Tributes and memories flood social media after longtime Texas Rangers super fan dies
.JPG "In this file photo, John “Zonk” Lanzillo Jr. helps fire up Texas Rangers fans for Game 2 of the ALCS against the New York Yankees on Oct. 16, 2010 in Arlington. Lanzillo died Wednesday at age 88.")
The Texas Rangers organization and their fans are mourning the loss of one of the team’s longest, and most loyal fans.
John “Zonk” Lanzillo Jr. died in North Richland Hills on Wednesday. He was 88.
“Zonk,” as he was affectionately called, was known for a drum he brought to games. He would use the drum to help ignite Rangers rallies.
“Today is a very sad day for the Texas Rangers organization as we have lost one of our most loyal and longtime fans,” the Rangers organization said in a release. “Zonk’s impact on the Texas Rangers will last forever. The organization sends our thoughts and prayers to Zonk’s family at this difficult time.”
Fans and members of the media have paid tribute to Lanzillo on social media. Longtime Rangers beat writer T.R. Sullivan, who covered the team 17 years for the Star-Telegram and 15 years for MLB.com, honored Lanzillo in a post on Twitter. Rangers fans recalled their own Zonk memories and paid tribute on Facebook, Twitter and other social media outlets.
“We have had some amazing fans in Arlington over the years — men and women, boys and girls — who added to the fun, excitement and baseball culture in Arlington,” Sullivan said. “Zonk was a tremendous character who could really get the crowd going at the right time. His enthusiasm was contagious throughout the ballpark.”
Lanzillo’s legend as a super fan began in Arlington Stadium and then to the Ballpark in Arlington (also known as Globe Life Park). His presence became well known and he was a fan focal point during the Rangers’ first three AL West titles in the late 1990s. From 1976 until the mid-2000s, Lanzillo and his drum were at most games.
“[We] had season tickets next to Zonk (same row and section) at Arlington Stadium,” said Ricky Brennes, who grew up in Plano and now lives in Austin. “He’d be out there banging on that drum even with the Rangers 25 games out with 2 games left in 105 Degree heat.”
Brennes said via an interview that Lanzillo was always friendly “back in the section 108 days at Arlington Stadium.”
“When thinking or talking about the Rangers or the different ballpark memories, conversation with any Rangers fan wouldn’t have to be very long before Zonk’s name came up,” he said.
Health issues prevented him from attending many games in the past two decades, but he was on hand for Opening Day in 2019, the last season played at Globe Life Park.
The Rangers will observe a moment of silence in his memory during Sunday’s season finale at Globe Life Field. Members of the Lanzillo family be in attendance, the Rangers said.
“Tens of thousands of times, Zonk has risen from his seat in the lower deck, attempting to coax along a Rangers rally with a trademark rat, tat, rat-tat-tat,” Tim Madigan wrote in a story for the Star-Telegram during the club’s first World Series run.
“On Saturday, Zonk arrived at his seat 30 minutes before the game with the Yankees, heartbroken from the bruising loss the night before,” Madigan wrote in October 2010. “But he had work to do. From a black case he removed a drumstick and his tambourinelike percussion instrument with a tattered Ranger logo taped to the front. He needs a new drum every year. He wore a Rangers cap and white jersey with the number 02 and ‘Zonk’ on the back. Several fans called his name.”
Lanzillo was a Vermont native and retired salesman and lived mostly in Richardson. His nickname was inherited from his father, a former football player at Princeton.
In 1976, Lanzillo was a season-ticket holder when the club hired a guy to work the crowd at Arlington Stadium. The cheerleader would sometimes used a drum to entice the crowd. One night, former Rangers reliever Cliff Johnson destroyed the drum. Lanzillo noticed and bought the cheerleader a new one. When the cheerleader left, he gave the drum to Lanzillo.
“I didn’t want to get up on the dugout. I knew they wouldn’t let me. So I started beating it from my seat,” Lanzillo told the Star-Telegram. “That’s how it started.”
