Wysopal Injury Update

22's leg is gross. That is all.

(Hopefully Isaiah now understands why Mike didn't score from first on his hit to LF...)

Rangers Exploring New Funding Options

Ranger Baseball Cards (Part 33)

Petey “Pedro” Monroe, the younger brother of current Ranger Nick Monroe, retired from the Rangers after a 3 season tenure stretching from the 2008 through 2010 seasons. Petey and Nick were the second brother combination to play for the Rangers, but the first non-twin combo (Keston and Kelvin McCabe). Their younger brother, Mike Monroe, will be a Ranger for the 2011 season, making them the first set of three brothers to play for the Rangers. There is a fourth Monroe in the farm system, but he has another 15 years before he is eligible to play!

Petey came to the Rangers after the start of the 2008 season when the team was short players. In a bungled management move by Ranger CFO Mike LaRocco, Pete did not get his # 24 jersey numbered for the entire season. He instead had a taped on number that represented “Z4”, and the nickname stuck among the team, the umpires, and the rest of the league. His correctly numbered jersey arrived for the 2009 season and a jersey presentation ceremony was held at home plate. He wore that jersey for exactly one game before it was replaced by the new style Ranger jersey. League officials were asked if the letter “Z” could be used on his jersey instead of the number “2”, but that suggestion was shot down.

The best game of Pedro’s career was on July 2, 2008 against the Browns at Winnemac Park. The Rangers were struggling through the 2008 season and desperately needed a good game against the first place Browns. Petey went 3 for 4 with his only career Home Run, drove in 3 runs, and scored 1 run in an 8-2 Ranger victory, one of only 8 wins the Rangers had that entire season.

Pete’s best season was the 2008 season where he hit .321, had 17 hits, and drove in 8 runs. In his 3 seasons, Pete had a .253 batting average, 39 hits, scored 23 runs, and had 26 RBI. During the 2009 season, Petey and Matt Swary would also perform as a grounds-crew act every half inning, running out and raking the infield. It was very entertaining for teammates and fans alike In addition to this fanfare, an underground movement within the Ranger organization gained traction. Led by Mark Wegren, this movement sought to have Petey become the protagonist in a series of short stories entitled, “The Adventures of Little Petey Monroe”. Unfortunately the Rangers could not sell this idea to any publishers and until funding is found, this project is on the backburner.

Pete graduated from Grinnell College in Iowa and is back in the Chicagoland area. He will not be with the Rangers full time in 2011 but will be an emergency player if the need arises. Team president Luke Luecke would like all three Monroe Boys to be on the field at the same time at some point in the 2011 season. Combine that combination with getting all 5 Mikes on the field at the same time would be quite an accomplishment! The Rangers wish Petey the best on graduating to the “Real World”, even though as anyone can tell you, the real world sucks.