Boys of Arlington: The Legend of Pete Incaviglia (Part 1)

Veteran beat man T.R. Sullivan recalls the Texas Rangers rookie sensation that was Pete Incaviglia.

Editor’s note: In his latest installment of the Boys of Arlington, retired beat writer T.R. Sullivan looks back at the larger-than-life phenom Pete Incaviglia and the stir he created back in old Arlington Stadium.

In the history of old Arlington Stadium, there were two prospects who took on mythical, larger-than-life proportions before they even played one game for the Rangers.

One was David Clyde. We all know him, the kid from Houston who struck out 328 batters in 148 innings in high school and pitched five no-hitters. Three weeks after being the No. 1 pick in the 1973 draft, he was on the mound at Arlington Stadium pitching for the Rangers.

The other?

Pete Incaviglia.

Oh yeah. Mythical? Larger than life? Yeah, that’s a pretty good description right there.

It was funny reading everything written about Wyatt Langford this spring in Rangers camp, and there is no doubt he is talented. He may end up being an All-Star, even a Hall of Famer. Who knows?

But the hype, the buildup, the sheer buzz created by one player out of spring training even before he stepped on a major-league field?

Nope. Sorry. In my mind, other than Clyde, nothing can compare with what was going on with “Inky” in the spring of 1986.

First of all, there was the brash swagger and the way he carried himself with that impressive physique. It was the combination of Fred Flintstone and The Sopranos. He walked up to the plate with bat in one hand like Rocky Balboa working the Philadelphia docks ready to bust some delinquent longshoreman’s fingers.

Then, there were those numbers, those unworldly numbers posted at Oklahoma State. He played in 213 games over three years and set an NCAA record with 100 home runs. It still stands almost 40 years later.  He had a .398 batting average and a .915 slugging percentage. As a senior, he hit 48 home runs in 75 games, an NCAA record that also still stands.

Then, there was that one swing in spring training at a dilapidated municipal stadium in southeast Florida, a joint so bad the Rangers were about to abandon it for a newer facility.

It was a swing right out of The Natural, the memorable baseball movie that came out a few years earlier and was still fresh on baseball fans’ minds. The movie where Roy Hobbs/Robert Redford smashed the clock in Wrigley Field and knocked the cover off the ball in Buffalo.

The Rangers had their own Roy Hobbs, and his name was Pete Incaviglia.

He hit a baseball that reverberated across baseball.

Then, five years later, there came a moment in spring training that — as I look back at it — was a news bombshell unlike any other I covered in my 32 years on the Rangers beat.

The Spring of Inky

There was much about Incaviglia that was larger than life. I mean, the guy was the reason for a major rule change that impacted the MLB Draft and how clubs built their teams. He was also a newspaper columnist almost before he was an MLB player.

You see, when Bobby Valentine became manager of the Rangers during the 1985 season, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram convinced him to write a weekly column for the paper. In fact, Valentine basically gave his thoughts to Star-Telegram beat writer Jim Reeves, who then turned it into a “column.” It was a coup for the Star-Telegram.

So at the end of spring training in 1986, the Dallas Morning News tried to one-up the Star-Telegram by getting Incaviglia to write a column. That didn’t last long. Owner Eddie Chiles quickly put a halt to that.

Everybody was doing Incaviglia in the spring of 1986. He was on the cover of The Sporting News — an extreme rarity for the Rangers in those days — and had a full-page layout in USA Today.

One Fort Worth public relations bigwig told Reeves, “We’re talking about somebody who could be as big as any major Cowboys star. … He could be as big as Tony Dorsett.”

The Rangers passed on Incaviglia in the 1985 draft. They also passed on Barry Bonds. Pitching was the priority for a club on its way to a fourth straight losing season.

Tom Grieve had become general manager in 1984 and then lured Sandy Johnson away from the Padres to be in complete charge of scouting and player development. In doing so, they committed the Rangers to rebuilding through pitching.

So, with the third overall pick in 1985, the Rangers took Oklahoma right-handed pitcher Bobby Witt. Bonds went sixth to the Pirates, and Incaviglia went eighth to the Montreal Expos.

Incaviglia didn’t have a whole lot of interest in Montreal and even less interest in playing in the minor leagues. He made it clear to the Expos that he wanted a lot of money to sign, and he wanted a chance to play in the big leagues right away. The Padres had done that with Dave Winfield in 1973, and he turned into a superstar.

Incaviglia was eager for the same chance. The Expos decided to shop Incaviglia, and on Nov 2, 1985, they traded him to the Rangers for pitcher Bob Sebra — a decent but hardly overwhelming prospect — and weak-hitting middle infielder Jim Anderson.

