T.R.'s Memoirs: Kenny Rogers is in the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame. His career was a long, at times messy, drama (Part I).
Rogers was from the country, but he was no country bumpkin as he showed time and again in contract disputes.
Editor’s note: T.R. Sullivan covered the Texas Rangers over 32 years for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and MLB.com and is sharing his “memoirs” with this newsletter. This is the first of two parts on former Rangers pitcher Kenny Rogers and the events that led up to his assaulting two television cameramen in 2005.
I was in manager Buck Showalter’s office about 3 ½ hours before the Rangers’ June 28, 2005, game against the Angels. We were having a casual conversation when pitcher Kenny Rogers appeared in the door.
He looked at me with a look of pure hate on his face. If looks truly could kill, I would have been carried out in a body bag. No doubt, that would have been enough to put a big smile on Rogers’ face.
“You need to see me, Kenny?” Showalter asked.
Rogers looked at the manager and pointed at me.
“Not while this motherfucker is standing there,” Rogers said.
He disappeared and headed down the hall toward the Rangers’ clubhouse. He was screaming at me as he went.
“T.R., you ever come near me, I’ll kill you!” Rogers yelled.
Then we heard a loud crash of glass from the hallway.