Rangers spotlight: From a catcher who’s been there, ‘Bull Durham’ nails life in the minors

Rangers catcher Brett Nicholas has spent the first six seasons of his pro career in the minors, including the past two at Triple A Round Rock. So he knows what life is like down on the farm.

The left-hitting Nicholas, who attended Missouri for one year before being drafted by the Rangers in 2010, echoes the sentiment of many by hailing Bull Durham as the best film about baseball.

The 1988 Kevin Costner film (he’s in every baseball film, right?) follows an aging catcher back in the minors trying to help a talented young pitcher (Tim Robbins).

“The baseball is pretty accurate and just the banter back and forth between the players is exactly what happens,” Nicholas said.

Life in the minors is harder than the film shows but it does nail the bonding among teammates.

“It shows the brotherhood ... the leaders who are around for a long time and how they kind of lead the young guys and show them the proper ways to do things,” he said.

Nicholas also hails A League of Their Own, the 1992 film about the all-female leagues during World War II. Former Astros infielder Casey Candaele’s mother, Helen Callaghan, was one of the women the film was based on. Candaele was an instructor in the Rangers’ organization and worked with Nicholas.

“It shows that they were playing just as good a baseball as we were and equality of everything and kind of what everything should be based off,” Nicholas said. “It doesn’t matter, guy, girl, kids, baseball is for everybody and it’s an incredible sport to play.”

This story was originally published March 8, 2016 at 11:27 AM with the headline "Rangers spotlight: From a catcher who’s been there, ‘Bull Durham’ nails life in the minors."