T.R.’s Memoirs: Best shape of your life? Out of an abundance of caution, read these Texas Rangers spring tales
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. Spring training is upon us and T.R. shares a few memories of spring training. Just a few. There are many, many more.
A crime wave swept over Sarasota County on Friday.
Crockett and Tubbs weren’t called in, but a deputy sheriff was on the ball to arrest Texas Rangers pitchers Mike Jeffcoat and John Barfield for trespassing while fishing.
Those were the lead paragraphs to the first story I ever filed from spring training. This was back in 1989, when the Rangers were still in Port Charlotte, Fla., and I was in my first year as a Rangers beat writer.
I was the backup to Tony DeMarco, who kindly let me do the police beat my first day in camp.
You see, Jeffcoat and Barfield decided to do a little fishing on a six-acre lake just off I-75 north of Port Charlotte. Unbeknownst to the two Arkansas natives, the lake was on private property.
That’s when Barney Fife showed up. Crockett and Tubbs were Miami Vice.
