T.R.’s Memoirs: Buck Showalter’s four-year stint seems forgotten in Rangers history
(AP photo/Tony Gutierrez)
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. In the latest installment, as the Rangers open a three-game series tonight against the Mets in New York, Sullivan goes back and reviews Buck Showalter’s four years as manager in Arlington in 2003-06.
The Alki Tavern was the best bar in the American League and the best postgame watering hole to visit during my 32 years of covering the Rangers.
Located in a stand-alone one-story shack on the waterfront in West Seattle, the Alki Tavern was the ultimate dive bar that sold only beer and wine. It did have two pool tables and a grill that was usually closed once we made the 10–minute postgame drive from Safeco Field after a Rangers-Mariners game.
What separated this place from all others was the fantastic Pacific Northwest ales on hand and the incredible panoramic views of downtown Seattle from the front windows. I mean, this place was right on the water … walk across the boulevard that traced the south side of Elliot Bay, through the boat-ramp parking lot, and you’re right there on the edge of Puget Sound.
On one side of Alki Tavern stood some apartments with a Thai restaurant and beauty parlor on the ground floor. On the other side was a big empty lot and then Harbor Way curved around the hill toward Alki Point.
Rangers manager Buck Showalter finally visited the Alki Tavern one summer night in 2006. I had been trying to get him to join me for four years, and now, finally …
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