ARLINGTON, Texas — Robbie Ross certainly won't be
able to forget the night he made his major league debut for the Texas Rangers.
In fact, Ross will have photographic evidence of the night because of his
pregame attire.
The rookie left-hander had to make his walk from the clubhouse to the bullpen
carrying a pink backpack while wearing a vest and carrying a stuffed horse and
gun. He was also wearing a cowboy hat instead of his Rangers cap.
The video operator made sure to show the walk on the video board while playing
"Happy Trails" just to make sure everyone in Rangers Ballpark saw
Ross.
"Whatever I have to do to stay here," Ross said. "I'm not going
to cause any waves. I'll do whatever I have to do. I'll wear it out there. I
was walking and all the sudden they were playing 'Happy Trails' and I was like
'Oh dang I look ridiculous.'"
Ross was forced to wear the outfit by the veterans in the bullpen. They picked
out his attire before the game.
But the memory likely to stick with Ross the longest will be the eighth inning,
when he made his major league debut. He came on for the eighth inning. After
walking Gordon Beckham to open the frame, he got Adam Dunn to pop up before
striking out Paul Konerko swinging and getting a grounder from Alex Rios to end
the inning.
Ross had the ball from the Konerko strikeout in his locker after the game,
adding to an amazing run that's seen him go from Double-A pitcher last season
to the lone lefty in the Texas bullpen to open 2012.
"It was exactly like I expected it to be," Ross said of the
experience. "The atmosphere of the game; I was as anxious as I could be. I
ended up doing OK. It was fun."
It sure was memorable.
