Rangers' Banister: Napoli 'might be the human victory cigar'
Texas Rangers slugger Mike Napoli is the sort of player that has a "reputation."
It's a good thing, mind you -- he hits home runs, pumps up his teammates and has a penchant for bringing everyone together. He's not unlike the Kansas City Royals' Jonny Gomes, another powerful right-handed hitter known for his splits against left-handed pitching and accolades as a good "clubhouse guy."
Napoli has only been with the Rangers for about a month in his second stint with Texas of his career, but he's already established the kind of rapport that inspires someone to buy American flag shorts for the entire team as a bond-building exercise.
As Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News explained in a new profile piece on Napoli, the colorful shorts thing originated in Boston in 2013, when Gomes and the Red Sox wore them in support of a young Boston fan with leukemia. Napoli began wearing them by himself with the Rangers, and when his teammates asked about his fashion decision he bought them all a pair.
Napoli is quoted by Grant as being complimentary of Gomes, though he isn't trying to copy his "team leadership" tactics: "I'm not trying to be like Jonny. He has his way of doing things, and I have mine. But there are some similarities I think. He has a way of getting the best out of people."
Rangers manager Jeff Banister was also quick to laud Napoli when speaking with Grant: "He's a relationship guy and loves to connect with everybody in the clubhouse. He brings that intensity and some camaraderie. It's real ... You need a guy like that."
It's worth noting that since the Rangers acquired Napoli on a waiver deal, they've advanced from the fringes of the postseason picture to alone in first place in the AL West. Coincidence or otherwise, Napoli's presence has made quite an impression on the club.
As Banister said to Grant regarding Napoli's impact: "He might be the human victory cigar."
