., affiliate in the Double-A Texas League. It was the real thing, Tulsa manager Bobby Jones assured him. The Rangers had included third baseman Fernando Tatis in a deal with St. Louis. His replacement, Todd Zeile, would not arrive from Florida for at least another day. The Rangers needed an infielder to have a full roster. Sasser arrived before the game against the Chicago White Sox, took batting practice and reintroduced himself to teammates who remembered his good showing in spring training. All the while, Sasser kept asking himself, Is this happening? Am I dreaming? With the Rangers being routed, Sasser got the signal to be ready to hit. He batted for Tom Goodwin in the ninth inning. On his way to the plate, as he heard his name on the public-address system at Rangers Ballpark, Sasser noticed something odd. There he was, walking to the plate, on the mammoth video board. Thats when I knew this was really happening, Sasser said. Sasser popped up to catcher Chad Kreuter, and the Rangers lost, 10-2. Zeile arrived the next day, and Sasser returned to the minors. He played seven more seasons, reaching the Triple-A level with Detroit, Kansas City, Milwaukee and Montreal. Sasser finished with the White Sox, who persuaded him to remain in the game as a hitting coach. Sasser is with Winston-Salem of the Class A Carolina League. I truly have no regrets, Sasser said. I put forth my best effort, and I accomplished my childhood dream of playing in the big leagues.

organization The Narron family of Goldsboro, N.C., made annual trips to Arlington to catch a Rangers series. Rooster Narron and Jerry Narron, a Rangers coach and manager, are cousins. Roosters son, Sam, enjoyed watching Rangers heart-and-soul left fielder Rusty Greer play. That made the scene so surreal. As he prepared to make his major league debut, Narron dressed next to Greer in the clubhouse at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. I had played my entire life to get to that point, Sam Narron said. Its everything you imagine and better in some respects. Rusty Greer is my locker-mate. Hes right there next to me. Stuff like that. Narron, a lanky left-hander who got by with guile, stayed for only one day. With the Rangers deep in the American League West race despite a patchwork rotation, he started against Oakland and allowed four runs in 223 innings. A day later, the Rangers brought in fading veteran right-hander Scott Erickson and returned Narron to Triple-A Oklahoma City. He went 14-2 with a 3.72 ERA at the Double- and Triple-A levels that season but did not throw hard enough for general manager John Hart. The Rangers removed Narron from the major league roster in September, and he went to Milwaukee on a waiver claim.

Narron missed the 2005 season because of Tommy John tendon-transplant surgery. He returned to the Brewers and pitched six more minor league seasons, four at the Triple-A level. At the same time, Narron graduated with honors from East Carolina with a degree in biology. The Rangers were always straight with me, and I appreciated that they gave me a shot, especially because I didnt light up a radar gun, Narron said. I wanted to get back, but I never felt like I was cheated. Narron wanted to continue his career and pitched in the Dominican Republic winter league with the Gigangtes del Cibao after the 2011 season. He was looking for a minor league job when Washington director of player development Doug Harris approached him. Harris had scouted Narron as an amateur for the Rangers and always appreciated him for his intelligence and passion for the game. Youre 30 years old and may not get back to the majors, Harris said. Get started on a coaching career now, Harris added. Narron faced the hard facts and gave up on making it back to the majors to become a pitching coach in the Nationals organization. He is spending this summer with the Auburn, N.Y., Doubledays of the short-season Class A New York-Penn League. Its another tool that you can put in your belt, Narron said of his major league experience. You have to respect the game and respect how difficult it is to get there. To play at the major league level, you have to be something special. I can say I got there.

File/The Associated Press

Ryan Snare got a visit from pitching coach Orel Hershiser during his lone major league appearance, in 2004. It lasted 313 innings.

Ryan Snare
Appearance: Aug. 6, 2004 Currently: Manager, telecommunications sales

Ramon Manon
Appearance: April 19, 1990 Currently: Whereabouts unknown

File this under the heading of Ramon, We Hardly Knew Ye. The Rangers paid $50,000 to select slender Dominican right-hander Ramon Manon from the New York Yankees in the major league draft after the 1989 season. The Rangers got only a brief look at the 150-pounder during spring training. An owners lockout ended in mid-March and forced teams to get ready for the regular season in three weeks.

To compensate for the abbreviated spring training, rosters were expanded to 27, two more than the norm, for April. That allowed the Rangers to start the season with Manon, but he got only one appearance. In the 10th game of the season, Manon pitched two innings during an 11-0 loss to Milwaukee. He gave up three runs and allowed half of the 12 hitters faced to reach. On April 30, the Rangers returned Manon to the Yankees for $25,000. He pitched two seasons in the Yankees organization and one with the Chicago White Sox. He last appeared in 1995 with the Minnesota Skeeters of the independent and now defunct North Central League.

Many teams liked Ryan Snare, a left-hander. Atlanta drafted him out of Tarpon Springs East Lake (Fla.) High School. Cincinnati took him in the second round of the 2000 draft out of North Carolina. Florida got him as part of a deal for right-hander Ryan Dempster on July 11, 2002. A year later, to the day, the Rangers included Snare in the trade that sent closer Ugueth Urbina to the Marlins. Growing up, people would ask me what Id do if baseball did not work out, Snare said. I told them that wasnt an option. It was going to work out. It did not. In 2004, Snare had two stays with the Rangers totaling eight days. He made one appearance in that span, allowing five runs in 313 innings as a reliever at Baltimore. The Rangers returned Snare to the minors the next day, replacing him with right-hander Rosman Garcia. The Rangers released Snare in 2005, and he caught on with the San Diego organization. In 2006, at the Double-A level with Kansas City, Snare said, Enough. He was 27 years old and ready to start a family with his wife, Melanie. He walked away from the game. I had an incredible experience, Snare said. That was one of the greatest days of my life. Its something Ill always remember. I think about it a lot, more on the days Im grinding it out at work. Snare put his education to work and moved into the world of sales. He is an enterprise sales manager with Comcast, based in Atlanta.
Follow Gerry Fraley on Twitter at @gfraley.