Ranger Baseball Cards (Part 32)

Godfather, Busch Light, Captain Cuatro……whatever you know him by, you will never forget him. The myth is a man named Kevin Casey, and what you call him is up to you. Kevin joined the Rangers for the 2003 season during an illustrious Loyola Club Baseball Career. In one of his earliest appearances at Loyola, Busch Light did not show up to Centennial Forum at the appropriate time before a double header against Columbia in the spring of 2002. Team Captain Vince Caringi decided the team could not wait any longer for their starting pitcher and left without him. When the Ramblers got to the field, there was a figure sleeping on the bench wearing a tuxedo jacket over his baseball uniform. Yes, it was Kevin Casey. When asked about his appearance, Kevin, in no shape to pitch game 1, babbled about drinking Busch Light the night before. He did not know where his car was, and wasn’t sure the tuxedo jacket was even his. Hence the moniker “Busch Light”. While he did not pitch Game 1 that day, he did coach third base in his tuxedo jacket and managed to pull himself together to throw a one hit complete game victory in Game 2!
Kevin captained the Loyola Club team for their inaugural National Club Baseball Association season in 2004 and went winless. Kevin’s Loyola Career ended with a loss in Madison, only he did not play in the game. He was frantically searching downtown Madison for his car keys. As it turns out, Rambler right-fielder Chris Stearns had the keys since the night before. Chris did not realize he had Kevin’s keys until the team arrived back in Chicago!
Godfather has been a solid player for the Rangers while pitching, playing second base, shortstop,and the outfield. Offensively, Kevin has been among the team leaders every year during his tenure, which stretches from 2003 to 2005 and then from 2007 to present. The 2006 season was spent with a San Francisco team called the Mad Dogs, who believed in the “Five I’s.” Supposedly the “Five I’s” were Incompetence, Impotence, Ignorance, Idiocy, and Inbreeding; a perfect rallying cry for a team of tools.
Kevin threw a memorable two hitter against the Oriole Park Cubs on July 12th, 2003 at Taft High School. Unfortunately for Kevin and the Rangers, he shook off a fastball called by Ranger catcher Isaiah Panatsis and instead decided to throw a Split-Finger pitch he was working on. Isaiah knew better, but let Kevin throw the pitch. Well, of course he hung it, and the Cub batter hit a solo home run. The Rangers lost the no-hitter, lost the shutout, and ultimately lost the game 1-0. Kevin did technically throw a no hitter against the Aviators that resulted in a 15-0 win for the Rangers on June 26th, 2005. It is a no-hitter, but does it actually count since the game was ended in four innings due to Slaughter-Rule?
There have been many other antics during Godfather’s Ranger tenure, including but not limited to: falling off barstools, breaking glasses, telling teammates he is “Pressing Charges” against them, sweeping the floor of Gio’s, laying down on home plate after getting beaned, and other general mischief and mayhem.
Kevin’s statistics rank him among the career leaders in almost every offensive category. He has a career .385 Batting Average, 167 Hits, 158 Runs, 92 RBI’s, and 67 Stolen Bases. Kevin has also been a solid pitcher, although arm issues have limited him in recent years. Godfather is a cornerstone of the Ranger franchise and his antics on and off the field are what make the Rangers a great team to play for.