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Brian Downing
Brian Downing bumps into a high school or junior college teammate. They ask him the same question.
"They'll say, 'How did you ever make it? ' " Downing said Wednesday. "They tell me, 'You were terrible. You couldn't play. ' " Those words have followed Downing for more than a generation. That Downing finds himself starting well with the Rangers at age 40 after a career full of injuries and a short spring training is remarkable. That Downing sneaked into professional baseball and exceeded his goal of lasting two weeks helps explain this new force within the Rangers. "If you put Brian Downing's heart in a lion," former teammate Reggie Jackson said, "the lion would be tougher for it. " Hard times and rejection toughened the heart.
Downing did not make the varsity baseball team at Anaheim (Calif.) Magnolia High School until his senior year. He walked on at nearby Cypress Junior College and rode the bench for one season. Baseball was his life, but the passion was unrequited. Downing was small - 5-8 and 160 pounds as a high school senior - and lacked the talent to impress high school and junior college coaches.
One man saw Downing differently. Bill Lentini worked for the Chicago White Sox as a "bird dog," a part-time scout who haunted amateur games in Orange County searching for the hidden jewel. Lentini liked Downing for his grit and vowed to find him a professional contract. The first time the White Sox saw Downing, they thought Lentini had lost his mind." Brian was this scrawny guy back then," said Baltimore general manager Roland Hemond, then a White Sox executive. "I asked Bill what he saw in him, and he said, "This kid is so aggressive. He loves to play. ' "Bill Lentini might have been the only person who believed in Brian. It's like he's been on a crusade his whole career to prove Bill Lentini was right.
Tough to get the glasses to show, perc...
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