This article appears in the first Rangers home game program for 1998. Kevin is also featured on the cover! The article is a very concise, yet comprehensive look at Kevin's history with the Texas Rangers.

Kevin Elster
Coming Home to Texas

The Texas Rangers have the man they want back at shortstop this season and they can thank Oakland Athletics shortstop Kurt Abbott for that.

Kurt Abbott?

OK, it's kind of a long story.

After having the best season of his 11-year career in 1996 while helping the Rangers win their first-ever American League West championship season, shortstop Kevin Elster left for the Pittsburgh Pirates as a free agent. Elster was on his way to a fine start last season. Midway through May, he was leading upstart Pirates with seven home runs and 25 runs batted in through 39 games as they surprisingly moved into the lead in the National League Central.
The Pirates were so impressed with Elster's bat and solid defense that they were on the verge of signing him to a two-year contract extension that would have kept him in Pittsburgh through the 1999 season. On May 16, Elster and the Pirates needed only to work out a few minor details and the extension would be done.

Then disaster struck. The Pirates were playing the Florida Marlins in a game at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh when Elster dropped down a bunt in the seventh inning. Abbott, playing second base, broke to cover first base and he, Elster and the ball arrived at first base at the exact same moment. Elster and Abbott, traded to Oakland in the offseason, had a violent collision. Elster went flying into foul territory, landing on his left wrist. He sustained a compound fracture, underwent surgery the next morning and missed the remainder of the season. Goodbye extension.

"The Pirates wanted to sign me and I wanted to sign with them," Elster recalled. "I really liked it there and things were working out very well. I'm sure the extension would have been done a day or two later."

While Elster sat on the bench, two rookie shortstops developed with the Pirates. Kevin Polcovich, who began the season as a Class AA utility man, replaced Elster and hit .271. Lou Collier, a touted prospect, also looked good in limited playing time. When last season came to an end, the Pirates committed to youth and decided not to offer a contract to Elster. He became a free agent.

"I saw the signs on the wall in Pittsburgh as the season wore on," Elster said. "Even though I was still around and those guys made me feel like I was a bigger part of things than I really was, I knew management was going with a younger guy and I was gone.

"Once I realized it was not going to happen for me in Pittsburgh, I had my sights on Texas and the Rangers. That was the place I wanted to be."

Texas is where Elster's career was reborn in '96. After hitting just one homer with nine RBIs in 49 games in the major leagues from 1992-95 as he tried to recover from a shoulder injury, Elster stepped into the Rangers' lineup when shortstop Benji Gil suffered a back injury and went on to hit .252 with 24 homers and 99 RBIs. Once Elster filed for free agency, his decision basically came down to the Rangers and another team he won't reveal.

While the Rangers offered only one-year, the other club talked about a three-year deal before taking it off the table. That left Elster and the Rangers in a pair and he wasn't complaining.
"Getting a three-year contract at this stage of my career was something that was intriguing," the 33-year-old Elster said. "But my heart was always with the Rangers anyway. It's really where I wanted to go. I started hearing some rumbling in September that they might want to bring me back and I had my fingers crossed.

"I watched the Rangers on my satellite dish all last summer because I had a lot of time on my hands with the broken wrist. It was obvious they were missing something and having problems at shortstop. I saw what was going on. I knew the situation was ripe for them to be looking for another shortstop and I kept thinking the Rangers and I would just be the perfect match."

The match was made Dec. 8 as Elster signed a one-year contract.

"I guess it's kind of like when you go away to school," Elster said. "You have fun at school and like it there. But when break comes, you get excited about coming home to see your family. You know that's where you really belong. That's how I feel with the Rangers. I'm coming home to the place I belong."

No one could be happier about having Elster back than Rangers manager Johnny Oates. He watched his middle infield defense disintegrate last season with Elster gone and second baseman Mark McLemore limited to 89 games by hand and knee injuries.