It was a huge coup for a club that had just lost 99 games and was desperately trying to land as much young talent as possible.

“I look at it as a chance of a lifetime,” Grieve said. “Even if the kid never plays a day in the big leagues, it was worth the gamble.”

The way the deal came down was tricky. Teams couldn’t trade an unsigned draft pick. The Rangers and Expos first worked out a tentative agreement on the players. Then, the Rangers negotiated a contract with Incaviglia’s agent, Bucky Woy. Once that backroom maneuvering was completed, the Expos “signed” Incaviglia and traded him to Texas.

The rule was later amended so that clubs were prevented from trading picks for one year after the draft. The Pete Incaviglia Rule.

Incaviglia wasn’t guaranteed to go straight to the big leagues, but he was given a big-league contract and placed on the 40-man roster. That meant he would be in spring training with the big-league club. Grieve said he would “love to see” Incaviglia make the team.

Despite their miserable record, the Rangers had a set outfield of Gary Ward in left, Oddibe McDowell in center and Larry Parrish in right. McDowell had been the Rangers’ No. 1 pick in 1984 out of Arizona State with impressive leadoff numbers as well. Ward and Parrish were proven All-Stars.

But then, after the trade, Incaviglia joined the Rangers on a winter caravan to Oklahoma City, where their Triple A team resided. The 89ers wanted Incaviglia to pose for pictures wearing their uniform. He refused.

“I’m not going to be here,” Incaviglia said.

His first spring training batting practice at Pompano Beach Municipal Stadium was an eye-opener. Valentine was pitching, and a stiff wind was blowing in from left field. It didn’t matter.

Incaviglia hit eight out of the park, and he hit a vicious line drive that nailed the manager in the back

“From his second swing on, I had the fear of God in me,” Valentine said. “I couldn’t see some of the home runs off his bat.”

The most memorable blow was a line drive that hit off the top of the left-field fence and smashed a hole in it. Roy Hobbs had come to life, and he was wearing a Rangers jersey.

“That’s one-inch plywood,” Valentine said. “Awesome.”

Hitting coach Art Howe, who had played with Willie Stargell and Dave Parker, said “I’ve never seen anything like that.”

“It’s impossible for a human being to hit a ball any harder,” Grieve said.

Now understand, there may be a certain amount of embellishment involved here. The ball didn’t exactly put a hole in the fence, more like it took a big chunk off the top of it. And it may have been one-inch plywood, but the possibility exists it had been rotting in the humid South Florida climate.

But the Rangers needed all the excitement they could muster, and Incaviglia had provided it. Public relations director John Blake was more than willing to give a guided tour out to left field to anybody who wanted to inspect the damage up close.

Before the spring was over, Incaviglia hit seven home runs in Grapefruit League games, a Rangers spring record. He made the team.

On Opening Day, Incaviglia was in the Rangers’ starting lineup, batting cleanup and playing right field before a crowd of 40,602. It was the largest Opening Day crowd in Rangers history. Incaviglia had a double and struck out twice in four at-bats.

The Rangers won 6-3, with the big blow being Parrish’s three-run home run. Parrish had been the Rangers’ right fielder and cleanup hitter in 1985. Now he was hitting sixth and being used at designated hitter. He wasn’t happy about it.

Incaviglia’s first home run came in Game 4, a two-run shot off Orioles left-hander Tippy Martinez.

So how did the Phenom do in his first season? All things considered, it went well for Incaviglia and great for the Rangers.

Incaviglia started off terribly, hitting .159 in April, but then caught fire in May. Over 24 games that month, Incaviglia hit .356 with six home runs, 18 RBIs and a .678 slugging percentage. When the season was over, Incaviglia had played in 152 games, hitting .250 with 30 home runs, 88 RBIs and a .463 slugging percentage. He struck out 185 times and committed 14 errors in right, but he was a rookie. All in all, a good start.

He was just one of many bright spots on a team that fired up the Metroplex with one of the most exciting seasons in Rangers history. Just about everybody — players and fans — was energized by Valentine, whose unbridled enthusiasm and effusive personality injected new life into the floundering franchise.

The Rangers went 87-75, finished second behind the Angels and brought baseball alive again. There was Incaviglia, McDowell, Ruben Sierra, Steve Buechele and Pete O’Brien, and exciting young pitching with Witt, Jose Guzman, Edwin Correa and Mitch Williams.

Everybody couldn’t wait to see what would happen next.

Read Part 2 here.