FORT WORTH, Texas – Jose Canseco’s 2 ½ seasons with the Texas Rangers were marked by him having a ball bounce off his head for a home run and blowing out his arm while pitching.
While those incidents won’t exactly make Canseco’s list of top career accomplishments, he had nothing but positive things to about his time with the Rangers.
"The ballpark was gorgeous," he said Thursday night. "We had a brand new ballpark at the time. The weather was incredible. The ball carried a lot. And there were beautiful women."
Canseco was traded to the Rangers in August of 1992. In his time with the Rangers, Canseco hit 45 homers and played in 193 games before leaving following the 1994 season. Those aren’t exactly stellar numbers but it didn’t take away from the reception he got while he was in Arlington.
"I loved playing here and I tell you why," he said. "That year I got traded to the Rangers – I kid you not – I had a game where I struck out three times and I’ve never heard this before. I had some fans say ‘Don’t worry Jose, you’ll get them next time.’" I’ve never heard that in my career. Usually it’s ‘You suck. I can’t believe we got you.’ But the fans were behind me."
He did hit one memorable homer at Rangers Ballpark. On June 13, 1994, Canseco hit a 480-foot homer at the stadium. That stood as the top home run distance at Rangers Ballpark until Josh Hamilton’s 490-foot homer in 2010.