The Rangers dropped from first to third in the AL West as Texas used five different shortstops in Gil, Domingo Cedeno, Billy Ripken, Hanley Frias and Dave Silvestri. They combined to make 28 errors last season, twice as many as Elster's 14 in 1996. Cedeno was forced to make 53 starts at second and Ripkin started 23 times there in McLemore's absence. Rangers second basemen combined to commit 21 errors last season after McLemore made 12 in '96.

"To say the least, I was happy for us to bring Kevin back," Oates said. "I know what kind of success we had with him in our lineup but it wasn't just what he contributed offensively. You really can't talk about Kevin without talking about Mark McLemore because they play so well together and really solidify our defense up the middle.

"The two of them had a great deal to do with our success in '96. With them back together, I'm hoping it's a big key to our success in 1998. Kevin and Mark, they just go together so well. In this sport, you rely so much on teamwork, particularly in the middle of the infield. Having those two guys back together can be nothing but a big plus for us. Without Kevin last year, it was like we had lost a piece to the puzzle. Then when we played so much without Mark, it was like there was no puzzle.

"And Kevin is just so solid. He never seems to get caught out of position and nobody is better at charging slow rollers and throwing across his body to get the runner at first. It's reassuring to know he and Mark will be together again."

McLemore's reaction to Elster's signing was simple: "I've got my boy back."

Elster, in turn, is just as excited to be reunited with McLemore. "The idea of a double-play combination can be somewhat overrated at times," Elster said. "You've still got to be able to catch the ball and throw the ball regardless of who is standing beside you. But Mark and I really work well together.

"We built a really good rapport both on and off the field in 1996. We're good for each other. We know how to keep each other loose and how to pump each other up. It's fun to get on the field, look over to my left and see Mac there. It's a comfortable feeling for me and I think it's the same way for him."

After watching the Rangers' defense rank 10th in the AL, Texas pitchers are glad to once again have Elster captaining the infield.

"He's awesome," right-hander John Burkett said. "He's the kind of guy who isn't dazzling when you watch him. But if you see him play every day, you really appreciate him. He knows how to play the hitters and he has great hands. He makes all the routine plays and a lot of the tougher ones, too. You just feel comfortable with him behind you.

"We have the type of pitching staff that relies on a good defense. We're not a big strikeout staff. I think with Kevin at shortstop, he's going to make all of us better."

Lost in all the talk about Elster's defense is the marvelous offensive season he had with the Rangers in '96. After all, this is a guy who compiled just a .220 career batting average with 35 homers and 183 RBIs in 580 games with the New York Mets (1986-92), New York Yankees (1994-95) and Philadelphia (1995) before coming to the Rangers.

He also wasn't supposed to be anything more than a utility man with the Rangers until Gil hurt his back. That opened the door to one of the best comeback stories in baseball history. According to research by the Rangers' public relations department, there was no precedent for a position player who played in 90 or more games for four straight seasons (1988-91), saw action in just 49 games in the next four seasons (1992-95) then played in 157 games the next season (except for war years) and produced more than 20 homers and 90 RBIs.

"Never, ever did we expect that kind of offensive production from Kevin," Oates said. "When Benji Gil went down with his back injury in '96, all we wanted was a shortstop who could catch the ball. Kevin did that and a whole lot more. It makes you wonder what he might have done in his career if he would been healthy all these years."

Elster, though, doesn't worry too much about the past and he doesn't have much of an explanation for his new-found hitting prowess.

"The only thing I can think of is that I did so much rehab work trying to come back from my shoulder injury that I just got a lot stronger," Elster said. "I really have no idea, though. I just want to keep it up. I'd love to come back and have the same kind of season for the Rangers that I had in 1996.

"You look at this team and it's basically the team we won with in 1996. There's no reason why we can't win again. I remember all the excitement in the Metroplex when we won the division title in 1996. All those 25 years of Rangers teams that never came through, all those years of frustration finally came to an end and it was such a feeling of jubilation and relief.

"It was a wonderful feeling and I'd like to feel it again."

--written by John Perrotto, who covers major league baseball for the Beaver County (Pa.) Times.

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