The Texas Rangers fired their offensive coordinator – otherwise known as top hitting coach in modern lingo – this past weekend. Donnie Ecker had the job, but failed miserably to replace Tim Hyers, and the Rangers have struggled mightily despite featuring some prominent players in their lineup. In his place, Texas will turn to former Seattle Mariners star to podcast host, Bret Boone. Yes, that guy.
Boone was as surprised as anyone when he got the call from future Hall-of-Fame manager Bruce Bochy. In fact, he assumed Bochy wanted to book a spot on Boone's pod. Yes, really.
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Bret Boone's first comment as Rangers hitting coach will shock fans
“You never know where life’s going to take you,” Boone said in announcing the news. “And the longer I live on this Earth, I learn that. This completely came out of left field. I went up to USC, my alma mater. I threw out a first pitch. I ran into an old buddy of mine, Michael Young, and he’s with the Texas Rangers. We just started talking, and we had a 10-minute conversation. … I get home, and the phone’s ringing, and it’s [Rangers manager] Bruce Bochy.”
All it took was a 10-minute conversation for Bochy to know Boone was the right man for the job. The concerns around hiring Boone are obvious. While he was an elite hitter in his day, Boone also has limited coaching experience and – again – wasn't in a prominent baseball position as of yesterday.
All that being said, the Rangers can't get much worse offensively, can they? As of Monday, they were hitting a collective .228/.285/.359 as a team. Bochy opted to make a change before the Rangers spiraled out of control in what's sure to be an incredible AL West race this season. If Bochy thinks Boone is the man to right the ship, Rangers fans have little reason to doubt him. It's just...odd, and Boone's honest commentary doesn't help matters.