Texas Rangers have a Super Bowl champion in camp

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Shortstop Elvis Andrus
Shortstop Elvis Andrus

Surprise, Arizona looks a lot like the rest of the Phoenix area. It’s beautiful, with desert and bare mountains surrounding us. Like the rest of this part of the state, it is very hot and to last a day in Spring Training, the players learn to hydrate throughout the day.

Here in Surprise the Texas Rangers manager, Jeff Banister, only wants happy surprises, like their star hitters being healthy for opening day. In camp and looking good are Prince Fielder, Adrian Beltre and Elvis Andrus. The rangers will be expecting a lot from these three players this season.

The other not so big of a surprise was seeing Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson suit up and get a day of Spring Training in.

Baseball is the first sport Wilson ever played and he loves it. The Rangers drafted him in the Triple A Rule 5 draft off the Colorado Rockies restricted list in December 2013. They don’t expect Wilson to drop his very successful football career for baseball, or to even be a two-sport star. They just like having him spend a day or two in camp with the players, to bring his drive and ambition to win into the Rangers organization. Needless to say, the day was all about the once aspiring second baseman.

Russell Wilson fans
Russell Wilson fans

After watching him perform with the team, I can say Russell Wilson has some excellent baseball skills. But that shouldn’t be a surprise, here in Surprise. No matter what he does, Wilson gives 100 percent every day. Even though he only spent a day in camp, he worked like he was trying for a spot on the roster, like every other player in camp.

Here is the video from my day with the Texas Rangers.

(All photos by Claudia Gestro)