Sunday Remembrance of Rangers Past...Bert Campaneris

* The Rangers signed Bert Campaneris to a five-year, $400,000 contract on No. 17, 1976 after he had spent 16 years in the Oakland Athletics organization. He was the Rangers first big free agent signing and part of the mass exodus out of Oakland at the dawn of the free agency area.

* The Athletics had signed Campaneris on April 25, 1961, one of the last players signed out of Cuba before that country was closed for good because of the United States embargo in response to the Cuban Missile Crisis and Fidel Castro.

* Campaneris arrived in the big leagues in 1964 while the Athletics were still in Kansas City and would ultimately become a huge part of a team in Oakland that won three World Series and five division titles in 1971-75. He eventually was named to six All-Star Games, five with the Athletics and one with the Rangers.

* Campaneris led the American League in stolen bases six times, with a high of 62 in 1968 and 1969. He finished with 649 career stolen bases, the 10th most in modern Major League history.

* He didn't walk that much for a leadoff hitter. His career high was 50 for a season. In 1969, he stole 62 bases despite a .302 on-base percentage. He never scored 100 runs in a season. His career high was 97 and his 162-game average was just 82 runs.

* Before the 1968 season, Oakland manager Bob Kennedy wanted to move Campaneris to left field, envisioning him as the American League version of Lou Brock. Owner Charlie Finley stepped in and vetoed the move, saying publicly that he didn't need a "Wet behind the ears manager" telling him where to play Campaneris. Said Finley, "It would have broken Campy's spirit."

* Campaneris hit 22 home runs in 1970 but that was a huge aberration. His next highest was eight. But he is one of three players in Major League history to hit two home runs in his first Major League game, doing so on July 23, 1964 against the Minnesota Twins. The first home run was on the first pitch he ever saw, thrown by Jim Kaat.

* He also had three huge home runs in the 1973 playoffs including two against Baltimore in a great five-game ALCS and another in the World Series against the New York Mets.

* After Baltimore won the ALCS opener, Campaneris led off Game 2 with a home run, went 3-for-5 on the afternoon and the Athletics won 6-3.

* He ended a pivotal Game 3 with an 11th inning game-winning home run off of Orioles pitcher Mike Cuellar.

* In Game 7 of the World Series against the Mets, Campaneris hit a two-run home run in the third inning off of Jon Matlack to give Oakland a 2-0 lead. They won 5-2 for the second of three World Series titles.

* Reggie Jackson was MVP of the Series but it could have gone to Campaneris. In Game 3, the Athletics trailed 2-1 going into the eighth against Tom Seaver. That's when Campaneris led off the inning with a single, stolen second and scored on Joe Rudi's single. He then had the game-winning hit in the 11th, a two-out RBI single.

* Campaneris was a favorite of Finley's. The Oakland owner was bitter after all his star players left via free agency but always said that Campaneris was the one player who deserved to get a big contract from another team.

* Campaneris only had one good season for the Rangers. In 1977 he batted .254, stole 27 bases and scored 77 runs while being named to the All-Star Game for the sixth time.

* In 1978, he slumped to .186 in 269 at-bats although he still stole 22 bases. After playing in just eight games in 1979, he was traded to the California Angels for infielder Dave Chalk. He was with the Angels through 1981, played in Mexico in 1982 and was a backup infielder for the Yankees in 1983, hitting .322 in 143 at-bats. It was the only time he finished above .300 in a single-season.

* The most remarkable thing about Campaneris' stay in Texas was he had 40 sacrifice bunts in 1977. Not only is that a club record but it is still the highest by a Major League since 1929. The last time a player had more than 40 sacrifice bunts was Joe Sewell in 1929 for the Cleveland Indians.

* Campaneris was once on first base against the Rangers. The pitcher threw over a number of times to first and Mike Hargrove put on several especially hard tags. Campaneris complained and Hargrove growled, "If you're hurt, get off the field."

* On Aug. 13, 1962, while playing for Daytona Beach, Campaneris pitched ambidextrously in a relief appearance, throwing both left and right-handed.

* In an obvious promotional stunt, Campaneris played all nine positions for the Kansas City Athletics on Sept. 8, 1965 against the California Angels. He allowed one run in the eighth inning as a pitcher. In the ninth he went behind the plate as the catcher but had to leave the game because of a collision with Ed Kirkpatrick at home plate. Rene Lachemann replaced Campaneris and the Angels eventually won the game in 13 innings.

* Before Campaneris played all nine positions, Finley took out a $1 million insurance policy on him.

* On Aug. 22, 1971, the Athletics beat the Red Sox 2-1 when Campaneris led off the Oakland first with a home run and Reggie Jackson ended it with a walkoff home run with two outs in the ninth.

* Campaneris once hit three triples in a game and on another occasion helped turn six double plays, both tying Major Leagues records.

* His most famous incident occured in Game 2 of the 1972 ALCS against Tigers reliever Lerrin LaGrow. Campaneris was 3-for-3 with two runs scored when he came to bat in the seventh and was hit in the ankle with a pitch. Campaneris reacted by throwing his bat at LaGrow, who ducked as it sailed over his head. Campaneris was suspended for the rest of the ALCS but played in the World Series.

* Said Campaneris, "That pitcher just made me mad."

* Campaneris was with Oakland in 1976 when he got into a big fight with Buddy Bell, who was with the Cleveland Indians. Jim Kern hit Campaneris with a pitch in the fifth. In the six, Bell was running from first on a double-play grounder to second baseman Phil Garner, who flipped to Campaneris at second. Campaneris' relay to first hit Bell in the forehead, setting off a brawl.

Campaneris said the Indians deliberately threw at him. Indians manager Frank Robinson called Campaneris a coward and said, "The next time he plays us, he'll know he's been thrown at." Campaneris responded by saying, "I was just trying to get out of the way and I play clean baseball. But if it was Robinson running down the line, I would have hit him in between the eyes."