Monday Newsletter time: New Rangers reliever reveals inspiration for name. It might be a first.
Dennis Anfernee Santana's father was a big NBA fan in the Dominican Republic in the late 1990s.
The NBA Finals are set, and the Phoenix Suns will face the Milwaukee Bucks for the title. That’s not exactly a dream matchup for the NBA, whose TV ratings have suffered and won’t be getting any help in this best-of-7 series.
But one Texas Rangers player is particularly excited, newcomer Danny Santana. The right-hander was added to the roster Saturday and worked a scoreless inning in his Rangers debut.
He was also the player guest on the pregame Zoom call, where he revealed that he is a Suns fan because he lives in the Phoenix area and also that his first and last names were inspired by former NBA stars.
(His father is a huge NBA fan, and the two would watch games together while Santana was growing up in the Dominican Republic.)
"I love the NBA,” Santana said. “I enjoy basketball.”
We’ll start with the middle name, Anfernee. Many might remember a former NBA All-Star named Penny Hardaway. Well, his given name is Anfernee. Easy enough.
Santana gets his first name, though, from Dennis Rodman.
Dennis Rodman!
Most of what Santana knows about Rodman came from watching The Last Dance. That’s not good.
What did his dad like about Rodman?
“That’s a good question,” Santana, 25, said with a chuckle. “I saw The Last Dance about Michael Jordan, so I heard the stories.”
Santana, a waiver claim from the Los Angeles Dodgers, has a starter’s pedigree but has pitched only as a reliever in the majors. He made four scoreless one-inning appearances for Triple A Round Rock before being called up.
What you might have missed
Jeff Wilson’s Texas Rangers Newsletter isn’t even two weeks old, and yet there’s been plenty of quality content here that might have been missed by new subscribers — paid and those of you waiting to upgrade for only $5.99 a month or $60 a year.
Take a look. Click the link to read and/or upgrade.
The three prep pitchers selected by the Rangers at the top of the 2018 draft started out together in Arizona but since have landed on three different paths to the majors.
Cole Ragans was a first-round pick in 2016 but has endured two Tommy John surgeries. He’s back pitching again, pitching well, and instilling hope that he can reach the majors.
The debut of T.R. Sullivan’s Memoirs looks at his first World Series. It was a doozy. T.R. also took a look back at a dozen pitching misses in Rangers history.
The actual first half of the Rangers’ season arrived Thursday. Here’s a look at the good and the not-so-good.
Rangers and Team USA
The roster for 24-man roster for the U.S. Olympic baseball team was unveiled Friday, and there are six players who have ties to the Rangers.
The only active player in the organization is Triple A reliever Ryder Ryan, who has a 3.72 ERA this season in 17 games/19 1/3 innings. He’s been a little walk-happy (13) but is still getting outs.
The Rangers acquired him in the offseason to complete a trade with the New York Mets for Todd Frazier. And guess what? Frazier is also on Team USA.
So are former Rangers … right-hander Nick Martinez, an all-around good guy who is pitching in Japan; left-hander Anthony Gose, a converted outfielder who never reached the Rangers’ roster; outfielder Patrick Kivlehan, a two-sport star at Rutgers who also never played for the Rangers; and catcher Tim Federowicz, who played for the Rangers in 2019 and was at the alternate site last season.
Team USA opens play July 30 against Team Israel, who is led by former Rangers second baseman (and All-Star) Ian Kinsler.
Doggy video!
Dogs are just the best, even when fireworks scare the literal crap out of them in the house. Enjoy. See you Tuesday.
Love the insight and the dog videos.