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Posted on Wed, Apr. 09, 2008

Dugout Journal: Oates left his imprint on both these teams

By RAY BUCK

Star-Telegram Staff Writer

ARLINGTON -- "I was Johnny Oates' first roommate in the minor leagues."

With those words from Orioles hitting coach Terry Crowley began a flood of emotions ... out of both dugouts at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

These were Johnny Oates' teams.

Both of them.

He cut his teeth in the Baltimore organization and managed the Texas Rangers to their only three playoff seasons (1996, '98-99) in franchise history.

Oates' presence is still a part of the ballpark. His name and number (26) are emblazoned in white letters on a blue background above the left-field scoreboard.

Those who knew him best often spoke about him in the present tense Tuesday.

"I'll tell you this," Crowley said of Oates, "he's one in 10 million."

In the nomadic game of baseball, Oates was well-grounded -- and that always stood out with anyone lucky enough to meet.

Said Crowley: "He's the classiest, most honorable person you can ever be associated with ... 100 percent family man."

This fact remains: The Rangers hadn't won anything in 24 years prior to Oates' 1996 team and nothing since his '99 team.

"I guess," said Crowley, "that speaks for itself."

Palmer's perspective

Jim Palmer, who works as a TV analyst on Orioles broadcasts, knew Johnny Oates as a good baseball man who was astute and extremely detail-oriented.

Palmer was touched when he found out, many years later, that Oates had kept a Christmas card that Palmer sent him in 1972.

Oates earlier was traded to Atlanta (along with Davey Johnson, Pat Dobson and Roric Harrison) for slugging catcher Earl Williams.

"I guess I had written Johnny a note inside the card, thanking him and wishing him luck," Palmer said. "Anyway, I came here for a game while Johnny was managing the Rangers, and he told me that he had kept my Christmas card all those years. It had meant that much to him."

Oates was known as a consummate baseball man. But Palmer found him to be almost fanatical.

"Johnny used to count pitches in the bullpen," said the former three-time Cy Young Award winner. "He would keep track of the number of pitches he caught all year. And when he lay in bed, he'd count the dots on the ceiling fan.

"He was a pretty thorough guy."

A very limber 'Wash'

Rangers manager Ron Washington was hitting fungos before the game when Jim Palmer called to him, "Hey, Wash, you'd better stretch before you hit fungos."

Washington turned and replied: "Naw, I don't need to stretch ... already been there."

Lovefest in the dugout

Take it from hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo, in a Rangers uniform for his 14th consecutive Opening Day: "I feel a different energy in the dugout with this team. There's a lot of love going on."

How important is love when it comes to hitting a round ball with a round bat?

"It's real important," said Jaramillo. "I don't care who you are, or how good you are, you always need someone to give you a little reinforcement."

It's been awhile since Jaramillo saw this much camaraderie on one team.

"I've felt it before here," Rudy said, "but it was years back."

Attention to sunglasses

For the record, Tuesday's first pitch came at 1:06 p.m. -- a minute late -- under mostly cloudy skies and 80 degrees. At times, the sun peaked out.

This made sunglasses the biggest problem for players and fans alike, as they alternated sunglasses between their eyes and the tops of their heads.

Rush from Mount Coke

Tuesday's B-1 bomber fly-over left fans scratching their collective heads as a two-minute lull followed Challenger, the 16-year-old bald eagle.

The flyover at 1,000 feet rattled pressbox windows.

Capt. Jim Silva, 33, and Lt. Tony Bares, 32, both from Dyess Air Force Base in Abilene, served as spotters for the B-1 bomber -- Bares from the ground and Silva from 250 feet atop the Coca-Cola sign in center field.

Does a flyover ever get old for these Air Force guys?

"No, sir," said Silva. "It's an adrenalin rush you get from that roar every time."

But did he mulch?

Jim Sundberg, Rangers longtime catcher and VP/communications and PR, will never forget how bad he felt when the Rangers opened the '96 season here with a 5-3 win over Boston.

"It was the first time in 22 years that I missed Opening Day," said Sundberg, who caught Eric Nadel's "first pitch" Tuesday. "I was home. It was so strange. There were some really sentimental moments there.

"Here, the Rangers were playing Opening Day ... and I was mowing my lawn."

Calling Hallmark cards

"I wouldn't miss Opening Day," Rangers owner Tom Hicks said. "It should be a national holiday."

And for those who skipped school or called in "sick" for work Tuesday ... it was.